Nationwide Rally Demands Government Leaders Prioritize Education
October 13, 2016, 2016 Subscribe
THIS WEEK: Chicago Averts Strike … Segregation By Real Estate … College Bureaucracies Grow … Racism Affects Learning … Indigenous Peoples Day
TOP STORY
Public School Activists Stage Massive Nationwide Rally Demanding Government Leaders Prioritize Education
By Jeff Bryant
“At last week’s massive outpouring at over 2,000 schools in over 200 cities … an estimated 100,000-plus people called for attention to widespread problems in public schools and demanded new policy directions that prioritize quality education for all students … Crowds were surprisingly unified in expressing their exasperation with government leaders who continue to shirk their responsibilities to provide all children with the opportunity to get a high-quality education … Frustration expressed at many of the events at last week’s walk-ins may have an effect on elections in November.”
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NEWS AND VIEWS
Officials, Parents Worry Chicago Schools Deal Won’t Stick
Education Week
“Teachers in the nation’s third-largest school district pulled back from a threatened strike after a tentative last-minute contract agreement that Chicago officials acknowledged Tuesday may amount to a temporary fix … A key provision is an agreement by the city to divert about $88 million from a $175 million surplus … to the schools. That figure is less than the $200 million in additional spending the union had sought.”
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Race, School Ratings And Real Estate: A ‘Legal Gray Area’
NPR
“Advocates for fair housing see a potential problem with the close ties between school ratings and real estate … The common denominator, too often, is race … Most states base their school ratings primarily on more easily measured factors, like standardized test scores and graduation rates. And these indicators, in turn, are heavily influenced by inequities of race and class.”
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University Bureaucracies Grew 15% During The Recession, Even As Budgets Were Cut And Tuition Increased
The Hechinger Report
“The number of people employed by public university and college central system offices like this one … has kept creeping up, even since the start of the economic downturn and in spite of steep budget cuts, flat enrollment and heightened scrutiny of administrative bloat … This continued growth has happened at a time when states have collectively cut their higher education spending by 18% … Employees in once-separate departments whose positions have been [centeralized] … could eventually help curb costs.”
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How The Stress Of Racism Affects Learning
The Atlantic
“The stress of racial discrimination may partly explain the persistent gaps in academic performance between some nonwhite students, mainly black and Latino youth, and their white counterparts … Physiological response to race-based stressors … leads the body to pump out more stress hormones in adolescents from traditionally marginalized groups … What emerges is a picture of black and Latino students whose concentration, motivation, and, ultimately, learning is impaired by unintended and overt racism … Reducing student exposure to racial discrimination and improving race relations in the U.S. more generally are the ultimate solutions to this, but in the meantime, there are ways to help students deal with the stress.
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More Schools Replace Columbus Day With Indigenous Peoples Day
Education Week
“School districts in New York and … Massachusetts are among the districts where school boards voted to change the celebration this year. They’re following the lead of school districts like Seattle … Students have led the charge in several cities … The wave … comes as a standoff between a coalition of Native Americans and the federal government over an oil pipeline in North Dakota has brought the contemporary issues facing Native Americans and their historical context into the national spotlight.”
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10/13/2016 – Nationwide Rally Demands Government Leaders Prioritize Education:
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