Canadian Pacific railroad receives strike notice from signals workers' union
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/canadian-pacific-receives-strike-notice-signals-workers-union-2026-05-28/
By Reuters
May 27, 20267:06 PM PDTUpdated May 28, 2026
A Canadian Pacific Kansas… City rail yard in Port Coquitlam
Freight rail cars sit in a Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail yard, as seen from an overpass, in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada August 22, 2024. REUTERS/Jesse Winter Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Companies
Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), opens new tab ​said on Wednesday ‌it had received a 72-hour ​strike notice ​from the International ⁠Brotherhood of ​Electrical Workers union (IBEW), ​which represents about 300 signals and ​communications employees ​across Canada.
The company said ‌it ⁠has prepared contingency plans that will allow ​it ​to ⁠continue.

Canadian Pacific receives strike notice from signals workers’ union

Canadian Pacific Kansas City ​said on Wednesday ‌it had received a 72-hour ​strike notice ​from the International ⁠Brotherhood of…

www.reuters.com

‘I felt like I wasn’t learning’: Community college students struggle with online education
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-31/why-california-community-college-students-struggle-with-online-classes
A close-up shot of a woman wearing a black dress working on a laptop on… a small table next to the window of a restaurant.
A woman works on a laptop in a restaurant.
By Adam Echelman
CalMatters
May 31, 2026 3 AM PT

California’s vast community college system has embraced online classes, now about 40% of offerings, leaving campuses noticeably emptier even as remote courses become a lifeline for working adults and parents.
Students and instructors describe a trade-off: Online courses expand access but often feel lonely, less rigorous and easy to game, with prerecorded lectures, recycled assignments, AI tools and even bots undermining real learning.
Colleges are investing in training and virtual support, yet counseling backlogs, large asynchronous classes and uneven teaching leave many students struggling, while some faculty warn entire subjects like foreign languages are being hollowed out online.
California’s community colleges represent the largest higher education system in the country — more than 2 million students, or 60 times the undergraduate population of UC Berkeley. But walking around a community college campus, it’s often hard to tell.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, cafeterias and local coffee shops are quieter, fewer students are sitting on the quad and, with less foot traffic, the grass is lush. Even after campuses returned to in-person classes, many students are still working from their dining room table: About 40% of all community college classes are online, according to Melissa Villarin, a spokesperson for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

The state’s community colleges are funded based largely on the number of students they enroll, and since students prefer online courses, there’s an incentive for schools to expand them.

Ask students or professors about the merits of online education, and they’ll often say it’s more accessible, especially for students who have kids or are working a full-time job. The same argument is often true at the University of California and California State University campuses, which offer considerably more online courses than before the pandemic, though far fewer than the community colleges.

Ask students or professors about the problems of online education, and they’ll point to any number of familiar complaints: a lack of engagement, a sense of loneliness, impersonal lectures, and the temptation to move the Zoom window aside and click on something else.

In online classrooms where the majority of students keep their cameras off, bots and scammers have become a systemwide problem: They use AI and other algorithms to mimic real students, submit assignments and steal financial aid. Even real students are using AI to submit online assignments, while teachers are using it to grade.

Researchers say it’s hard to know how the quality of online education compares to in-person courses because it’s subjective and because of the wide diversity of courses and teaching methods.

In Lupe Archundia’s microeconomics class at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, all the lectures were pre-recorded, in some cases more than a decade ago. The professor gives students the answers to the quizzes — before they take the test — and all the quizzes are in a multiple-choice format that a computer grades.

“I am a 39-year-old woman,” Archundia said. “It’s not like I just finished high school and I want easy test answers.”

Archundia has two kids and a full-time job as a secretary, so she studies in the evenings, turning her dining room table into a standing desk with the help of a few cardboard boxes. She wants a bachelor’s degree to help her move up in her career.

In the beginning of the course, she said she would study for three hours before completing each quiz, but once she discovered the professor had made the answers available, she started cutting corners. She said there are still certain concepts, such as elasticity, that she doesn’t fully understand, even though she aced the online exam.

She feels conflicted about it. “I’m responsible, too,” she said.

What the research does — or doesn’t — say
The research into online education is generally inconclusive. One 2025 study found that students consistently perform worse in online classes than in-person ones, though the gap is decreasing. Online courses also make it easier for students to hold a job while in school and complete their degree in the long term, said Di Xu, a professor at UC Irvine’s School of Education.

When asked about students’ concerns with online education, Alex Breitler, a spokesperson for Delta College, said these classes expand “access to higher education for working adults, parents, caregivers and other students balancing significant responsibilities,” including many students who “simply would not be able to pursue college without online options.”

A person wearing a blue shirt and glasses works on a laptop at a kitchen table, with books and school materials scattered.
Tina Rocha sorts through her classwork at her home in Stockton on May 7. Rocha is a student at San Joaquin Delta College, where many of her classes are online. (Larry Valenzuela / CalMatters)
Delta is not alone — the idea that online courses increase access is a common refrain among college officials. Xu pointed to one empirical study of an online master’s program at Georgia Tech that proved this point, though the students are very different from those at California’s community colleges, where many are seeking short-term career training or an associate degree.

What researchers do know is that online education has inherent challenges. It requires “self-directed learning skills,” including a “very high level of self-time management,” said Xu. “In an in-person environment, interaction happens naturally,” she said. “But in an online environment, especially asynchronous, that opportunity needs to be embedded. Otherwise, the student will feel very lonely.”

The majority of online classes at California’s community colleges are asynchronous, meaning that the content is all pre-recorded and students can study at their own convenience. Students prefer asynchronous classes too, even compared to online courses where the instructor is live, according to a survey by the RP Group, an education research nonprofit.

Archundia said she always opts for in-person classes but there are few available, especially for the English classes she wants to take and during the evening hours that she’s available. Her dream is to become a writer, and she wants to switch her major to English, instead of her current major, business administration, though she isn’t sure what classes are necessary to make that happen.

In April, when she reached out to a college counselor for help selecting classes, the next available appointment was about three weeks later. Archundia still hasn’t been able to find an appointment that works with her work schedule.

A close-up shot of a person's hand pointing toward a laptop screen displaying an email on a small table in a restaurant.
Lupe Archundia shows an email exchange with the San Joaquin Delta College counseling office on her laptop at a Panera Bread in Stockton on May 7. (Larry Valenzuela / CalMatters)
One-on-one advising and support structures, such as guidance counselors, are essential for online students, said Rebecca Ruan-O’Shaughnessy, the director of program and strategy at College Futures Foundation and a former executive at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office — but schools also need to adapt.

Online courses are fundamentally different, and schools need to redesign their courses, not just retrofit them, she said. She pointed to some programs that have new and promising approaches to online education, such as shortening the length of the class or trying to integrate adults’ work experience given so many online students have a full-time job.

“That is the difficult part for community colleges and other institutions,” Ruan-O’Shaughnessy said. “Frankly, they don’t have the incentive to do that level of work, because that’s a lot of work.”

Breitler, with Delta College, acknowledged that counseling appointments are often booked “weeks in advance” because of high demand. He said the college is trying new solutions, such as letting students submit questions to counselors online and creating drop-in hours where an appointment isn’t needed.

Remedial education in foreign languages
Cyndi Cunningham enrolled at Palomar College in San Marcos, on the northern edge of San Diego County, in 2022, after the pandemic forced her local shopping mall to close temporarily, making her longtime retail job suddenly seem precarious. Starting college for the first time, she was taking general education and introductory courses, mostly online, and struggled to pay attention and manage her time. “I only ended up taking one class in person per semester — not because I didn’t want to take in-person classes — but because I couldn’t find them,” she said. “I felt like I wasn’t learning; I was just kind of doing tasks.”

She saw professors cutting corners too: Two of her classes in Chicano studies were taught by the same professor and she once noticed he was using the exact same lecture in both classes.

Cunningham has since transferred from community college to Cal State San Marcos, where she’s majoring in ethnic studies and plans to become a high school teacher. “Even engaging with other students is so much different in person than on a discussion board,” she said. “I realized more how much of a disservice the online classes did.”

To an extent, online classes can save costs for colleges because they don’t require a physical space and they can enroll many more students, said Xu. But she said adding support systems — such as specialized counseling for students or professional development for faculty — can create additional expenses.

Online education “has the potential to save a lot of cost,” she said, but only if colleges are “willing to sacrifice a lot of the quality elements that are important for students.”

Foreign language courses are particularly costly for universities, said Julia Simon, a professor of French at UC Davis and the chair of a task force on languages for the university. Language courses are typically small, meet regularly, and many less popular languages enroll only a handful of students. Facing a structural budget deficit, the university recently asked her task force to develop a plan for slashing courses in the event of cuts.

Meanwhile, she said both the nearby community colleges and the UC system are expanding online foreign language classes, which can operate at a larger scale. Sacramento City College, for instance, is offering four French classes in fall 2026 — all of them are online and fully asynchronous.

“It’s an enormous problem,” she said. In her view, the students who take online courses lack the same opportunities to practice their speaking and miss out on vital cultural lessons that don’t fit in a strict language-learning curriculum. Once they enter UC Davis, they’re unprepared, she said. “We can’t make them repeat courses they’ve already had.”

She said she’s considering creating a set of conversation classes that would amount to remedial education.

‘It all depends on the professor’
California legislators and education officials have poured millions into improving online education since the pandemic and have introduced new rules meant to encourage more interaction between faculty and students. All across the state, faculty routinely train on ways to improve their online instruction, and colleges have hired staff members to help with online course design and scheduling.

But the 2024 survey by the RP Group found that among faculty who had taught at least one online course, the majority still preferred in-person instruction.

A view of a whiteboard with a schedule written on it in various colors of marker hanging on the wall of an entryway of a house.
A close-up shot of a person wearing a blue shirt and glasses working on a laptop on a kitchen table inside a house. In the foreground, out of focus, is the back of the laptop with decorative stickers and a colorful glass of water as the person types on the keyboard.
Tina Rocha’s creative writing professor at San Joaquin Delta College recently took a sabbatical, learning how to improve teaching for people with learning disabilities. It paid off, said Rocha, who is 55 and started college in 2024 after recovering from three back-to-back strokes in 2020. Because of her disability, she occasionally needs reminders from the instructor to submit assignments. Sometimes she asks for accommodations to avoid certain noises or lights that distort her vision and make her twitch, she said, but her professor is understanding and accommodating. Online education can be a “wonderful alternative,” she said.

Rocha studies every night at her dining room table, which is often scattered with her notebooks. A calendar hangs from her wall, with notes covering every corner of white space, and a white board sits at the entrance to her home, listing out in color-coded lines each of the week’s responsibilities.

“It all depends on the professor,” she said. Her online film class this semester has been much worse than her creative writing course, she said. The film professor has a lava lamp in the background that reflects psychedelic patterns on the ceiling. When Rocha asked him to turn it off, he said he tried but was unable to, without offering an explanation. Now, to prevent symptoms, she places a sticky note on the screen whenever the professor starts talking.

Rocha said she tried to switch to an in-person film class but was too late. Only online classes were available.

‘I felt like I wasn’t learning’: Community college students struggle with online education

About 40% of California’s community college courses are online now, redefining education. These courses are more accessible, college officials say,…

www.latimes.com

Letter: Teachers Warn of Davis School Closures as Enrollment Plummets

Letter: Teachers Warn of Davis School Closures as Enrollment Plummets – Davis Vanguard

The Davis Joint Unified School District is weighing the closure of two elementary schools and potentially a junior high school, a measure prompted by…

davisvanguard.org

Super PAC Network Backing Labor Supported Connie Chan Received Hundreds of Thousands from AIPAC
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/aipac-connie-chan-san-francisco-primary?r=emsp8&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, along with its offshoot DMFI, has …funneled money to a network of Super PACs now backing the San Francisco supervisor.\\
JULIAN ANDREONE AND RYAN GRIM
MAY 30, 2026
Drop Site is reader-funded. No paywalls. No advertisers. No billionaire owners. Just journalism that answers only to you. If you value this work, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.

San Francisco Supervisor and congressional candidate Connie Chan speaks at a rally on May 29, 2026 in San Francisco, as Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Adam Schiff look on. Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images.
San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan has pledged not to accept support from “AIPAC or its lobbyists and representatives” in her bid for California’s 11th congressional district, but federal campaign records show that the pro-Israel organization is working behind the scenes to funnel money to support her candidacy.
The money from AIPAC and its offshoot Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), which is approaching $500,000, has taken a circuitous route to San Francisco. Following the money trail requires sifting through several layers of complexity, but the picture that emerges at the end is clear.
On April 13, DMFI sent $22,500 to a super PAC called EDW Action Fund, which has been used in previous campaigns as a front for AIPAC spending. Ten days later, on April 23, it gave another $15,250, bringing the total month’s transfer $37,750.
AIPAC sponsors its own super PAC, called United Democracy Project, and UDP got into the game too, dropping $250,000 into EDW Action on April 14, a day after DMFI’s initial dump. EDW Action thus received $287,750 from AIPAC-aligned super PACs that month.
But EDW Action had previously been exposed by Drop Site and others as a known AIPAC pass-through. On May 1, a new PAC was formed, called Pro-Choice Majority Action. That PAC is legally affiliated directly with EDW Action.
Given that Pro-Choice Majority Action registered with the FEC on the first of the month, its first disclosure date falls on June 20, allowing the organization to evade filing requirements until more than two weeks after the California primaries conclude on June 2. Such vehicles are known as “pop-up PACs,” since they can pop up right before an election, spend huge sums of money, and avoid disclosing donor records until it’s too late to matter to voters.
Pro-Choice Majority Action has already spent a total of $475,000 supporting Chan, with much more likely to come through Election Day on Tuesday. Because the new PAC is formally affiliated with EDW Action, the two can transfer unlimited sums of money between themselves. As of April 30, EDW Action’s largest contribution had come from the “Kimbark Foundation,” a nonprofit that itself popped up just before moving money to EDW, which has raised only $1.25 million for the cycle. Kimbark’s only other contribution, also for $500,000, was to 314 Action Fund, another known AIPAC vehicle, which spent heavily to support Ala Stanford in her failed bid against Chris Rabb in Philadelphia. AIPAC has consistently denied it played a role in that race.
Though AIPAC’s Twitter account spent much of Saturday complaining about Drop Site News, the organization did not respond to a request for comment on its newly discovered spending. On Twitter, AIPAC argued that scrutiny of its shell PACs was “[p]art of an orchestrated campaign to single out and demonize individual pro-Israel Americans for supporting candidates of their choice,” representing a “level of scrutiny not applied to any other group of citizens.”
EDW Action Fund previously spent just over $500,000 supporting Laura Fine in a Chicago-area congressional race. Fine had the backing of AIPAC but lost. EDW Action used Symmetry Media LLC to make its ad buy in that race; the documents show that Symmetry Media was also used to make the new expenditures on behalf of Connie Chan.
Chan, who has the endorsement of outgoing Rep. Nancy Pelosi, faces state Sen. Scott Wiener and Saikat Chakrabarti, a co-founder of Justice Democrats and the former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Chan’s campaign recently picked up momentum after receiving the key endorsement from Pelosi, whose retirement opened up the vacancy. For most of the race, Chan has been polling in third place behind Wiener and Saikat Chakrabarti. Recent polling, however, shows Chan moving into a close contest with Chakrabarti for second place and a spot in the general election against Wiener.
The latest poll from EMC Research places Wiener firmly ahead of the pack at 38% support, with Chan and Chakrabarti trailing behind at 22% and 21% respectively.
While serving as Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Chakrabarti clashed privately and publicly with Pelosi, urging her and the party to move faster and push harder. Animosity toward Chakrabarti among the party leadership remains intense. An advisor to Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Drop Site the party brass was glad to see him go, and isn’t interested in seeing him return as a member of Congress. “Frankly, the problems we had with her in the beginning were more her chief and not her,” he said, referring to AOC and Chakrabarti. “Then he left and everything got much better.”

Super PAC Network Backing Connie Chan Received Hundreds of Thousands from AIPAC

AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, along with its offshoot DMFI, has funneled money to a network of Super PACs now backing the San Francisco…

www.dropsitenews.com

Idaho schools reduce staff amid rising costs, enrollment declines

Idaho schools reduce staff amid rising costs, enrollment declines

Local budgets are tightening, even though K-12 was mostly spared from state cuts this year.

www.idahoednews.org

AI and Empire Building-Panel In San Francisco
https://www.shapingsf.org/public-talks/archive_video_2026.html#AI
Several sharp critics of the hype machine that has long characterized the internet and our successive tech booms, currently blowing up in the AI bubble. Lost in the hand wringing …over the more exaggerated claims of boosters and doomers is the ongoing reproduction of a colonial seizure of what should be our common wealth. This process has long historic roots and in some ways it is thanks to our amnesiac culture that the current crop of billionaire investors and tech bros have gotten away with doing it all again. Wendy Liu, Alex Hanna, Tamara Kneese, and Elizabeth Travelslight.

Shaping San Francisco

Author Nan Alamilla Boyd journeys with us through the 20th century San Francisco of gay men and lesbians, examining the culture that developed around…

www.shapingsf.org

“Cinema Became a Way to Go Further”
Interview with Parsifal REPARATO on "She"
https://jeonjureview.jeonjufest.kr/post/2667
Interviewee: Parsifal REPARATO(영화감독)
Interviewer: CHA Hanbi(영화 웹진 『리버스』 기자)
2026-04-27
“Cinema Became a …Way to Go Further”.jpeg
그녀: 공장의 전사들She
감독 파르시팔 레파라토Parsifal REPARATO | Italy, France | 2025 | 74 min | Documentary | 프론트라인Frontline

For Parsifal Reparato, cinema functions as more than a medium of documentation; it acts as “a catalyst of events, relationships, and understanding.” His film She, presented in the Frontline section of the Jeonju International Film Festival, follows women workers in one of the biggest electronics factories in Vietnam, distilling his anthropologically grounded practice. Rather than simply representing the experiences of others, Reparato seeks to create a space in which they can become subjects of their own narratives. In this approach, he naturally invokes the legacy of Jean Rouch. As the pioneer of cinéma vérité—who expanded the horizons of anthropology through film—Rouch suggested that the camera can become an extension of the body. Reparato, in turn, sets that body in motion to write new stories.
In She, you focus on Vietnamese women working in the electronics industry. What led you to explore this subject? Following your first documentary Nimble Fingers, how did this project come about, and what key questions or concerns did it begin with?
What led me to explore this subject has long been part of my life. It comes from a deep sense of belonging to the working class, shaped by my personal background and my political and activist experiences from a very young age. Growing up, I took part in workers’ protests and picket lines in my city in Italy, and that was where I began to understand how central the workers’ perspective is—not only as a social condition, but as a way of interpreting the world. Over time, I became convinced that workers’ knowledge offers a fundamental lens to understand the structural injustices of our present, and to imagine how to overcome them. A turning point came when I graduated and worked for a large USA multinational company producing electronic devices. Even though I was not a factory worker, I had the opportunity to closely observe the broader system of global production and exploitation behind these corporations. That experience raised a crucial question: what actually happens at the core of global electronics production? This question led me to Vietnam for the first time in 2011, where I began the journey that would become Nimble Fingers. She emerged later, as part of a longer and more structured research process. I worked in collaboration with the University of Naples L’Orientale and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, and in 2020 I was involved in a EU-funded research project focused on trade union representation and the empowerment of civil society within electronics factories. The film is thus rooted in both a personal trajectory and a long-term research process, driven by a central concern: how global systems of production shape workers’ lives, bodies, and possibilities—and how, within these conditions, forms of awareness and resistance can still emerge.

As a European male scholar and artist, this project seems to involve thinking about your position as an outsider. How did you begin to think about this difference in perspective at the beginning, and what kinds of questions did it lead you to consider as the work developed?
I understand why my position might be seen as that of an outsider. But I don’t perceive myself in those terms. Rather, I see myself as giving form to a perspective that is widely shared, yet often silenced—a perspective that belongs to the vast majority of people, but is rarely represented in mainstream discourse. We are constantly exposed to narratives that serve the interests of global capital, often erasing or marginalizing the voices of workers. I come from that world. I belong to the working class, and that is the standpoint from which I began to think and work. This process has never been individual, but developed through collective work with workers and researchers. Michela Cerimele, who has extensive experience on labor issues in both Italy and Asia, played a key role in grounding the work. The broader research framework, including scholars like Pietro Masina and Do Ta Khanh, helped create a space where questions could be developed collectively over time.
What has guided me throughout is a shared condition rather than a distance. The injustice experienced by these workers is not abstract or external—it resonates with a broader global reality. In this sense, Vietnam is not an isolated case. It represents, in a concentrated form, the dynamics of global capitalism today—where technological progress and the rhetoric of Industry 4.0 are built on the bodies and lives of workers. This has been true not only in Vietnam, but also in South Korea, India, Indonesia, and increasingly again in Europe and the United States. So rather than thinking in terms of inside or outside, I see this work as an attempt to connect structurally linked experiences. Vietnam becomes a lens—a way to read the condition of the working class globally. And it is from within that condition that I speak.

This film carries a depth that seems difficult to achieve through straightforward reportage alone. Could you talk about the time you spent meeting and getting to know the participants before filming, and how you invited them to take part?
This film is far from a simple reportage. My background is in anthropology, and before working as a filmmaker, I always conduct research as an anthropologist—engaging in ethnographic work and immersing myself in the communities I want to understand. This process takes time.
This project began as a collaboration with universities and trade unions, and I was initially supposed to create an advocacy video. But the research coincided with the pandemic, and instead of staying in Vietnam for three months, I remained for seven. Those seven months were fundamental. I met hundreds of workers living in the industrial area of Bắc Ninh. At first, there was a strong sense of fear—not only towards me, but also towards the Vietnamese researchers. Speaking about working conditions could have serious consequences, so trust had to be built slowly. In the early months, I focused on interviews and observation with my assistant, Phuong Minh Nguyen, trying to understand a wide range of experiences. Over time, I developed closer relationships with a smaller group of women workers. They began to recognize a common ground—something that comes from a shared condition within the working class, even across different countries. This process deeply influenced the form of the film. From the very beginning, protecting the workers’ anonymity was essential, in order to avoid any risk of retaliation. Everything that appears in the film comes from the trust they chose to give me, often in the very limited time they had outside of work. For this reason, I see the film not as something I made alone, but as something that emerged from a collective process—grounded in trust and collaboration.

It wasn’t possible to access the factory interiors, and it was also difficult to show the participants’ names or faces. Within these clear constraints, the film moves into more intimate spaces, like the women’s small rooms or hair salons where they can speak more freely.
No, it wasn’t possible to film inside the factory, and this wasn’t new to me. I was never interested in “stealing” images from that space. What mattered was to represent the workers’ point of view—not the perspective controlled by corporations, but the one they try to silence. So the key question became: how can we create a space where workers can express their experience in their own terms? The answer was to focus on their expressive capacity—to give space to the knowledge embodied in their bodies. For years, there has been discussion about “workers’ knowledge,” and here that knowledge is inscribed in their gestures, in their fatigue, in their bodies. This is why the film pays close attention to details—hands, faces, small movements. Through these, the women reveal something deeply human: vulnerability, strength, emotions, even wounds. These elements allow us to connect with them in a concrete way, beyond abstraction. This approach also aligned with the need to protect their anonymity, which pushed the film toward a more abstract and performative language. The choice of the hair salon as a central space emerged progressively during the research. Around industrial areas, beauty salons and small spas are extremely common. They are both a means of livelihood for workers leaving the factory and a space where they can experience a moment of relief and reclaim themselves. Inside the factory, their bodies are strictly regulated: they wear uniforms for long hours and are controlled in every detail, from their hair to their nails. In contrast, the salon becomes a space of care, intimacy, and temporary freedom.

One of the most striking elements in the film is the performance where labor is “re-enacted” in an empty space, rather than inside the factory. Filmed in black and white from three angles, these scenes at times resemble CCTV footage. How did you come to these formal choices, and what do you think they made possible within the film?
This approach did not begin with the idea of re-enactment. It emerged from a more fundamental need: to create a tool that workers could use to express themselves more clearly and freely. I felt that the most appropriate space was a symbolic one—an empty, enclosed, and dark space. Factories are in fact very bright, with artificial neon lights on 24 hours a day. But what the workers described was not brightness—it was pressure, confinement, and control. So the intention was to represent the factory not as it looks, but as it is experienced. We organized a workshop in this space, without a script. The workers did not know each other, and they arrived with their faces covered to protect their identity. In a situation where no one knew what would happen, they performed gestures and routines from their daily work experience. What you see in the black-and-white sequences is the result of that process. A key turning point came with the introduction of what I called the “truth space.” At that moment, I told them: now you are free. You can do whatever you want. You can reflect on what you have just shown, or express any emotion you feel. The line leader, who represents authority inside the factory, was also present. The workers could react in any way—even with violence, if they had wanted to. But what emerged was something very different. Instead of revenge, they expressed a deep need to be recognized as human beings—a demand for dignity and acknowledgment. This became one of the central lessons of the entire process.

It’s interesting that your background is in anthropology. In your documentary practice, how do you experience the differences between fieldwork, building relationships, and translating those experiences into film? Over time, how have you navigated or expanded your interests between academic documentation and cinematic representation?
For me, fieldwork is first of all about building relationships. At a certain point, it becomes more than just a research method—it becomes a way of life. Anthropology taught me something important: the idea of complete objectivity in science is, in many ways, an illusion. What gives ethnographic research its strength is not neutrality, but subjectivity—the ability to create relationships, build trust, and develop connections through lived experience. Over time, this has become a method. It’s something I have tried to share and transmit through the Ethnographic Filmmaking Lab, which I founded in Italy. Each year, we work with young filmmakers, encouraging them to develop their projects through ethnographic research—spending time in the field, engaging with people, and letting stories grow out of experience. Filmmaking came as a natural extension of this process. For me, cinema became a way to go further. It is not just a tool for representing reality, but a catalyst—a catalyst of events, relationships and understanding. It allows me not only to observe the other, but to create a space where they can represent themselves and participate in shaping the narrative. This is something that written or academic language often cannot achieve with the same intensity. Cinema can reach people differently—not only in terms of audience, but in terms of engagement and shared experience. It opens the possibility for people to become active subjects of their own stories through a more immediate and embodied form of self-representation. As Jean Rouch suggested, the camera can become an extension of the body—a kind of prosthetic device that amplifies reality and transforms observation into a process of mutual discovery. In this sense, filmmaking is not separate from fieldwork. It is part of it. It is another way of knowing.

I understand that your next project will also focus on factory workers, forming the final part of a trilogy on labor. Could you share a bit in advance about how it connects to your earlier works, Nimble Fingers and She?
What I can say is that I continue to see wage labor—and the conflict between capital and labor—as one of the most important keys for understanding our time. This body of work has been a journey. Through filmmaking, I have sought to go deeper into the lives of the people I work with, while also exploring the broader structures that shape those lives. More recently, I have become increasingly interested not only in working conditions, but also in the imaginary—in what exists beneath the surface of everyday life. The aim of this project is not only to document, but to offer a way of interpreting reality—and perhaps to provide tools to think about how to transform it. For me, cinema is a way to make visible the structures that usually remain hidden: the social and economic systems that sustain the dominant order. Focusing on the electronics industry means going directly to the core of these dynamics, where many of the contradictions of contemporary capitalism become visible. This is what connects these films. They are not separate works, but different chapters of the same attempt: to understand, and to make visible, the conditions that shape our present.

“Cinema Became a Way to Go Further”

“Cinema Became a Way to Go Further”Interview with Parsifal REPARATO on “She”Interviewee: Parsifal REPARATO(영화감독)Interviewer: CHA…

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6/1/26 PRESS CONFERENCE UAW Region 6 & UAW 4811 NO Support For Zionist Billiionaire Shill Scott Wiener
Rescind The Scott Wiener Endorsement NOW!
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2026/05/29/18886464.php
Press Conference
Monday June 1, 2026 12:00 Noon
At UAW 4811 Berkeley… Office
2730 Telegraph Ave Floor 1
Berkeley CA 94705

San Francisco Congressional candidate Scott Wiener has played a dangerous role in pushing to criminalize criticism of the Israeli genocide. He supported bills like SB 715 which targets teachers who talk about Palestine and he supports laws that say criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. He also has supported the militarization and fascist attacks on students, faculty and staff at UC with his support of SB 1287.
UAW 4811 members and Palestine student activists at UCLA have been physically attacked by Zionists at a Palestine encampment and Scott Wiener was fully behind the UC and UCLA management’s attacks on students, faculty and UAW 4811 members.
At the same time without a vote of the members UAW Region 6 and UAW 4811 leadership are supporting Scott Wiener for Congress in San Francisco.
Why would a union that says it stands for democratic rights for its members and workers support a Zionist politician who supports the Israeli apartheid state and has helped get faculty professors like UCSF Rupa Marya targeted and fired?
Rank and file UAW 4811 members are demanding that the local and region withdraw their endorsement of Scott Wiener who also has supported the billionaire developers and gentrification in San Francisco and California. He is also opposed single payer and rent control and has pushed for more million dollar condos in San Francisoc. He will continue support for the trillion dollar US military budget that is being used for genocide in Gaza, pogroms in the West Bank and criminal wars on Iran and Lebanon.
He is also funded by the billionaire tech fascists who control California and the US and are in the Trump government.
Speakers will rally at the Berkeley UAW 4811 headquarters on Monday at 12:00 noon to demand no support for Scott Wiener.

Initiated by United Front Committee For A Labor Party
No Support To Zionist Scott Wiener For Congress.

info [at] ufclp.org
http://www.ufclp.org

California Jewish legislators demand that UC and CSU systems protect Jewish students
https://jweekly.com/2023/11/10/jewish-legislators-demand-that-uc-and-csu-protect-jewish-students/
BY RYAN TOROK NOVEMBER 10, 2023
Scott Wiener speaks as Jesse Gabriel listens
State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks at a May 2023 Jewish Public Affairs Council summit in Sacramento as Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel looks on. (Courtesy)
Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.
A letter from the California Legislative Jewish Caucus sent this week to the heads of the state’s two massive university systems ticks off a long list of alleged antisemitic incidents on campuses since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel and subsequent war:

Physical attacks on Jewish students at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and San Jose State University for expressing support for Israel.
Jewish students at UC San Diego needing a police escort to safely leave a meeting.
“Obscene” anti-Israel graffiti on a Jewish student group’s banner at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Anti-Israel groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine, celebrating the Hamas terrorist attack, including a rally at UCLA that “interrupted classes with hate-filled rhetoric.”
A social media post by a UC Davis professor with knife, ax and blood emojis calling for violence against “Zionist journalists” in their homes and their “kids in school.”
An Israeli student at UC Berkeley being told she couldn’t participate in a class-related conference because of her nationality.
The UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council describing Oct. 7 as part of the “Palestinian freedom struggle.”
An increased need for armed security at Jewish student centers on many campuses.
Jewish students on University of California and California State University campuses have been “traumatized by a barrage of physical abuse, threats, intimidation, hate speech, online harassment and exclusion from academic opportunities,” the Nov. 7 letter states.

“It’s become clear the situation is escalating. It’s getting worse and not better. That’s what prompted us to send the letter,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-S.F.), who co-chairs the caucus, told J. in a phone interview. “UC and CSU leaders have an obligation to foster a safe environment on campuses.”

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus — a group of 18 lawmakers in Sacramento — described its “outrage and concern regarding the explosion of antisemitism” at UC and CSU campuses over the past month.

The university systems “must take immediate action to protect Jewish students,” the letter states.

“This is not just a California issue,” Assemblymember and caucus co-chair Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, told J. in a phone interview. “It’s a national issue.”

The letter is addressed to University of California President Michael Drake and California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia. It was sent as Jewish college students across the country and worldwide feel threatened and isolated amid a sharp spike in hate directed at Jews and Israelis following the massacre, hostage-taking and subsequent Israel-Hamas war.

The caucus noted what it views as a double standard on the part of university officials when it comes to condemning hate speech against Jews.

“What is deeply distressing to many in the Jewish community — including members of our Jewish Caucus — is the pervasive feeling that the response by campus officials to the current situation would be markedly different if it involved another historically marginalized group,” the letter stated.

We cannot imagine — nor would we tolerate — silence or equivocation if any other group on campus were being similarly targeted.

“We cannot imagine — nor would we tolerate — silence or equivocation if any other group on campus were being similarly targeted. We have seen the UC and CSU stake out bold positions on politically charged issues like immigration and LGBTQ+ rights; it should not be this difficult to condemn antisemitism.”

Since Oct. 7, caucus members have met with dozens of UC and CSU students and held a Zoom meeting with 16 Hillel directors from across the state.

Gabriel, who is a UC Berkeley alum, said the “volume of incidents has become so concerning. So we’re considering all the tools we have available so that Jewish students, like all other faiths and backgrounds, feel protected from hate. And we’re going to lean in and do everything we need to do.”

Spokespeople for UC and CSU said the university systems — with a combined enrollment of about 740,000 students — are working to address hate incidents on their campuses.

“Any type of targeted discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, does not belong on any University of California campus and will not be tolerated,” a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President said in a statement provided to J.

CSU spokesperson Hazel Kelly told J. that the “safety of students, staff and faculty is a top priority” and that the chancellor has been getting updates from campus officials about incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia and “how they are responding.”

Caucus members plan to keep a close eye on campus climate for Jewish students, Wiener said.

“We’re not just going to send a letter, then pack up and go home,” he said. “We’re going to be monitoring this very closely on an ongoing basis and we’re not going to let it go.”

Yaelle Shaye, a UCLA sophomore who describes herself as “very Zionist,” told J. after a recent pro-Israel demonstration on campus that she’s been disappointed by the silence of her university’s professors.

“Pretty much all my teachers pretend like nothing’s happening,” she said, “And if they do, they’re not really pro-Israel. I think the ones that are — they’re not so eager to express their opinions.”

California Jewish legislators demand that UC and CSU systems protect Jewish students
https://jweekly.com/2023/11/10/jewish-legislators-demand-that-uc-and-csu-protect-jewish-students/
BY RYAN TOROK NOVEMBER 10, 2023
Scott Wiener speaks as Jesse Gabriel listens
State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks at a May 2023 Jewish Public Affairs Council summit in Sacramento as Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel looks on. (Courtesy)
Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.
A letter from the California Legislative Jewish Caucus sent this week to the heads of the state’s two massive university systems ticks off a long list of alleged antisemitic incidents on campuses since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel and subsequent war:

Physical attacks on Jewish students at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and San Jose State University for expressing support for Israel.
Jewish students at UC San Diego needing a police escort to safely leave a meeting.
“Obscene” anti-Israel graffiti on a Jewish student group’s banner at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Anti-Israel groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine, celebrating the Hamas terrorist attack, including a rally at UCLA that “interrupted classes with hate-filled rhetoric.”
A social media post by a UC Davis professor with knife, ax and blood emojis calling for violence against “Zionist journalists” in their homes and their “kids in school.”
An Israeli student at UC Berkeley being told she couldn’t participate in a class-related conference because of her nationality.
The UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council describing Oct. 7 as part of the “Palestinian freedom struggle.”
An increased need for armed security at Jewish student centers on many campuses.
Jewish students on University of California and California State University campuses have been “traumatized by a barrage of physical abuse, threats, intimidation, hate speech, online harassment and exclusion from academic opportunities,” the Nov. 7 letter states.

“It’s become clear the situation is escalating. It’s getting worse and not better. That’s what prompted us to send the letter,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-S.F.), who co-chairs the caucus, told J. in a phone interview. “UC and CSU leaders have an obligation to foster a safe environment on campuses.”

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus — a group of 18 lawmakers in Sacramento — described its “outrage and concern regarding the explosion of antisemitism” at UC and CSU campuses over the past month.

The university systems “must take immediate action to protect Jewish students,” the letter states.

“This is not just a California issue,” Assemblymember and caucus co-chair Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, told J. in a phone interview. “It’s a national issue.”

The letter is addressed to University of California President Michael Drake and California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia. It was sent as Jewish college students across the country and worldwide feel threatened and isolated amid a sharp spike in hate directed at Jews and Israelis following the massacre, hostage-taking and subsequent Israel-Hamas war.

The caucus noted what it views as a double standard on the part of university officials when it comes to condemning hate speech against Jews.

“What is deeply distressing to many in the Jewish community — including members of our Jewish Caucus — is the pervasive feeling that the response by campus officials to the current situation would be markedly different if it involved another historically marginalized group,” the letter stated.

We cannot imagine — nor would we tolerate — silence or equivocation if any other group on campus were being similarly targeted.

“We cannot imagine — nor would we tolerate — silence or equivocation if any other group on campus were being similarly targeted. We have seen the UC and CSU stake out bold positions on politically charged issues like immigration and LGBTQ+ rights; it should not be this difficult to condemn antisemitism.”

Since Oct. 7, caucus members have met with dozens of UC and CSU students and held a Zoom meeting with 16 Hillel directors from across the state.

Gabriel, who is a UC Berkeley alum, said the “volume of incidents has become so concerning. So we’re considering all the tools we have available so that Jewish students, like all other faiths and backgrounds, feel protected from hate. And we’re going to lean in and do everything we need to do.”

Spokespeople for UC and CSU said the university systems — with a combined enrollment of about 740,000 students — are working to address hate incidents on their campuses.

“Any type of targeted discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, does not belong on any University of California campus and will not be tolerated,” a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President said in a statement provided to J.

CSU spokesperson Hazel Kelly told J. that the “safety of students, staff and faculty is a top priority” and that the chancellor has been getting updates from campus officials about incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia and “how they are responding.”

Caucus members plan to keep a close eye on campus climate for Jewish students, Wiener said.

“We’re not just going to send a letter, then pack up and go home,” he said. “We’re going to be monitoring this very closely on an ongoing basis and we’re not going to let it go.”

Yaelle Shaye, a UCLA sophomore who describes herself as “very Zionist,” told J. after a recent pro-Israel demonstration on campus that she’s been disappointed by the silence of her university’s professors.

“Pretty much all my teachers pretend like nothing’s happening,” she said, “And if they do, they’re not really pro-Israel. I think the ones that are — they’re not so eager to express their opinions.”

Scott Wiener: The Astroturf Network’s OG

Otto Pippenger
Mar 5, 2026

In a few short months, state Senator Scott Wiener may come one step closer to his long-stated goal of replacing Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and attaining a measure of the power that comes with succeeding a Democratic Party icon.
Recent polling has Wiener leading what is expected to be a close race against Saikat Chakrabarti, a former tech executive who once worked for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan. A recent entrant, former Trump appointee Marie Hurabiell, is expected to garner little support.
In the race for money, the distance is far greater: Wiener has raised roughly $2.8 million compared to $1.8 million for Chakrabarti (most of it in the form of a personal loan from the candidate himself), and $300,000 for Chan.
What explains the fundraising gap? Wiener is neither wealthy, like Chakrabarti, nor does he have the passionate support of organized labor, like Chan. And unlike his opponents, he is charisma-challenged.
What Wiener has is the staunch support of well-funded YIMBY organizations. YIMBY— short for Yes In My Backyard — is the clever name that disguises a lucrative partnership between the real estate and tech industries.
Most of the $1.5 million raised by Wiener in his first race for state Senate back in 2016 came through independent expenditure committees and were funded by the building trade unions, real estate industry and the police union. Billionaire tech investor Ron Conway was behind an independent expenditure committee that spent more than $173,000 on ads attacking Wiener opponent Jane Kim.
Once elected, he amply rewarded his generous supporters: No one has done more to further the YIMBY cause than Scott Wiener.
In fact, Wiener should be considered the OG of YIMBYism and the Astroturf Network on which it is based. His legislative staffers have gone on to populate lavishly funded YIMBY groups like the Abundant SF, started by tech executive Zack Rosen. Before creating the Abundance Network, Rosen cofounded California YIMBY, composed of wealthy tech executives like himself, in 2017. It is considered one of the first groups formed to push the pro-growth agenda.
Todd David, the architect of Wiener’s first state Senate campaign, is the Abundance Network’s political director; Andres Power, his former land-use policy advisor works alongside David as does Jeff Cretan, his former spokesman. Annie Fryman, his former legislative aide at San Francisco City Hall, works a position at SPUR (a pro-growth think tank) that is directly funded by the Abundance Network, while moonlighting as Abundance’s Senior Policy Advisor.
YIMBY's claim, against compelling evidence to the contrary, is that removing impediments to residential development will solve the state’s housing crisis. They apply Reagan era trickle-down economics to the complex problem of housing. The results are equally dubious: In instance after instance, unfettered development has failed to produce the kind of affordable housing San Francisco — and other California cities — so desperately needs.
Instead, it results in gentrification and displacement, particularly of working-class residents living in rent-controlled housing. Another unfortunate outcome of YIMBYism is environmental degradation since they look upon environmental laws as simply another impediment to building.
A week after being elected to the state Senate, Wiener introduced SB 35, a bill that called for cities that failed to meet state requirements for new housing to hand over the approval processes for new developments to the state. Since 1980, California’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) office has assigned housing goals for each jurisdiction in the state. Wiener wrote a companion bill that changed the RHNA calculation ensuring that no jurisdiction could meet state mandates.
That guaranteed that a state-run approval process would be triggered so that housing approvals would be expedited. It eliminated reviews required by the California Environmental Quality Act. A year later, Wiener’s bill was signed into law by then-Governor Jerry Brown.
It was the first of a series of Wiener bills that wrested planning decisions from cities to the state. We frequently hear YIMBYs tell us that we have to build whatever they want or else the state will take even more control from San Francisco. It is important to understand that did not happen by accident but because his wealthy backers made that happen.
A year later, Wiener authored SB 827, a bill said to have been written by California YIMBY Chief Brian Hanlon. Hanlon is a long-time Wiener association believed to have authored most of the state senator’s housing legislation. SB 827 called for removing height and density restrictions on development sites near transit. It received full-throated support from 150 tech executives, many of whom had donated to Wiener’s campaign for state Senate. It died in committee. Wiener would come back with two similar bills before SB 79 passed and was signed into law.
He was equally relentless in obtaining passage of a statewide upzoning measure, trying five times before ultimately failing. Instead, Wiener settled for passage of SB 9 in 2020, a more reasonable law that allows owners of some single-family homes to create duplexes on their property. However, another successful Wiener bill, SB 478, prevented cities from restricting lot size for upzoning projects.
The indefatigable Wiener has turned his attention to weakening California’s long-standing environmental laws. In 2024, he introduced SB 951, to remove portions of San Francisco from the protection of the state’s Coastal Commission. Despite vocal opposition from environmental groups, the law passed, allowing housing development on land along the city’s coastline. He followed up with SB 607, an overhaul of the California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA, to limit environmental review for development projects. For now, CEQA reviews remain largely intact after the bill was significantly amended due to vigorous opposition from environmentalists.
All these measures were on the wishlist of Wiener’s YIMBY supporters. On its website, California YIMBY lists its legislative victories. Most of them are thanks to Scott Wiener, its main man in Sacramento. Now the tech and real estate industries are showing their appreciation by generously funding his long-cherished dream of a seat at the nation’s capitol.
Otto Pippenger is a Sunset District resident, and longtime activist and organizer for progressive causes in San Francisco and the East Bay. When not directly campaigning, he returns to his time as a journalism student, offering unique insights based on his decade of experience in local politics.
For more information: http://www.ufclp.org
Added to the calendar on Fri, May 29, 2026 12:20PM
§UAW Leadership Is Supporting Zionist Billionaire Shill Scott Wiener

Fri, May 29, 2026 12:20PM
original image (1080×1080)
Although UAW 4811 members at UCLA and UC faculty and staff have been attacked by Scott Wiener the UAW Region 6 and UAW 4811 as well as UAW president Shawn Fain are supporting him in the San Francisco Congressional elections.
http://www.ufclp.org
§Scott Is A Shill For Billionaires-Why Would UAW 4811 & Region 6 Support Him?
by UFCLP
Fri, May 29, 2026 12:20PM

Scott Wiener besides being a big supporter of Israel and Zionism is funded by the billionaires and is against rent control and single payer healthcare. Has this even been discussed by UAW 4811 members who need healthcare and rent controlled housing?
http://www.ufclp.org
info@ufcw.org

UAW 4811 and Region 6 Should Rescind Their Endorsement of Scott Wiener
Members Petition

Scott Wiener is not a labor candidate. He is not a progressive candidate. He is a politician whose career has been built on serving the interests of developers, policing student protest, and …defending Zionist institutions.

As California students established Gaza solidarity encampments and demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestine, Wiener emerged as one of the leading political figures pushing for repression. He championed SB 1287, legislation requiring universities to impose new restrictions on campus demonstrations and strengthen disciplinary mechanisms directed against protest activity.

Wiener has repeatedly aligned himself against Palestine solidarity organizing. He condemned efforts to establish academic boycotts of Israeli institutions, opposed divestment initiatives, and used his office to pressure universities and public institutions confronting growing demands to break ties with Israel. He is a self-described Zionist, and his political record reflects that commitment.

Wiener has played a similarly destructive role in battles over ethnic studies and public education. He has repeatedly aligned himself with efforts to police how Palestine, Zionism, and Israeli state violence are discussed in classrooms. Legislation such as AB 715 was promoted as a measure against antisemitism. In practice, educators, ethnic studies scholars, and civil liberties advocates warned that it was an attempt to stifle discussion of Palestine and place teachers under increased scrutiny for presenting Palestinian history and perspectives.

Nor is Wiener's economic record any better. He is the political architect of California's YIMBY movement, a project built on the premise that deregulating private development will somehow solve a housing crisis created by the market itself. His legislation has consistently advanced the interests of developers and weakened local democratic control. This is not a labor vision of housing. It is a developer vision of housing. The labor movement should not be endorsing politicians whose political base is organized around developers, venture capital, and real estate interests.

Supporters of the endorsement — which was announced without a vote or even a discussion in the membership — point to Wiener’s involvement in efforts to secure funding for scientific research and public higher education. For academic workers facing the consequences of federal cuts, that concern is real. But labor cannot build power by tying itself to politicians who offer limited concessions while remaining aligned with anti-labor forces.

The answer to funding cuts is not dependence on Scott Wiener. It is a stronger labor movement.

Academic workers are not the only workers under attack. Across the University of California, workers have faced layoffs, understaffing, contracting out, and austerity. AFSCME workers spent years fighting without a contract. The path forward is not endorsement politics. It is building durable solidarity across unions and developing the collective strength needed to force concessions from politicians of either party.

Working people need representatives drawn from the labor movement itself and accountable to workers rather than donors, developers, and political insiders. Every endorsement of a politician like Wiener teaches union members to place their faith in political patrons rather than their own collective power.

SEIU ultimately withdrew its endorsement of Wiener after his opposition to Proposition D, the “Overpaid CEO Tax.” UAW Region 6 and UAW 4811 should do the same. Members of UAW 4811 and Region 6 should email their local leaderships demanding that they rescind this endorsement.

The labor movement will build its power not through business unionism, not through alliances with the political establishment, but through its own organization, its own solidarity, and its own independent political voice.

Billionaire Netflix Owner & Charger Supporter Reed Hastings-A major new player in education giving, The City Fund uses over $100 million in grants to grow charter and charter-like schools
…https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/2/21/21178789/a-major-new-player-in-education-giving-the-city-fund-uses-over-100-million-in-grants-to-grow-charter/
By
Matt Barnum
|February 21, 2020, 11:06am PST

The newest major player in school reform has already issued more than $110 million in grants to support the growth of charter and charter-like schools across the U.S.

The City Fund’s spending, detailed on a new website, means the organization has quickly become one of the country’s largest K-12 education grantmakers. The money has gone to organizations in more than a dozen cities, including Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Denver, Memphis, and Oakland.

The spending is evidence that The City Fund’s brand of school reform continues to attract major financial support — and may foretell more battles over education politics in those cities.

The City Fund “is being led by an incredibly well-connected group of people,” said Sarah Reckhow, a Michigan State University professor who follows education philanthropy and politics. “If a district’s name is on this list, then yes, you would expect some things to happen.”

The City Fund’s strategy is to grow the number of schools, including charters, run by nonprofits rather than traditional school boards. Advocates say that shift will help low-income students of color, pointing to academic improvements in virtually all-charter New Orleans as one example. Critics argue that strategy undermines teachers unions, democratically elected school boards, and existing public schools.

Overall, The City Fund says it has raised $225 million, largely from Netflix founder Reed Hastings and Texas philanthropist John Arnold. (Chalkbeat is funded by Arnold Ventures.) The organization has also created a political arm, Public School Allies, which has raised $15 million from Hastings and Arnold to support officials vying for state and local office.

In a speech in December, Hastings, who is also on The City Fund’s board, spelled out his vision.

“Let’s year by year expand the nonprofit school sector,” he said. “We know the school district is probably not going to like it, but we’re not against them. We’re for good schools, period. If there’s a very high-performing school district school, let’s keep it. But the low-performing school district public school — let’s have a nonprofit public school take it over.”

The City Fund is supporting city-based organizations and charter networks
The City Fund is spending its money to promote the growth of charter schools as well as hybrids where charter operators or other nonprofits lead schools under the auspices of school districts. Examples include Indianapolis’ “innovation network”schools, “renaissance” schools in Camden, New Jersey, and turnaround schools in Atlanta.

That is connected to an approach to running schools referred to as the “portfolio model.” Under this approach, schools that succeed are encouraged to grow; those that fall short are closed or turned over to new management. Schools are often run by nonprofit boards who hire staff, who are rarely unionized, while districts oversee centralized functions like enrollment.

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New Orleans, Denver, and Indianapolis’ central school district have adopted many elements of that structure, and The City Fund has given to groups in each.

The Denver nonprofit RootEd netted a $21 million grant. The Mind Trust in Indianapolis, previously run by City Fund partner David Harris, got $18 million. New Schools for New Orleans, previously run by City Fund partner Neerav Kingsland, won $7 million. (These and many other grants are for multiple years.)

In turn, these organizations have doled out their own grants to local parent groups, teacher training organizations, political action committees, and charter networks, among others.

The City Fund has supported groups in cities that haven’t already embraced the portfolio model, too. In Oakland, The City Fund has given to a local parent group (Oakland Reach), a charter network (Education for Change), and an education-focused nonprofit (Educate78).

In Nashville, it’s backed charter schools and networks, including KIPP Nashville, Nashville Classical Charter, RePublic Schools, and Valor Collegiate.

The City Fund has also made large grants to nonprofits in Atlanta ($2.75 million to redefinED); Baton Rouge ($13.49 million to New Schools for Baton Rouge); Memphis ($5 million to the Memphis Education Fund); Newark ($5.33 million to the New Jersey Children’s Foundation); St. Louis ($5.5 million to The Opportunity Trust); and San Antonio ($4.98 to City Education Partners).

A handful of grants have gone to national groups, like $2 million to the pro-charter 50CAN and $875,000 to the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a University of Washington think tank that has studied and promoted the portfolio model. Smaller grants have gone to nonprofits in other cities, including Boston and Minneapolis.

All told, The City Fund’s grants are of similar magnitude to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s annual education giving, and about half the size of the Walton Family Foundation’s annual K-12 education giving. (Walton also backs The City Fund, and CZI and Walton are both supporters of Chalkbeat.)

Janelle Scott, a Berkeley education professor, noted that many of The City Fund’s large grants are for general operating expenses, crucial for nonprofits. “This is an attempt at institution building,” she said.

Kingsland, who declined an interview request but answered questions by email, said the group’s emphasis is supporting local organizations. “Our goal is to work with local leaders in the cities so that every child has access to a high-quality school, regardless of governance,” he said. “The goal is 100% great public schools.”

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Why the approach is controversial, and in some cities facing backlash
In some of The City Fund’s target cities, the political winds are shifting in ways that could complicate its efforts.

Denver, for example, has pursued portfolio-style reforms for well over a decade. But union-backed candidates recently took control of the school board. Since then, the board has effectively halted closures of low-performing schools and a working group has recommended scrapping the district’s system of measuring school performance.

“The new local school board has expressed skepticism on certain aspects of the reforms, such as intervening in lower performing schools,” said Kingsland. “To the extent this skepticism is widespread within Denver and across other cities, that will be an important sign on which types of policies are sustainable and which are not. Ultimately, we only want to support policies that are backed by local leaders.”

In Indianapolis’ central school district, two critics of the innovation schools model were recently elected to the school board. And nationally, charter schools face challenges as more states and cities limit their growth and support among Democrats wanes.

“Charter schools are more polarized both in local politics and national politics,” said Reckhow.

Critics note that the growth of alternative schools can place financial strain on existing schools and can lead them to close. Both Oakland and St. Louis are facing district school closures now.

For districts, it comes down to “how much they can absorb new schools without having to close existing schools,” said Reckhow. “Closing existing schools is unpopular.” (Kingsland acknowledged those financial pressures, and said The City Fund will help local leaders with financial planning and to push for more overall school funding.)

In elections where The City Fund’s political arm has gotten involved, the local teachers union has often been on the other side. Charter schools are rarely unionized.

The City Fund makes its case
The key argument made by The City Fund is a straightforward one: its approach works.

The organization’s new website cites evidence that nonprofit charter schools in urban areas outperform district schools, that district students aren’t hurt academically by charter expansion, and that in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., where charter schools have rapidly grown, overall student performance has improved. These claims are generally supported by research.

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But it’s hard to say whether overall changes in performance in certain cities are due to portfolio-style policies or other reasons, like the infusion of more money into schools in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.

And The City Fund omits other research that is less favorable to its approach, including a study of the Achievement School District in Tennessee, in which charter operators attempted to turn around struggling schools, predominantly in Memphis. This initiative, led by Chris Barbic, now a City Fund partner, did not produce gains in student achievement.

Another study in Atlanta, again looking at charter takeovers of low-performing district schools, showed mixed results after two years.

Kingsland said the Memphis results were disappointing and reflect “the challenges of whole school turnarounds,” while the study in Atlanta was early and based on a small number of schools.

Meanwhile, Hastings argued in a recent speech to a Louisiana business group that having nonprofits run schools promotes stable leadership. He repeatedly pointed to the widely cited statistic that big-city schools superintendents leave every three years as evidence. But this figure is not accurate. Superintendents of large districts turn over about every six years or so, according to a recent analysis

The City Fund has given out over $100 million to support charter and charter-like schools

The City Fund’s spending, detailed on a new website, means the organization has quickly become one of the country’s largest K-12 education…

www.chalkbeat.org

Kaiser Therapists “blitz” Kaiser with Objection to Assignment action
https://home.nuhw.org/2026/05/26/therapists-blitz-kaiser-objection-to-assignment-action/
May 26, 2026

One thing Kaiser Permanente is good at when it comes to mental healthcare is wiggling its way out of …trouble after regulatory agencies penalize it for violating access-to-care laws.

With Kaiser now under both state and federal oversight for major violations of mental health parity laws, clinicians in California have started filling out Objection to Assignment forms en masse this month, as part of a “blitz to make sure regulators get real-world data about the experience of patients and providers — not just the upbeat reports that Kaiser provides the regulatory agencies.

“It takes a few minutes, and yes, it’s a little extra time, but it feels like we need to document what’s really happening in the clinic,” said Liza Dalmacio, a social worker with Kaiser in San Diego for more than a decade.

So far, Kaiser clinicians have filled out nearly 700 Objection to Assignment (OTA) Forms as part of the May OTA Blitz. The forms include details about the clinicians and their inability to provide proper care for patients. A copy goes to the clinician, to NUHW to share with regulatory agencies, and if the clinician chooses, to their manager.

Dalmacio makes sure her manager gets a copy of every Objection to Assignment form, and she’s seen managers start taking access-to-care requirements more seriously when they know violations are being documented.

“I was someone who wanted to stay under the radar, do my job well, and go home,” Dalmacio said. “But since the strike (in Southern California), we’ve seen how Kaiser is trying to squeeze therapists. It just feels right to complete these forms and stick up for what’s right.”

Over the past three years, Kaiser has been cited for major violations by the California Department of Managed Health Care and the U.S. Department of Labor. The HMO has agreed to pay $231 million in penalties, including a $50 million fine, as part of the settlement agreements. Kaiser is also required to show both agencies that it’s addressing its deficiencies that have resulted in patients waiting too long for care and being forced to pay out of pocket for care they should have gotten from Kaiser.

However, regulatory agencies often show more initiative in citing Kaiser for violations than in requiring Kaiser to improve conditions for patients and providers. With Kaiser now years into the corrective action process with California regulators, clinicians still face many of the same issues that have plagued Kaiser for years: inadequate staffing levels resulting in delayed access to care and inadequate care.

With Kaiser’s first progress report due soon under its settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, clinicians want to provide data to help federal regulators see for themselves if Kaiser has truly addressed its deficiencies.

“My experience is things are not improving,” said Jane Kostka, a therapist with Kaiser in Sacramento. “I have too many patients, so I’m not able to see them back as soon as they need to be seen.”

Kostka said her patients typically have to wait about six weeks between appointments, in violation of SB 221, the law NUHW sponsored, which requires health plans to provide medically necessary return appointments within 10 business days.

“We’ve told our managers until we’re blue in the face that this type of gap between appointments should only be for people with very minor problems,” Kostka said. “They basically reply that they don’t have any power to hire more therapists and improve the model of care.”

Kostka said management suggests referring patients to Kaiser’s external network, but many wouldn’t qualify because of the seriousness of their conditions, and many more don’t want to start from square one with a new therapist.

In San Diego, Dalmacio works under the Feedback Informed Care Program, where she was able to see patients every week or every other week when she transitioned to the program in 2020. Initially, Dalmacio said managers did a good job limiting caseloads and preserving access, but with staffing not keeping up with demand for services, wait times are now three to four weeks at her clinic.

She’s been told her caseload is too high and asked whether patients still need to be in the program. “The response I get is, are people appropriate for external provider networks, can they do grief groups, can they do a webinar or an app?” she said.

Dalmacio, like many of her colleagues, is holding firm, drawing power from documenting how Kaiser is violating the law and not hiding it from management.

“As a social worker, it’s part of my code of ethics,” she said, referring to the code issued by the National Association of Social Workers. “It states that you should not allow your employer’s policies to interfere with the ethical practice of social work. Your employer does not trump your ethics.”

Therapists “blitz” Kaiser with Objection to Assignment action – NUHW

In an effort to help regulatory agencies obtain real data on whether Kaiser Permanente is adhering to recent settlement agreements over mental…

home.nuhw.org

After Taking $23 Million From Tech Bosses, AFT Pres Weingarten Wants To "negotiate" With Partners
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/technology/ai-screens-schools-weingarten.html
Teachers’ Union Urges Schools to Curb A.I. Chatbots and Screen Time
The American Federation of …Teachers recommended “no screens” at all for those in second grade or younger, and no A.I. chatbots for students in elementary school.

Randi Weingarten, holding a microphone and wearing a coat, speaks to a crowd holding signs.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said on Wednesday that teaching and learning in the earliest grades “should be done without A.I.”Credit…Eric Lee/The New York Times
By Natasha Singer
Natasha Singer has covered tech in schools for more than a decade.
May 27, 2026
Warning that young people “are drowning in tech,” Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, called on schools on Wednesday to stop giving digital devices like iPads to children in prekindergarten through second grade.

In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, Ms. Weingarten also urged elementary schools to avoid using artificial intelligence tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Khan Academy’s Khanmigo with children. And she called for new national privacy and safety standards for A.I. tools in all schools.

The message was part of a new campaign by the second-largest U.S. teachers’ union to prioritize active, hands-on learning and human relationships in classrooms, while reducing school reliance on digital devices. Ms. Weingarten said she was galvanized by a talk she had heard by Jonathan Haidt, the author of “The Anxious Generation,” on how screens can hook children, hindering socialization and critical thinking.

“If we don’t find a way to call this out from an education perspective, I fear that we will lose a generation of kids,” Ms. Weingarten said in a phone interview. “The work of teaching and learning in the earliest grades should be done without A.I.”

The union’s effort reflects a backlash among parents and educators against heavy use of school-issued laptops and apps. Some parents and nonprofit children’s groups are also pushing back against campaigns by tech giants like Google and OpenAI to spread their A.I. products in schools.

Last month, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest U.S. public school system, said it would eliminate school devices like tablets for the youngest students, as well as introduce screen-time limits for every grade. Separately, dozens of parents and health groups called for a five-year pause on the use of generative A.I. products like Gemini and ChatGPT in schools.

In her speech on Wednesday, Ms. Weingarten laid out a plan for reorienting public schooling toward human abilities and student well-being. She called it “a devices down, eyes up, hands-on strategy.”

In an A.I. era, she said, skills like problem-solving, critical thinking and applying ethics have become more important. Yet, she noted, “rather than working through a challenge, students can turn to an A.I. chatbot for an effortless answer.”

Ms. Weingarten also criticized the Trump administration’s ties to tech companies, suggesting that the White House’s industry relationships had led to a “laissez-faire approach to addressing the harms of technology.” She called for an independent research consortium to study the impacts of A.I., screens and other technology on students.
Editors’ Picks

Ms. Weingarten’s warning comes nearly a year after the union announced it was starting a National Academy for A.I. Instruction for teachers, backed by $23 million from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic. At the time, she said industry involvement would help train teachers and give them more say in how companies shaped A.I. tools for schools.

Some union members criticized the deal, saying the partnerships undercut teacher autonomy on A.I.

This week, Ms. Weingarten said that the union was negotiating safety and privacy standards for A.I. use in schools with “our partners in the A.I. academy,” and that Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic had agreed in principle to those standards.

“We’re being transparent,” Ms. Weingarten said, adding that she preferred that the federal government and state legislatures, not unions, regulated A.I. safety. She added: “We’re willing to walk away from the funding that we receive here if we don’t get the safety and privacy.”

Teachers Union Urges Schools to Curb A.I. Chatbots and Screen Time

The American Federation of Teachers recommended “no screens” at all for those in second grade or younger, and no A.I. chatbots for students in…

www.nytimes.com

Apple Unionbusting Maryland leaders and workers protest Apple store closure at Towson Town Center
…https://www.wbal.com/maryland-leaders-and-workers-protest-apple-store-closure-at-towson-town-center?fbclid=IwY2xjawSFhNJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEzM2NSOXRwSlVhbUJMVEQ3c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHizLciHHLXgmfN-5RYhwvMazXz9_o-gRMhJiS8U4MkRQ9AuA1l6kX1mYL1_g_aem_YWdncwDpwctrvF0A3UIAlAKGe1Bk&brid=YWdncwHTFEbjt7Ppbhsv1ZP-gW7J
By Chris Cichon, WBAL NewsRadio 1090 and FM 101.5
May 27, 2026

Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume joined union workers and labor leaders in Towson as they pushed back against Apple’s plan to close its unionized store at Towson Town Center.

Mfume called Apple’s decision to deny Towson workers transfers while offering them at other closing stores a direct attack on organized labor, noting the company offered transfers at closing stores in California and Connecticut.

“You know, in California, when they decided to shut stores down, they sent transfers to all the workers. In Connecticut, when they decided to shut a store down, they sent real serious transfers to all the workers. But in Towson, when they decided to shut this store down, they sent condolences,” Mfume said. “Well, guess what, Apple? We are not dead. We are not going anywhere, and we will continue to fight.”

Eric Brown, a sales lead at the Apple store in Towson, said they have long served as a vital resource for customers across not just Baltimore County, but even in other states.

“We’re right in the heart of Baltimore County, and we’re just outside of Baltimore City. We are the Apple store for people who are dependent on public transportation in the city and the county, but also for people as far as Pennsylvania and West Virginia,” Brown said. “Customers will regularly tell us that they traveled over an hour or two just to get to us.”

Maryland leaders and workers protest Apple store closure at Towson Town Center

Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume joined union workers and labor leaders in Towson as they pushed back against Apple’s plan to close its unionized store at…

www.wbal.com

Educators for Palestine, Vetoed: The cases of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Historical Association (AHA)

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UjsAX2QGQ5S2ftHza2SgRQ#/registration

Date & Time
Jun 6, 2026 11:00 AM in
Pacific Time (US …and Canada)
Description
A joint panel by Educators for Palestine-NEA (E4P-NEA) and Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD). Endorsed by: Labor for Palestine National Network.

When: Saturday June 6 at 11am pst/12pm mountain/1pm central/2pm est
Zoom: webinar (with registration)

In January 2025 and 2026, while Israel committed genocide against Palestinians, the American Historical Association voted overwhelmingly to pass the Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza. However, the AHA Council vetoed the resolution and overturned the decision of the membership.

In July 2025, the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, passed a resolution that “NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).” However, the NEA's Board of Directors voted not to implement this proposal.

This panel will address the following:

• What responsibility do academic workers have in regards to the ongoing genocide in Palestine and other concurrent or future wars?
• What material and ideological support can we give to peoples’ movements resisting genocide and war?
• What happens when our ostensibly democratic organizations overturn our democratic decisions?
• What are the next steps for educators organizing for Palestine solidarity

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Educators for Palestine, Vetoed: The cases of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Historical Association (AHA) . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about…

A joint panel by Educators for Palestine-NEA (E4P-NEA) and Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD). Endorsed by: Labor for Palestine National…

us06web.zoom.us

Educators for Palestine, Vetoed: The cases of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Historical Association (AHA)

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UjsAX2QGQ5S2ftHza2SgRQ#/registration

Date & Time
Jun 6, 2026 11:00 AM in
Pacific Time (US …and Canada)
Description
A joint panel by Educators for Palestine-NEA (E4P-NEA) and Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD). Endorsed by: Labor for Palestine National Network.

When: Saturday June 6 at 11am pst/12pm mountain/1pm central/2pm est
Zoom: webinar (with registration)

In January 2025 and 2026, while Israel committed genocide against Palestinians, the American Historical Association voted overwhelmingly to pass the Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza. However, the AHA Council vetoed the resolution and overturned the decision of the membership.

In July 2025, the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, passed a resolution that “NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).” However, the NEA's Board of Directors voted not to implement this proposal.

This panel will address the following:

• What responsibility do academic workers have in regards to the ongoing genocide in Palestine and other concurrent or future wars?
• What material and ideological support can we give to peoples’ movements resisting genocide and war?
• What happens when our ostensibly democratic organizations overturn our democratic decisions?
• What are the next steps for educators organizing for Palestine solidarity

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Educators for Palestine, Vetoed: The cases of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Historical Association (AHA) . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about…

A joint panel by Educators for Palestine-NEA (E4P-NEA) and Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD). Endorsed by: Labor for Palestine National…

us06web.zoom.us