F E B R U A R Y
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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE
ANNOUNCEMENTS .
VOTE AT THE EDISON LIBRARY – California
election laws have changed this year with the aim of making it easier to vote. In addition to California’s robust absentee voter system (mail in your ballot), the State has established four-day and 11-day voting centers in some counties (including Los Angeles County). The Library at Edison has been designated as a Four-Day Voting Center and will be open for voting from February 29 - March 2 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and on election day March 3 from 7:00 am – 8:00 pm. Another important change is that registered voters in Los Angeles County who want to vote in person at the polls are no longer restricted to the precinct polling place closest to your home. As long as you are registered to vote, you can vote at any Voting Center in Los Angeles County. Which means that parents and others who are registered voters (by February 18) can choose to vote at Edison. And, if you are voting on the weekend or before or after school, you can take your children with you into the library and give them a first-hand look at how voting works. If you need to register, you can do so on line at: https://www.lavote.net/home/votingelections/voter-education/what-to-dobefore-an-election/register-to-vote.
VALENTINES DANCE -A heartfelt thank you
to all the many families who volunteered and contributed and to the PTA Board and event chair Judy Tobar Lerner for a wonderful evening! It would be hard to say who had the most fun – students or families!
Wednesday, February 12 ELAC Meeting 8:30-10:00 am
With the Edison library being chosen as a VOTING CENTER for the March 3 election, we have a unique opportunity to give our children a first-hand look at how voting works. it’s also a good time to teach students about the history of voting rights in the United States and the importance of voting in a democracy. It’s hard for elections to be representative when nearly half the eligible electorate doesn’t vote. The social justice standards call for students to learn about people and organizations who have fought to make things fair and just – and that includes access to the right to vote. Extending voting rights to all Americans has been a long and hard fight -one that is still going on today. People have worked as individuals and groups to organize, petition, picket, march, file lawsuits, amend the Constitution, and organize voter registration and education drives. Many have also been arrested and in some cases have lost their lives because of their efforts to extend the right to vote to all US citizens. In 1789, voting in the US was limited to White men over 21 years of age who owned property or who paid taxes (about 6% of the population). In 1790 free White males born outside the US could become naturalized citizens and vote. Between 1792–1856, property qualifications were abolished, but only for White men. Then religious tests for White male voters were eliminated. The 14th Amendment (in 1868) extended citizenship to all men born or naturalized in the US and the 15th Amendment (in 1870) prohibited states from denying the right to vote on grounds of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” But the Supreme Court left the interpretation of voting rights law up to the states and former Confederate states used poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and other discriminatory measures to keep the vote from Black males. Not until 1920 (only 100 years ago!) did all US women gain the right to vote. Voting was extended to Native Americans in 1923, to Chinese American citizens in 1943, to 18-21 year-olds in 1971, and to residents of Washington DC in 1973 (presidential elections only). US Citizens in Puerto Rico still have no vote in national elections. Many, many people in the US have worked to extend voting rights to all US citizens. Do you know about the contributions to voting rights of: Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucrecia Mott, Lucy Stone, Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Carey Chapman Catt, Medgar Evers, John Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, Rosa Parks, Michael Doar, Nicholas Katzenbach, Willie Velasquez or Dr. Hector P. Garcia? It’s a good time to learn about people who made it their life’s work so all citizens can vote. ¡Su voto es su voz!
Wednesday, February 12 Site Council Meeting 4:00-6:00 pm
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Monday, February 17 Presidents’ Day Holiday NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, February 19 PTA Association Meeting 8:30 am Library
