 |
||||||||||||
Join Marian Wright Edelman for a night to remember. We are thrilled to announce that Malaak Compton-Rock, entertainer, philanthropist, inspirational speaker and member of the CDF Board of Directors will be hosting our 2014 Beat the Odds® Awards Dinner on November 18, 2014 at the historic Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. It’s not too late to buy seats for what promises to be an extraordinary evening honoring Harlem Children's Zone Founder and CDF Board Geoffrey Canada for being a Great Champion for America’s Children, and 5 extraordinary high school seniors. Help us make their college dreams come true.
Investments in America's Children Do Work
Investments in America’s children work. Last year, federal safety net programs kept 8.2 million children out of poverty, cutting child poverty by 40 percent. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on October 16th show that safety net programs like tax credits for working families, nutrition and housing assistance, Social Security and other federal programs kept 8.2 million children, more than 11 percent of America’s children, out of poverty in 2013. The Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable part of the Child Tax Credit together kept 4.7 million children out of poverty, cutting child poverty by 28 percent. And the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) kept 2.1 million children from poverty. These numbers show the crucial impact of these programs on millions of children. Poverty endangers a child’s development. Poor children are more likely to be hungry, not ready to learn in kindergarten, lag behind in academic achievement, drop out of school, and enter the prison pipeline. Read more about how these investments help protect children from poverty. Important Action to Ensure Equal Educational Opportunity Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance, the first in 13 years, advising schools, districts, and states of their responsibility to provide equal educational opportunity to students without regard to race, color, or national origin. Sixty years after the historic Brown v. Board of Education court decision, the Department of Education has made it clear that poor children and children of color are still routinely denied access to their fair share of strong teachers, decent schools, and current textbooks. The guidance states that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits schools and school districts from discriminating in their allocation of courses, academic programs and extracurricular activities, teachers and leaders, other school personnel, school facilities and technology, and instructional materials, and offers steps to level the playing field. The guidance states that wherever a state or district has seen fit to provide any education resource like a chemistry course, high-speed internet access, or a school counselor, it must be provided equally. Years of advocacy up to and including Brown sought federal oversight to correct unfair distribution of resources by schools, districts, and states. Fairness must be a continuing concern as separate and unequal continues to pervade the education of children in our nation. Students, parents, educators and community members who suspect children are receiving less than their fair share should seek to learn more, address problems they see, and file complaints with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights when disparities are not addressed.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) gained support from editorial boards in newspapers across the country, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and others. The editorials urged Congress to take action this year to extend funding for four more years for this critically successful program that helps get comprehensive health care to millions of children in working families. CDF and our coalition partners were busy: briefing editorial writers, writing letters to the editor, and asking organizations that recognize the benefits of CHIP to join us in signing on to a letter to members of Congress. Thank you to all who responded to our calls to action. Twelve hundred organizations from across the country signed on before the deadline! Tens of Thousands Celebrate Children's Sabbath
We are grateful that tens of thousands in faith communities across the country celebrated the 2014 National Observance of Children's Sabbaths this month. CDF’s president Marian Wright Edelman inspired those at the venerable Riverside Church in NYC to renew their commitment to cherish all of God’s children, while CDF-California’s Executive Director Alex Johnson delivered the sermon at First New Christian Fellowship’s Children’s Sabbath service in Los Angeles. In Atlanta, as part of the Interfaith Children's Movement which mobilizes local religious congregations in a common commitment to work for justice for children, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) held a Children's Sabbath worship service followed by "Lunch and Learn," which shared what the congregation was doing to improve the lives of children and families and offered new opportunities for members to get involved. Philadelphia’s community-wide interfaith Children's Sabbath featured Sharon Easterling, Executive Director of Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Children, and several children’s dance groups, children's choirs, and the Masjidullah Children's Group. Attendees donated books and a collection was taken to benefit Philadelphia Reads and Project Home. We are also grateful that a number of Children's Sabbath congregations and religious organizations added their names to a sign-on letter urging a four year funding extension for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) this year as part of their faithful action leading up to the weekend. As we all know, the Children’s Sabbaths is about more than one weekend of worship, education, and action; it is the catalyst for renewed, faithful action and advocacy for children throughout the year. Please let us know what you did and will be doing. We are grateful for your service. Come find out why South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu recently referred to Bryan Stevenson as "America's young Nelson Mandela" and why he was on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart Tuesday night. Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and CDF Board Member, will be one of the many extraordinary plenary speakers at the 2015 Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry, to be held July 20-24, 2015 at CDF Haley Farm. In addition to talking about his work to end mass incarceration and promote restorative justice, Stevenson will be signing copies of his new book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. The 2015 Proctor Institute promises to be another transformative week for the hundreds of ministers, seminarians, and people of faith with a passion for justice and a heart for children who will gather there. Plan to join us!
Remember to go to the polls and vote for children. Help the children in your lives see democracy in action. Make voting a family affair. Take children with you to the polls, whether you are voting early or on November 4th.Teach them the right to vote is a privilege and every vote counts. Teach them voting is an important way to make a difference, a way to build a stronger America and the future we want to see for all our children.
|
