Mica Pollock
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micapollock.bsky.social
Mica Pollock
@micapollock.bsky.social
1.4K followers 770 following 110 posts
Education professor studying & improving on race/opportunity/diversity issues in K12 schools. Views my own. schooltalking.org usvshate.org
📚Colormute|Everyday Antiracism|Schooltalk|Bc of Race…
🗞️The Conflict Campaign|The Limitation Effect
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micapollock.bsky.social
Mica Pollock @micapollock.bsky.social · Nov 15
Hi, BlueSky! Zoom in to find me. I’m an education professor. I help people grapple with race/opportunity/diversity issues in K12 schools. I’ve been researching/critiquing efforts to restrict race- and diversity-related work in K12. Let's improve public schools to support every young person instead.
Reposted by Mica Pollock
larryferlazzo.bsky.social
School Groups Sue to Stop Dismantling of the Education Department www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
A coalition of educators, school districts, unions and an advocacy organization for people with disabilities sued the Trump administration in federal court on Tuesday, arguing that the government’s latest attempt to dismantle the Education Department was unlawful. The lawsuit challenges the far-reaching changes announced last week by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who signed agreements to effectively offload the management of some of her department’s important functions to other federal agencies. The education coalition argues in its lawsuit that the annual appropriations law approved by Congress requires the Education Department to carry out its programs and that Ms. McMahon lacks the authority to shift these functions to other federal agencies.
November 26, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
thenation.com
This crude reimagining of the role that government workers play in American life is devastating for those who rely on federal services, and it is catastrophic for those who built their careers providing these services, writes @sashaabramsky.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/47NuKh1
The Deliberate Decimation of the Federal Workforce
Systems built up over the last 120 years are being either eliminated or corroded at warp speed, with the implicit blessing of the US Supreme Court.
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
alexjaffe.bsky.social
Why did we take a mandatory unit on the Holocaust every year in Hebrew school if not to recognize this pattern
crampell.bsky.social Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 8d
this defies parody. also helps explain why Sec Bessent bizarrely blamed immigrants when confronted with a question about high beef prices
November 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
micapollock.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 8d
Exclusive: The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols.

The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
The President of the United States just called for Democratic members of Congress to be executed. "HANG THEM", he posted.

If you're a person of influence in this country and you haven't picked a side, maybe now would be the time to pick a fucking side.
November 20, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
hankgreen.bsky.social
I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.
November 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
gabrielmalor.bsky.social
Fed. judge holds that the Trump administration engaged in coercive and retaliatory conduct in violation of the First and Tenth Amendments in its pretextual attacks on the University of California system.

PI granted.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Defendants do not deny any of this. Instead, their principal argument is that the UC might not agree to the proposed conditions for restoring funding, so Plaintiffs’ present case is too speculative to be heard. But Plaintiffs’ harm is already very real. With every day that passes, UCLA continues to be denied the chance to win new grants, ratchetting up Defendants’ pressure campaign. And numerous UC faculty and staff have submitted declarations describing how Defendants’ actions have already chilled speech throughout the UC system. They describe how they have stopped teaching or researching topics they are afraid are too “left” or “woke,” in order to avoid triggering further funding cancellations by Defendants. They also give examples of projects the UC has stopped due to fear of the same reprisals. These are classic, predictable First Amendment harms, and exactly what Defendants publicly said that they intended. The undisputed record demonstrates that Defendants have engaged in coercive and Case 3:25-cv-07864-RFL Document 90 Filed 11/14/25 Page 2 of 76 3 retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment and Tenth Amendment. It also shows that they have flouted the requirements of Title VI and IX and cancelled funding in an arbitrary and capricious manner while ignoring required procedural safeguards. None of the jurisdictional
November 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
fishkin.bsky.social
A huge district court victory for the University of California.

District courts find facts. This one found "overwhelming evidence" that the Trump administration has pervasively violated the First Amendment in its efforts to coerce and intimidate the University of California.

News story here—
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules
A federal judge ruled Donald Trump cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement that would have restricted academic freedoms.
calmatters.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:41 AM
micapollock.bsky.social
This seems huge
mzinshteyn.bsky.social Mikhail Zinshteyn @mzinshteyn.bsky.social · 13d
NEW:

‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules.

The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump’s termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet.
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules
A federal judge ruled Donald Trump cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement that would have restricted academic freedoms.
calmatters.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
nytimes.com
Breaking News: America’s Roman Catholic bishops issued a rare statement rebuking the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign.
Catholic Bishops Rebuke Trump’s Immigration Tactics in Rare Statement
“We feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,” they said in the statement.
nyti.ms
November 13, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:

- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
As a Black Hawk helicopter roared overhead, the slender, 28-year-old immigrant from Venezuela answered softly, his eyes darting to a television crew invited to film the raid. Next to Caicedo, masked Border Patrol agents inspected another man’s tattoos and asked him if he belonged to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has designated a terrorist group. Until that moment, Caicedo’s only interaction with law enforcement in his two-and-a-half years in the United States had been a traffic stop two weeks earlier for driving without a license or insurance, according to the records we reviewed. Chicago police had run a background check on him and found no prior arrests, no warrants and no evidence that he was in a gang. Caicedo said he had a pending asylum application, a steady job at a taco joint and a girlfriend whose daughter attended elementary school across the street. None of that mattered. The U.S. government paraded him and his neighbors in front of the cameras and called their arrests a spectacular victory against terrorism. But later, after the cameras had gone, prosecutors didn’t charge Caicedo with a crime. They didn’t accuse him of being a terrorist. And after a brief hearing in immigration court, the government sent him back to the country he had fled nine years earlier. “I lost everything,” he said in a phone interview from his mother’s home in the Venezuelan city of Valencia. “For those fools, everyone from Venezuela is a criminal.”
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
micapollock.bsky.social
We should be investing in the nation’s students.
wcbyrdphd.bsky.social W. Carson Byrd @wcbyrdphd.bsky.social · 19d
‘The presence of two words — “equity” and “inclusion” — on page 50 of a 5-year-old grant application just killed a program at UC Berkeley that for half a century helped thousands of East Bay teens recognize that they could go to college and even pay for it.’
Two words in UC Berkeley grant application have led to defunding of 50-year-old program
The Trump administration canceled UC Berkeley’s Educational Talent Search — a 50-year-old program that helped thousands of East Bay teens get to college — over two words in its grant...
www.sfchronicle.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
protectdemocracy.org
VICTORY: Judge Ellis granted the most powerful rebuke of the Trump admin’s immigration enforcement tactics yet — a preliminary injunction to more permanently stop the violent and lawless tactics federal agents have deployed against protestors, press, and clergy in the Chicago area.
Judge Finds ICE’s Retaliatory Use of Force in Illinois Violated Civil Rights Affirms peaceful protest and journalism require utmost constitutional protection
November 6, 2025 at 6:47 PM
micapollock.bsky.social
This was our first ever sticker winner in Spring 2018, made by 5 10th graders in Chula Vista, CA after a lesson from our list on “Learning about Refugees through Art.” What do youth want to say today, in any media? Invite them to say it by February 27, this year’s deadline. Submit at USvsHate.org.
October 25, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
penamerica.bsky.social
A federal judge in the Eastern District Court of Virginia today ordered the Department of Defense to restore all books banned in five schools at U.S. military installations, a ruling PEN America called a victory for the freedom to read. pen.org/press-releas...
A Victory for the Freedom to Read, as Judge Orders Banned Books Returned to Shelves in U.S.. Military Schools
A federal judge in the Eastern District Court of Virginia today ordered the Department of Defense to restore all books banned in five schools at U.S. military installations, a ruling PEN America calle...
pen.org
October 21, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
lizneeley.bsky.social
Solidarity!! Last week, Indiana University fired the director of student media & halted print on the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. Yesterday, Purdue’s student paper printed the banned edition & drove two hours to deliver it. Incredible www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/l...
Purdue student journalists deliver special 'solidarity' newspaper to IU Bloomington campus
The special edition blasted across town features columns from IDS and Exponent editors, alongside QR codes to support both student papers.
www.heraldtimesonline.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
drsturg.bsky.social
Class is in session.

Fun fact about disinformation: In order to change actions, you don't always have to convince someone something is wrong. You might just have to convince someone that something might not be right.

The friction of uncertainty can stop someone in their tracks.
September 30, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
frankstrong.bsky.social
I need help getting this CRAZY censorship story out!

Last week, admins in Leander ISD emailed teachers telling them to “pause” use of 40 books relating to “DEI” that had previously been curriculum or choice reading activities.

Included on the list? To Kill a Mockingbird. #bookbans #booksky
Email to 6th-grade teachers in Leander ISD that reads: Dear 6th Grade ELA Team, I want to share an Important update regarding some of the texts in our book club and whole-class reading collections. In response to new legislation outlined in Senate Bill 12 (89th Legislature), we have conducted a review of titles currently used in secondary ELA instruction. Because SB 12 prohibits specific types of content, several of our resources now require additional review. Effective immediately, please pause the use of the identified texts (linked below) in instruction and assignments until further notice. This step is necessary to ensure our curriculum remains in full compliance with the law. I want to emphasize that these books are not being permanently removed. They are simply on hold while we seek additional guidance from TASB and TEA regarding the implications of SB 12 for instructional resources. Once we receive that guidance, we will provide clear updates about next steps. Additionally, if these books are included in your own personal classroom library, we request that you remove them since personal classroom libraries are considered instructional resources. I know this timing is far from ideal and may present challenges, especially given the thoughtful preparation you have invested in building engaging reading experiences for students. Please know that our commitment to offering students a wide range of meaningful opportunities for choice reading and discussion remains unchanged. Thank you for your flexibility, professionalism, and continued dedication to our students as we navigate this process together. 6th grade ELAR Resources With appreciation, List of 40 books removed from classes. Includes To Kill a Mockingbird, The House on Mango Street, The Fire Next Time, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and, weirdly, Les Miserables.
September 25, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
usvshate.bsky.social
We've worked for a long time on our definition of "hate" and our call for "anti-hate" messaging in #USvsHate.

See what you think at USvsHate.org/about/. Then encourage youth you know to submit their take by February 27, this year's single deadline. Join us!
September 24, 2025 at 5:58 PM
micapollock.bsky.social
The article lists grants “quietly” canceled. I think it’s crucial to not simply let grants supporting K12 get canceled in silence. So, while it’s painful to read each of these, I think it’s crucial to know about them & to spread the word on education opportunities being taken from young people.
edweek.org Education Week @edweek.org · Sep 17
The Trump administration has canceled millions of dollars in grants for several dozen ongoing projects promoting civics, arts, literacy education, and preparing K-12 students for college.
Trump Admin. Cancels Dozens More Grants, Hitting Civics, Arts, and Higher Ed.
The multi-year initiatives are abruptly losing funding midway through their grant periods.
www.edweek.org
September 18, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
propublica.org
NEW: Federal funding for organizations that help students with hearing and vision loss across eight states will stop at the end of the month, according to letters sent by a top Education Dept. official and obtained by ProPublica.

By @jodiscohen.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social
Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push
Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advoc...
www.propublica.org
September 10, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
aaup.org
BOOM💥💥💥
veenadubal.bsky.social Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · Sep 3
AAUP-HARVARD, AAUP, & UAW WON THE HARVARD CASE!!!!

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
melodyschreiber.com
Demetre Daskalakis was a key figure in the Covid, mpox, and bird flu responses. This is a huge loss.
donmoyn.bsky.social Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Aug 28
Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."
My resignation letter from CDC. Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested. This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough. While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles. The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people. It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC. Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc. I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information. The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun. The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed. For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision. Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically. Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.
August 28, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
gbbranstetter.bsky.social
Im going to cry there was a line of teachers with signs that said "You've got this" outside my metro station cheering every kid when they got off the escalator 😭
gbbranstetter.bsky.social Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · Aug 25
As a new school year starts, Trump is terrifying the children of the District, thousands of whom rely on public transit to get to school and will now be greeted by a coterie of federal agents and armed soldiers who know nothing of their lives or their communities
For some in D.C., first day of school to look different under Trump crackdown
As President Donald Trump sends more federal forces to D.C. to fight crime, some residents worry about the impact on students and staff as school resumes.
wapo.st
August 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Mica Pollock
jamuseum.bsky.social
We are outraged and deeply distressed that armed federal agents came onto our campus—making arrests on the very ground where, in 1942, Japanese American families were forced to board buses bound for concentration camps. It was a deliberate act of provocation and intimidation.
Photo of armed customs and border patrol agents and cars on the plaza in front of the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.
August 18, 2025 at 4:37 PM