Record-breaking opposition to Trump Administration proposed “Disparate Impact” rule: The Federal Register notes that 45,488 comments were submitted by last Friday’s deadline. This enormous show of opposition to the rollback is thanks in part to the coordinated efforts of groups who raised the alarm, including the coalitions Defend Civil Rights, Alliance for Housing Justice, and Fight for Housing Justice. PRRAC submitted joint comments with Klein Hornig LLP, as well as a joint letter from environmental justice, environmental, public health and civil rights groups. We were especially heartened to see strong opposition to the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle the Fair Housing Act from a wide range of housing industry groups, including but not limited to the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Housing Finance Agencies, the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, the Affordable Housing Lenders’ Association, and a joint letter from Enterprise, the Housing Partnership Network, LISC, the National Housing Trust, and Stewards for Affordable Housing. Selected comment letters can be found on our website.
Congressional briefing on school diversity: The National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) will be partnering with the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) and the Stanford Graduate School of Education and Center for Education Policy Analysis to present a congressional briefing, “Separate and Unequal: How School Diversity Matters for Educational Opportunity and Attainment.” The briefing will include remarks from Senator Chris Murphy (CT) and Marcia Fudge (OH), as well as a panel discussion featuring LPI President Linda Darling Hammond, UC Berkeley Professor Rucker Johnson, and Stanford Professor Sean Reardon. The briefing is scheduled for Thursday, November 14th at 9am (light breakfast starting at 8:30am) in the Russell Senate Office Building’s Kennedy Caucus Room. Please join us. Register here
Other news and resources
Applications are open for the 2020-21 Emerson Hunger Fellowships – these fellowships offer social-justice-oriented college graduates the opportunity to serve for 6 months in a state or local anti-hunger organization, followed by 6 months in a DC-based poverty action organization. We have been fortunate to have had several wonderful fellows at PRRAC over the past ten years, and we think it’s a great way to support the movement and get first-hand experience to start off your social justice career. See the application guide here (note January 13 deadline).
