A Neighborhood Planning Newsletter Published by Action Langley Park
Issue 356, February 2015
Money Matters
1. Funding Local Schools
Governor Larry Hogan has
proposed cutting $144 million
from the budge for Maryland’s
schools. In Baltimore City alone,
there will be a $35.5 million cut.
The Maryland ACLU indicates
that the impact will be...
 Loss of thousands of Maryland teachers and
support staff in schools.
 Loss of over 400 teachers in Baltimore City
schools (2-4 elementary teachers, 3-6 high
school teachers per school).
 Larger class sizes.
 Loss of summer school and after school programs.
Let’s hope that the cut will be smaller or not
at all. We need more money, not less, if Maryland is to maintain and hopefully increase the
quality of its schools. We’re comparatively good
nationally but internationally is a different story.
2. Funding Homeland Security
Republicans, bowing to the right-wing conservatives who dictate so
much within that party, insisted on funding the department
only through the end of February so that they could force
cancelling the President’s
executive actions curtailing
deportations for many undocumented immigrants. Senate Democrats are demanding a
“clean” bill that does not defeat the executive
actions. No bill threatens the lives of millions of
immigrants, with or without papers. How will
this end? How cruel can congressmen be?
3. Funding the Purple Line
The State of Maryland needs to contribute
quite a few dollars to the construction of the
Purple Line. If not, then the project is probably
dead, at least in the short term. The $2.4 billion
needed for the light-rail line from Bethesda to
New Carrollton via Langley Park gets $600 million from private investment, $900 million from
the federal government, and the rest from state
and local governments. Supporters claim the
project will generate more money than the cost
because there will
be economic development along
the route, including of course lots
of economic development at the
New Hampshire
Avenue and Riggs
Road intersections with University Boulevard.
Key to state funding is the gasoline tax scheduled to be phased in, but new Governor Hogan
talks about freezing that tax at current rates rather than accepting the increase currently on the
books. The difference is about three billion dollars! This surely is going to be a big battle.
Wallace Loh, University of Maryland College
Park president, said the university needs the
Purple Line to move ahead. “We at the University
of Maryland are all in for the Purple Line. If we
want the flagship university to ascend in the
ranks of the greatest public universities in this
country, attract the best faculty and the best students, to grow the research that leads to jobs,
and economic development, and growth, then
we need the Purple Line.” (We will try to find out
the basis of his somewhat remarkable statement.)
Note: Those favoring the construction are planning a big rally on March
9 at 6 Bladen Street in Annapolis. The time is 5 to 8 p.m.
2
News & Notes
The Hospital
According to County Council Chairman Mel
Franklin, Hogan has backed out of a memorandum
of understanding between the state, Prince
George’s County and the University of Maryland
Medical Center, resulting in a loss of $15 million in
funding for the Prince George’s Hospital.
Franklin said the funds were intended to help
keep Prince George’s Hospital operational until the
Regional Medical Center is built. Per the agreement, the county would match that funding and
UMS would operate the center. However, according to Franklin, that money has been removed from
the budget and will not be restored until the Regional Medical Center project gets finished.
Source: Sentinel, 11 February 2015
The Graduation Gap
Montgomery County just let go its schools superintendent. One reason was the continuing gap
between Euro-Asian and
Graduation
2011 2014
Latino/a-Black students.
Let’s look at some MoCo Latino/a 75.3 80
scores. The gap de- MoCo Euro
93.9 95.2
clined and both groups’ MoCo GAP
18.6 15.2
scores improved.
What about Prince
76.7 68.8
George’s
C o u n t y ? PG Latino/a
There, the gap slightly PG Euro
86.2 79.6
increased, and the grad- PG GAP
9.5 10.8
uation rates of the two
comparison groups declined—steadily from 2011
to 2014. Note: African-American students showed
the same steady decline.
Source: mdreportcard.org
America and the Other
A few days ago, three young Muslims, including a
newly-wed couple, were shot dead in their home in a
North Carolina neighborhood near the University of
North Carolina campus where they went to school.
A 46-year-old Euro-American man, identified by police as Craig Stephen Hicks, has been charged with
three counts of first degree murder. He shot all three
victims in the head.
An ongoing parking dispute between neighbors is
said to have led to the shooting deaths. Yes, contested
parking can happen. But were the three shot in part because the victims were different (the ”other”) and the
murderer could not tolerate the difference in his Euro
world? Perhaps they dressed differently or spoke differently or there was some other distinction? We know that
skin color can make a difference and style of speech
can make a difference; such differences can perhaps
explain some of the bias in our country against so-called
people of color. No need to review the recent policeblack incidents here. Another sad day.
Quinceañero
In Langley Park
Teen Girls ages 14 to 15
years of age will have the opportunity to experience a
unique program that teaches
leadership skills, etiquette,
community engagement, and
possibly the only opportunity
to
celebrate
their
“Quinceañero”. Sponsors and
Mentors are needed for this
program.
Want to serve as a mentor? Want to support a
girl’s registration fee?
Your contribution of $75.00 dollars will cover a
girl’s registration fee for the 12 week program. You can make a difference in a girl's
life. The organizers are counting on positive replies! If you are interested in serving as a mentor
or sponsoring a girl’s registration, please contact
Lourdes Sulc or Nydia Ocasio at the Langley Park
Community Center: 301 445-4508.
Want a Job?
Most of us want to have a job to achieve pride of
task and to have money to purchase what is needed and more. What should one do? Networking
helps, but a better education is a good ticket.
Check out the unemployment rates by education
(below). Those with a college degree are under 3%
unemployed; those without a high school diploma
are over 8%!
3
Americans Support Obama’s Executive Actions
Results just released by the Religion Research Institute finds that Americans—and Republicans, the controlling party in Congress!—have very different
priorities on immigration than what is playing out now on Capitol Hill.
According to the poll, 85% of Democrats, 73% of independents and 62% of
Republicans say immigration reform legislation should be the higher priority for
the GOP, above overturning Obama's immigration executive actions. Overall,
close to three fourths of Americans say the same.
Less than a fifth of the population opposes the goals of Obama's immigration
executive actions. Yet that is what is holding up funding of the Department of
Homeland Security.
Source: NBC News, 12 February 2015
The office of Senator Victor Ramirez will be hosting a Triple Play event on Sunday, February 15th @
1:45pm. This seminar will teach new home buyers how to take advantage of County money to help with
the purchase of a new house. Spanish translators will be provided. The program gives eligible homebuyers in Prince Georges County incredible financial incentives that put homeownership within reach.
MMP Triple Play gives you more buying power and makes it easier for your family to make the move.
Learn how to take advantage of up to $20,000 in down payment assistance.
The PG Groove
“The county is not likely
to get its groove back
until there are further
reductions in crime and
vast improvements in
the public schools, especially
elementary
schools.” Clearly there
are improvements, but
more are needed.
Quote Source: Courtland Milloy
in The Washington Post, 10
February 2015
Books for Kids
Books For
Kids Day
will be on
Saturday ,
May 2nd
from
9
a.m. to 2
p.m. rain
or shine!
So it is
time
to
start book
drives and help children all
over Maryland get the books
they need to be successful in
life and school. Visit the
effort’s web site at
www.Marylandbookbank.org
where there is information
about the event, directions
on how to do a book drive,
and the new event flyer to
use for local drives.
B Barrio de Langley
Park is published by
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you’d like to contribƵƚĞŶĞǁ Ɛ Žƌ ĂŶ ĂƌƟĐůĞ͕ ƐĞŶĚŝƚƚŽĂĐƟŽŶůĂŶŐůĞLJͲ
[email protected].
If
you’d like to have copies
sent directly to you (or a
colleague or friend) via
ĞŵĂŝůĂƩ ĂĐŚŵĞŶƚ͕ ůĞƚƵƐ
know at that same email
address.
4
Decrease in Incarceration and Crime
Source: The Atlantic, 11 February 2015
Mistreating Those Escaping Horror
What happens when people escape violence by entering
the USA? Do we greet these refugees with warm arms? Often not, as the below segments of a long New York Times
article reveal—lightly edited.
A door in the back [of a detention building] opened to
reveal dozens of young women and children huddled together. Many were gaunt and malnourished, with dark circles
under their eyes. “The kids were really sick” [a lawyer,
Christina Brown, said]. “A lot of the moms were holding
them in their arms, even the older kids — holding them like
babies, and they’re screaming and crying, and some of
them are lying there listlessly.”
Brown took a seat at a desk, and a guard brought a
woman to meet her. Brown asked the woman in Spanish
how she ended up in detention. The woman explained that
she had to escape from her home in El Salvador when gangs
targeted her family. “Her husband had just been murdered,
and she and her kids found his body,” Brown recalls. “After
he was murdered, the gang started coming after her and
threatening to kill her.” Brown agreed to help the woman
apply for political asylum in the United States, explaining
that it might be possible to pay a small bond and then live
with friends or relatives while she waited for an asylum
hearing. When the woman returned to the back room,
Brown met with another, who was fleeing gangs in Guatemala. Then she met another young woman, who fled violence in Honduras. “They were all just breaking down,”
Brown said. “They were telling us that they were afraid to go
home. They were crying, saying they were scared for themselves and their children. It was a constant refrain: ‘I’ll die
if I go back.’ ”
The explosion of violence in Central America is often
described in the language of war, cartels, extortion and
gangs, but none of these capture the chaos overwhelming
the region. Four of the five highest murder rates in the world
are in Central American nations. The collapse of these
countries is among the greatest humanitarian disasters of
our time. While criminal organizations like the 18th Street
Gang and Mara Salvatrucha exist as street gangs in the
United States, in large parts of Honduras, Guatemala and
El Salvador they are so powerful and pervasive that they
have supplanted the government altogether. People who
run afoul of these gangs — which routinely demand money
on threat of death and sometimes kidnap young boys to
serve as soldiers and young girls as sexual slaves — may
have no recourse to the law and no better option than to
flee. ...
“Gaunt kids, moms crying, they’re losing hair, up all
night,” an attorney named Maria Andrade recalled. Another, Lisa Johnson-Firth, said: “I saw children who were malnourished and were not adapting.”
Note: The administration has been closing the Artesia
center, moving the occupants to detention elsewhere.
Source: New York Times, 8 February 2015
5
Help for Small Business Owners
February 17
Starting February 17, a series of free classes, training,
and one-on-one coaching for small business owners
in the Purple Line corridor will be offered at CASA
de Maryland in partnership with the Maryland Small
Business and Technology Resource Center (based at
UMCP), and the MD Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. Ready to Succeed will provide
first-class business training and specialized coaching to strengthen small businesses them and make
them more efficient in preparation for the Purple
Line. Classes, workshops and coaching will be
offered in English & Spanish, in the morning and
evening, to make it convenient to attend. Businesses that complete all of the training
and take advantage of the one-on-one consulting
will be certified Purple Line Skills Preferred, and
receive a certificate. They may qualify for additional
support, such as legal workshops sponsored by
Prince George's County. Classes will be held at
CASA, 8151 15th Avenue, Langley Park. For more information, contact Alma Couverthie at 240-460-7330
Expanded DACA
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will
begin accepting requests for expanded DACA on
February 18, 2015. There is a lot of information about
the program at http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/
consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivalsprocess/frequently-asked-questions. Of course, the
DHS funding fight is going to make serving immigrants easier or harder.
Tax Credit for Renters
Did you know that there is a tax credit in Maryland
for many of those who rent? The Renter’s Tax Credit
is available to those who are 60 or older, or disabled, or if younger than 60 have a dependent child
18 or younger in the home. Those who receive rental
assistance, such as Section 8, are not eligible. The
deadline to apply is September 1. Applications are
available at libraries, state agencies, and at http://
www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/rtc.html.
W hat
+
When
Here welistupcoming ALPactivitiesandothereventsthatarecalledtoour
attention. Have an event to list? If so, send information well in advance to
[email protected].
2015
• February 17—Tribute to Jose Emilio Pacheco, 6:45
p.m. at the Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th St.
NW.
• February 17—Help for small business owners offered by CASA with the county and UMCP. For more
information, contact Alma Couverthie, 240-460-7330
or [email protected].
• February 20—Black Orpheus screens at American
University, 7 p.m. Doyle-Forman theater.
• February 27—Central Station screens at American
University, 7 p.m., Doyle-Forman theater.
• March 5—Organizing for Power and Workers’
Rights in the 21st Century, organized by the Center
for the History of the New America at the U. of Maryland, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gustavo Torres is one of the
afternoon speakers. Call the Center for details at
301.405.4265.
• March 9—Rally for transit at Annapolis, 5-8 p.m.
Information at http://ow.ly/lPhvZ
• April 26—Langley Park’s Clean Up Green Up.
• May 3—Langley Park Day 2015, noon to 4 p.m.
Music, dance, food, games, a health fair, and more.
Want to help? Let us know. Note: before the festival, there will be a 5 or 3k race starting (tentatively)
at 8:30 a.m.
• May 30-31—Washington Folk Festival at Glen
Echo
• June 4—Crossroads Famers Market reopens.
• September 22-23—Pope Francis expected to visit
Washington D.C.
Attention health professionals: The health fairs in Langley Park, which take
place in November and May, always need health professionals with special
screening and/or consultation skills. Can you and will you help? If yes, let us
knowat: [email protected].
Vaccinate Your Children
For their welfare and the welfare of others.
Health Insurance: February 15 Is Last Day!!!
Yes, to obtain health insurance with some financial
help from the government, the last day is almost
upon us. To get the insurance, call 1-855-642-8572 or
go to MarylandHealthConnection.gov or connect
with free local help: http://bit.ly/1DJq2fw.
Parents in Maryland have the right to opt out of vaccinating their children. (A pandering mistake, we think.)
But those rules would go out the window if there's an
emergency measles outbreak. Maryland allows medical
and religious exemptions to vaccines, but could revoke
those exemptions in an emergency. Don’t listen to irrational people. Vaccinate!!!