Rachel Levy
@rachellevy.bsky.social
Teacher, parent, writer, ed leadership & policy PhD, former candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates & local Dem chair, political/legislative staffer, jigsaw puzzler. I ask a lot of questions. Sometimes I make people angry. (she/her)
Big news. Good news. Long time coming. Gotta savor these victories.
450K borrowers say they were ripped off. Their student loans are being erased
The borrowers say they were defrauded by their colleges, but the class-action lawsuit to erase their federal student loans has been tangled up in courts for years.
npr.org
UPDATED: Quadaire Patterson is one of more than 66,000 people who've had their voting rights restored by Gov. Abigail Spanberger. “The restoration of rights for me has not been solely about me voting,” Patterson said. “It’s been more about restoring, repairing and growing communities.”
Quadaire Patterson wants full citizenship for people convicted of felonies
Updated: Patterson is now one of more than 66K people whose voting rights Gov. Abigail Spanberger has restored.
vpm.org
Big congrats to my friend @shannontaylorva.com for her big primary win in Virginia's 1st Congressional District tonight. Shannon works so hard, and as long as I have lived in the RVA area, she has always shown up for me, for her fellow Dems, and for lots of people. 1/
I don't know why more people don't recognize Dominion's defamation suit against Fox as the great public service it was.
The Media and Democracy Project@mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social · 6d agoTrue! The Dominion suit also exposed in discovery the depravity of Rupert Murdoch + Fox executives and infotainers. They knowingly broadcast lies about the 2020 election. That discovery is the basis of our 3 yr quest to hold the Murdochs accountable. www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/fcc-license-...
I’m in today’s @richmond.com opinions page. The SCC should reject the proposed Next-Era Dominion merger.
"What should a naturalized citizen do if they’re contacted by USCIS or DOJ about their citizenship?… 'First, get a lawyer immediately. Then you need to see if it’s civil or criminal.…I’ve seen a lot of irresponsible commentary that Trump is mass-denaturalizing people…which is clearly not true.'"
Assume ICE Is Lying
Plus: How many citizens can Trump actually denaturalize?
thebulwark.com
ancljkuy.donorsupport.co/page/FUNDVDT...
Stand with Haitian Families in Crisis
Build the Emergency Fund that protects families when everything feels uncertain. The end of TPS. Increasing ICE actions. Families losing work authorization overnight. For Haitian parents and children ...
ancljkuy.donorsupport.co
This paper shows that immigration enforcement can _increase_ crime. Undocumented immigrants already have the lowest crime rate, but tough-on-immigration policy makes immigrants less likely to report crime. So immigration enforcement worsens the problem it was ostensibly meant to solve
This is something else. "Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an obstruction charge against a U.S. citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his phone."
A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone’s Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge. (Gift Article)
Federal prosecutors charged a man returning to the United States with obstruction because he gave them a passcode that erased his smartphone during a customs search.
nytimes.com
This is so incredibly sad. My family, my mom especially, loved going to the Kennedy Center. Shame on the people who have declared war on the arts and are trying to destroy it. But much gratitude to this woman for keeping the faith, still supporting and holding up our public democratic institutions.
Trump Gutted the Kennedy Center. A Tour Guide Wants You to See It Anyway. (Gift Article)
In a dogged demonstration of love for a Washington institution, Sandy Weiswasser is among a few dozen volunteers still showing dwindling visitors a hollowed-out building.
nytimes.com
I am 53 and have been essentially forced into retirement. I thought it was just me, until I found an entire community of women in the same situation on Instagram. So many of us have just been told that we simply have nothing to contribute to society anymore.
Karen K. Ho@karenho.bsky.social · last wk.I keep thinking about how often the mass layoffs in media, government and big companies, especially women and people of color, will lead to poorer outcomes for years because the people who would point out potential problems or blind spots were deemed non-essential, a "bad fit", and/or too expensive.
Andy Burnham is set to be the first lifelong Roman Catholic to become prime minister of Britain when he is appointed on Monday. At one point, that would have been a big deal.
Burnham Set to Become Britain’s First Openly Roman Catholic Prime Minister
Andy Burnham has spoken of Catholicism as part of his cultural identity rather than as a fervent religious faith.
nyti.ms
David Hearn, who once carried the Olympic torch for his country, said he now worries he’s being targeted by his government. @mviser.bsky.social tells the story of a man accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool.
The Canoeist Accused of Destroying the Reflecting Pool
The Olympian has become the latest emblem of possible prosecutorial overreach.
bit.ly
White House Border Czar Tom Homan has the audacity to blame shooting victims for not complying with an unmarked car. He smugly insists the vehicle had flashing lights—until the anchor reveals the video shows absolutely none. His pathetic defense? "I haven’t seen the video." Absolute garbage logic.
At least 52 people have died in ICE custody since Trump returned to the White House. At least 23 people have been shot at by federal immigration agents. And thousands more have been caged, separated from their families, or shipped off to dangerous countries. The cruelty is endless.
Filing a case against someone in power is terrifying because of the risk for retribution After a 9-month investigation NYU found that John Jost engaged in “harassment based on gender” against her, in violation of the NYU anti-discrimination and harassment policy. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
NYU Professor Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment | Tessa West posted on the topic | LinkedIn
Deciding when, and if, to go public about a sexual harassment investigation is messy business. As many know, I was part of the long, drawn out Miles Hewstone sexual harassment case in which Oxford's i...
linkedin.com
They should let England and France play ten minutes during halftime.
Great group of people doing this work over the past several years.
Ashland Forest Dweller@vaforestdweller.bsky.social · 3w agoMade many wonderful new friends today during a clean up project at the Hickory Hill African-American Cemetery in Hanover County, Virginia. Well over 1,000 souls are buried there, including many who were enslaved in two large local plantations. #PublicService
We just VOTED EARLY in person in the Democratic CD-01 Primary up at the Wickham Building at Hanover Courthouse. Gotta love Sunday voting, especially when you work full-time during the week. They're open today until 5pm--it's Sunday July 19th.
I finally read the essay everyone (in the k12 education world) is talking about. Very thoughtful and well worth your time.
Opinion | I Thought ‘No Child Left Behind’ Would Fix Public Schools. I Was Wrong. (Gift Article)
Test scores are poor measures of an education.
nytimes.com
Some folks who need to really listen & learn from this. (But NOT from Rahm Emmanuel, though. Ick.)
‘Professional malpractice’: The Platner fallout engulfs the operatives who made him
A string of early missteps, like rejecting an offer for a deeper vetting of Platner, has cast doubt over his young consultants’ future in Democratic politics.
politico.com
“It’s incredibly depressing that we live in a world in which the leader of our country throws around lies, just flat out lies about the election processes,” said [VanValkenburg]. I'm calling out the lies. Shame on any Republican politician who enables this MAGA rhetoric.
Virginia lawmakers assert state elections are safe and secure
Here in Virginia lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say voting is safe and secure heading into the midterm elections.
12onyourside.com
This is horrifying and a real danger of privatization/vouchers, that is, schooling with no oversight that does real, lasting harm to kids and communities.
ProPublica@propublica.org · 3w agoTHREAD: The boy is called a liar. He’s told not to defend himself. Then the private school owner encourages all of his peers to attack him, one by one. She hits him, repeatedly, with a plastic pipe-like object. How does this school still exist — and receive state funds? 🧵
Looking to get into some "Good Trouble"? We got ya covered! See you today! www.mobilize.us/henricodems/...
No on Wittman Lit Pick Up and DIY Lit Drops · Henrico County Democrats
Get in GOOD Trouble Henrico Dems ## Lit Pick Up and DIY Lit Drops## Help us let voters know: **We can't afford Wittman!** Sign up to receive a packet of No on Wittman literature and a route of approx...
mobilize.us
League of Women Voters of Williamsburg Area@lwvwilliamsburg.org · 3w agoJohn Lewis changed America with “good trouble.” This weekend find yours at an event near you. bit.ly/4f14CTm
"There's a series of institutions that have been created, going back decades actually, that are designed to prevent foreign interference and other interference, and actually the Trump administration [has] pretty systematically dismantled them," said @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu.
