Tag: Emergency

  • TOMORROW 7 PM ET—join our emergency organizing call! (Brandon Herrera, Student Borrower Protection Center)

    TOMORROW 7 PM ET—join our emergency organizing call! (Brandon Herrera, Student Borrower Protection Center)

    This bill threatens to gut $350 BILLION in critical education programs to deliver $4.5 TRILLION in tax cuts to billionaires. House Republicans’ plan to slash the Pell Grant and other financial aid programs and eliminate basic protections for students—this will only make college more expensive and force millions of working families with student debt further into the red.

    So far, we have nearly 1,000 (!) RSVPs from all over the country planning to take part in this call. We will hear from policymakers, movement leaders, and affected students and borrowers on how this bill will harm our communities and how you can get more involved to protect students and working families—NOT billionaires.

    You won’t want to miss this—make sure to RSVP below and clear your calendar for TOMORROW at 7PM ET.

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  • Empowering school staff with emergency response protocols

    Empowering school staff with emergency response protocols

    Key points:

    Safety response protocols are foundational to creating a culture of safety in schools. District leaders should adopt and implement response protocols that cover all types of emergencies. Schools should have building-level response protocols and protocols for incidents when first responders are needed. These practices are critical to keeping the community safe during emergencies.

    When staff members are empowered to participate in emergency planning and response, their sense of safety is improved. Unfortunately, many staff members do not feel safe at school.

    Thirty percent of K-12 staff think about their physical safety when at work every day, and 74 percent of K-12 staff said they do not feel supported by their employer to handle emergency situations at work.

    Staff disempowerment is a “central problem” when it comes to district emergency planning, said Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey, superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools: “What does safety mean for educators to really be able to feel safe in their classroom, to impact student achievement, the well-being of students? And how does that anxiety play with how the students feel in the classroom?”

    School leaders should implement response protocols that empower staff to understand and participate in emergency response using a two-tiered system of emergency response:

    • A building-level emergency planning and response team should develop an Emergency Operations Plan, which includes an emergency response protocol
    • Administrators should adopt protocols to follow when they need first responders to intervene

    For guidance on crafting emergency response protocols and plans, click here.

    Laura Ascione
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  • Mellon Foundation Gives Humanities Councils Emergency Funds

    Mellon Foundation Gives Humanities Councils Emergency Funds

    The Mellon Foundation is giving $15 million in emergency funding to state humanities councils after the National Endowment for the Humanities eliminated $65 million in support for the councils, amid sweeping cuts to its grants and workforce, the foundation announced Tuesday.

    These councils, established by Congress in 1971, are nonprofits that support educational programming for the public, such as literacy initiatives, lectures, book fairs and cultural programs. The support will go toward all 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils across the country in hopes of staving off possible deep cuts and closures. The foundation plans to allocate $2.8 million to challenge grants of up to $50,000 for each council, to be matched by other funders. And each council will received $200,000 in immediate operational support, The New York Times reported.

    Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation, said in the announcement that while the emergency funds can’t cover the full extent of cuts, it’s a show of support.

    “At stake are both the operational integrity of organizations like museums, libraries, historical societies in every single state, as well as the mechanisms to participate in the cultural dynamism and exchange that is a fundamental part of American civic life,” Alexander said.

    Phoebe Stein, president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, called the foundation funding a “lifeline.”

    “Mellon’s support allows us to not only preserve this vital network—it helps ensure that everyday Americans can thrive through lifelong learning, connection, and understanding of one another,” she said in the announcement.

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