Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Literature and Media on the fight for youth jobs

Articles

Activists demand "Youth jobs now!"

http://baystatebanner.com/local15-2010-04-29

Teens march for job funds

http://www.lowellsun.com/business/ci_14935300

Youth Rally at City Hall 3/27/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJJ1VR539po

YOUTH RALLY CALLS FOR RESTORATION OF FUNDING FOR TEEN JOBS PROGRAMS: Hundreds of teens and youth advocates gathered Thursday for a protest a proposed cut to two programs that provide jobs for young people. After rallying outside the State House, the protesters filled Gardner Auditorium and heard from teenagers who have benefited from jobs obtained through the state-funded programs, YouthWorks and School to Career Connecting Activities. Sen. Sonia Chang Diaz, Rep. Martin Walsh and Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry spoke in favor of restoring the funds. Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed slashing to $4 million from $8 million in this fiscal year’s budget. 02-18-10
http://www.statehousenews.com/video/10-02-18youth/video.htm

Tough times needn’t mean youth job cuts
news article

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100219/COLUMN44/2190459/1101/LOCAL

Boston Globe article

Teens march to decry cuts in summer jobs

Protesters link youth idleness to deadly violence

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/19/teens_march_to_decry_cuts_in_summer_jobs/

Youths rally for jobs at Statehouse

YouthWorks funding urged
http://www.telegram.com/article/20100219/NEWS/2190511/1101/LOCAL

Youth from Across Massachusetts March on Statehouse to Save Youth Jobs Facing 50% Cut in Funding

March Begins at 1:30 at Park Street Station 3:30 Indoor Rally at State House

http://www.tuboston.com/article-3723-youth-from-across-ma.html


Video Links

news interview from two students who have benefited from the program and are involved in upcoming protests to secure jobs
http://vimeo.com/9559118

Teens Rally Against Cuts in Jobs Programs
Video testimonies

http://vimeo.com/9586909

Youth Rally for Jobs Funding
Informal interviews from students and city councils

http://vimeo.com/10433413

Teens Look for Jobs and Funding
Job Fair interviews with GOTCHA, Private Industry Council and teens
http://vimeo.com/10269060

More Testimonials from our preceeding rally

From Feb. 21 Rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8P2GiI1v8A

Student at rally:
"Getting a job you can also get connected, find other ways you that you want to be successful, start talking to other people who can help you become successful and help you find where your place is in life."

FROM YOUTH RALLY on 3/27/2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJJ1VR539po

Felix Arroyo Boston City Councilmen's testimonial (Former ABCD student):
" I remember my first summer job, it was at ABCD. When I was like a sophomore, right? And after that, I got real lucky and I got a summer job at the US attorney office and they rehire me the summer after that. So sophomore, eleventh and twelfth, I was working during those summers. And I still remember those jobs and I still remember the first time I got in trouble showing up late. I had no idea you can get in trouble for doing something like that, right? I mean, i didn't know they can deduct your pay. Things like that, that was important for me to learn; how to speak with your supervisor, how to do an interview process. All these things were important to learn but also my senior year was a really bad time for my household, my whole entire check went into my family and it was actually very important for us that summer to have that check be a part of what we were, part of our economic situation at home."


Martin Booth from Project Right:
"Trying to get back the 4 million, 6 million dollars that they took from us, from the youths. Summer time, around the year, doesn't matter, trying to get the youth jobs. It affects more than just Boston. It affects people from Worchester, we have a rally not too long ago in front of the statehouse. We have people from Worcester, people from Massachusetts in general. The whole budget cut affects the whole Massachusetts, not just Boston."

Gabriel Valesquez from Project Right:
"I have seen effects on the community I worked, I work in growth hall area. You can definitely see the effect it has on the youths out there. A lot of people hanging around the corners, you know, just nothing else to do because they don't have jobs. The movement as far as getting the youth the jobs back, giving them more opportunities, just getting them off the street cause, with those jobs cut, i mean, the violence and the crime rates, they all rise so we really just try to mitigate with that, well, in one way or another you gotta start somewhere so I figure, start get these youth their jobs back."

Student Testimonials: What we are fighting for.

Tony Shen, class of 2008

Describe the summer of your junior year in high school.

Well, I did a lot of nothing. I stayed up late surfing the web, I woke up late, sometimes with migraines, and I spent a lot of time in front of the television. I played a lot of basketball, which was fun, but after that, the day usually just went downhill. I couldn’t wait for school to start up again. I wanted to travel and do things around the city, but I was BROKE! I looked for a job for the longest time, but no one was really hiring or was interested in my abilities.

What happened during the summer of your senior year?

To start off, I was actually informed about an internship possibility at state street corporation by my PIC office coordinator, and went through an interview and application process. I got the job, and looked forward to working in the WMS department, which was something I was interested in. I learned a lot from my job, including how to work in a team environment, how to use the JAVA computer program, and how to effectively build and maintain websites with extensive databases. I still was able to play basketball and enjoy myself, but in addition I felt like I had a purpose in life and was making something of myself. It was a life changing experience.

There are proposed budget cuts in Massachusetts for the type of program that helped you get your internship. How does that make you feel?

This cannot happen, for sure. I wouldn’t wish my junior year, which was filled with inactivity and hopelessness, on my worst enemy. Having an internship as a high school student is very empowering, and made me, and surely other people, focus on potential future employment and aspirations. This doesn’t only negatively affect the students, but also the employers, who I feel benefit from our presence in the workplace. They are happy to teach us and share their knowledge, and sometimes we can do things that they cannot.

Julian Jean-Pierre, class of 2010

Julian Jean-Pierre is currently a senior at the prestigious Boston Latin School, but even with a solid resume, he has been very unsuccessful when looking for summer employment both this year and last. He has applied to over 10 different potential employers, but has been turned down by 7 of them, and hasn’t received a response from the other 3. He says that this failure has greatly affected him, because he feels like “he will never get a job.” He wonders why he goes to school if he cannot put anything he has learned in to good use. Also, as a typical high school student who also comes from a poorer background, he wants money to buy thing that most of his classmates can easily afford. The whole concept just feels unfair to him. “I wonder why the people of Massachusetts are making it so difficult for me to find a job. I am 17 years old. I am still a child, and I need help.” Julian makes a very good case. We restrict teens in society and treat them like children, but when it comes to vocational experience, we leave them to their own devices.

Rondale Davis, class of 2010

Tell me about your internship experiences?

I was lucky enough to get an internship in 11th grade at Bank Of America through my PIC Office Coordinator. It was an amazing experience in which I learned about banking and account management. Not only was this helpful in terms of knowledge in the field of experience, but also helped me learn new things about my own bank account and allowed me to educate my friends and family. It was by far my most productive summer, and I felt like I was really going places in life. It was the first job I had ever held, and I felt like I excelled at it. However, because of the recession and such, I was actually unable to get an internship for this summer. All of the positions I applied for were much more competitive than ever before, and all of the spots seemed to be very limited. I cannot understand why it was not the governor’s priority to help us students. I find that us getting jobs can’t hurt anyone, and it keeps us out of trouble. I really need a job and some money before I go to college. It will look very bad on my resume if I am inactive for the entire summer and maybe for the entire year.

Have you done anything to combat this shortage of jobs?

No, but what can I do? I haven’t really heard of anyone or any type of program that is trying to help people like me.

There were marches at the state house and student led rallies that opposed budget cuts to school-to-career programs. Why didn’t you attend them?

No one ever let me know what was going on, I only heard whispers about it in the paper and on the news. Besides, who would actually listen to me?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Our programs as listed in the state budget recommendations

Connecting Activities: 7027-0019 For school-to-career connecting activities; provided, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the board of elementary and secondary education, in cooperation with the department of workforce development and the state workforce investment board, may establish and support a public-private partnership to link high school students with economic and learning opportunities on the job as part of the school-to-work transition program; provided further, that such program may include the award of matching grants to workforce investment boards or other local public-private partnerships involving local community job commitments and work site learning opportunities for students; provided further, that the grants shall require at least a 200 per cent match in wages for the students from private sector participants; provided further, that the program shall include, but not be limited to, a provision that business leaders commit resources to pay salaries, to provide mentoring and instruction on the job and to work closely with teachers; provided further, that public funds shall assume the costs of connecting schools and businesses to ensure that students serve productively on the job; and provided further, that no funds shall be expended for personnel costs............................................... $2,000,000

YouthWorks: 7002-0012 For a youth-at-risk program targeted at reducing juvenile delinquency in high risk areas; provided, that these funds may be expended for the development and implementation of a year-round employment program for at-risk youth as well as existing year-round employment programs; provided further, that $500,000 of these funds shall be matched by private organizations; and provided further, that funds shall be available for expenditure through September 1, 2011........................................................................................ $3,700,000

Final Info Session Before Big March!

On Sunday, April 25th at 3:00 p.m. we will be holding a meeting to finalize the details of our march to the State House 3 days later. If you are reading this and are not yet a member of S.A.V.E., we strongly encourage you to join us in this meeting and contribute in the final planning of our march. The location is TBD, so just e-mail us at socialchangeinaction@gmail.com if you wish to join us.
Our plan for the meeting is to begin as a large group outlining the plan of action for the entire day, followed by questions, concerns, and suggestions. This is a communal decision-making process meaning that everyone will have equal input in all decisions, even if they do not have as much experience with our campaign. We believe that more voices always leads to better decision-making.
After this large group outline of the big day, we will break up into smaller groups to work on various tasks that still need to be finished, such as sign/banner making, working on chants, creating props/decorations for the theatrical performance , etc.

Please join us in this important step towards pressuring State Legislators to reinstate funding for these vital programs!!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

S.A.V.E. Launches Campus Events

Posted by: Molly Kammien

On Thursday, April 8th S.A.V.E. launched its first public event on the Boston College campus. Through a demonstration in the quad, we spread awareness of our campaign and publicized our group’s mission. Public support was high as students and faculty alike stopped to take flyers and ask questions. Pictures from the event can be found on S.A.V.E.’s Facebook page.

Our next event took place on Wednesday, April 14th. S.A.V.E. participated in Boston College’s World Fiesta Day and collected signatures for our petition. Once again, the BC community was very receptive and committed support to restoring funding to the school-to-career programs. Our ipetition can be found at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save/

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Update 4:15 State House Rally


S.A.V.E. Update
by Annie Spencer

After securing Hope in Action campaign aid, S.A.V.E. is currently working on mobilizing hundreds of activists including high school students to rally at the State House on April 28th.

The day will kick off with an initial meeting at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Copley Square at 10:00am, followed by a march to the State House at 10:15. Once there the assembly will be split in two groups – one will go inside the State House building and distribute information to the senators. The others will stay outdoors and perform the "theatrical" event.

Outside, each high school student will carry a tangible symbol of their career aspirations. A few people, pretending to help the students reach their aspirations, will be dressed up as politician and ignore their needs. The rest of the members will be attracting spectators, inform them of our cause, and ask them to sign our petition.

We plan to end day with a long list of signatures, positive media attention, and a list of allies in the senate vowing to prevent budget cuts for Connecting Activities and Youth Works programs.

These plans are by no means final. Please feel free to add amendments to the agenda and more ideas on how to actually execute the actions detailed above. Specifics on how exactly everything will go down are coming soon. Stay tuned for more updates.