Improving the Odds of Government Accountability in the Disaster-Prone Era: Using the 9/11 Fund Factors to Remedy the Problem of Toxic Katrina Trailers

This article analyzes the dangers surrounding the toxicity levels in the trailers issued to Katrina survivors by FEMA, and identifies serious medical complications stemming from the temporary homes. Lack of government oversight in the process led to the distribution of formaldehyde-laced trailers that cost the government more than $2 billion and continue to poison residents years after the storm. Furthermore, the failures connected to disaster relief are even more disturbing in this disaster-prone era. More importantly, this paper also proposes the creation of a Toxic Trailer Fund to compensate residents of toxic FEMA trailers. Using the factors implicitly established by the 9/11 Fund – the national perspective, the uniqueness of the circumstances, the need for physical and psychological closure and the prompt and predictable alternative to litigation – this article makes an argument for providing relief to toxic trailer residents. First, this fund is demanded to redress compounded government harms. Further, this fund will serve the important principle of good government by strengthening government accountability

Una sociabilidad etílica popular en el umbral del siglo XXI: beber en las fiestas de Bayona (Francia, 1990-2005)

Analizamos una sociabilidad etílica que se practicaba en el marco de las fiestas de Bayona (Francia, Pirineo-Atlántico) en el umbral del siglo XXI. Más allá de su originalidad, el conjunto de prácticas populares que la caracterizaba permite reflexiones sobre las funciones sociales del beber y de las dinámicas de las identidades grupales.We analyse an alcoholic sociability that occurred in the framework of the Bayonne festival (France, Atlantic Pyrenees) on the verge of the Twenty-First Century. Beyond its originality, the whole of practices that were characteristic of it allows thinking about the social functions of the drinking but also the dynamics of the group identities

The Relationship Between English Learners’ English Language Proficiency and High Stakes Assessments in Virginia

Due to increases in immigration patterns, U.S. schools face many challenges when educating this fast-growing minority immigrant population who confront many social, cultural, economic, and linguistic obstacles. Lack of English proficiency, in many instances, impedes this newly arrived group from fully integrating and participating within societal contexts. Children of immigrants have the dichotomous task of learning academic content and demonstrating subject knowledge on high stakes assessments while learning English as a new language. English Learners, Hispanics in particular, are twice as likely to drop out of school. Dropout rates create accountability issues for schools in the U.S. that have experienced a dramatic increase in the number of English Learners they service. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if there was a statistical relationship between English Learners’ English proficiency levels and high stakes reading test scores in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The researcher analyzed the relationship between these two variables for 2017 and 2018. A convenience sample of 324 secondary English Learners and Former English Learners was collected from three school divisions in the southeast of Virginia. A Pearson’s r was used to test Null One. The results for Null Hypothesis One were r (162) = .475, p = .000. A Spearman rho rank correlation coefficient was used to test Null Two. The results for Null Hypothesis Two were rho (162) = 0.563, p = 0.000. The correlation described the direction and strength of the relationship between two high stakes assessments. The Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English state-to-state for English Language Learners or ACCESS for ELLs test is used to measure English proficiency levels and the Reading Standards of Learning test measures academic performance in reading skills in English. Based on the research findings, the results of the study may be used to inform decisions on instruction, best practices, targeted professional development opportunities for teachers, and policy changes to support English Learners in the mainstream classroom

Social Distancing as a Privilege: Assessing the Impact of Structural Disparities on the COVID-19 Crisis in the Black Community

There is a harsh reality for people living with the COVID-19 restrictions in the same city. Though the virus has been called an equal opportunity threat, the truth is that it has had a deadly, disproportionate impact on Black and Brown people. The COVID-19 pandemic has crushed communities of color. Among Black Americans, who make up around 13% of the U.S. population, the COVID-19 infection and death rate are disproportionally high. To curb the spread of this infectious disease, the CDC has advanced simple advice: apply social distancing guidelines. Social distancing (physical distancing) requires people to keep at least six feet from other people who are not in the same household. Though social distancing is an effective tool to help curb the spread of COVID-19, this simple mitigation strategy is not available to everyone. What is worse, the availability of social distancing measures at home or work often falls along racial lines. Structural racism has even impacted the ability of Black people to implement this simple mitigation strategy. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare in several significant ways the structural inequities that grip Black Americans, even exacerbating the impact of a global pandemic. An expansive array of short-term and long-term proposals have been explored to address the disparate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community. This Article proposes the inclusion of mandatory racial equity impact assessments into the COVID-19 response efforts. Recent federal action is one important step toward explicitly assessing race equity goals in response efforts, but mandatory assessments focused on racial equity are needed in the planning stage to minimize unintended racialized outcomes. Anti-racist solutions must be embraced to close the gap in these structural inequities that leave Black Americans more exposed to COVID-19. To ensure that social distancing and other mitigation strategies are equally available, both federal and state governments should be required to assess the racial equity implications for COVID-19 response efforts. Lawmakers must continue to expand the reach of COVID-19 relief efforts to explicitly acknowledge race and minimize unintended, racialized, negative outcomes. A consistent, deliberate acknowledgement of race in crafting response measures is needed to create equitable, sustainable corrections

Exclusión, poder y relaciones Sociales

This article inquires about the relationship between social exclusion, social relations and power. Presents a discussion about the concept of social exclusion, the idea of ​​interface analysis and culture.El presente artículo indaga acerca de las relaciones entre la exclusión social, las relaciones sociales y el poder. Se presenta una discusión acerca del concepto de exclusión social, la idea del análisis de interfaz y la cultura