ColorOfChange.org changing the color of democracy

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) announced Monday that it will not renew its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the right-wing lobbying group responsible for ghostwriting discriminatory voter ID laws and a host of other controversial legislation. 

NACSA and more than a dozen major corporations have announced that they've dropped ALEC since ColorOfChange members began demanding that companies stop funding voter suppression. The education group's statement reads:

In just three days, more than 30,000 ColorOfChange members joined our campaign to protect Pell grants. The bill that finally passed Congress wasn't perfect: it reduced the number of semesters students can receive funding. But the maximum award was preserved, and current recipients will still be eligible for the grant. The ColorOfChange community helped prevent $900 million in cuts.

Last Friday, we launched a campaign demanding that Congress fully fund Pell Grants, the leading college assistance program for low-income students. Nearly 30,000 ColorOfChange members have already signed the petition, urging their representatives to reject attempts by the House Appropriations Committee to cut $3.6 billion from the program's budget, effectively ending Pell for as many as 1 million students.

New York City's Panel for Education Policy (previously known as the school board) is not exactly Wells Fargo or Bank of America. But on October 25th, Occupy Wall Street protestors left their downtown encampments to confront the PEP at a public forum. For much of the movement, toppling unjust financial practices and predatory banks has been the chief goal. But as Occupy efforts grow, participants are picking new targets and new messages — all in a quest to demand democracy where it appears to be sorely lacking.