mmigrant
voting rights, the testing of third graders, fire safety and the
reintegration of formerly incarcerated people back into the community –
these were just a few of the important issues discussed at the last City
Council meeting.
Council
Members John Liu and Bill Perkins are introducing legislation to allow
legal immigrants who are not United States citizens to vote in New York
City elections. They point out that even without being citizens, these
law abiding residents pay taxes, serve in the military and contribute to
this society in countless other ways.
As
Liu has made clear, most immigrants bear a strong commitment and
allegiance to the US, and the only reason they haven’t already become
citizens is because of bureaucratic hurdles. "They want to take the
oath, but the government either won't give them an appointment to do so
or keeps losing their paperwork," he stated.
In asking for support for their legislation, Bill Perkins reminded
his colleagues that immigrant voting rights is not a new idea. "It’s as
old as this nation," he noted. "It was born under the notion of ‘no
taxation without representation.’"
He went on to explain that from the 1890s to the 1920s, in many
states noncitizens were allowed to vote in local, state and even
Congressional elections. Until New York City abolished its school boards
two years ago, all residents - citizens and noncitizens alike - had the
right to vote for and serve on them.
Currently, in other jurisdictions throughout the country, including
Maryland, Washington, DC and parts of New England, immigrants either
have the right to vote, or there is a movement afoot to obtain that
right. "It’s an idea that reflects in the most eloquent way this
democracy's efforts to expand and to include others in making decisions
about what happens in their city and in their community," Perkins
concluded.
Council Member and mayoral candidate Charles Barron commended his
colleague Margarita Lopez for her outstanding leadership on what he
called "an alarming issue – the sloppy, discriminatory way the Mayor and
School Chancellor are administrating the tests third graders are now
required to pass in order to move on to fourth grade."
[columns/ad_middle.htm]The most
publicized problem that’s been discovered is that twelve out of the
fifty questions on this year's reading exam were from last year's test.
It appears that teachers from at least four schools had wrongly held
onto and were using the previous exam as a teaching tool. This gave
their students a big leg up in scores over other students whose teachers
adhered to the rules.
Further, several children and immigrants groups are irate about the
fact that the math test was full of word problems. This test was
available in Spanish, Chinese and Haitian Creole; however schools were
pretty much on their own when it came to finding translators for
Bengali, Urdu, Korean and dozens of other languages spoken by New York
public school students.
"This whole testing process is being used as a political game,"
Barron declared. "It’s hurting our children, parents are up in arms all
over the city, and the City Council should take this very seriously. We
should have an emergency session to look into the administration of
these tests or do some oversighting on them. We should not allow these
things to happen in New York City."
Council
Member Kendall Stewart also called his colleagues’ attention to a
tragedy that occurred recently in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, when five
people lost their lives in a fire. Families and friends are mourning the
deaths of 75-year-old James Gardner, Kadiatou Bah and her 18-months-old
daughter, Hadjah Diallo, and two male cousins, Mamadou and Issiaga
Diallo.
"The lives of these folks could have been saved if only they knew not
to open their doors when the fire began in the hallway," Stewart said.
"We need to encourage education about fire prevention and safety so that
people know what to do and can save their own and others’ lives."
Finally,
Council Member Yvette Clarke, Chair of the Fire and Criminal Justice
Services Committee, urged support for two resolutions that are part of
an ongoing effort to give those returning from incarceration a better
chance to reintegrate into society.
The first resolution calls upon the New York City Housing Authority
to establish less restrictive admissions and screening policies so that
former inmates with minor convictions can reunite with their families in
Section 8 housing.
The second calls upon the State Legislature to ensure that people
with convictions are not automatically barred from a wide range of jobs
that they would be qualified for and that it would not endanger the
public for them to hold. Clarke pointed out that it makes sense to
prohibit a sex offender from becoming a teacher, but if a person were
trained as a barber in a state prison, they should not be prevented from
becoming a barber after they’ve served their time. "Our communities are
seeing people coming back," she continued, "and we need to make sure
that we create a humane and fair opportunity for them to become
productive members of our communities."
