#FedSoWhite? Lawmakers complain about Federal Reserve's lack of diversity
#FedSoWhite? Lawmakers complain about Federal Reserve's lack of diversity
More than 120 members of Congress say the Federal Reserve has a striking diversity problem similar to the one that hit Hollywood's Academy Awards the past two years, and it's harming the economic...
More than 120 members of Congress say the Federal Reserve has a striking diversity problem similar to the one that hit Hollywood's Academy Awards the past two years, and it's harming the economic prospects of millions of Americans.
The lawmakers -- including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) -- wrote to Fed Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen on Thursday complaining about what they called "the disproportionately white and male" leadership at the nation's central bank.
"Given the critical linkage between monetary policy and the experiences of hardworking Americans, the importance of ensuring that such positions are filled by persons that reflect and represent the interests of our diverse country, cannot be understated," said the letter, signed by 116 House members and 11 Senators.
"When the voices of women, African Americans, Latinos, and representatives of consumers and labor are excluded from key discussions, their interests are too often neglected," said the lawmakers, who were all Democrats except for Sanders, an independent running for the party's presidential nomination.
The diverse group of House and Senate members praised Yellen, the first woman to lead the Fed, for her "strong leadership" and efforts to help raise wages while combatting economic inequality.
But they said the Fed had failed to fulfill its statutory obligation to “represent the public, without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin" and called on Yellen "to take steps to promptly begin to remedy this issue."
All five members of the Fed Board of Governors are white and three are men.
All 10 voting members this year of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the monetary policy-setting body that includes Fed governors and a rotating set of regional Fed bank presidents, also are white and six are men, the letter said.
In addition, 11 of the 12 regional Fed bank presidents are white and 10 are men, with no African Americans or Latinos.
When the voices of women, African Americans, Latinos, and representatives of consumers and labor are excluded from key discussions, their interests are too often neglected.
— Letter from lawmakers to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen
Regional presidents are appointed by the directors of each Fed bank. The Fed's Board of Governors in Washington approves the appointments.
In addition, the lawmakers cited a recent study by the Center for Popular Democracy, a worker advocacy group, that said that 39% of all regional Fed bank directors came from financial institutions, while 11% were from community, labor or academic organizations.
Fed spokesman David Skidmore said the central bank was "committed to fostering diversity -- by race, ethnicity, gender, and professional background -- within its leadership ranks."
The Fed's board has "focused considerable attention in recent years" on recruiting regional bank directors "with diverse backgrounds and experiences," he said.
Minority representation on the boards of Fed banks and branches increased to 24% this year from 16% in 2010, he said. And the proportion of women directors increased to 30% of the total from 23% during that period.
In a blog post in January, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Narayana Kocherlakota, raised concerns about diversity on the committee that sets monetary policy.
“There is one key source of economic difference in American life that is likely under-emphasized in FOMC deliberations: race,” he said.
Kocherlakota reviewed committee transcripts from 2010, the most recent available, and said he found no references at meetings "to labor market conditions among African Americans,” even though their unemployment rate never dropped below 15.5% that year.
The lawmakers cited Kocherlakota's post, calling it "unacceptable that discussion of the job market for these populations would be an afterthought, or worse, ignored entirely, and we are concerned that the lack of balanced representation may be a significant cause of this oversight."
Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who signed the letter, pressed Yellen at a House hearing in February to consider "getting an African American, for the first time in history, to be a regional president of a Federal Reserve bank."
Yellen said she "absolutely" would and regretted there hadn't been such an appointment.
"It's our job to make sure that every search for those jobs assembles a broad and diverse group of candidates," Yellen said.
The lawmakers said they appreciated her concern about diversity but urged her to do more.
Connie Razza, author of the Center for Popular Democracy report, said the large number of lawmakers who signed the letter showed that support is growing for changes at the Fed to make sure "the economy works for all."
The center coordinates Fed Up, a coalition of labor, community and liberal activist groups that has organized protests outside FOMC meetings urging central bank policymakers not to raise a key interest rate until the job market is stronger.
By Jim Puzzanghera
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Rigorous Review of Nashville Charter Schools Needed
The Tennessean - April 14, 2015, by Stephen Henry & Erick Hutch - Teachers are joining parents and local community groups to ask the Metro Nashville Public...
The Tennessean - April 14, 2015, by Stephen Henry & Erick Hutch - Teachers are joining parents and local community groups to ask the Metro Nashville Public School Board to adopt tougher accountability and transparency standards to protect students and taxpayers. Here's why.
We should all be working together to find a coordinated approach that serves all children.
Studies confirm that the proliferation of new charters is forcing existing under-funded public schools to compete for the same taxpayer dollars without proper checks and balances. There is also a growing concern among teachers and parents that we are not doing enough to ensure equal access to ALL of Nashville's public schools.
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University recommends national standards for schools to protect students and the public. A mandate on transparency and equitable student policies ensures all students have fair access to the schools they deserve. The Institute also recommends all approved charter schools be fully funded by the state. Under our current system, Nashville taxpayers absorb the costs of state-approved charters already rejected locally.
Right now, charters cost our public school system $9,000 per student, according to a recent performance audit commissioned by the Metropolitan Government. We should require a rigorous financial review of charter expansion on our public school system – a prudent step before approving more charters.
A national study by the Center for Popular Democracy found charter school operators across the country were engaged in rampant abuses because they lacked appropriate oversight and transparency guidelines. Last month, the CPD released findings for an 11-point program for reform.
A local audit released in February, found that the unchecked expansion of new charter schools is taking a toll on existing schools. Specifically, the audit noted that when new charter schools open and compete for the same system resources, fixed costs at existing schools — such as maintenance, technology and health services —are often neglected as they cannot be reduced.
Additionally, the audit observed that existing schools cannot easily adjust staffing patterns as a result of new charters. "For these costs to be reduced significantly," the audit observed, "the school would need to close altogether." The audit also confirmed the results of a fall 2014 report that found "new charter schools will, with nearly 100 percent certainty, have a negative fiscal impact on MNPS."
As the search for the next director of MNPS begins, we need a leader who will commit the resources and support necessary for our existing schools to be successful. A single, 600-seat charter school requires $5.4 million annually from our public schools. At a time when our schools are universally considered to be under funded, now is the time to invest resources in public education instead of systematically starving it.
In 2010, the entire state of Tennessee had only 20 charter schools. In Nashville alone in the 2015-16 school year, 27 charter schools will operate at an annual cost of $75 million. Another 18 proposed charters are seeking to divert as much as $104 million annually. In fact, even if the school board approved no new charter schools, more than 5,000 charter seats will come into existence between now and the 2019-20 school year under previous charter approvals. That's the equivalent of adding five new MNPS middle schools.
It's time to protect students and taxpayers with common-sense standards that serve all of us.
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2 Women Who Confronted Jeff Flake About Kavanaugh Vote in an Elevator Credited for 1 Week Delay
2 Women Who Confronted Jeff Flake About Kavanaugh Vote in an Elevator Credited for 1 Week Delay
Before Sen. Jeff Flake reversed his guarantee of a “yes” vote for Brett Kavanaugh and demanded an FBI investigation into the allegations, he was confronted by two women who said they were...
Before Sen. Jeff Flake reversed his guarantee of a “yes” vote for Brett Kavanaugh and demanded an FBI investigation into the allegations, he was confronted by two women who said they were survivors of sexual assault.
“Don’t look away from me. Look at me and tell me that it doesn’t matter what happened to me, that you will let people like that go into the highest court of the land and tell everyone what they can do to their bodies,” Maria Gallagher angrily told Flake.
Gallagher, 23, was accompanied by activist Ana Maria Archila, who broke through a group of reporters to speak with him in an elevator.
Read the full article here.
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