U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline

Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (Justice) jointly released a Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline. The Departments recognize and appreciate school administrators, teachers, and educational staff across the nation who work to administer student discipline fairly, and to provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory educational environment for all students, teachers, and other educators.

The Resource demonstrates the Departments’ ongoing commitment to the vigorous enforcement of laws that protect students from discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in student discipline. The Resource provides examples of the Departments’ investigations of such discrimination over the last 10 years, reflecting the long-standing approach and continuity in the Departments’ enforcement practices over time and the continuing urgency of assuring nondiscrimination in student discipline in our nation’s schools.

“OCR remains committed to ensuring nondiscrimination in disciplinary practices,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. “I look forward to ongoing work in, and with, schools to ensure that no student experiences unlawful discrimination, including with respect to discipline.”

“Discrimination in school discipline can have devastating long-term consequences on students and their future opportunities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division uses our federal civil rights laws to protect students from discriminatory discipline, including discrimination in suspensions and expulsions, law enforcement referrals and schoolbased arrests. The investigations continued on page 8

25 Tips to Stay Married 25+ Years...continued

from page 6 them connect to one another on a deeper level.

These letters may also become treasured keepsakes that can be revisited and experienced anew each time they are read. You’ll reap bonus points if you handwrite it on beautiful paper and enclose a cherished memento such as a photograph or ticket stub from a movie you saw together.

12. Make Manners Cool Again

“Please,” “thank you,” “pardon me” and “may I” are phrases that seemed to have all but disappeared from present-day vocabularies, especially with our loved ones. You should extend your partner the same courtesy you would a stranger. When speaking to your spouse, don’t be rude, be respectful. Use a combination of old-school civility and modern frankness. Additionally, try more sweetness and tenderness by saying things more lovingly. Politeness is like a lubricant for your daily interactions; it makes everything go more smoothly.

Husbands, show her that chivalry is not dead: Pull out her chair, open the door for her, help her over a puddle, give her your coat when it is cold outside, help her put on her coat. This act of affection shows that she is important and there is a level of respect for her.

13. Have Couples Fun Cocktail hour and formal anniversary celebrations with like-minded couples were common activities shared by our parents and their friends. It’s fun and a great way to be social with others and playful with one another.

It is important to identify friends who are healthy additions to your social circle. Your goal is to become close with other couples with similar standards and interests who have positive attitudes about marriage and family life. Gravitate toward fun couples who make you feel supported and enhance your active, healthy lifestyle. Friends like these are good for your marriage and overall well-being.

“I Know You Don’t Want to Hear It But I’m Going to Tell You Anyway!”...continued

Two shocking facts about Hell.

(1) You will remember your life on earth. [Luke 16:19-31]. (2) There will be NO SECOND CHANCE to go to Heaven. [2 Thessalonians 1:9].

Awake Oh Sleeper! Awake!

For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away. [James 4:14]. Don’t waste your one chance at Heaven. When a person wakes up in Hell, it is too late to accept Jesus and reverse things at that point. It will be too late!

Learn the lesson from the parable of the rich man. The rich man knew who he was. He knew where he was. He looked from a bottomless pit of eternal darkness where he couldn't see his hand in front of his face and looked into a city of perfect light where the Lamb is the light. He looked from a city where people were weeping and crying, to a city that was flooded with joy unspeakable, where people were singing around the throne of God. He looked from a waterless inferno called Hell, toward the sparkling river of life that flowed beneath the Throne of God. He

Treating ADHD is harder than it should be

heard the sobs and the screams. And he listened to the saints on the other side, singing on the hills of Glory. He looked from a city where the wicked can never be at rest, to a city where everyone was at perfect rest.

He heard Satan laugh in his face, "You fool, you fool! You sat in that church every Sunday. You sang the songs. But you never, ever confessed your sins and received the Blood Atonement for your life. One, 60-second prayer could have done that! But because you didn't do that, you've lost your soul. Then, Satan laughs! Hell, a place of unquenchable fire [Mark 9:48]. A place of darkness [Revelation 9:2]. A place of eternal damnation [Mark 3:29]. A place of everlasting destruction [2 Thessalonians 1:9]. A place where God's wrath is poured out [Revelation 14:10]. Each is a reality, and each is ultimate finality. The application of this message is very clear. Without Jesus, you go to Hell! [Revelation 20:15]. You’ve Been Warned! Repent for the Kingdom of God is at Hand!

WITNESS FOR JUSTICE #1153

We Need Each Other

I’ve spent my life learning from people who challenged me to listen intently and perfect my critical thinking skills, read books, and study documentaries about my people—African Americans and the history of Africans prior to their enslavement. My mentors pushed me to read, interrogate, and then write about what I was learning. I studied events that were impacting Black communities in the 1960s such as uprisings in the North and South, protest marches in Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, worker strikes in Memphis, Tennessee and Mississippi, civil rights speeches from Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Angela Davis, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday morning, afternoon, and evening sermons infused with passion began my interrogation of scriptures about liberation and the right of women to read, study, and use their voices, which connected to what I experienced when viewing and learning about courageous women and men during sit-ins, and the Freedom Riders putting their lives on the line to secure equal access to public spaces, public education, and voting rights.

A Documentary History, 19661979. And in my thirties, Womanist scholarship and theology resonated with my soul, which led me to Old and New Testament scholars like Renita Weems, Clarice Thomas, Delores Williams, Katie Geneva Canon, and Kelly Brown Douglass.

All of this and more has been my passionate pursuit and love for teaching, facilitating, and training clergy and lay leaders to dismantle racial injustice within themselves and then share their learnings with others. I believe the Christian Church can protect the Right to Read advocacy and stop legislation from banning books. Banning books and removing them from libraries and bookshelves in schools is an attempt to silence voices, history, and experiences of people of African, Asian, Latin, and Native descents.

The Christian Church must advocate and stop politicians and individuals from seeking to limit education to European-AngloAmerican only narratives.

By Dr. Ann Childress, M.D.

Approximately 6 million children in the United States have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, better known as ADHD. As many as 5% of adults also live with the condition.

The good news is that ADHD is highly treatable. Medication and behavior therapy -- or some combination of the two -- can help people with ADHD manage their condition and lead healthy lives.

The bad news is that many ADHD patients are struggling to access these treatments. That is largely due to the actions of little-known middlemen in the drug supply chain: pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

Insurers hire PBMs to manage the prescription drug components of their health plans. PBMs negotiate with drug companies to decide which medicines to include on a plan's "formulary" -- the list of medicines an insurer will cover -- and at what prices.

PBMs use their control over formularies to play drug manufacturers against each other and secure the largest discounts possible. For a given class of similar medications, PBMs will often favor a small number, say one or two, out of a dozen potential treatments.

Drug makers are willing to offer substantial discounts for preferred treatment on insurer formularies. In 2021, discounts to payers -- private insurers as well as other entities, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs -- lopped more than $118 billion off the list price of brand-name medicines.

The variable results of formulary negotiations, however, often end up leaving patients in the lurch. That's especially true with regard to the medications used to treat ADHD and other mental health conditions.

Most people think a generic medication is exactly the same as the brand-name drug on which it is based. But that's not true. For approval as an equivalent, the FDA allows generics to fall within the range of 80%-125% of the "bioavailability" of the reference drug -- essentially, the amount of the drug that is actually absorbed by the body.

This allowable variability can make the difference between relief from ADHD, the return of symptoms due to lesser bioavailability, or the onset of side effects due to greater bioavailability.

From a clinician and patient perspective, this can become a nightmare -- a scramble to help patients find suitable relief at an affordable price.

For example, one of the largest PBMs, OptumRx, announced that it is removing several popular ADHD-treating drugs from its coverage and replacing them with generic versions that might not offer the same bioavailability as their brand-name counterparts.

CVS's company-owned PBM plans to limit its coverage of Adderall XR -- the drug's extended-release formulation -- and another popular ADHD treatment, Concerta, likewise limiting treatment options for patients.

All this churning activity is highly lucrative for PBMs. Their gross profits totaled more than $28 billion in 2019. But patients are getting a raw deal. The three largest PBMs together control 80% of the market. The list of their "excluded" drugs grew from 850 in 2020 to more than 1,150 in 2022.

Fortunately, lawmakers in Washington are beginning to show interest in standing up for patients. A new bipartisan "Patient Advocacy Caucus" promises to investigate the drug supply chain middlemen keeping prices high for patients. They've pledged to begin with PBMs. There's a lot more to be done, but that's a good place to start.

Dr. Ann Childress, M.D. is a physician and internationally recognized expert in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. She also serves as president of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders.

The San Bernardino AMERICAN News Covers Community, Local, County, National News & MORE!

Visit our website: www.sb-american.com to intervene in earthly affairs to destroy everything and everyone that opposes Him and to bring in a new realm for His true followers, a Kingdom of God, a paradise on earth.

First, I want you to know that God has entrusted me with a ministry of Repentance and Judgment and when He entrusted it unto me, He said, “No Corners Cut, No Pacifying and No Round About Way. The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth.” I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’m going to tell you anyway!

If you don’t choose Whom this day you are going to serve, you will find yourself in Hell. No ifs, ands, buts about it. I want to understand, the forces of evil have little time left. God is soon

Listen, Jezebel was a woman who did many wicked things but what Scripture tells us is that it is not what Jezebel did that sent her to Hell. It is what she did not do, repent, and accept Christ. Don’t you be another Jezebel, Repent and Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior before it’s too late. If you don’t, you will find yourself in Hell. No ifs, ands, buts about it! The Bible says in [Proverbs 15:24], "The way of life above to the wise, that he might depart from the Hell beneath.” Give your life to Christ today. For Now, is the Acceptable Time! Now is the Day of Salvation! Do not Procrastinate! I know you don’t what to hear it, but I’m going to tell you anyway.

These lessons, observations, and experiences of immersing myself in the struggle for human and civil rights as a child and later as a teenager proved to be movements towards higher education even before I was admitted into college and seminary. Education that was not discussed nor taught in elementary classes. Education worth discussing and talking about that was relevant and important in shaping my heart and mind inside and outside the classroom. Education that allowed me to challenge socially constructed narratives that excluded me, my family, and those who were committed to the struggle for liberation, freedom, equality, equity, and justice.

It was in the Black church that I deepened my connection to the Spirit of the Living God. Sunday worship was a safe space to learn about Jesus, Black Jesus, liberator Jesus, and a God who created humanity equal and good. At fourteen I read For My People: Black Theology and the Black Church by James H. Cone.

In my twenties, I was introduced to Gayraud S. Wilmore, author of Black Religion and Black Radicalism. Cone and Wilmore co-authored Black Theology:

According to the American Library Association, book banning increased by 38 percent in 2022, and more than 1600 books were banned in 86 school districts and 26 states. However, this is not the first movement to ban books in our nation. Similar efforts have taken place in America’s past to limit and manipulate access to education and maintain the status quo. Notably, laws prohibited enslaved persons from learning how to read to limit their progress as well as to prevent them from knowing their history and contributions to society.

“Banning books is reminiscent of a past we should do everything in our power to safeguard against repeating,” said Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, National Council of Churches Governing Board chair. “It is born out of fear, an abuse of power, and a repugnant lack of tolerance that, unchecked, can lead to violence against those not like us and with whom we may disagree.”

Stand with me and be an advocate for the Right to Read! Educating ourselves and our children and future generations must be a justice priority alongside ending racist policies working to control our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Rev. Dr. Velda Love is the Minister for Racial Justice and Lead for Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice Campaign for the United Church of Christ.

Kaiser Permanente Partners with Think Together For Student Well-Being...continued from page 1 alike have learned the value of mindful moments and meditation activities, and staff members report that students are applying skills they learned in class to their daily lives, from identifying the signs that they may be struggling to the use of breathing exercises to re-center themselves.

Daniel Hernandez, a Bay Area staff member, shared, “After the classes, my team and I became more intentional with our daily check-ins. Before we would ask students how they were doing every morning and left it at that. Since the classes, we ask why they are feeling happy, sad, or excited. They have opened up more since then and they have become more comfortable sharing over the last few weeks.”

The program is especially helpful for students who are more energetic and those with special needs. The inclusion integrated into each program allows it to be universal and helpful to all. These students were encouraged to ask for breaks from activities or the classroom when the environment would be too much to handle.

Another Bay Area staff member, Brook, said, “We were able to get our students to be more in tune with learning how to communicate their feelings. They now feel more comfortable approaching staff with questions or concerns. They also are learning how to better adjust to the learning curve that was brought with COVID.”

The program has been hit with the students as well. “I love the fidget toys! I sometimes don’t even realize I’m playing with it while doing my work and it helps me concentrate,” said JL, a student from the Bay Area program.

At the conclusion of the training, reports reveal that site leaders and staff being allowed to establish closer and deeper relationships with their students made it easier to connect with them.

Thank you to Kaiser Permanente Fontana, Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park, Kaiser Permanente Riverside, Kaiser Permanente San Jose and Kaiser Permanente Alameda for helping us fund these vital programs!

To learn more about TraumaInformed care and mental health in schools visit: https://www. traumainformedcare.chcs.org/ what-is-trauma-informed-care/ https://www.nami.org/ Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/ Improving-Health/MentalHealth-in-Schools