September 29th
The President’s 2016 election campaign has been accused of “actively seeking to deter” 3.5 million black American voters from casting votes in swing states. Unsurprisingly, the Trump campaign is on the record denying “any targeted campaigns against individual groups,” but the investigation by Channel 4 found that election consultants from Cambridge Analytica had a hand in devising the strategy to target black voters with Facebook ads with “dark adverts.” We need to counter this kind of insidious effort, which is part of a larger pattern of racist voter suppression. Contribute to BLOC PAC (Black Leaders Organizing Communities), which is activating Black Voters in Wisconsin. If you speak Spanish, sign up for Spanish language phonebanking to Pennsylvania voters.
In what appears to be incompetence on the part of a vendor rather than a deliberate attempt at voter suppression, some NY voters received absentee ballots printed with incorrect addresses. Voters from at least five Brooklyn neighborhoods reported the same problem:
Each got a ballot along with an “official absentee ballot envelope” into which they were instructed to place their filled-out and signed ballot. They’re then supposed to seal that envelope and place it into another that’s addressed to the city Board of Elections in the county where they’re registered to vote. In the problem cases that emerged Monday, the official absentee ballot envelope contains the name, address — and presumably a specific identifying barcode — of a different person. So if a voter did as instructed — filled out the ballot, signed it, placed it in the internal envelope and sent it to the Board of Elections — they would be effectively voting on behalf of someone else. These votes would ultimately be voided because the signature is matched to whatever is on file.
If you received a misprinted oath envelope with your absentee ballot, contact the NYC Board of Elections: DM them @BOENYC or email Apply4Absentee@boe.nyc or call 1-866-VOTE-NYC.
The hybrid plan for schooling that has encountered so many obstacles is about to collapse under its own weight, I fear. Months ago it was apparent to any one who knew about school staffing that smaller cohorts for in-person instruction would require more staff. Now, all-remote learning, which is being staffed by just 16,000 teachers city-wide, is so understaffed that overwhelmed teachers are seeing class sizes over 50. Children and parents are right to expect reasonable class sizes, synchronous instruction, and meaningful feedback on student work. The city has hired just 4500 additional teachers, however, and now 48% of families have opting for all-remote instruction. In some schools, even students who attend in person are getting instruction streamed online. This mess is difficult to fix when you remember that schools must program instruction with the expectation of going fully remote when public safety requires it. As of yesterday, the city’s positive test rate reached 1.93%.
The Gothamist has published a piece on what a day at school will actually be like for students on the hybrid plan (in-person some days, remote on other days). I’m not sure it’s possible to say what a day will be like, since the planning I’ve seen varies considerably by school, but I was struck by the DOE policy for what happens when students show up on the wrong day: unless they are 18 or older, students must “wait in a designated space to be picked up by a relative or guardian,” where “they will be able to participate in remote learning and have meals while they’re waiting.” This policy also requires staffing (and space!). I should note that a teacher friend who is exceptionally well-organized remarked that she felt sure she would screw up her daughter’s drop-offs because the schedule is so confusing.
MOOCs, the online courses that held out the promise of inexpensive, high quality college education to massive numbers of students, ran aground because of low completion rates and the human factor: students want attention and feedback from their teachers. At this juncture, an all-remote plan for all NYC students would resolve the class size issues and allow for consistency and relationship-building. This would have made a lot more sense before so many resources were expended on readying school buildings. It saddens me to say this, but the justice move right now (the greatest good for the greatest number) is all-remote for every student. Families will have the opportunity to choose in-person learning again in November.