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News from Greater Cleveland Congregations
EDUCATION TEAM:
After four weeks of research and deliberation involving hundreds of conversations with parents, students, teachers, administrators, and others connected to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, GCC announced its support for Mayor Jackson’s Education reform legislation in a Plain Dealer op-ed. [Read more...]
Greater Cleveland Congregations supports the legislation agreed upon by Mayor Frank Jackson and the Cleveland Teachers Union to reform the Cleveland School District, and urges the Ohio General Assembly to pass it in its current form. Click here to read the entire op-ed from Friday’s Plain Dealer authored by GCC co-chairs: the Very Rev. Tracey Lind; Rabbi Joshua Caruso of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood; and Rev. Jawanza Colvin, pastor of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland.
Debate in Columbus on the legislation (House Bill 525) has begun and GCC encourages Trinity members to write letters to our state representatives and senators encouraging them to support this legislation without any additional changes. [Read more...]
Members of Trinity’s Greater Cleveland Congregations Education team visit this Sunday’s Dean’s Forum at 10:10 a.m. to discuss education reform plans in Cleveland. Teachers, administrators, students and parents involved in the Cleveland school district are especially welcome.
On Tuesday, April 17 at 7 p.m., the GCC education team will host a meeting as a follow-up to the forum. All are welcome to attend. Questions? Contact the Rev. Canon Will Mebane.
On Sunday, April 29 from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Trinity’s Greater Cleveland Congregations Criminal Justice team will hold a write-a-thon. Stop by and write a letter or postcard to legislators and the governor demanding an immediate moratorium on executions in the State of Ohio. Pre-addressed postcards, stationery and pens will be provided. Computers with internet access and printers will also be available, so that you may look up legislator information as needed and also print out your letters, if you prefer to type them rather than write them out by hand. For more information, contact the Rev. Canon Will Mebane.
Tuesday, Feb. 28, 7 – 9 p.m.
First Unitarian Church
21600 Shaker Blvd., Shaker Heights, 44122
Panelists and topics include:
Atty. James Hardiman (ACLU & NAACP) – a legal history in Ohio from desegregation, to DeRolph, and beyond
Piet van Lier (Policy Matters Ohio) – the fiscal state of education in Ohio (“alarming levels of fiscal distress at districts across the state“) [Read more...]
7-9 p.m. at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple (23737 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood)
The March 6 primary election for the position of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor is of great importance to Greater Cleveland Congregations’ goal for fair and equal treatment of all persons in all aspects of the criminal justice system. Bill Mason, current County Prosecutor, is retiring and five candidates—Subodh Chandra, James McDonnell, Tim McGinty, Robert Triozzi and Stephanie Hall—are running for the open seat.
At GCC’s County Prosecutor Candidate Accountability Action meeting on Feb. 20, GCC members will ask the candidates to commit to improving the way the office handles crucial issues in the criminal justice system. The GCC Criminal Justice Team has identified the following issues of concern which are directly influenced by the County Prosecutor:
Greater Cleveland Congregations assembly on Dec. 8 celebrated the tentative contract agreement between the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the Cleveland Teachers Union. More than 800 people (including 106 from Trinity) packed the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church to show their support in reversing the proposed $13 million education cuts that would have impacted spring sports, pre-school and more. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, CMSD Superintendent Eric Gordon and CTU President David Quolke all attended. Although it was a celebratory event, the work is not done. Next year, Cleveland schools face another $66 million budget deficit. To learn more and get involved, contact Bruce Freeman, Janet Pearce or the Rev. Canon Will Mebane. Learn more about GCC here.
Media coverage of the Dec. 8 assembly included: The Plain Dealer, News Channel 5, Channel 3 and Fox 8.
Adrian Griffin, Northern Ohio Organizer for Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) will visit Trinity on Tuesday, Jan. 17 from 7–9 p.m. All individuals engaged in GCC Criminal Justice Issue/Action Teams are invited to be briefed on the death penalty in Ohio. Griffin will give context about where we are in Ohio with our death penalty system (including legislation currently in the State Legislature); how we compare to other states; walk through some of the issues that frequently come up with the death penalty such as its often negative impact on murder victims’ family members, costs, innocence, and disparities with how it’s carried out in terms of race/class/geography. She will entertain questions from members of the Criminal Justice Issue/Action teams and suggest possible actions that can be organized within individual congregations, by GCC and/or in concert with OTSE. For more information, contact the Rev. Canon Will Mebane.
Trinity’s Greater Cleveland Congregations’ Food Accessibility team meets Sunday, Jan. 22 at 12:3o p.m. in the second-floor board room. Anyone interested in the issue is welcome to attend. Questions? Contact Sandy Luther.
Trinity members who are educators, parents of Sunday school children, volunteers at Marion-Sterling or otherwise passionate about improving education in the greater Cleveland area are invited to the GCC Trinity Education Team meeting on Sept. 8 from 6-8 p.m. Meet in the choir room to discuss: what are the key issues in education in the Cleveland area at this time; potential solutions; and what solutions can have an important, and possibly immediate, impact. Let David Crampton or Jim Pearce know if you plan to attend. If you are unable to attend, but would like to meet with either, feel free to reach out to them and offer your input.
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