Women’s Economic Empowerment Series comes to Framingham
The Women’s Economic Empowerment Series will be held at Framingham State on March 24. It is a one-day program meant to educate women and address the economic gender disparity. In attendance will be State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer. The series is put on by the State Treasury’s Office of Economic Empowerment and is part of their campaign to have “Equal Pay for All” by providing women with the tools to become more financially adept. The series is sponsored by a grant from Citizens Bank. Topics of the workshops include “Understanding How to Manage Your Debt” and “Salary Negotiation.”
Latinx inequality in Massachusetts is worse than any other state
The difference in median income between white residents and Latinx residents in Massachusetts is higher than anywhere else in the country, according to US. Census data. Only 25 percent of Latinx heads of household own their home, compared to 69 percent of white heads of household—the largest disparity in the country. While inequality is a problem across the board, it is especially prevalent for Latina women, who make only 58 cents to a white man’s dollar. Massachusetts is also host to additional problems, including the long waiting lists for English as a Second Language classes, the fact that most jobs in the state here require a college education and a law against teaching bilingual education in most public schools that was only effectively overturned a few months ago. Despite the Latinx population contributing 92 percent of the growth in Boston from 1982 to 2015, it remains an invisible and disadvantaged population. Latinx people make up 42 percent of the children in Boston Public Schools but only 13 percent of the student population at the city’s public exam school, Boston Latin School. Because of the obstacles outlined above, there is also a low level of civic engagement and widespread advocacy.
Fear of school shootings and political action reaches Wellesley Schools
On the night of March 5, the words “Are we next” were spray painted in orange on the sidewalk leading into Wellesley Middle School. While the vandal has not come forward, it is assumed to be a response to the Parkland School Shooting in February. Wellesley High School students planned a walk out for today, Wednesday, March 14 at 10 a.m., to protest Congress’s inaction on gun control. The students from both the middle school and high school are concerned that their places of learning have become targets of violence and that lawmakers seem to be unwilling to make the changes necessary to protect them.
