Legislative Reapportionment Committee will hold public hearings to elicit public input concerning adoption of guidelines to redistrict the Congressional, Legislative and Judicial offices in 2011.

Southern Echo and MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable will hold convening at MS Valley State Univ. regarding school consolidation as the wrong path in Mississippi and which strategies are preferable.

Southern Echo, in partnership with the Pushback Network, will conduct a 2.5 day training on organizing around redistricting to empower grassroots communities of low-wealth and of color.

Southern Echo will hold a census and redistricting training with Right to the City NYC organizations in New York City, New York.

Echo and the Roundtable will present 14 recommended changes to proposed school district Report Card to increase data shared about local schools.

Task Force will hold public meeting in Jackson, MS to consider alternative schools, school consolidation and other issues.

Echo and SWU will conduct census workshops for community activists in San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley, TX on accurate census count work as a civic engagement and community organizing strategy.

Yesterday the S x SW Experiment Committee on Accountable Governance, comprised of representatives from SWOP, SWU, Echo and the Roundtable, agreed that Southern Echo would host in Jackson on Friday, November 13 – Sunday, November 15, a strategic planning summit of activists and public officials to plan the development of a model of accountable governance and strategies to implement it.

It is expected that the summit will begin Friday afternoon or evening and run through noon or very early afternoon on Sunday.

Each state organization will choose 16 (sixteen) delegates from its state, comprised of a deliberately chosen mix of younger and older activists and public officials ready to participate in Jackson in this first step in the strategic planning process. The state delegations are limited in size to facilitate an effective planning process.

Southern Echo will take immediate responsibility for selecting a location for the summit, arranging for food and finding a suitably priced lodging for participants.

A timeline for delegate selection, agenda, and so forth will be forthcoming soon.

On November 13-15, 2009, the South x Southwest Experiment will have a summit on building a model of accountable governance in Jackson, MS.

Echo and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada will hold a census workshop for alliance activists from Las Vegas and Reno on accurate census count work as a civic engagement and community organizing strategy.

On December 4-5, 2009, Pushback Network’s Board of Directors will have their annual meeting in Los Angeles, California.

State Legislature will spend three months wrangling over public policies and appropriations. Public education, health care and tax reform will be major battlegrounds. Citizen participation in this process has had a major impact on education, health care and tax policy in recent years.

Pushback Network’s Mississippi partners, will send 20 community leaders to the 2009 National Pushback Network’s Convening in Las Vegas to share skills and tools about empowering grassroots communities and impacting public policy at local and state levels.

Southern Echo staff will hold a 3-day retreat to sharpen its vision, strategies and programs of work regarding public education in Mississippi in order to define the path of its community organizing work around education for the next two years.

Southern Echo will provide 3 weeks of GIS mapping and redistricting training for 8 members of Echo’s Census & Redistricting Team to prepare them to train others in Mississippi, southern and southwestern states in 2010 in anticipation of the 2011 redistricting process.

The ten partner organizations in the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable will hold a 3-day strategic planning retreat in Jackson, MS to focus its community organizing work around public education in Mississippi for the next two years.

The South X Southwest Experiment will hold a 4-day strategic planning retreat in Albuquerque, NM for an intergenerational mix of 36 community activists from SouthWest Organizing Project, Southwest Workers Union, Southern Echo and the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable.

This is the 3rd week of Southern Echo’s 3-week GIS mapping and redistricting training for 8 members of Echo’s Census & Redistricting Team to prepare them to train others in Mississippi, southern and southwestern states in 2010 in anticipation of the 2011 redistricting process.

The Legislative Task Force on Underperforming Schools is meeting on Tuesday, August 11 at 10:00 am in Room 216 at the Capitol to continue its exploration of legislation that may have great impact on regulations that impact our public schools. We need to continue to make our voices heard in this process, to review and provide feedback regarding proposed policy changes, and to make presentations to the Task Force on how our communities understand and evaluate these policies when we have the opportunity to do so.

To view the announcement click here.

There will be an important State Board of Education meeting today, Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 3:30pm at the Mississippi Department of Education regarding (1) 2010 legislative priorities, (2) the 2011 fiscal year budget, and (3) a 5-year strategic plan.

For a copy of the media advisory click here.

Southern Echo’s Resource & Development Committee will meet from 1:30 to 3:30pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 to prepare a program outline to present to the agenda committee, which meets on Thursday, August 20, 2009, in preparation for the staff retreat (date to be determined).

Southern Echo’s Education Committee will meet from 10:00am to 3:00pm on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 to prepare a program outline to present to the agenda committee, which meets on Thursday, August 20, 2009, in preparation for the staff retreat (date to be determined).

Southern Echo’s Census & Redistricting Team will meet from 10:00am to 1:00pm on Thursday, August 20, 2009 to prepare a program outline to present to the agenda committee, which meets on Thursday, August 20, 2009, in preparation for the staff retreat (date to be determined).

An oral proceeding to hear comments and receive written argument, data and views regarding the rule proposed on July 20, 2009, to approve a policy to prescribe the information and format to be included in the development and publication of the annual report as required by Senate Bill 2628, the Children First Act of 2009 has been scheduled. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. in the Fourth Floor Board Room of the Central High School Building, 359 North West Street, Jackson, Mississippi. The public is encouraged to attend.

Individuals who want to make remarks are asked to: register prior to the hearing, limit/summarize their remarks to five minutes, and submit their written statement at the meeting as part of the hearing’s record. Written statements can exceed a five-minute presentation. To register as a presenter at the hearing, individuals should respond by 12:00 noon on Friday, August 28, 2009 via email to cblanton@mde.k12.ms.us or write Caron Blanton, Mississippi Department of Education, P.O. Box 771, Jackson, MS 39205-0771 or call her at (601) 359-3519.

Any individual who needs special accommodations to attend the meeting should advise the Department by calling the Office of Legislative Services at (601) 359-3519.

Southern Echo, MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable, Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance and the MS ACLU co-sponsor statewide meeting of activists, community organizations, community leaders and public officials will come together to outline collaborative strategies for an accurate 2010 census count and to prepare for creation of fair political districts in 2011.

Southern Echo will participate in the Pushback Network Steering Committee meeting in NYC Dec. 2 to Dec. 4, 2008 where representatives from 8 states will analyze the voter registration and turnout work in the November election and strategies for building grassroots civic engagement in several regions in the nation.

Also 3rd convening of South X Southwest Experiment. Intergenerational delegations from SWOP in New Mexico, SWU in Texas, and Southern Echo and Catalyst Roundtable in Mississippi will share histories, analysis and strategic planning for 2009.