Ignorance is usually not a good defense when you get caught. In Trump’s case, it is the default response when things go wrong. You could write a book about what Trump doesn’t know. He doesn’t know that Greenland is not for sale. He doesn’t know that Finland is not part of Russia. He doesn’t know that Frederick Douglass is a historical figure, not someone living today. He doesn’t know that climate
Kevin Welner, a lawyer and specialist in education policy, wrote about the Espinoza decision at Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet in the Washington Post: On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that was once unthinkable. It required the state of Montana to set aside its own constitution’s ban on direct or indirect funding of religious private schools: “A State need not subsidize private
The National Superintendents Roundtable reports that Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina want to suspend testing next year . Other states may follow their lead. The most important priority must be the health and safety of students and staff. On June 18, Georgia became one of the first states to seek an assessment waiver. Gov. Brian P. Kemp and State School Superintendent Richard Woods jointly anno
On July 8, you are invited to join a ZOOM discussion with me and Andre Perry. Andre Perry has written a new book KNOW YOUR PRICE: VALUING BLACK LIVES AND PROPERTY IN AMERICA’S BLACK CITIES. He was the leader in the New Orleans charter sector, then became disillusioned and left. I am fascinated with people who have the courage to change. Listen in to this conversation. We will talk for an hour, th
Anna Bakalis of United Teachers of Los Angeles writes a clarification: Got this from the LASPD site: Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD)is the largest independent school police department in the United States, with over 410 sworn police officers, 101 non-sworn school safety officers (SSO), and 34 civilian support staff dedicated to serving the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, takes issue with the claim that Los Angeles has the largest police force in schools in the country. LAUSD does not have the “largest school police force in the country” as claimed above (in UTLA press release). NYC DOE has more than 5,000 School Safety Officers who work for the NYPD, at a cost of nearly $500M — more than seven times the co
https://www.utla.net/news/utla-statement-lausd-vote-defund-school-police-budget-35 For immediate release July 1, 2020 Media Contact: Anna Bakalis 213-305-9654 UTLA Statement on LAUSD vote to defund school police budget by 35% The LAUSD School Board yesterday approved an immediate 35% cut to the LAUSD school police, after weeks of protests organized by Students Deserve and Black Lives Matter-LA th
Nancy Bailey has 22 reasons why schools should not open this fall. Here are the first four: 1. Illness and Russian Roulette According to the CDC, the risk might seem low for children, but they still get sick, some seriously. Children and teenagers have died. Questions still surround the disease. It’s not worth the risk. Maybe the situation will improve by January, or next summer. Currently we’re
Peter Greene worries that the Espinoza decision is another step in the movement to establish the principle that the public should fund religious schools. He believes this is ominous. I don’t disagree. That’s why Trump and DeVos celebrated the Court’s decision that all state scholarships for private schools must include religious schools. I was pleased that the Court did not take the final step th
Steve Hinnefeld blogs about education. He is based in Indiana, which has funded charters and vouchers, the latter despite a state constitution that bans funding religious schools. He writes here about the Supreme Court’s Espinoza decision that held that religious schools must be included in state programs that fund private schools (almost all state voucher programs already fund religious schools,
Derek Black is a law professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in education, civil rights, and equity. His new book, which I have read and intend to review here, is Schoolhouse Burning. It is phenomenal. It is a new history of American education that documents the historic role of
