Civil Rights News: Janet Yellen, Equal Access to AP Courses, Stop-And-Frisk

Chairwoman Janet Yellen
The Editorial Board
New York Times
October 9, 2013

The New York Times Editorial Board raises its support of President Obama’s nomination of Vice Chairman Janet Yellen to lead the Federal Reserve system. A deeply respected economist, Vice Chairman Yellen “represents continuity with the Fed’s current low-interest-rate policies to foster employment while controlling inflation….and represents a break from Mr. Obama’s circle of policy makers whose reputations were marred by their roles before or during the financial crisis.” The Board encourages the Senate to confirm her nomination, in that she would quell the instability of the domestic and international economies.

More Schools Opening Advanced Placement Courses To All Students
Teresa Watanabe
Los Angeles Times
October 9, 2013

Teresa Watanabe reports on the necessity of equal access to advance placement courses as an educational right of all high school students. A new computer-based lottery to distribute select spaces for college-level Advanced Placement courses excludes many students, and “many consider critical to develop advanced skills, boost grade-point averages and allow students to earn college credit, saving tuition dollars.” However, because of petitions and social media cries, more schools are discarding this new system and are opening up equal access to these courses. There are many critics of this open access, “But the College Board, which runs the AP program and is encouraging open access, said the effort has generally been successful. Even though national participation has doubled in the last decade to 2.1 million students last year, exam failure rates have increased only slightly, officials said. Passing scores have outpaced failing results by nearly 20% over the last decade.”

Ex-Philly Cop: Stop-And-Frisk Is ‘Demeaning’
William Bender
Philadelphia Inquirer
October 10, 2013

William Bender reports on the demeaning stop-and-frisk policy, and the “intolerably high level” of unlawful stops happening in Philadelphia, and targeting minorities. After serving as a policeman for nearly 20 years, Herbert Spellman found himself victim to the stop-and-frisk program. “The experience made Spellman realize what can happen to innocent civilians when they become suspects in the eyes of cops. Spellman, who is black, still doesn’t know why he was targeted, but he couldn’t help but notice that the two cops who stopped him and the four or five backup officers who arrived were white.” Both American Civil Liberties Union civil rights attorney Paul Messing and Council President Darrell Clarke are concerned with how the stop-and-frisk program violates minorities’ constitutional rights, and for nothing.