Katie Punsly

Nation’s largest RN union: Time for HHS Secretary RFK Jr. to go the wake of the latest scandal he has perpetuated, National Nurses United, the nation’s largest nurses union and professional organization, today called for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the Secretary of He...

Nation’s largest nursing union: Time for HHS Secretary RFK Jr. to go
| National Nurses United www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nation...

UFT delegates voted to endorse Mamdani because they believe he is the best candidate in the race to advance our union’s agenda: to protect our premium-free health care, fix Tier 6, pass the “RESPECT check” bill, implement the class size law, revamp mayoral control and more.

‘Who’s training who?’: Tech companies, teachers union partner on national AI academy The $23 million partnership aims to close gaps in technology use. Tech companies also will gain a “wealth of information” about how to adapt their products to the classroom.

Respectfully, these companies have a vested interest in offering their trainings for "free," which is access to our data and upselling us on their services. If training was even a priority (which I disagree that it is), it should be always be teacher led. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/08/o...

Zohran Mamdani

The members have spoken:

NYC teacher’s union @uftnyc.bsky.social has officially endorsed @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social for the next mayor of NYC

If you’re an elected Democrat (rightly) complaining about the GOP kicking 17 million people off of Medicaid, now is a good and credible time to critique the entire broken work-based non-universal US healthcare system. Now is the time to call for universal healthcare, for Medicare for All.

We proudly endorse Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of New York City.

The NYC CLC today with broad and overwhelming support proudly endorsed Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of New York City following his victory in last week’s Democratic primary.

[CLICK here if you would like your name added to this letter] النسخة العربية من هذه الرسالة متاحة أدناه. Open Letter to the Bluesky Team About Their Treatment of Palestinians in Gaza The signatories of this letter are all members of the Bluesky community, many of us have actively participated on the platform since its inception. We came to Bluesky because it was a breath of fresh air, a place that felt different from many of the other social media platforms. The lack of a central algorithm, the ability to build and use custom feeds, and the lack of penalty for link promotion contributed to an environment that allowed diverse and interesting voices to find their footing and community on Bluesky. While some of the signatories of this letter have had no issues with speaking their mind publicly on Bluesky, unfortunately that is not true for all the signatories because many are Palestinians currently living in Gaza. These Palestinians are journalists, artists, engineers, teachers, grandmas, entrepreneurs, a man who owned an ice cream shop, a pediatrician who has been featured on CBS Morning News, aid workers, architects, waiters, pharmacists, students–and perhaps most essential to the backbone of Bluesky, posters. All of these people provide unique and interesting voices to the Bluesky community. However, unlike the other signatories of this letter, these Bluesky community members have struggled to keep their accounts on the platform. Most of them have lost multiple accounts and/or have had their accounts labeled as spam. Some cannot even make an account without it immediately being removed from the platform. Gazans undertake immense efforts to simply be on Bluesky. Sometimes, they walk for miles just to have access to the internet. They scale rooftops where they are exposed to potential military attacks just for the opportunity to get better cell signals–one signatory of this letter tragically lost her brother this way. They use what little money they have to pay …

Gazans have also been aggressively targeted and unfairly reported by bad actors. Many accounts openly encourage the reporting and targeting of any Palestinian. Several groups exist for the express purpose of looking for Palestinian accounts to report. We believe Bluesky owes Gazans, and the entire community who benefits from their voices, a greater duty of care especially in the context of the horrors they are enduring. We ask Bluesky to implement the following changes: Provide information on all Bluesky-affiliated websites in Arabic that explains the rules and expectations of the site in clear language. Investigate the accounts that are mass-reporting Palestinians on Bluesky. The mass reporting of Palestinians on Bluesky is a group effort to render the platform a hostile place for a community based on their ethnicity. As such, it is racism, and should be understood as such. Reports against Palestinians who have broken no community guidelines must be understood as racism, and the accounts that submit those reports should be disregarded in the future. Many Bluesky users encourage Gazans to tag or reply to them, and this is not always understood as unwelcome behavior. If an account is reported as Spam for tagging or replying to others, treat only reports from the tagged/mentioned account as legitimate, seeing as they were the only ones who received a notification. Send emails regarding disciplinary action every time it is taken. Gazans do not always get an email explaining what they did wrong, and those that do are required to parse a language they do not speak in order to understand their violation. Have these emails contain an easily visible link to information about their violations in Arabic. Respond to appeals in a timely fashion, many Gazans simply never hear back from Bluesky after they appeal a decision. In addition to removing Gazans for alleged spam behavior, Bluesky has also sometimes indicated that they are deleting an account for being a scam or …

End IP bans on any account from Gaza and allow them to make new accounts where they can comply with Bluesky rules and continue to be valued members of the community. We understand that even if all these changes are made, many Gazans may still violate Bluesky rules in the future, but we hope that Bluesky will abandon their punitive approach to these violations and instead embrace an attitude of education, cooperation and community care– one that works to ensure people in Gaza can participate in a way that keeps their voices heard. We also call on the Bluesky community to help and support these accounts however they can. We want to continue to build a healthy community with better community members and this cannot be done if Gazans continue to be shunned. We can use this as an opportunity to show how to protect all vulnerable groups in the future. We hope that Bluesky does not follow the path of other social media platforms and instead forges ahead with a different philosophy. After all, that is the reason so many of its users are there. Bluesky's ethos of "No Caesars” should apply to all members of its community. [To add your name to the list of signatories, click here.]

We were hoping that this letter to @bsky.app could first be shared by a Gazan, but we were too worried that doing so would get their account deleted so we are sharing first.

You can sign on to the letter about the unfair treatment of Gazans on Bluesky here:

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Measles cases are rising in the U.S. Do adults need a vaccine booster? With a measles outbreak growing in West Texas, and cases popping up across the country, experts say vaccination is your best protection. And it's not just for kids. Some adults may need a booster.

Info on when revaccination may be recommended

All teachers need more time to do their job well.

Period.
Full stop.

Teachers of literature (and all humanities, really) need time to be good students so they can be good teachers of their content and craft. The world changes so fast and we need time to study it.

Excited to be presenting!

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN CASE OF ICE: CONOCE TUS DERECHOS EN CASO DE ENCUENTRO CON ICE:

DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR. ICE cannot enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge. Tell the agents to show you the warrant by sliding it under the door. NO ABRAS TU PUERTA. ICE no puede entrar a tu casa sin una orden firmada por un juez. Diles a los agentes que te muestren la orden deslizándola debajo de la puerta.

ASK THEM TO LEAVE. If ICE doesn't have a warrant, tell them you do not consent for them to enter your home and ask them to leave. At work, ICE cannot enter employee-only areas without permission. 2 PÍDALES QUE SE VAYAN. Si ICE no tiene una orden judicial, diles que no das tu consentimiento para que entren a tu casa y pídeles que se vayan. En el trabajo, ICE no puede ingresar a áreas exclusivas para empleados sin permiso.

REMAIN SILENT. You have the right to remain silent. If the agents ask you questions, tell them, "I wish to remain silent." PERMANECE EN SILENCIO. Tienes derecho a permanecer en silencio. Si los agentes te hacen preguntas, diles: "Deseo permanecer en silencio".

It is perfectly legal to know your rights and to educate others about them, too.

EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.

Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)

Una mirada al interior del único centro de detención de ICE en el estado de Kentucky El Centro de Detención del Condado de Boone alberga a personas detenidas por ICE, a veces durante un año o más. Investigadores de derechos civiles han encontrado deficiencias en los protocolos de salu...

KyCIR put out two stories this week on how ICE's new enforcement push may happen in Kentucky. Now they're available @lpm.org in Spanish, thanks to translation assistance from Al Día en América (www.aldiaenamerica.com).
Story #1: www.lpm.org/investigate/...
Story #2:

New York City's New Curriculum Gets Caught in the 'Math Wars' An initiative aimed at raising student achievement doesn't give students enough practice with foundational skills, some say.

Here's some interesting criticism New York City teachers have for Illustrative Mathematics, the same math curriculum JCPS has adopted districtwide in K-8. Teachers, what do you think?

www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Protect Public Schools | NEA Educators and parents know that America's students need more opportunities to succeed, and we need to strengthen our public schools where 90% of students learn.

We are speaking up in school board meetings, statehouses, and the halls of Congress, urging our elected officials to oppose efforts to undermine our schools, students, and educators. Add your voice: nea.org/protect

The NIH announced it will slash billions of dollars of support to universities and research centers.

This is one of the biggest attacks on science we have ever seen. It could dismantle the biomedical research system, shut down clinical trials, and halt development of treatments.

We're continuing to add ways you can help, including GoFundMe links for educators who have lost their homes, to cta.org/LAwildfires. During this time of crisis, our union comes together to support one another. #WeAreCTA

Immigrant students have the right to be here in this country and have the right to learn. The vast majority of them are here legally. English proficiency has nothing to do with legal status. To believe anything else means your bias is showing.

Many students hesitate to come to office hours because they don't know what to say. I've started explicitly asking all students to attend at least once and providing sentence starters—it's made a big difference in increasing participation.

AP nixes 'homophobia', 'ethnic cleansing' <p>The Associated Press has nixed &quot;homophobia,&quot; &quot;ethnic cleansing,&quot; and a number of other terms from its Stylebook in recent months.</p>

They don't say it outright, but it is implied. They do say that 'homophobia' should be replaced with 'anti-gay.' www.politico.com/blogs/media/...

If you were concerned about the end of affirmative action, you should be extremely concerned about this.

Disabled and senior people constitute the highest number of deaths in climate disasters like wildfires and flooding due to poor planning and lack of investment by the govt.

Something I wrote about wildfires in Northern CA:
sf.curbed.com/2018/11/13/1...

#LAFires #LAFirestorm2025

New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States According to new data analyzed by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, warming temperatures, rising seas and changing rainfall will profoundly reshape the way people have lived in North…

In 2020, we mapped out the danger zones that will close in on Americans over the next 30 years — combining climate data with wildfire projections by US Forest Service researchers.

See what changes are in store for your county.

By @shaw.al , @abrahm.bsky.social & Jeremy W. Goldsmith

For SoCal friends,

Here is a list of resources for shelter, animal boarding, free items, and distribution hubs. These places can also use donations (e.g., food, water, masks, and blankets). Please consider donating if you can.

For more info, visit Instagram: mutualaidla

I wrote the latest cover story for The Atlantic. It's about the far-ranging implications of one simple statistic: Americans have never spent so much time alone, and surging solitude is warping our society.

I'm really proud of it, and I hope you read it.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Calling women ‘household objects’ now permitted on Facebook after Meta updated its guidelines | CNN Business Meta on Tuesday announced sweeping changes to how it moderates content that will roll out in the coming months, including doing away with professional fact checking. But the company also quietly updat...

Meta quietly updated its hateful conduct policy to allow users to refer to "women as household objects or property" among other offensive language.

I think I know the real reason. Facebook content moderators have worked in inhuman conditions for years and filed class action lawsuits: www.bbc.com/news/technol...

KY voters want to improve public schools. Here’s one great way lawmakers could do so | Opinion OpEd: As Kentucky’s general assembly kicks off today, lawmakers need to consider that the commonwealth has fallen to 41st in the country for teacher pay.

KY voters want to improve public schools. Here’s one great way lawmakers could do so
www.kentucky.com/opinion/lind...