Tag Archives: Corbett

Rallies for Public Education, Transit This Week in Pittsburgh

Sunday afternoon marks the “Rally for Public Education 2013″ at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. The organizers plan to review the public education elements in the Corbett Budget and discuss the ongoing battle to preserve quality public education resources for all children.

2012 Rally

Featuring:

• performances by Anne Feeney, Vanessa German, the Squirrel Hillbillies, and more!

• community conversation with Dr. Tim Slekar (head of the education department at Penn State Altoona, host of the education radio program At the Chalkface, and a national leader of United Opt Out)

• special free showing of the new pro-public education documentary, “Brooklyn Castle,” under special arrangement with the producers

Last year, over 250 people turned out on a snowy day to support public education. For good information, follow the Yinzercation blog. @Yinzercation

Monday, February 11 a statewide transit coalition is mobilizing in Harrisburg around Corbett’s proposed cut to public transportation budgets. They – like most of us – want dedicated, sustainable funding for public transit. Amen!

The coalition will urge the Governor against privatization of crucial transportation infrastructure, saying it would reduce the quality of service and lead to poor conditions for workers and riders.

“More and more Pennsylvanians are using public transportation and we must meet this growing demand,” said the Coalition, “The $40 million dollars proposed by the Governor for transit doesn’t even cover the financial needs of SEPTA, much less the funding crisis facing transit agencies across the state.We stand united in the call for more investment in public transit that will keep our economy moving and our communities connected”

Buses from Pittsburgh leave at 7:30 AM. More details here on how to participate. Follow Pittsburghers for Public Transit for more information. @Pgh4PubTransit

Two opportunities to roll up your sleeves and get involved in protecting critical public assets.

Rest assured, these are LGBTQ battles – our children, our neighbors rely on these resources. If we want basic elements like safety, we need to ensure adequate funding – across the nation, things like anti-bullying and safe-space curricula go out the window with funding cuts. We need public transit to get from Point A to Point B – like school. And we need to lift the veil of fear knowing each year that these things worsen.

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Breaking: PA School District Approves Domestic Partner Benefits for Employees

In an era of intense scrutiny of the public school systems in Pennsylvania, it is heartening to see that the belt tightening necessitated by the Corbett Administration’s gutting of public education funding does not stop school districts from treating their employees fairly. This press release from Equality PA proves that the tide is in favor of equality and continues to sweep across the state, bit by bit even as statewide lawmakers hysterically predict the end of days in an equal secular society.

The City of Pittsburgh Public Schools offer domestic partner benefits. While the recent round of layoffs is maddening, it is good to see that the principles of equality and fairness did not get laid upon the chopping block.

Bethlehem Area School District (BASD) Approves Same-Sex Partner Benefits

Last night, during a public meeting, Bethlehem Area School Board Member Basilio Bonilla announced that the district would begin offering domestic partner benefits to same-sex partners of school district employees. The announcement regarded an administrative change by Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy.

Equality Pennsylvania’s President, Adrian Shanker, was at the board meeting to provide testimony in support of the change. Shanker testified, “this policy is really about one thing: Equal pay for equal work. This school district has dozens of employees with same-sex spouses who are unable to legally marry in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These teachers, janitors, administrators, and other staff members work hard to educate our community’s students and to create a safe and healthy learning environment for all kids. They deserve to be treated with equality by this school district regardless of whether the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania treats them with equality.” Shanker previously led the successful effort to win partner benefits for municipal employees in the Cities of Allentown and Easton.

Board Member Bonilla noted that this change was the most recent in a string of civil rights advances since the beginning of his term. The BASD action follows on the heels of other recent advances for relationship recognition in Pennsylvania, including marriage equality endorsements from the Mayor of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

Ted Martin, Executive Director of Equality Pennsylvania, noted, “The Bethlehem Area School District should be applauded for doing the right thing by their LGBT employees. There are people who really need these benefits, and thanks to commonsense school district leaders, they will get it.”

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Melissa Etheridge “Pittsburgh Pride Showed Me The Money”

Dear God, I’m going to get reamed for focusing on this quote, but seriously …

Melissa Etheridge made her Pridefest debut in Pittsburgh this month and it was apparently a terrific show, but my skepticism was confirmed by a quote she gave to PG music editor Scott Mervis:

She repeated that she played this fest, not ones in LA or New York, because Pittsburgh “showed me the money.” It’s hard to say she didn’t deliver.

Now, I do not hate Pittsburgh Pridefest. I volunteered for three years when I was on the board at the Gay & Lesbian Community Center. I have attended most years – even staffing a booth for a former employer. I was out of town this year so I missed most of the activities, but I did promote them using social media. So let’s be clear – I think Pride is important if not the most important part of Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ community. But its not a sacred cow and anyway, my issue is with Melissa Etheridge not Pridefest per se.

I’m a little skeptical about Ms. Etheridge given the terrible way she’s treated her ex-wife Tammy Lynn Michaels. Supporting marriage equality means supporting divorce equality and Melissa is not doing anyone favors by trying to wiggle out of paying Tammy an equitable portion of her net worth. We can party in the streets all we want, but screaming that you support marriage equality while ignoring your marital obligations is bullshit.

Her quote about “show me the money” made me laugh out loud and pretty much confirmed my impression that she’s a rock star first and gay activist probably like 10th or 12th.

Does it matter? Eh, my only concern is that every penny she received is a penny that doesn’t go to the local LGBTQ service providers (I know there was a small fundraiser for Persad, people!) as we face significant slashes to the human services and health budgets by the Corbett Administration.

Are we “priding” beyond our means? Well, probably. It would be interesting if some third party were to research the net worth of Pridefest – how many people register to vote, how many sign up for email lists, how much is raised in donations, how many dogs are adopted, etc. A sociological study, Dr. Lombardi? Measuring the “pride” factor would be difficult – how do you assign a value to the sense of belonging someone feels – I remember my first few Pridefests.

I don’t think the size and wow factor of Pittsburgh’s Pridefest is an indicator of anything substantial. The way we treat the most vulnerable persons in our community is the best indicator of who we are as a community and in the coming months & years, we’ll have ample opportunity to prove we are one of the leading LGBTQ communities, not just a leading Pridefest City.

I gotta give Melissa credit – she lays it out there. And with two ex-wives and four kids to support along with the lack of a recent hit record, she probably needs to be shown the money. But let’s not pretend she’s a crusader. She’s a rock star and that’s just fine.

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