Are Your Students Watching History? | Teacher in a strange land

Are Your Students Watching History? | Teacher in a strange land

Are Your Students Watching History?

One of the more intriguing aspects of Wednesday’s fascinating, glued-to-the-tube Congressional train wreck was the backchannel Twitter conversation among teachers. Specifically: How do we talk to our students about this? Are we watching this with our seniors in government class? It’s history in the making, all right. How do teachers deal?

If you’ve taught as long as I have, you (and your students) have witnessed several crises happening in the world, including politically and socially sensitive events. Anyone who thinks that a teacher can avoid talking about a public tragedy, a politically contentious election outcome or the death of an iconic American is a fool. School is where kids collect, every day. School is where they talk about stuff. Adults can’t and shouldn’t suppress this, but they can provide context.

Even small children talk about big events, often confusing fact and fiction. When Pope John Paul died, in 2005, I was teaching younger children. The funeral took up a lot of time on mainstream TV, and my littles talked about it endlessly. I eventually figured out that some of them didn’t know who the Pope was, why he was important. A couple of my students thought he was ‘old fashioned Santa Claus’ (St. Nicholas) because of his red robes and tall hat. They were bereft.

That’s kind of sweet and chuckle-y. But the morning Kurt Cobain died, there was genuine grief among some of my 8th graders. A mixture of emotions, in fact—confusion, fear, horror and faux detachment. The wanted to present as chill and aloof, but the idea of someone so tuned into their self-image taking his own life was CONTINUE READING: Are Your Students Watching History? | Teacher in a strange land

I Used to be a Reporter. Now I’m a Teacher. I’ve Become What I Used to Observe | gadflyonthewallblog

I Used to be a Reporter. Now I’m a Teacher. I’ve Become What I Used to Observe | gadflyonthewallblog

I Used to be a Reporter. Now I’m a Teacher. I’ve Become What I Used to Observe

A long time ago, in a newsroom far, far away; your humble narrator was a respected journalist.

Today I am a beloved school teacher in a suburban middle school.

Okay. That may be laying it on a bit thick.

Like any human being whose job it is to get children to do their best and learn something, I’m beloved by some and beloathed by others. And if I’m honest, when I was a reporter, I was never all that respected. But I did win several state journalism awards.

The point I’m trying to make is that like a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog, I made a startling transformation in career paths that flies somewhat in the face of popular wisdom.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “There are no second acts in American Lives.” Well, I’m on my third or fourth act and nowhere near ready for the curtain to come down yet.

It’s shocking how far I’ve come, though there’s a surprising amount of overlap between my two professions. In fact, the biggest difference is one of orientation.

I used to get up at 4 a.m., weave into the newsroom and type away for a few hours about the previous night’s school board or city council meeting before my deadline came down, the presses rolled and the morning edition went on sale.

Now I get up at 5 a.m., hobble into the classroom and go to meetings, grade papers or otherwise get ready for a 7-hour invasion by 12- and 13-year-olds, followed by more meetings and papers and planning.

I used to go into the classroom to interview teachers and students about special lessons, state and federal programs or standardized tests.

Now I’m in the classroom questioning myself about my students and what works best to help them learn, trying to navigate the state and federal programs so they get the CONTINUE READING: I Used to be a Reporter. Now I’m a Teacher. I’ve Become What I Used to Observe | gadflyonthewallblog

Newsom fast-tracks legislation to hold charter schools to same standards as public schools - Los Angeles Times

Newsom fast-tracks legislation to hold charter schools to same standards as public schools - Los Angeles Times

Newsom fast-tracks legislation to hold charter schools to same standards as public schools

BREAKING NEWS! SB 126 has passed both houses of the legislature and is now headed to Governor Newsom’s desk! Thank you to all our supporters for your phone calls and advocacy to bring accountability & transparency to charter schools. #KidsNotProfits

A proposal championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to require new transparency standards for charter schools across California was passed by state legislators Thursday, an effort that would align the campuses with guidelines followed by traditional public schools.

The legislation marks a symbolic shift in the long proxy war between teachers unions and charter-school backers over education policy, after back-to-back election cycles in which the two sides spent tens of millions of dollars on rival candidates in California’s top statewide races.

A proposal championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to require new transparency standards for charter schools across California was passed by state legislators Thursday, an effort that would align the campuses with guidelines followed by traditional public schools.

The legislation marks a symbolic shift in the long proxy war between teachers unions and charter-school backers over education policy, after back-to-back election cycles in which the two sides spent tens of millions of dollars on rival candidates in California’s top statewide races. CONTINUE READING: Newsom fast-tracks legislation to hold charter schools to same standards as public schools - Los Angeles Times

Sign a Petition to Change the Charter Law in California | Diane Ravitch's blog

Sign a Petition to Change the Charter Law in California | Diane Ravitch's blog

Sign a Petition to Change the Charter Law in California

Allies who met at the Oakland conference of the Network for Public Educare are petitioning to regulate charter schools so they don’t harm public schools.

Dear Friend of Public Education:

On behalf of Educators for Democratic Schools, and Wellstone Democratic Club Education Committee (both active in Oakland) we are writing again to those who participated in the California Caucus of the NPE conference and others interested in Charter School reform to enlist your support for reform of the Charter School Act. We are about to launch a statewide petition for the following specific changes to the Act:

1. Add adverse fiscal impact as a basis on which districts may reject charter applications.

2. Give locally elected school boards the sole authority to approve and renew charter school petitions.

3. Require charter schools to enroll students with disabilities, including those with the most severe disabilities, English Language Learners, and newcomers, in equal proportion to the enrollment of these groups of students in the district in which the charter operates.

4. Apply to charter school board members the same prohibition of conflicts of interest as apply to public school boards.

5. Require charter schools to be more accountable and transparent and not force school districts to have to cede control of their facilities to charter schools.

You can sign the petition today by going to CharterLawReform.com.

We also created a suggested cover email for you here but if you want to create your own personal cover even better: Open in Docs

We are hoping that tomorrow each of you will join each of us and many other organizers throughout the state to send the petition out to all your friends, families, networks and organizations and ask them to sign as well.  Once someone signs and inserts their address it will automatically be directed to their state Senator and Assembly member as well as every member of the Education Committees of both bodies and the Governor.

Thank you in advance for your help and support!

David Weintraub, on behalf of Educators for Democratic Schools

Wellstone Democratic Club Education Committee

Sign a Petition to Change the Charter Law in California | Diane Ravitch's blog

Oakland parents lead ‘strike schools’ in homes as negotiations continue - SFGate #Unite4OaklandKids #WeAreOEA #WeAreCTA #strikeready #REDFORED

Oakland parents lead ‘strike schools’ in homes as negotiations continue - SFGate

Oakland parents lead ‘strike schools’ in homes as negotiations continue

Inside Alicia Johnson’s Berkeley home Wednesday, a handful of kindergartners finished their morning math activity at the dining table and dashed downstairs to a playroom filled with a meandering train track, a rubber T. rex, costumes and a toy kitchen.

A few older kids played on a Nintendo Wii upstairs after finishing their own morning lesson. There were 13 children in all.

It’s the new norm at Johnson’s “strike school,” a safe haven nestled in the Hiller Highlands neighborhood where parents drop their kids off before heading to work, unwilling to cross the picket line of educators that has all but shut down Oakland schools for one week.

Johnson, 38, is in a group of parents across the Oakland Unified School District who have stepped up as impromptu caretakers and teachers during the strike, opening up their homes to other school kids as a show of solidarity to teachers asking for better wages and more resources.

The district upped its offer Wednesday to an 8 percent raise plus a 2 percent bonus. Teachers are seeking a 12-percent raise, among other demands, and the Oakland Education Association did not comment immediately on the new proposal.

“It helps put parents’ mind at ease,” said Johnson, whose two kids attend Kaiser Elementary School. “They don’t have to stress, they don’t have to worry about missing work, not being paid. And I know they would do it for me if I had an emergency and needed help, too.”

Many of these at-home schools— dubbed “solidarity schools” by organizers and parents — have popped up across the district, though numbers weren’t available districtwide. Parents have established more than 40 solidarity schools at Melrose Leadership Academy alone, according to the organization Bay Rising, which has helped coordinate many of the schools.

Parents, high school students and young kids held a solidarity school protest in downtown Oakland Wednesday, calling on state representatives to support the teachers’ union.

Oakland schools have remained open during the labor action, with substitute teachers and administrators on duty. But school CONTINUE READING: Oakland parents lead ‘strike schools’ in homes as negotiations continue - SFGate

Highlights from Projections of Education Statistics to 2027

Highlights from Projections of Education Statistics to 2027

HIGHLIGHTS FROM PROJECTIONS OF EDUCATION STATISTICS TO 2027

Projections of Education Statistics to 2027 is the 46th in a series of publications initiated in 1964. This report provides national-level data on enrollment, teachers, high school graduates, and expenditures at the elementary and secondary level, and enrollment and degrees at the postsecondary level for the past 15 years and projections to the year 2027. For each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the tables, figures, and text contain data on projections of public elementary and secondary enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2027. The methodology section describes models and assumptions used to develop the national- and state-level projections.

Figure 1. Actual and projected numbers for enrollment in elementary and secondary schools, by grade level: Fall 2002 through fall 2027

NOTE: PreK = prekindergarten. Enrollment numbers for prekindergarten through 12th grade and prekindergarten through 8th grade include private nursery and prekindergarten enrollment in schools that offer kindergarten or higher grades. Since the biennial Private School Universe Survey (PSS) is collected in the fall of odd-numbered years, private school numbers for alternate years are estimated based on data from the PSS. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Mean absolute percentage errors of selected education statistics can be found in table A-2, appendix A.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education,” 2002–03 through 2015–16; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), selected years 2003–04 through 2015–16; and National Elementary and Secondary Enrollment Projection Model, 1972 through 2027. (This figure was prepared April 2018.)

Total elementary and secondary enrollment

• increased 3 percent between 2002 and 2015 (54.4 million versus 56.2 million); and
• is projected to increase 4 percent between 2015 and 2027 to 58.2 million.

Enrollment in prekindergarten through grade 8

• was 2 percent higher in 2015 (39.7 million versus 39.0 million) than in 2002; and
• is projected to increase 4 percent between 2015 and 2027 to 41.2 million.

Enrollment in grades 9–12

• increased 7 percent between 2002 and 2015 (15.4 million versus 16.5 million); and
• is projected to increase 3 percent between 2015 and 2027 to 17.0 million.

Figure 3. Projected percentage change in enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Fall 2015 and fall 2027

NOTE: Mean absolute percentage errors of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools by state and region can be found in table A-7, appendix A. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded numbers.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education,” 2015–16; and State Public Elementary and Secondary Enrollment Projection Model, 1980 through 2027. (This figure was prepared April 2018.)

The expected 3 percent national increase in public school enrollment between 2015 and 2027 plays out differently among the states.

• Enrollments are projected to be higher in 2027 than in 2015 for 33 states and the District of Columbia, with projected enrollments
• 5 percent or more higher in 24 states and the District of Columbia; and
• less than 5 percent higher in 9 states.
• Enrollments are projected to be lower in 2027 than in 2015 for 17 states, with projected enrollments
• 5 percent or more lower in 10 states; and
• less than 5 percent lower in 7 states.

Figure 9. Actual and projected numbers for high school graduates, by control of school: School years 2002–03 through 2027–28

NOTE: The private school data for 2014–15 is an actual number. Since the biennial Private School Universe Survey (PSS) is collected in the fall of odd-numbered years and the numbers collected for high school graduates are for the preceding year, private school numbers for odd years are estimated based on data from the PSS. Includes graduates of regular day school programs. Excludes graduates of other programs, when separately reported, and recipients of high school equivalency certificates. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Mean absolute percentage errors of selected education statistics can be found in table A-2, appendix A.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education,” 2003–04 through 2009–10; “State Dropout and Completion Data File,” 2010–11 through 2012–13; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), selected years, 2003–04 through 2015–16; and National High School Graduates Projection Model, 1972–73 through 2027–28. (This figure was prepared April 2018.)

The total number of high school graduates

• increased 15 percent between 2002–03 and 2012–13 (3.0 million versus 3.5 million), a period of 10 years; and
• is projected to increase 5 percent between 2012–13 and 2027–28 to 3.7 million.

The number of public high school graduates

• increased 17 percent between 2002–03 and 2012–13 (2.7 million versus 3.2 million); and
• is projected to increase 5 percent between 2012–13 and 2027–28 to 3.3 million.

The number of private high school graduates

• increased 4 percent between 2002–03 and 2012–13 (296,000 versus 309,000); and
• is projected to be not measurably different in 2027–28 (314,000) than in 2012–13.

Figure 16. Actual and projected numbers for total enrollment in all degree-granting postsecondary institutions: Fall 2002 through fall 2027

NOTE: Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Spring 2003 through Spring 2017, Fall Enrollment component; and Enrollment in Degree-Granting Institutions Projection Model, 2000 through 2027. (This figure was prepared April 2018.)

Total enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions

• increased 19 percent from 2002 to 2016 (16.6 million versus 19.8 million), a period of 14 years; and
• is projected to increase 3 percent, to 20.5 million, from 2016 to 2027, a period of 11 years.

To view the full report, please visit https://nces.ed.gov/ pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2019001

AUTHORS
William J. Hussar
National Center for Education Statistics Tabitha M. Bailey
IHS Global Inc.

This report was prepared in part under Contract No. ED-IES-14-O-5005 with IHS Global Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Highlights from Projections of Education Statistics to 2027

LA City Council Says California Needs to Increase Education Spending - NBC Southern California

LA City Council Says California Needs to Increase Education Spending - NBC Southern California

LA City Council Says California Needs to Increase Education Spending

A little over a month removed from a strike by the Los Angeles teachers union, the City Council Tuesday approved a resolution calling for California public schools to be funded at the national average or higher by the year 2020, and at a level that is equal to or above the average of the top 10 states nationally by 2025.

The resolution approved on a 12-0 vote puts the council on record as officially supporting any legislative or administrative action at the state level that would help achieve the goal.

According to the resolution, California ranks 45th nationally in the percentage of taxable income spent on education, 41st in per-pupil funding, 45th in pupil-teacher ratios and 48th in pupil-staff ratios.

California funds schools at roughly $1,961 per student less than the national average, which translates to $3,462 per student when adjusted for California being a high-cost state, and California trails the average of the top 10 states by almost $7,000 in per-pupil funding, the resolution says.

In January, members of United Teachers Los Angeles went on strike for six school days, calling for smaller class sizes and the hiring of more support staff, such as nurses, counselors and librarians, along with a pay raise. The strike ended after a marathon negotiating session led by Mayor Eric Garcetti that resulted in a labor agreement.

LA City Council Says California Needs to Increase Education Spending - NBC Southern California

The Rise of the *Portfolio* Model for Schools – Have You Heard

The Rise of the *Portfolio* Model for Schools – Have You Heard

The Rise of the *Portfolio* Model for Schools

The portfolio model of school district management—it sounds technocratic, even a little bit weedy and yet it’s arguably one of the hottest button topics in our great education debate today. You may have heard the ‘p’ word mentioned in the context of recent teachers strikes in LA and Denver, and if you haven’t, well, you’ll likely be hearing it soon. That’s because there’s big money lining up to bring the portfolio model to a school district near you. A new organization backed by two billionaires—that would be Reed Hastings of Netflix fame and hedge funder John Arnold—will be pushing aggressively and expensively to expand the portfolio model across the country. But what is it exactly? In the latest episode of Have You Heard, Jennifer and Jack are joined by Katrina Bulkley, author of Between Public and Private: Politics, Governance and the New Portfolio Models for Urban Education Reform. Bulkley walks us through the central tenets of portfolio-ism and also sheds some lights on why districts that have embraced the portfolio push seem to be, well, on fire.

You can read a full transcript of the episode here. And if you’re a fan of Have You Heard, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.

The Rise of the *Portfolio* Model for Schools – Have You Heard

Linda Darling-Hammond at AASA: Testing Is Not Reform | Diane Ravitch's blog

Linda Darling-Hammond at AASA: Testing Is Not Reform | Diane Ravitch's blog

Linda Darling-Hammond at AASA: Testing Is Not Reform

The newly appointed chair of the California State Board of Education Linda Darling-Hammond spoke to the national conference of the American Association of School Administrators (the School Superintendents Association) and denounced the American reliance on high-stakes testing as a reform strategy.

If America wants to be the world leader in education, then it should look to other countries as a model for success, says Linda Darling-Hammond, a leading educational researcher, in her Thought Leader session Thursday at the AASA national conference.

Countries such as Finland and Singapore have been among the highest-scoring countries in international comparisons. Unlike the United States, these countries provide broad support for children’s welfare, said Darling-Hammond, president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute in Palo Alto, Calif.

“They take care of children. Health care is usually universal. There is income security and (state-paid) preschool,” she told a room full of superintendents, education advocates and business leaders at the AASA conference. In effect, those countries educate “the whole child,” she said.

Darling-Hammond was the keynote speaker for the AASA Sobol Lecture, named for the late New York education leader Thomas Sobol, a vehement supporter of equity in education and for involving parents and teachers in policymaking decisions affecting classrooms. Sobol passed away in 2015.

With more than 25 books and research articles on education, Darling-Hammond is influential in CONTINUE READING: Linda Darling-Hammond at AASA: Testing Is Not Reform | Diane Ravitch's blog

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Proposes State Budget that Would Slow School Privatization | janresseger

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Proposes State Budget that Would Slow School Privatization | janresseger

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Proposes State Budget that Would Slow School Privatization

Wisconsin’s new governor, Tony Evers released a budget plan on Tuesday that confronts the school privatization agenda of former Governor Scott Walker and what remains a Republican-dominated Wisconsin Legislature.  Wisconsin has been a leader among the states which have favored the expansion of private school tuition voucher programs and charter schools.

For the Associated Press, Scott Bauer quotes Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald: “Republicans in the Legislature have spent years helping build the voucher program… We will not support a budget that includes this proposal.”

Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Voucher Program launched the nation’s experiment with school privatization nearly three decades ago.  Whether or not Evers succeeds in curbing what has been Wisconsin’s persistent expansion of vouchers and charters, his budget proposal names many of the ways Wisconsin’s expansion of school privatization has violated the public interest.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s Molly Beck describes Evers’ plan: “About 28,000 students attend 129 private schools using a taxpayer-funded voucher in Milwaukee as of the 2018-19 school year. Evers’ proposal would freeze the number of seats available in the program beginning in the 2021-22 school year, allowing new students to enroll only when others graduate or leave the program… Enrollment also would be frozen in private voucher schools in other parts of the state based on the program’s headcount at the end of the current school year.  As of this school year, about 10,000 students attend private schools using a taxpayer-funded voucher outside of Milwaukee… Evers also proposes to cap enrollment in the state’s newest voucher program for students with disabilities… Under Evers’ proposal, voucher schools also would be banned from charging tuition for students living in poverty under the proposal and would be required to allow students to opt out of religious activities.”

Evers’ plan would also curb the growth of charter schools in Wisconsin: “Evers in his spending plan also would suspend programs created by Republicans in recent years to expand CONTINUE READING: Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Proposes State Budget that Would Slow School Privatization | janresseger

Betsy DeVos and her allies are trying to redefine ‘public education.' Critics call it ‘absurd.' - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos and her allies are trying to redefine ‘public education.' Critics call it ‘absurd.' - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos and her allies are trying to redefine ‘public education.' Critics call it ‘absurd.'
Florida’s new governor is right on board

In September 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant traveled to Des Moines, where he gave a speech that said in part:

"Encourage free schools and resolve that not one dollar of money appropriated to their support no matter how raised, shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that either the state or Nation, or both combined shall support institutions of learning sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan or atheistical tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family circle, the church and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate.”

That was long the consensus of what “public education" means in the United States: common schools open to all and funded, operated and governed by the public through local governments.

Now, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her allies are pushing their own definition of public education, as new Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) did this month, to the secretary’s delight. On Feb. 15, DeSantis gave a news conference about his plan for a school voucher-like program that would use public money for private and religious school tuition, an expansion of the “school choice” options already available in the state. He said:

“An important point to make is, you know, we talk about, ‘This is public school, this is charters.' Look, if it’s public dollars, it’s public education. . . . In Florida, public education is going to have a meaning that is directed by the parents, where the parents are the drivers because they know what’s best for their kids."

There it was: “Look, if it’s public dollars, it’s public education.” And DeVos was quick to tweet her support, saying, "Completely agree, @GovRonDesantis.”

Completely agree, @GovRonDesantis. "If the taxpayer is paying for education, it’s public education. We have parents who are lining up for a tax credit scholarship. They would not do that if the program was not succeeding." https://t.co/vCJU3rfxWi

— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) February 15, 2019

To DeVos and those who agree with her, it is wrong to say public education means only traditional public school districts.

Rather, under her definition, it also means charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, sometimes by for-profit companies, and which usually operate with far fewer rules of transparency than traditional school systems. And it includes students who attend private and religious schools with publicly CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos and her allies are trying to redefine ‘public education.' Critics call it ‘absurd.' - The Washington Post

Cartoons about School and District Leaders | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons about School and District Leaders | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons about School and District Leaders

Here are some pokes at principals and superintendents that may get you to smile or grimace, chuckle or frown. Some may even get you to laugh. If so, I have accomplished what I set out to do with this collection. Enjoy!

 MORE CARTOONS:Cartoons about School and District Leaders | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice