ORGANIZING NOTES
July 7, 2026
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When you don’t listen to the teachers, you fail Two years ago, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot initiative that eliminated the requirement that high school students pass the statewide standardized MCAS test before graduation. This year, a state commission produced a report providing guidelines for education, including what it means to graduate from high school in Massachusetts. The report was based on evidence and testimony provided by teachers, parents, students, and others from the education community. The report concluded that graduates should be prepared to successfully deal with real-world problems and be able to solve difficulties that they have not previously experienced. The quality of training can be assessed by a variety of measures, including projects the students have completed and classroom work. In this, the report agrees with the advice of the great majority of educators. However, the report also called for the creation of several standard statewide tests in a few subject areas. These are called “End of Course” tests, and they are in core subject areas. Thus, by a backdoor, Healey and her appointees are reinstating statewide standardized testing as a graduation requirement, reversing the voters’ mandate. The chief problem with this type of standardized testing is not simply that it fails as a test of life preparation. The additional issue is that because assessment of students, teachers, and schools will be measured by these tests, teachers will feel compelled to teach to the test. Teaching to the test distorts education and thus deprives students of the best education possible. The MTA and others will be organizing lobbying and other advocacy in the near future. Stay tuned.
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DANGER Israel and US Trying to Combine Defense Technology
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courtesy of the Intercept
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Horrifying legislation in Congress calls for permanently intertwining U.S. and Israeli military technology, including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyberwarfare, biotechnology, missile defense, and defense industrial production. Fearing increasing US public criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and aggression toward Lebanon, Netanyahu and his supporters are rushing to formalize increased mutual access between Israel and US military research and analysis through changes in the US Defense and Intelligence Authorization Bills. If passed, the degree and nature of the shared research and analytic technologies will be out of sight and very difficult for subsequent presidents to undo. Not only a threat to global stability and peace, the sharing of Israeli military research and technology could further jeopardize rights of free speech in the US. The Intercept, (6/8/2026), reports, “…..Retired Air Force Lt. Col. William Astore said he’s particularly concerned about the AI component. “Israel is a leader in using AI predictive models and programs to surveil and kill people, using manned and unmanned drones……The ‘smart,’ even autonomous technologies Israel has used against Palestinians could very well be used by the U.S. government against American citizens — especially the so-called radical left that President Trump appears to see as domestic terrorists.” Terrifying for multiple reasons, ORMA urges everyone to contact their Congressional Representative and Senators to ask them to do everything possible to block all legislation which merges US and Israeli War capacities through the US Defense and Intelligence Authorization Bills. Please send a letter to your Congressional delegation.
When We Organize, We Win The ORMA Representative Council
https://theintercept.com/2026/06/08/us-israel-224-ai-defense-budget/
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-us-military/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/thomas-massie-joins-bernie-sanders-in-hegseth-fight-don-t-merge-our-military-technology/ar-AA25O2Cz?ocid=BingNewsSerp
https://dickey.dartmouth.edu/steven-simon-for-the-quincy-institute-the-future-of-us-israel-defense-support/
https://quincyinst.org/research/the-disappearing-aid-check-the-future-of-us-israel-defense-support/#
https://www.military.com/2027-ndaa-provision-seeks-sweeping-us-israel-defense-tech-integration
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/quincyinst_beyond-aid-how-defense-integration-could-activity-7463589594928799745-SgIY
https://x.com/SprinterPress/status/2061165170299154704
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ndaa-section-224
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-intelligence-israel/
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Join the State House Stand Out
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To get involved, you can simply arrive at the State House anytime between 10 am and 2 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and connect with the volunteers onsite, who will happily onboard you. To find us, check both the General Hooker entrance on Beacon Street and the Ashburton entrance on Bowdoin Street. Signs, wearable tabards, and handouts are supplied, just bring yourself! If you have questions about the Stand Out or would like to get a link to the sign-up sheet, you can contact organizers at fossilfuels.standout.ma@proton.me
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Which ongoing climate protest has already reached 70,000 people? Learn More HERE
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Teach! Reach! Preach!
Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action will be here before we know it, and Indivisibles have already begun plans for the GTLO weekend, July 17-19. Indivisible Mass Coalition and its teams will cosponsor events with local groups and allies. Following the national theme honoring the legacy of John Lewis, we will teach, reach and preach here in Massachusetts. For details, you can watch the mass call recording HERE and register to host an event HERE.
IMC’s Racial Justice and Equity Team and Safeguarding Our Elections Team are collaborating on plans with allies and local groups across the state for this extremely important effort. They are looking for your input. Details will be made available when ready HERE, but check out some of what’s in the works:
On Friday, Teach Day, IMC’s Racial Justice and Equity Team will host a virtual screening of Love, Joy & Power: Tools for Liberation, the 2025 documentary about Black Voters Matter, followed by a panel discussion. Groups are invited to organize local watch parties.
Saturday, Reach Day, is all about hitting the streets to ensure our communities know their rights. Indivisible groups are encouraged to connect with others in their communities for voter registration and education. IMC would like to organize all-state virtual trainings and toolkits related to voting rights or to amplify existing voting rights trainings. Contribute your group’s knowledge and experience! Faith leaders take center stage on Sunday, Preach Day, as they share with their congregations the tenets of good trouble and protecting voting rights. To close out the weekend, a community gathering will be held on Boston Common. Indivisibles everywhere are encouraged to connect with faith communities and plan their own community gathering. Let’s unite communities across the state in this effort!
If you are interested in helping to shape these plans, or if your group is already on board and has plans or recommendations to share, we want to know! Please scroll down to the Teams Section below for meeting information, and send us an email at volunteer@indivisible-ma.org to let us know what “good trouble” your group is planning or if you’d like to bring it statewide!
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DO NOT CAP INVESTMENTS TO PUBLIC SERVICES! The dark-money Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance (MOA) is still backing a ballot initiative that would tighten the state’s revenue cap, known as “62F,” and slash funding for classrooms, hospitals, and first responders across the state. What would this question do? The best way to defeat this ballot question is to do away with the 62F revenue cap once and for all. Contact your state legislators today?
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“Bigger Than Dobbs: Stop the MAGA War on Women” is a statewide week of action organized by IMC’s Feminist Action Team to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and to highlight broader threats to women’s rights beyond abortion access. We are pushing back on the rollback of reproductive rights, which is part of the larger MAGA agenda affecting bodily autonomy, gender equality, education, healthcare, economic opportunity, and women’s participation in public life.
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Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviews filmmaker Julie Cohen and journalist Paul Barrett about the growing call for Citizens Bank to stop financing for-profit prison and ICE detention operators GEO Group and CoreCivic. Watch HERE. Learn More and Pledge HERE
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Local Visibilities Schedule
Watch for weather and wind chill cancellations here! But another good way to keep up with day to day and weekly changes is to join a Signal Group
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Folks can sign up for De-ICE Hanscom’s contact list at this link.
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Endorsed by over 90% of Our Revolution Massachusetts members in the Norfolk and Suffolk District, ORMA is proud to announce our first endorsed candidate, Persis Yu. in the race for State Senator. A consumer rights attorney and advocate, Persis has secured billions of dollars in student debt relief, filing class action lawsuits that directly cancelled hundreds of thousands of dollars in predatory employer debt, and led campaigns that resulted in worker protection laws in more than a dozen states. She is also a trained social worker, grounded in the realities many voters face when navigating broken government support systems while also having the legal toolkit to understand how to reshape these systems, whether in court or in the policy arena. Persis is committed to progressive positions across every issue: from rent control and single-payer healthcare to transgender protections, immigrant rights, and a transparent legislature.The contrast with incumbent Senator Mike Rush is stark; he has cosponsored zero out of 22 progressive bills featured by Progressive Massachusetts in the current legislative session. ORMA encourages our membership to follow through on this endorsement with the hard work of getting out the vote in the Norfolk and Suffolk District. Go to her website to volunteer.
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Mass-Care is hosting a statewide strategy and working conference on Saturday, July 18 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Clark University in Worcester — Medicare for All in Massachusetts: There is a Path to Single Payer, the Massachusetts Health Care Trust. The health care crisis in Massachusetts continues to deepen: Exorbitant insurance rates soaring by double digits, the bankruptcy of Steward Hospitals has left minority and working class communities without access to hospitals, stopping the ACA subsidy extensions has affected over 300,000 residents, GIC eliminated weight loss drugs from plans of 400,000 public employees and their dependents. The path to single payer through the Massachusetts Health Care Trust is the only solution providing complete coverage to all Massachusetts residents and will save tens of billions of dollars for residents, cities, towns, and the state.
Click here for more information and to register!
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Join other Progressive Mass members on July 25 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm (rain date: Sunday, July 26) for some fun at our summer potluck in Watertown (location sent after RSVP)! Everyone is welcome. Whether you are a long-time Progressive Mass member or new to the movement, join PM for an afternoon of great conversation and good food.
RSVP here!
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Mass Peace Action presents Still, Minab on July 9 at 7:00 pm in the Parish Hall at St. James Church (1991 Mass Ave., Cambridge). This series centers the voices of families impacted by this act of imperial violence, offering English-speaking audiences a rare firsthand account of the tragedy. Dr. Helyeh Doutagh, the series’ creator and narrator, will introduce the series.
Register here!
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If you enjoy breathing, then have we got good news: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — the nation’s most important court, after the Supreme Court — unanimously rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to strike down the EPA’s new air quality standard for soot, the tiny, toxic particles that come from vehicle exhaust and power plants. “Soot can cause asthma attacks, lung cancer and premature deaths,” says Noha Haggag, senior attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “The court’s rejection of the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate our national health standards for soot will mean healthier, longer lives for people across the country.”
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If you would like to work with ORMA Members on
- Climate Change
- Housing Justice
- Medicare for All
- Communications/InformationTechnology
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Please send requests for action items, articles or upcoming events
for the next Organizing Notes to
beccobrien.orma@gmail.com by Saturday, July 19th.
We’d love to have you send us your favorite pictures of Bernie here in MA!
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Campaigns End, Movements Endure
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