January 2024
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CO-ADMINISTRATOR’S MESSAGE FROM JOAN P. & GAIL
Happy Holidays to all. We were glad that so many people came to the Holiday Party. Food brought by all was delicious. We are looking for a member or members who will take over for us for Co- administrators. This is ESSENTIAL for the branch to continue. Let us know if you are willing to volunteer.
The next meetings will be January 18th in the auditorium at the ABC Adult School at Cabrillo Lane Adult School located at 20122 Cabrillo Lane, one block east of Pioneer Blvd.
adjacent to Del Amo, beginning at 6:30 pm. Click HERE for map.
The Board meeting will be on the 4th at Gail’s home.
January Birthday
Tobi Balma
February Birthday:
Fran De France
Have a Happy, Healthy New Year
Gail and Joan P.
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Meeting & Program, Faith
Thursday, January 18
Time: Social – 6:30 p.m.
Meeting/Program – 7 p.m.
Place: Cabrillo Lane Adult School Auditorium.
20122 Cabrillo Lane, Cerritos
Select HERE for map
Our speaker will be Dr. Frances Marquez who earned her PhD at Claremont Graduate School in 1995. As a mentor and teacher of the deaf, Dr. Marquez has set a goal to get more young, deaf people involved in government.
Please note: All our meetings comply with local rules and the accepted health guidance of Los Angeles and Orange counties for in-person meetings. Board and general meetings are in-person with due respect to members who do not wish to attend in-person. Those members may choose to easily attend and participate in meetings by connecting via phone to another member in attendance and have been doing so successfully.
Please welcome and support your new officers. Remember that their job is to lead and encourage other members. Please offer to help them when they ask.
We are looking forward to taking care of services for current membership. In order to increase membership for our branch, we request all members to bring one friend to our meetings. Please welcome our new member, Ferne, at the meeting. Thank you.
AAUW Fund, Tobi
On February 13th come join our AAUW Fundraiser and enjoy a delicious luncheon at The Panda Inn ( 2 Centerpointe Dr. in La Palma) at 12 pm. You will meet and visit fellow members and enjoy your lunch selection from 10 choices.
When you come to the January meeting forms will be available for you to make your lunch selection. The menu/reservation form will also be emailed to you so you can download it and email your choice to Thea (jonosmom1@yahoo.com) by February 8th.
Hope to see you all at the Panda Inn on February 13th at noon for great food and fun. The fee for the luncheon is $30 which includes a donation to The AAUW Funds.
Thank you.
Sue Carruthers and Thea Siegel
A big thank you for all of our members who made contributions to the AAUW Fund during 2023. Let’s try to keep the contributions coming in 2024. In celebration of our 51st anniversary as a branch we would ask you to consider contributing $51.00 or any other amount . A list of our various funds are listed on our website.
Public Policy, Sondra
Claudia Goldin Wins Nobel Prize in Economics for AAUW Aligned Research on Work Force Gender Gaps
by Nancy Major
One of AAUW California’s Public Policy Priorities is to promote women in Leadership positions, so it is a pleasure to report that Claudia Goldin, 77, is the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics without men as collaborators and the third woman to win overall. She was also the first woman to be offered tenure in Harvard’s economics department, in 1989.
Dr. Goldin’s Nobel-winning study focuses on causes of the gender wage gap, the evolution of women’s participation in the job market over the past 200 years, and the implications for the future of the labor force. In a paper in the National Bureau of Economic Research, Goldin writes that, “the golden era of American women’s rights lasted from 1963 to 1973.” Of the 155 important moments for advancement of women, 45% took place in those years during which women changed from having jobs to pursuing careers. This one factor is “among the grandest advances in society”, according to Dr. Goldin.
However, her work also focuses on the work that we still have to do to continue to advance.
Another AAUW Public Policy Priority is Economic Security for all women including equity in the workplace, enforcement of workplace anti-discrimination statutes, access to job training for career development, and work-life balance, including access to quality affordable childcare and paid sick and care-giving leave. These are exactly the factors studied by Dr. Goldin to understand why U.S. women earn $.80 for every dollar a man makes, why men’s wages are higher than women’s in the same occupation, and why women lag behind men in the top jobs.
“Women are now more educated than men,” Goldin told the Associated Press. “They graduate from college at much higher rates than men. They do better in high school than men do. So why are there these differences?”
In the first half of the 20th century, laws limited women’s ability to work when married or pregnant. In the second half of the century, birth control, later marriages and education resulted in substantial progress for women in the labor market. However, a gender gap persists into the present day–a gap that is compounded by additional factors, such as class, race, ethnicity, and ability. Dr. Goldin’s research shows that, when gender is the primary factor for consideration, parenthood and lack of childcare are the main factors contributing to the ongoing pay gap. As women are normally expected to shoulder caregiving responsibilities in the home, this pay gap begins a year or two after a woman’s first child is born. And yet, since the Comprehensive Child Development Act was vetoed by President Nixon in 1971, an act which would have created a national daycare program, consistent and affordable access to quality child care options remains elusive for most American families.
While Goldin’s research is not focused on solutions to entrenched problems related to gender and labor, other economists note the importance of her work for better understanding these issues, which is a critical step for creating meaningful social and legal change.
California Enacts Law Prohibiting Book Bans and Curricula Censorship
Kathi Harper, Chair Public Policy School Board Project
On September 25, 2023, Governor Newsom signed AB 1078 into law, officially preventing school districts from banning books and censoring curriculum based on the materials’ depiction of inclusive and diverse perspectives. Specifically, the new law:
- Reaffirms, in the Introduction, that:
- California supports accurate and inclusive education;
- the California Constitution guarantees pupils equal protection under the law;
- California schools have an obligation to combat bias against pupils within their schools;
- and accurate and inclusive education are essential to ensure the educational success of all pupils
- Requires the Department of Education to develop guidance and public educational materials to ensure that all Californians can access information about educational laws and policies that safeguard the right to an accurate and inclusive curriculum
- Requires all school districts to have sufficient instructional materials for all students that align with approved content standards
- Adds to list of included topics in social sciences textbooks: the role and contributions of people of all genders, Latino Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, and members of other ethnic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic status groups
- Reduces a school district’s funding formula allocation if the district does not provide sufficient instructional materials pursuant to these provisions
- Prohibits governing members of school districts from refusing to approve or prohibiting the use of any book or instructional material on the basis that it contains inclusive and diverse perspectives
It is not certain at this point how school districts will respond to the new law. We anticipate that most will comply, but suspect there are some that will not. Please note that the script in the School Board Project (SBP) ToolKit has been modified to reflect the new law, and please keep your SBP liaison apprised if your district is in violation (you can find your liaison in the ToolKit).
You can find the text of AB 1078 here.
You can find the SBP ToolKit here.
Academic Achievement Awards, Joan P
Pictured at the La Palma-Cerritos AAUW Academic Recognition and Awards Program on May 17, 2023, are, left to right, are Cerritos College Board of Trustees President Dr. Shin Liu, Cerritos College Professor of Communications Dawn Trickett, Cerritos College Director of Diversity, Compliance, and Title IX Erin Miles, Academic Awards Chair Joan Pylman, Award winners Sofia Heejae Chun and Leidy Barrios, Awards Selection Committee Member Gail Ross, Cerritos College Foundation Executive Director Martha Pellayo, and Cerritos College Executive Assistant to the President/Superintendent Andrea Wittig.
Women Supporting Women. It is a beautiful thing.