Thirty years later, an antidote to NAFTA

By Ben Jealous

Thirty years ago, my university suspended me for leading a protest against a research lab that the school wanted to put in the Audubon Ballroom where Malcolm X was assassinated. The plans ignored both that history and the neighbors in Harlem who would be exposed to risks from biomedical and environmental waste.

I spent months crisscrossing the country speaking out against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for the Student Environmental Action Coalition. Our message was simple—killing jobs and the environment were far too high a price to pay to boost regional trade. They called us “Chicken Little” for saying that the deal would make the U.S. weaker and would poison the earth quicker.

Since January, I’ve been to many of the same places—Alabama, Illinois, New York, Washington and Wisconsin among them. In all those states, I’ve felt the pain of being proven right. Everything we warned in 1993 would happen has. And worse.

Tens of thousands of plants here were shuttered while plants spring up overseas. Too often, those new plants opened where there was the least environmental regulation and outside North America. We saw the impact of this loss of manufacturing capacity two years ago when we couldn’t produce ventilators and protective equipment at the start of COVID-19. NAFTA created legal backdoors that allowed polluters to challenge environmental policies outside of our courts. It tied Canada’s hands in regulating fossil fuel. In Mexico, it prompted export-driven farming that relies heavily on dangerous pesticides, and destructive mining as well. The incentives pointed in the wrong direction. Despite those troubling results, I’ve left every place I’ve been this year hopeful. I’m seeing that we have an antidote now to NAFTA’s poison.

All but one coal-fired power plant in the country is more expensive per kilowatt hour of electricity produced than solar and wind power. And we won’t run out of sun and wind.

Second, the United States is investing in a cleaner, healthier planet through historic federal spending on everything from homeowners buying solar panels, to school districts replacing dirty diesel buses with electric ones, to property owners electrifying buildings. Behind it all is funding and incentives to promote more clean technology. The result will be good jobs that don’t take a college degree in industries that don’t destroy the planet.

The private sector is moving more slowly but is moving. Major banks no longer fund drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Small groups of their shareholders are pushing for broader bans. The price for offshore leases to produce wind power have exceeded gas and oil leases in recent government sales.

In response to “Divide and Conquer: Park Board’s plan for Hiawatha” by Charles Hallman (May 11, 2023 edition):

Thanks very much for your MSR article on Hiawatha’s new National Register status! I had not heard that had gone through and am delighted to learn of it.

I am really opposed to the approved plan. It seems like a King Solomon-type of decision. Cutting the baby in half is a positive outcome for no one. It certainly doesn’t mean a return to Indigenous land, so trotting out that testimony was offensive.

The proposal for an alternative 18-hole design with better flood control was rejected out of hand, which I also disagreed with.

Again, thank you!

—Jane O’Laughlin

In response to “The game that started it all” by Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald (May 11, 2023 edition):

This was a great story and history of the Minneapolis/ St.Paul conference schools dynasty of dominating Minnesota basketball on the late ’70s and ’80s. Thank you Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald for taking us back down memory lane.

—Brett McNeal

In response to “Rewind & Play: Monk documentary tackles art and manipulation” by Nadine Mathews (May 4, 2023 edition):

Thelonius Monk was “the kind of man who makes you more and more curious,” to quote the article. Because he was on an ‘island’ of his own.

He took a 12-tone scale to where he thought it should be.

When he played with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, both bebop jazz legends, he repeated their complicated phrases, but added his own embellishments.

The musicians themselves called it “zombie music.”

Being a jazz fanatic, I saw some of the great ones in person. He [Monk] stood out, not because he wanted to, but because that was his persona.

Trying to make him part of the status quo, musically or otherwise, didn’t work. He didn’t play “the game” as most of us do to keep from ruffling feathers. What you saw is what you got—topped with a skullcap.

—Maurice J. Rhodes

In response to “Metro Transit eyes big service changes” by H. Jiahong Pan (April 27, 2023 edition): submissions@spokesman-recorder.com submissions@spokesman-recorder.com

I am working in a job that is difficult, but it is a 20 minute walk from home, which is hard in cold weather. But I cannot look for another job due to the buses being so off schedule, canceled, or fewer trips. You cannot transfer to the next bus to a job if there is no possibility of the bus being consistent. Cutting night service—it is so minimal right now—means that if you do not have a car or money to take endless Ubers, how do you get to work or events?

The trains are a nightmare. Have been accosted a number of times. There is so much drug-dealing, weed-smoking and drunks on the trains that it is not safe.

First, science and technology now can free us from an extraction economy that pretends to give us energy independence and low costs. In reality, electric vehicles need a quarter of the power or less than gas-powered equivalents, and their sticker prices are dropping with demand.

Third, everywhere I go I’ve heard fear in the people I’ve met about the future of the earth and frustration with an economy that seems to result in persistent downward mobility and poverty. At the same time, I’ve heard profound hope that it’s not too late, that we can still preserve the planet and create good jobs for more Americans. I’ve heard a recognition that all of it is connected. We need to make sure that the billions we’re investing as a country through the infrastructure and clean energy packages get spent well; those decisions will get made locally, and we need to be watchful locally as well.

The desire so many of us share to turn toward a cleaner and healthier world creates demand. If we’re loud enough and persistent enough, the markets will begin to shift. NAFTA, after all, was an economic agreement, so changing directions needs to happen in those kinds of economic terms as well.

I suspect my 20-year-old self would see the unprecedented opportunity in this intersection of innovation, investment and interest. I’d be encouraging people to seize it because we won’t have it again. That’s what I see clearly through 50-year-old eyes.

Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. He is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free,” published in January.

By Kymyona Burk and Sylvie Légère

As a parent, do you think your child is reading at grade level? The Learning Heroes’ National Parent Survey, conducted annually since 2016, consistently found that many parents tend to overestimate their child’s academic performance, including their reading levels.

According to Be A Learning Hero’s Hidden in Plain Sight survey findings, 92 percent of parents believe their child is at or above grade level, while 44 percent of teachers believe that students will be prepared for grade-level work. Meanwhile, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, also called the National Report Card, showed that 65 percent of fourth graders are not proficient in reading.

Those are the facts. According to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, children who are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out or fail to graduate from high school. Reading and reading comprehension is the first and most crucial building block in a foundation of success.

The ability to read and comprehend connects our youth to more opportunities and new worlds. Imagine a world where every child is equipped with the essential skills to read, learn, and thrive throughout their educational journey.

Picture a world where every student is assessed for reading proficiency and struggling readers are promptly identified and set on a path to success. This is especially important because, as the Yale Center for Dyslexia states,

A friend with a teenage daughter who needs to get to downtown St. Paul for high school has been dealing with men exposing themselves. What utter insanity. The fare system was a stupid idea from the gate. And anyone who pays does not feel any obligation to do so. And the idiotic ‘text if someone is bothering you.’ Are you kidding? Take out your phone and it will be stolen. I feel for the stress and chaos the drivers are under. They should not have to be under this pressure. How about a decent transit police system that will monitor trains and buses?

It seems like a King Solomon-type of decision. Cutting the baby in half is a positive outcome for no one.

I do not drive due to vision issues—and am seriously considering moving for a number of reasons. One major reason being the transit system. I have been to Chicago, NYC, and San Francisco. The systems are not perfect, but they run and are not constantly canceled. Half of the messages I get on my phone are trains being late due to police issues or cancellations.

I know I am not alone. Public transit has a poorly designed fare collection process, and getting rid of local buses so people have to walk too many blocks. An express bus like the A may increase ridership, but it is really difficult to walk 10 extra blocks to get to your home.

—Jackie Lannin

Picture a world where all kids can read

dyslexia impacts 20 percent of the population and accounts for 8090 percent of all learning disabilities. It is the most common of all neuro-cognitive disorders, but it is hard to diagnose early.

Picture a world where schools provide targeted, evidence-based interventions tailored to each student’s unique needs. Imagine young learners receiving extra instructional time, personalized tutoring, or engaging in small group activities that foster growth and confidence.

Read

and explanation of common challenges, ExcelinEd’s Early Literacy Matters dashboard shows which states are leading the pack.

For example, based on legislation enacted in Florida in the early 2000s, the Mississippi LiteracyBased Promotion Act (LBPA) is a bold and transformative state law designed to make this vision a reality. Passed in 2013 and refined over the years, the LBPA targets kindergarten through third grade, a critical period in a child’s academic development.

Shouldn’t we expect that teachers be champions of reading?

And what if parents became partners in their child’s education, staying informed about their real progress and learning strategies to support their budding readers at home? What if parent-teacher conferences were about discussing their child’s growth and collaborating on intervention strategies?

Could we imagine a world where there is a “Third Grade Gate” which serves as a checkpoint, ensuring that students can demonstrate reading proficiency on a state assessment before advancing to fourth grade?

Shouldn’t we expect that teachers be champions of reading, armed with training in the science of reading and evidencebased literacy instruction methods such as phonics, empowering them to make a lasting impact on their students’ lives?

As these conversations unfold, it’s natural for educators, parents and policymakers to wonder whether their state has a highquality literacy law in place. With its interactive 50-state overview

It’s a time when learning to read evolves into reading to learn. By ensuring students are reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade, the LBPA aims to prevent the potential struggles and setbacks that can plague those who don’t master this essential skill.

While some critics argue that retention policies may have negative psychological and social effects, the LBPA’s emphasis on early identification, intervention, and parent involvement reshaped the educational landscape in Mississippi. Between 2017 and 2019 Mississippi was the only state that saw statewide reading improvement.

Let’s envision a brighter future where every child has the opportunity to become a confident and proficient reader, unlocking a world of endless possibilities. For that, it requires us to demand that our state representatives make reading a priority and pass laws that follow the Mississippi model.

Don’t you think that reading is a right of every child in this country?