Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Next steps for the Day of Action to Stop Gun Violence in our Schools - Network For Public Education

Join us in a Day of Action to Stop Gun Violence in our Schools - Network For Public Education:
Next steps for the April 20th Day of Action



Thank you so much for pledging to take action against gun violence in schools on April 20.
This is what we need you to do.
Click here to tell us what your action will be on that day. By sharing, you will inspire others to act.
The Network for Public Education is now part of a larger coalition of organizations that includes teacher, superintendent and advocacy groups who are planning actions on April 20. You can find that coalition at Protectourschools.com.
What kinds of actions might you pledge? Promise that everyone in your family will wear orange that day, or that your local teachers’ association will organize a candlelight vigil. A middle school teacher might teach students what to do if they hear someone talking about violence, or see someone making threats on social media. A principal might organize an assembly with their student council, bringing in local policymakers to express their concerns. Parent groups might encircle the school, linking arms to symbolize protection. Your business or office might commit to wearing orange.
We have other ideas listed on the NPE website which you can find here.
Thank you for your commitment to this important issue. We will continue to communicate with you and update our website with additional information as the day approaches.
If you have not taken our poll yet on solutions to gun violence, you can do so here.
We will soon have a link where you can buy an orange t shirt to wear. We will be back in touch soon.
Thank you for all that you do.
Please share this email on social media. Here is a link: https://wp.me/p3bR9v-2FT
Diane Ravitch President of the Network for Public Education
Carol Burris Executive Director

Join us in a Day of Action to Stop Gun Violence in our Schools



After the slaughter of students and staff in Parkland, Florida, the time for action has never been more urgent. The politicians sit on their hands as our children and their teachers are murdered in their schools. We will be silent no more! The failure to enact rational laws that bar access to guns designed for mass shootings is inexcusable. It is past time to speak out and act.
Pledge your support to stop gun violence here.
We call for mass action on April 20, the anniversary of the horrific shootings at Columbine High School. We urge teachers, families, students, administrators and every member of the community to engage in acts of protest in and around their schools. Create actions that work best in your community.  Organize sit-ins, teach-ins, walkouts, marches–whatever you decide will show your school and community’s determination to keep our students safe. One elementary teacher suggested that teachers and parents link arms around the school to show their determination to protect children.
It is time to let our legislators know that they must stand up to the gun lobby and enact meaningful reform to protect students and staff.
Advocacy groups including the AFT, NEA and the BATS have already pledged their support.
We are asking you to take the pledge now and join us on April 20. Be a leader in your own community and develop meaningful activities that show that you stand for safe and peaceful schools. Share your ideas with us.
Sign up here, and then post this link: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/national-day-of-action-against-gun-violence-in-schools.
Sign up your families. Sign up your friends. There can be no excuse for inaction.
Thank you for all that you do.
Diane Ravitch,President of the Network for Public Education

Carol Burris Executive Director





The Education of Bill Gates | The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch

The Education of Bill Gates | The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch:

The Education of Bill Gates



Bill Gates made billions and billions of dollars in the field of computer technology, helping to transform the world in the process. He's an innovator. He's a disrupter. He's the savviest of savvy businessmen. He's been successful beyond anyone's wildest dreams of success or avarice.

So Gates thought, why not put his entrepreneurial genius and hundreds of millions of dollars a year to work innovating and disrupting and transforming the field of education? How hard can it be?

Pretty hard, he discovered.

Gates has been pouring money into his educational experiments in this country since 2000. Overall, I'd give his efforts a grade of C. Not much help, no grave harm. I'd give what he's learned about education a B. He now understands he doesn't know as much about education as he thought he did.

Bill and Melinda Gates released their annual letter answering The 10 Toughest Questions We Get. Question #2 is, "What do you have to show for the billions you’ve spent on U.S. education?" Their answer employs the couple's usual upbeat tone, but the efforts they describe are less than encouraging, especially given that, "Our foundation spends about $500 million a year in the United States, most of it on education."

A few telling excerpts from their answer:

"One thing we learned is that it’s extremely hard to transform low-performing schools."

"We have also worked with districts across the country to help them improve the quality of teaching. . . . But we haven’t seen the large impact we had hoped for."

"How did our teacher effectiveness work do on these three tests? Its effect on students’ learning was mixed."



Some progressive educators question Gates' motives. I don't, or not as much as others do, anyway. I don't think Gates has a political agenda along the line of, say, the Walton family or the Koch brothers or the DeVoses. I believe Gates honestly wants to improve the country's education system, without a whole lot of preconceived, ideological notions about what that means. That's The Education of Bill Gates | The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch:




The Education of Bill Gates | The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch:

We Fought for our Education #MeTooK12 #MeToo #TimesUp

Not in Our School! 
We Fought for our Education

My name is Charlotte Smalls and I am a Clinical Director in the juvenile justice field. My sister was harassed for almost two years by a star athlete at our Oregon high school before he raped her during a girl’s basketball game the week before Christmas vacation. My sister was terrified after her rapist threatened her life, so she reported the assault to the school. Nevertheless, the school sent her to the same lunch period with the assailant and then failed to protect her. That same day she was beaten up at school by a female friend of the rapist. Both my sister and I endured threats. We stayed out of school the rest of that week, and when we tried to return after vacation it was too dangerous to continue going to school. My sister struggled a great deal as a result of the assault. When we tried to get an education, the school’s response created a living hell. The school even retaliated against staff who tried to support our family.


No one ever mentioned our Title IX rights that were violated when the school protected the rapist, but not my sister or me. We had no alternative but to study at home. The star basketball assailant was only suspended for 2 days, even though there was forensic evidence that he raped my sister. In addition to the forensic evidence, the rapist admitted what he had done. The girl who beat up my sister was expelled. The rapist is the one who should have been expelled, and theWe Fought for our Education

 Not in Our School! bit.ly/2gelE2S


Video


shnios-buxton
illo7-recolor2pg-cover2two-headstake-action
WATCH IT NOW
PART 1    PART 2
SHARE IT NOWREAD ABOUT ITTAKE ACTION
shnios-buxton is an innovative video for K-12 parents, middle and high school students, schools, and community organizations. It’s about gender equality in education, students’ protections under Title IX, and much more. Video Contents  Media Reports  Excerpts on our YouTube channel.
As high school students plan for their new gender equality group, we watch them interview nationally recognized education, legal, and LGBTQ experts and learn from counselors, advocates, parents, and students. The video offers simple steps and engaging activities to make schools safer with equal learning spaces for all students.
In Part 2, a teenage victim learns about her right to privacy and mandated reporting when she speaks with a victim’s advocate.
 was created by parents who know—first hand—how important this information is for K-12 families. Share the video and Action Guide widely. Use the Presentation Guide to invite others to start the conversation!
shnios-buxton is free of charge. Your tax-deductible donation helps to defray production costs and enables us to produce a Spanish language version.  To make your donation, please use PayPal. Thank you!

Take Action
toolkit

Read 6 more items ↓