Samara Palko has joined the California Catholic Conference as the new Director of Education.
A well-known advocate for children, Palko has been an educational leader in public and private schools for over 15 years. A respected school administrator skilled in building education partnerships with all stakeholders to advance student achievement, social and emotional health, school budgets and funding, and professional teacher and staff development.
“Samara’s background in the classroom, as an administrator, and her previous work on policy and community organizations make her an outstanding addition to our lobbying team at the California Catholic Conference,” said CCC Executive Director Kathleen Domingo. “We are so excited for her work promoting high-quality educational opportunities for students and know that students, parents, teachers, and schools will all benefit from her work.”
“I am excited and honored to join the CCC as the Director of Education,” said Palko. “I have a deep passion for supporting high-quality education for all California students attending public and private school from the formative years through college. And I have a deep appreciation for parents and guardians of these students and feel very strongly that parents and guardians should have the choice of public, charter, independent, or faith-based schooling for their children.”
Palko holds a Master of Arts Degree in Education Leadership and Policy Studies. She is a Certified Autism Specialist with credentials in California Administrative Services, California Multiple Subjects with an English Language Arts supplement, and Cross-Cultural Language and Academic Development. She is the founder of the Sacramento Parents Group.
The CCC joined four other faith groups last week to lobby for SB 300, the bill that would address the injustice of the felony murder special circumstance law by allowing for a sentence other than the death penalty or life in prison without parole for a person who did not kill anyone, nor intended for anyone to die.
The group visited 25 members' offices to share support for the bill by Senator Dave Cortese (D – Silicon Valley).
“From a faith perspective, this is a moral issue. Our faith teaches that none of us is the sum total of the worst act we have ever committed,” CCC Director of Social Justice and Environmental Stewardship Linda Wanner. “For the most part, these people were in the wrong place at the wrong time, not knowing the intent of others and are having to pay their life for it.”
Help the CCC support this bill by quickly sending a letter to your lawmakers here.
Last week, members of the United Farm Workers began a 24-day, 335-mile march from Delano’s 40 Acres to Sacramento to bring awareness to AB 2183, a bill that would allow farmworkers to vote from home in union elections.
The “March for the Governor’s Signature” will be joined by Bishop Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno, and Bishop Soto of the Diocese of Sacramento, at locations in their respective dioceses.
“Agriculture and those who contribute to the Harvest are true blessings to our Central Valley,” said Diocese of Fresno Communications Director Chandler Marquez. “Bishop Brennan and Bishop Emeritus Ochoa are participating in the UFW march when it enters Calwa, Calif., a rural farming community outside Fresno. By God’s grace, the marching route passes one of our missions and churches, allowing us to host staging areas, where volunteers will be handing out water to the marchers.”
According to Marquez, the bishops hope their participation brings awareness to AB 2183, which continues their legacy of ministry to farm workers in the dioceses that began with the burials of deportees in the 1948 plane crash in Los Gatos.
“They look forward to participating in another historic milestone for advocacy for farm laborers in the Valley,” Marquez said.
Marchers are scheduled to arrive in Sacramento on Aug. 26.
Last week, President Biden signed an Executive Order that directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider action to advance access and allow Medicaid funding for reproductive healthcare services, including abortion, for patients who travel out of state for reproductive healthcare services.
This is the second such action from President Biden in response to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued the following statement in response:
“Even preceding the Dobbs decision, my brother bishops and I have implored the nation to stand with moms in need, and work together to protect and support women and children. Continued promotion of abortion takes lives and irreparably harms vulnerable pregnant mothers, their families, and society. It is the wrong direction to take at a moment when we should be working to support women and to build up a culture of life. I continue to call on the President and all our elected officials to increase support and care to mothers and babies, rather than facilitate the destruction of defenseless, voiceless human beings. Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of our nation, intercede for us as we advocate to protect human life and work toward solutions that will help every mother and child flourish.”
Proposition 1 would enshrine the explicit right to abortion in our state constitution, setting a nationwide precedent. It is the most egregious expansion of abortion this country has ever seen.
It’s also the first time ever that CA voters are being asked to vote for unrestricted late-term abortion, ending any real chance for California to protect unborn life in future laws.
Recent in-depth polling shows that a strong majority of California voters oppose late-term abortions, oppose turning California into an abortion sanctuary state, and oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions.
Prop 1 is misleading, expensive, and unnecessary - and we can stop it.
Resource: Common Myths About Proposition 1
Vote "No" On Proposition 1!
Aug. 10, 2022
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