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Step 2                  Option 1            Current Professional

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Step 2                  Option 1            Current Professional

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I talked to the counselor of my former school, Amy Perez about what legal and ethical issues have impacted her work. Here are the five topics she discussed about the legal and ethical principles involving CPS and suicide cases.

#1 CPS
She talked about the importance of when to report an incident to Child Protective Services. Being new to the position, it was difficult for her to know when to act based on the legal and ethical principles that came into play. One of the things she is adamant about is that building relationships with parents and students is vital for all those who are involved (A. Perez, personal communication, June 6, 2018). She mentions that when addressing a parent it is important to let them know that a counselor is a supporter, but at the end of the day their number one obligation
is the child's welfare and safety. She also talked about having constant communication between the parent, child and herself in order to built trust and assisting them in the best possible way.

#2: Liability
Liabilityis something that she is constantly thinking as she makes decisions that relate to all the cases she deals with. Documenting everything is important such as scheduled meetings, interventions, assistance from other organizations, etc.

#3:  Suicide
The other issue that raises concern is the rise of suicide in children ages 7-12. Her biggest concern is making sure that a child who is contemplating about committing suicide is given the appropriate resources that will help him or her get the necessary assistance. She dealt with a suicide case this year and she said that one needs to be persistent with organizations that help students overcome these issues, especially getting the interventions set in place at the right time. She had a legal and ethical issue when one of the staff members of the crisis center was not demonstrating concern over the child's well-being. She said that being persistent was key to getting help for the child. She felt a legal and ethical obligation to stay on the line until someone was sent to take the child to the crisis center (A. Perez, personal communication, June 6, 2018). She also mentioned that as a counselor, one has push to extremes when it comes to protecting a child and if you have to make more calls than necessary, then those calls must be made in order to take action on the situation.

#4: Follow Ups
Following up with the family and the child after a suicide attempt is a legal and ethical that must be set in place. As a counselor, you are the life line of that family and the support system has to be set in place in order for the child to overcome the situation and be successful.

#5: Flexibility
Suicide is a serious topic that many families are not prepared to face. Some parents do not know what to do in situations like these, so being flexible with the family is important. Sometimes the counselor has to take control and go with the family to the places that are designed to treat suicides. Taking on the responsibility to be the leader in these situation is an ethical obligation that counselors take in order to help those involved.

Amy Perez
Counselor
Crockett Elementary
San Angelo, TX 76904
(325) 947-3925 Ext #111
amy.perez@saisd.org

A. Perez, personal communication, June 6, 2018.

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Step 5                                                        Key Issues Concerning DACA Students

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Step 5                                                        Key Issues Concerning DACA Students

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There many issues that affect students such as bullying, suicide, sexual assaults, and others, but there has been a lack of awareness on what DACA is and how it affects students. Although the issues mentioned are important, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is a policy that the Obama Administration released in 2012 to protect individuals including children from deportation. According to Uwemedimo, Monterrey, and Linton (2017), there are 800,000 individuals protected by DACA, of which 228,000 are under the age of 15 and half of the recipients are age 21. This policy allows these recipients to stay here temporary and provides them with the chance to get a social security, driver license, and apply for jobs. DACA has also provided economy growth by allowing individuals to open bank accounts, buy homes, get jobs in industries that are high demand such as education and health (Uwemedimo, Monterrey, and Linton, 2017). The Trump Administration has proposed to eliminate the program. However, many teacher unions, school boards, and other organizations are joining together to protect these students from a possible deportation. One of the organizations that is an advocate for DACA is the Immigrant Legal Resource Center know as IRLC, which helps recipients with legal assistance and options in regards to their legal status ("The Immigrant Resource Legal Center", n.d.).

Texas and California have the most DACA recipients and eliminating this policy would bring economy losses of $460 billion in GDP (Uwemedimo, Monterrey, and Linton, 2017). Uwemedimo, Monterrey, and Linton (2017), are encouraging other pediatricians like themselves to voice their concern on the severe impact that DACA children will be exposed to if this policy where to be abolish. Many families liven fear and uncertainty of a love one being deported let alone a child.

As a future counselor, my goal is to help these students achieve their goals and dreams. My responsibility is to be aware of all the legal changes that affect them in order to assist them in the best way possible. It can be difficult for students to disclose their legal status to people, which is why I want to build that trust so we can collaborate as a team and move forward.
Being a Texas educator, I know I will have students in the future who are under this program and I want to make sure that my assistance makes a difference in their lives.
In conclusion, I believe that this topic is important to educators because DACA students are in classrooms at this moment and as educators we must be informed with policies that affect the lives of children. Our political reasons should not over shadow the welfare of these students. It is okay to have different political viewpoints, but we must remember that we are here to service children regardless of legal status, race, or ethnicity.

References
The Immigrant Resource Legal Center, (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ilrc.org/daca

Uwemedimo, O. T., Monterrey, A. C., & Linton J. M. (2017). A deferred dream: Ending DACA threatens children, families and communities. Pediatrics, 140(2), 1-3. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=c3179c0f-a431-4ddb-90a4-24c34cc6d420%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=126536512&db=c8h

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Step 4                                            Internet Website

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Step 4                                            Internet Website

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This internet website provides information about what DACA is and what it provides for individuals who are eligible. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is an advocate for policies that benefit DACA and undocumented communities ("The Immigrant Resource Legal Center", n.d.).

References
The Immigrant Resource Legal Center, (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ilrc.org/daca

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Despite the Supreme Court decision to reinstate the DACA program, on July 28, 2020, the Trump administration issued a memo indicating USCIS will (1) reject all initial DACA applications; (2) reject all Advance Parole applications from DACA recipients unless there are exceptional circumstances; and (3) shorten the DACA renewal period from 2 years to 1 year. This means that the USCIS will not accept any new DACA initial applications and plans to reject and return all initial applications submitted to date, with filing fee.

Current DACA recipients should continue to renew their cases although their protection under deferred action and work permit will be valid for only one year instead of two. If you have questions about how you or someone you know may be impacted by this announcement, please visit the Ready CA Legal Directory or Immigration Advocates Network Legal Directory.

This is a deeply troubling development as President Trump again outrageously demonstrates his belief that he and his administration are above the law and shows the president's complete disregard for the individuals and communities who are affected by this announcement. Aspects of the memo will likely be subject to legal challenges. Further analysis and updates will be provided as soon as possible. The fight against Trump's anti-immigration agenda continues.

This practice alert provides a brief summary of temporary changes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made in response to COVID-19. Changes include plans for reopening USCIS facilities after suspending all in-person services, including interviews and biometrics appointments, from March 18 to June 3, 2020; automatic extensions for Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent...

On July 28, 2020 the Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum severely restricting the DACA program. Despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision fully reinstating the program, the Trump administration has issued another attack on the program. This community alert gives a brief summary of memorandum and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Implementing Guidance issued on...

On July 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a memorandum instructing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to: 1) reject all initial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) requests from applicants who have not received DACA in the past; 2) reject all advance parole applications from DACA recipients except where there are "exceptional circumstances...

While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on June 18, 2020 should have restored the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in its entirety, a recent announcement by the Trump administration has once again thrown the program and DACA recipients into limbo. This resource goes over frequently asked questions to help orient the community of this new change with DACA program.

In this quick practice update, we alert practitioners to USCIS' publication of its fee schedule final rule, which proposes to drastically increase most fees, eliminate fee waivers for most applicants, and narrow fee waiver criteria, effective October 2, 2020.

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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA/DAPA) | ILRC

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Despite the Supreme Court decision to reinstate the DACA program, on July 28, 2020, the Trump administration issued a memo indicating USCIS will (1) reject all initial DACA applications; (2) reject all Advance Parole applications from DACA recipients unless there are exceptional circumstances; and (3) shorten the DACA renewal period from 2 years to 1 year.

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Step 4                                                   ASU Academic Resource

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The plan to end DACA will affect many immigrant children families, and communities. Uwemedimo, Monterrey, and Linton (2017) state DACA is a positive movement towards comprehensive immigration reform.

References
Uwemedimo, O. T., Monterrey, A. C., & Linton       J. M. (2017). A deferred dream: Ending DACA threatens children, families and communities. Pediatrics, 140(2), 1-3. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=c3179c0f-a431-4ddb-90a4-24c34cc6d420%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=126536512&db=c8h

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Abbreviation:

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?. . . Or does it explode?
Langston Hughes

On June 15, 2012, the Obama administration issued a memorandum providing protection from deportation for a group of immigrant adolescents and young adults who were brought as children to the United States without authorization. This memorandum, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), has to date protected nearly 800 000 of the 1.9 million potentially eligible individuals ( Table 1), including 228 000 children <15 years old who would age into eligibility. Over half of DACA recipients are <21 years old, one-quarter are parents of US-citizen children, and 70% have family members who are US citizens. Although DACA does not provide a permanent lawful immigration status and is only a piece of policy needed to support immigrant families, DACA allows youth to receive Social Security numbers, obtain driver's licenses, seek higher education, and become legally authorized to work. DACA permitted those who consider America their home to finally feel at home. However, on September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced it would end the program. As a result of this decision, nearly 800 000 current DACA beneficiaries and their families now face legal jeopardy, creating a climate of fear and psychological turmoil. Sadness, shock, anger, and opposition have also emanated from communities and professional organizations that value the DACA program and have witnessed the contributions of DACA recipients to our collective prosperity.

Immigration status, including DACA, is a social determinant of health that intersects with other determinants, including access to care, mental health, educational attainment, and poverty. Emerging data reveal the protective benefits of DACA. ⁻ With qualitative findings, researchers have shown that DACA recipients reported increased ability to seek needed medical care because of decreased fear of deportation and higher economic stability. DACA-eligible individuals are nearly 40% less likely to experience moderate-to-severe psychological distress compared with those ineligible for DACA. Similarly, compared with those who have not received DACA, DACA recipients have reported reduced odds of stress, negative emotions (fear, anger, sadness), and worry about the need to leave the United States. In a recent survey of over 3000 DACA recipients, researchers found that the vast majority were employed (91%) and almost half were currently enrolled in school (45%). The positive impact on income-earning potential and attainment of higher educational status suggests that DACA may mitigate poverty for recipients and their families.

DACA also provides major benefits to our economy and society. After receiving DACA, recipients reported opening a bank account, acquiring their first credit card, and obtaining a job with health coverage. They have purchased their first cars and homes, and they have started their own businesses. DACA recipients have pursued professional licenses in education and have attended medical school. Almost 20 000 DACA recipients currently have jobs in the health care industry, including those in residency training programs across the country. In addition, DACA recipients, compared with undocumented immigrants of the same age, are more likely to have white-collar, indoor occupations (such as office and administrative support), whereas the latter were often in more manual, lower-skill occupations.

Just as the benefits of DACA extend far beyond direct beneficiaries, its termination threatens the health and well-being of children, families, and communities. The health disparities experienced by the ∼1 million undocumented immigrant children and adolescents living in the United States (ie, those not enrolled in DACA) allude to the potential impact of ending the program. Parents' unauthorized status creates stress for children that can threaten their health, development, and general well-being. The economic losses would be enormous, with a reduction of an estimated $460 billion in our GDP over the next decade because of lost revenue from employed DACA recipients. States with the highest numbers of DACA recipients, like California and Texas, would be affected most greatly, with estimated losses of $11.6 and $6 billion, respectively.

Pediatricians care for children, regardless of where they or their parents are born. As physicians, we took an oath to "first, do no harm." Now we question the possible harm of having reassured our patients and their families when they shared that they were applying for DACA.

We encourage pediatricians to recognize the powerful impact of family immigration status as a social determinant of health. Identifying legal concerns during visits, including those regarding immigration, can help to start the conversation in a setting often considered a rare "safe space" and reinforces the value of medical-legal partnerships that assist families with immigration concerns. Identifying mental health problems and providing care with referrals can support youth coping strategies and improve their psychological well-being. Connecting families to resources addressing social needs can reduce stress and enhance health outcomes. Making pediatric practices welcoming to all patients, including children in immigrant families, can foster trust in the health care system.

Outside the clinical setting, pediatricians can more broadly engage to support children in immigrant families. Become familiar and collaborate with both national organizations (eg, National Immigration Law Center, Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights) and community-based organizations (eg, public health departments, faith-based organizations, grassroots organizations) that provide families with support and connect them to services. Spread awareness about how immigration policies affect children by writing an editorial and participating in social media. Work with the American Academy of Pediatrics at the state or national level to advocate for change. Lastly, share with elected officials both the evidence supporting DACA and the stories of children in your care whose health is impacted by immigration policy. We encourage pediatricians to urge Congress to support bipartisan legislation that prioritizes family unity, improves health outcomes, mitigates stress, promotes health equity for immigrant youth, and provides a permanent solution to DACA.

DACA is by no means a panacea for recipients or their families. These youth remain ineligible for any federal benefits, including health programs. Recipients still report high levels of stress regarding possible deportation of family members or friends. For some communities, DACA may create divisions between recipients and the ineligible. However, at its core, DACA represents a natural experiment that has proven that immigration policies that transition qualified undocumented individuals toward legal status can promote long-lasting societal and economic benefits, including family unity, general well-being, and economic stability. Therefore, DACA is a critical first step in a movement toward comprehensive immigration reform.

Children should never be used as a political bargaining chip. Ending DACA without a more permanent legislative solution in place has augmented the stress and fear that families with mixed-citizenship status have increasingly faced. Now is the time for pediatricians to take action. We must collectively exercise our privilege as health care professionals to use scientific evidence from DACA to advocate for one common dream: a pathway to legal status that the children and families for whom we care rightfully deserve.

Acknowledgments

We thank Jennifer Nadga, JD, Daniel P. Krowchuk, MD, FAAP, and Tamar Magarik Haro for their thoughtful review of this manuscript.

Footnotes

Accepted September 25, 2017.

Address correspondence to Omolara T. Uwemedimo, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Cohen Children's Medical Center, 269-01 76th Ave, New Hyde Park, NY 11040. E-mail: ouwemedimo{at}northwell.edu

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

FUNDING: No external funding.

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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A Dream Deferred: Ending DACA Threatens Children, Families, and Communities

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Abbreviation: DACA - : Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals > What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?. . . Or does it explode?

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Step 1                        My Professional Perspective

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Hello, My name is Maria Gomez and I am currently working towards my Guidance and Counseling degree and plan to graduate in May 2019.

My goal is to become a high school counselor and assist students with the necessary resources for college readiness. I am particulary interested in helping first generation, DACA, and undocumented students attend college. I want to assist them along the way as they navigate new opportunities and experiences.

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Step 3             Reason for Selecting DACA

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The reason I selected the article related to DACA recipients is because this is an important issue that needs to be addressed for the better good of these students. These recipients have to go through numerous background checks for eligibility and are following all guidelines to stay protected. As an educator, I have the responsibility to help these students in the best way possible in order to make sure that they have a secure positive future.

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Step 2                       Option 3                     Inside Higher Education                            NYC Debate

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Step 2                       Option 3                     Inside Higher Education                            NYC Debate

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A trending news piece calls for more diversity and the abolishment of a testing system used to admit students into three of the most prestigious high schools in New York City (Jaschik, 2018). Bill de Blasio mayor of NYC, proposes a new policy in order to allow more black and Latinos into those schools and not base admission solely on the specialized high school admission test, but rather middles school grades, state testing, and other factors (Jaschik, 2018). He states that there is a lack of equal opportunity for all students.

References
Jaschick, S. (2018, June 4). Who should get in? Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/06/04/new-york-city-mayor-sets-new-debate-testing-admissions-and-diversity

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The next big battle over affirmative action may not be in college admissions. On Friday, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio proposed abolishing the system used to admit students to three public high schools in his city that are among the best in the country: Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical School and Stuyvesant High School. The three schools (and several others in New York City) currently base admissions entirely on scores on a standardized test. That system results in student bodies that are largely Asian-American and that have very few black and Latino students, even though the latter groups make up two-thirds of the city's population.

The debate de Blasio set off may affect not only the high schools (which regularly send graduates to the best colleges in the country) but also larger questions over the role of testing and of diversity in education. De Blasio needs legislative approval for his plans -- and politicians and educators are already lining up on both sides.

In an essay for the education news website, de Blasio wrote, "Right now, we are living with monumental injustice. The prestigious high schools make 5,000 admissions offers to incoming ninth-graders. Yet, this year just 172 black students and 298 Latino students received offers. This happened in a city where two out of every three eighth-graders in our public schools are Latino or black. There's also a geographic problem. There are almost 600 middle schools citywide. Yet, half the students admitted to the specialized high schools last year came from just 21 of those schools. For a perfect illustration of disparity: Just 14 percent of students at Bronx Science come from the Bronx. Can anyone defend this? Can anyone look the parent of a Latino or black child in the eye and tell them their precious daughter or son has an equal chance to get into one of their city's best high schools? Can anyone say this is the America we signed up for?"

The Specialized High School Admissions Test should be scrapped, de Blasio said. He said that it should be replaced with admissions based on middle school grades, state tests and other factors. Such a system, he predicted, would result in notable gains in the number of black and Latino students in the most competitive high schools. (The specialized test has two sections, English/language arts and mathematics. The latter section covers domains of equations and expressions, geometry, number systems, ratio and proportional relationships, and statistics and probability. More information on the test may be found here.)

He also raised questions about the fairness of a test for which wealthy parents (and plenty who are not wealthy but who spend anyway) hire tutors and coaching services. Indeed the same companies known for tutoring on the SAT also offer services on the SHSAT, as the high school test is called. The Princeton Review offers tutoring at $167 an hour. Kaplan offers courses at $999 and packages for in-depth tutoring starting at $2,599. Many other services -- more or less costly -- are also available.

Many parents are proud of sending their children to test prep, and many services cater to Asian families. De Blasio seemed concerned in his essay about offending such parents, writing, "I'd like to stop and say, I admire the many families who scrape and save to pay for test prep. They are trying in every way to support their children. But let's ask ourselves: Why should families who can ill afford test prep have to spend their money on it? Why should families who can easily afford test prep have an advantage over those that cannot?"

The word "Asian" does not appear in de Blasio's essay announcing that he wants to kill the SHSAT. But a subtext of all the discussion is that Asian-Americans, on average, do so well on the test that they make up large majorities of students at the most competitive high schools, despite making up less than 12 percent of the city's population. Consider the following table on enrollment at Stuyvesant High School. The data are from the New York State Department of Education.
Stuyvesant High School Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity, 2017
Notably, many students at Stuyvesant are low income. Thirty-four percent are eligible for free lunch and another 12 percent are eligible for reduced-price lunches.

While the New York high schools base admission solely on the single test, other elite public high schools -- with broader admissions criteria -- also enroll majority Asian student bodies. Consider Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Northern Virginia, which is regularly called the best high school in the United States and which is also criticized for a lack of diversity.

The school requires applicants to take an admissions test. But those who score at certain levels and have specified middle school grades are then asked to turn in essays, teacher recommendations and information about their activities. The region Thomas Jefferson serves is 19 percent Asian, and more than two-thirds of the students admitted are Asian-American. The share of the local black population is 10 percent, but less than 2 percent of students at Thomas Jefferson are black.

Critics of affirmative action in higher education regularly note the exemplary test scores and grades, on average, of Asian-American students and say that based on those statistics, the share of Asian enrollments should be higher than it is. College admissions officials note that under holistic admissions, no students are admitted based solely on test scores, and that those rejected -- of all races and ethnicities -- include numerous applicants with perfect grades and test scores.

Admissions experts say that simply comparing average test scores is simplistic. The Trump administration is currently investigating Harvard University's admissions system, apparently looking for discrimination against Asian-American applicants.

Many alumni of the specialized high schools in New York City back the use of the test that got them in. They write about the high schools as a meritocracy that encourages academic achievement and that prevents those with connections from winning slots, which are all awarded based on the test scores. "As a result, students learn that the best way to get ahead is through hard work -- even if that means long nights and coffee in the morning. Abolishing the test would cause a substantial change to this culture," says an essay in The Huffington Post.

The essay also argued that focusing on total Asian enrollments ignores the way numerous groups of immigrants (from different countries and with different experiences) are succeeding in the schools. "Specialized high schools promote social mobility and allow immigrants to climb the 'social ladder' and achieve the American dream. When European Jews were immigrating to the United States in the mid-late 1900s, they made up the majority of each class. Today, students from Chinese, Korean, Indian and Pakistani immigrant families fill Stuyvesant classes. Abolishing the SHSAT would displace deserving, hardworking students in order to fill diversity quotas," the essay said.

But de Blasio, in his essay outlining his plan, said that it's time for new definitions of merit -- and to bring more black and Latino students into these high schools.

"Anyone who tells you this is somehow going to lower the standard at these schools is buying into a false and damaging narrative. It's a narrative that traps students in a grossly unfair environment, asks them to live with the consequences, and actually blames them for it. This perpetuates a dangerous and disgusting myth," wrote the mayor. "So let me be clear. The new system we're fighting for will raise the bar at the specialized high schools in every way. The pool of talent is going to expand widely and rapidly. That's going to up the level of competition. The students who emerge from the new process will make these schools even stronger."

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New York City mayor sets off new debate on testing, admissions and diversity

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The next big battle over affirmative action may not be in college admissions. On Friday, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio proposed abolishing the system used to admit students to three public high schools in his city that are among the best in the country: Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical School and Stuyvesant High School.

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Teacher unions and school boards are teaming up together to address political issues concerning DACA
(Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients. They are joining together for the welfare of these students whose lives are in jeopardy if the Trump Administration decides to cancel the policy (Harper, 2018).

References
Harper, A. (2018, January 30). School boards, teacher unions team up to fight DACA changes. Education Dive. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/school-boards-teachers-unions-team-up-to-fight-daca-changes/515771/

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Some school districts are hoping to bolster their political power by working with unions to address political issues such as how to help students who may be impacted by recent changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, District Administration reports.

This is an example of a new trend toward collective bargaining "for the common good" which addresses larger issues beyond wages and benefits in an effort to improve the lives of students.

However, in some states, an adversarial relationship still exists between unions and school boards, which makes collaboration on larger issues difficult.

Dive Insight:

The DACA issue has proved to be a lightning rod that has attracted interests from groups that would normally be in opposition and has sparked new conversations about student welfare. This effect has been seen outside of the school community as well. Santa Clara County has joined with Service Employees International Union Local 521 in filing suit against the Trump administration over the cancellation of the DACA program. This marks the first joint lawsuit against the DACA elimination by a municipality and a labor union.

The relationship between school boards and teachers' unions has long been tenuous. Unions assert that they benefit schools by supporting teachers' rights and by improving teacher professionalism. They also argue that their agendas increase students' chances of success in the long run. Critics say the power of unions subverts the democratic process and put the interests of teachers ahead of the interests of students.

However, the DACA issue is an example of how teachers' unions and school boards can Teacher Union Reform Network issued a work together around common issues. In December, the California Teachers Association joined 14 other educational entities and organizations "to file an amicus brief on behalf of plaintiffs in lawsuits filed in federal court against the Trump administration's decision to rescind DACA. The coalition includes NEA, the California School Boards Association, the California Faculty Association, numerous individual school districts, county offices of education, unions and other organizations." Whether there is enough strength in numbers to affect the issue remains to be seen. There have also been examples of unions working with school district leaders on budget, instructional and teacher effectiveness issues. In October, the report highlighting this work in an effort to change the perception of unions.

Top image credit: Sue Peacock

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School boards, teachers unions team up to fight DACA changes

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Some school districts are hoping to bolster their political power by working with unions to address political issues such as how to help students who may be impacted by recent changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, District Administration reports.