The Breakdown of New NAACP Education Initiative with Dean Julian Vasquez Heilig | Cloaking Inequity

The Breakdown of New NAACP Education Initiative with Dean Julian Vasquez Heilig | Cloaking Inequity

THE BREAKDOWN OF NEW NAACP EDUCATION INITIATIVE WITH DEAN JULIAN VASQUEZ HEILIG

The University of Kentucky College of Education is teaming up with the NAACP to launch a groundbreaking collaboration. Together, the two are developing an education and research initiative focused on educational equity, civil rights and social justice. Tonight on The Breakdown-UK College of Education Dean, Julian Vasquez Heilig.

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The Breakdown of New NAACP Education Initiative with Dean Julian Vasquez Heilig | Cloaking Inequity

Betsy DeVos’ Deadly Plan to Reopen Schools - LA Progressive

Betsy DeVos’ Deadly Plan to Reopen Schools - LA Progressive

Betsy DeVos’ Deadly Plan to Reopen Schools

Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos is heading the administration’s effort to force schools to reopen in the fall for in-person instruction. What’s her plan to reopen safely? She doesn’t have one.

Rather than seeking additional federal funds, she’s using this pandemic to further her ploy to privatize education — threatening to withhold federal funds from public schools that don’t reopen.

Repeatedly pressed by journalists during TV appearances, DeVos can’t come up with a single mechanism or guideline for reopening schools safely. She can’t even articulate what authority the federal government has to unilaterally withhold funds from school districts — a decision that’s made at the state and local level, or by Congress. But when has the Constitution stopped the Trump administration from trying to do whatever it wants?

DeVos jeopardizes the safety of our students, teachers, parents, bus drivers, and custodians, while rerouting desperately needed public school funds towards the private schools she’s always championed.

DeVos is following Trump’s lead — prematurely reopening the economy, which he sees as key to his re-election but is causing a resurgence of the virus.

Let’s get something straight: Every single parent, teacher, and student wants to be able to return to in-person instruction in the fall — but only if no one’s life is put at risk.

Districts need more funding, not less, to implement the CDC’s guidelines. Given that state and local governments are already cash-strapped, it’s estimated that K-12 schools need at least $245 billion in additional funding to put safety precautions in place — funding that Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration refuse to give.

One might think an education secretary would be studying what kind of safety precautions would work best, and seeking emergency funding for those safeguards. Not DeVos. Just like her boss in CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos’ Deadly Plan to Reopen Schools - LA Progressive

Ed Department Accused Of Diverting Funds From Students With Disabilities - Disability Scoop

Ed Department Accused Of Diverting Funds From Students With Disabilities - Disability Scoop

Ed Department Accused Of Diverting Funds From Students With Disabilities

A lawsuit filed this week accuses the U.S. Department of Education of jeopardizing students with disabilities by misdirecting funds meant to help schools deal with fallout from the pandemic.

Earlier this year, Congress included billions of dollars in funding for schools in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act. But rules issued by the Education Department this summer about how that money should be allocated allow a good chunk of the money to be shared with private schools.

Steering the much-needed funds away from public schools is especially problematic for students with disabilities, according to the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, or COPAA, the nonprofit that filed the suit and works to advocate for the rights of students with disabilities and their families. Unlike private schools, public schools are legally required to serve students with disabilities.

“It is reprehensible that this administration is pressuring schools to open quickly while simultaneously taking away the very resources that would allow them to do so safely and effectively,” said Selene Almazan, legal director for COPAA. “As America’s schools, communities and families are in the midst of an economic and health crisis, now is not the time to deprive millions of public school children the education services they need — including students with disabilities, a population that Congress specifically intended the CARES Act funds to benefit.”

According to COPAA, as much as $1.5 billion could be diverted away from public schools under the rule just as these schools are dealing with higher costs for distance learning, changes to how they serve students with disabilities and other needs. Meanwhile, the state tax revenues that fund public schools have declined.

“At a time when students with disabilities are likely to have an CONTINUE READING: Ed Department Accused Of Diverting Funds From Students With Disabilities - Disability Scoop

Teachers Unions Look Like the Last Line of Defense… - In These Times

Teachers Unions Look Like the Last Line of Defense… - In These Times

Teachers Unions Look Like the Last Line of Defense in Trump’s “Reckless” School Reopening Crusade

As Amer­i­can fam­i­lies fret over a patch­work set of stan­dards for reopen­ing schools that vary wide­ly by city and state, teach­ers unions across the coun­try are denounc­ing the Trump administration’s approach to the issue as ill-advised, life-threat­en­ing and unjust. And they’re vow­ing to do some­thing about it.

Pres­i­dent Trump has demand­ed that schools reopen in the fall, and his edu­ca­tion sec­re­tary, Bet­sy Devos, has adopt­ed his posi­tion. But there has been lit­tle effort by the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment to pro­vide any of the gar­gan­tu­an resources that would be nec­es­sary to reopen schools in accor­dance with pub­lic health guidelines. 

In April, the Amer­i­can Fed­er­a­tion of Teach­ers (AFT) issued a lengthy plan for safe school reopen­ing, with stan­dards based on mea­sur­able declines in the preva­lence of Covid-19; test­ing, trac­ing, PPE, and pro­ce­dures for phys­i­cal dis­tanc­ing in schools; and com­mu­ni­ty invest­ments to enable schools to work in con­cert with pub­lic health measures. 

Three months lat­er, the coun­try is expe­ri­enc­ing boom­ing infec­tion rates and meet­ing none of the union’s sug­gest­ed stan­dards, but the admin­is­tra­tion seems deter­mined to reopen schools regard­less. ​“If Don­ald Trump and Bet­sy Devos actu­al­ly lis­tened to what we were say­ing — we were try­ing to reopen schools so we could meet the needs of kids,” said AFT Pres­i­dent Ran­di Wein­garten. ​“Instead, they decide to be all reckless.” 

Now, local and region­al teach­ers unions are engaged in fevered nego­ti­a­tions with school dis­tricts over reopen­ing plans. Results, pre­dictably, vary depend­ing on the local­i­ty. In Los Ange­les, the school dis­trict announced that it will begin the year with vir­tu­al instruc­tion only — a deci­sion made in con­sul­ta­tion with the Unit­ed Teach­ers of Los Ange­les (UTLA) union, which famous­ly went on strike in 2019 not just for bet­ter pay, but also for small­er class sizes and CONTINUE READING: Teachers Unions Look Like the Last Line of Defense… - In These Times

NYC: Principals, Teachers, Nurses Seek Delay in Opening | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC: Principals, Teachers, Nurses Seek Delay in Opening | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC: Principals, Teachers, Nurses Seek Delay in Opening

Spokespersons for principals, teachers, and nurses have called on Mayor De Blasio to delay reopening and provide more time to prepare schools, reports Gotham Gazette, a publication of the Citizens Union Foundation.

​The principals union, the teachers union, and the nurses union have come out against the ​city’s plan to reopen classrooms on September 10 with a mix of remote and in-person learning.

In a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators urged the officials to move the start of in-person school to the end of September to give schools more time to prepare, while offering fully remote learning as they do.

​”​Given the lack of information and guidance available at this time, CSA believes that NYCDOE’s decision to open for in-person learning on September 10th is in disregard of the well-being of our school communities​,” wrote CSA President Mark Cannizzaro.

The union is seeking more clarity on essential questions around sufficient staffing, hiring of nurses, PPE supplies, and support for students with special needs, among CONTINUE READING: NYC: Principals, Teachers, Nurses Seek Delay in Opening | Diane Ravitch's blog

How online learning fails low-income students amid COVID-19 - Los Angeles Times

How online learning fails low-income students amid COVID-19 - Los Angeles Times

A generation left behind? Online learning cheats poor students, Times survey finds

Maria Viego and Cooper Glynn were thriving at their elementary schools. Maria, 10, adored the special certificates she earned volunteering to read to second-graders. Cooper, 9, loved being with his friends and how his teacher incorporated the video game Minecraft into lessons.

But when their campuses shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic, their experiences diverged dramatically.

Maria is a student in the Coachella Valley Unified School District, where 90% of the children are from low-income families. She didn’t have a computer, so she and her mother tried using a cellphone to access her online class, but the connection kept dropping, and they gave up after a week. She did worksheets until June, when she at last received a computer, but struggled to understand the work. Now, as school starts again online, she has told her mother she’s frustrated and worried.

“She says she feels like she’s going to stay behind,” said her mother, Felicia Gonzalez, who has been battling COVID-19.

Cooper, who attends school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District, where just 12% of students are from low-income families, had a district-issued computer and good internet access at home. His school shut down on a Friday, and by the following Wednesday it was up and running virtually. There were agendas and assignments online and Google hangouts with teachers, said his mother, Megan Glynn. While Cooper would prefer to be back on campus, Glynn believes that he and his siblings will be fine academically even with school continuing online.

“I feel fully confident in the education they’ll receive,” she said.

The contrasting realities of these two students reflect the educational inequities that children have experienced since schools closed — and that many will continue to face in the fall as distance learning resumes for 97% of the state’s public school students.

A Los Angeles Times survey of 45 Southern California school districts found profound differences in distance learning among children attending school districts in high-poverty communities, like Maria’s in Coachella Valley, and those in more affluent ones, like Cooper’s in Las Virgenes, which serves Calabasas and nearby areas.

These inequities threaten to exacerbate wide and persistent disparities in public education that shortchange students of color and those from low-income families, resulting in potentially lasting harm to a generation of children.

“The longer this goes on, the longer the pendulum swings to where this could be a generation that’s really left behind,” said Beth Tarasawa, who studies educational equity issues at the not-for-profit educational research group NWEA.CONTINUE READING: How online learning fails low-income students amid COVID-19 - Los Angeles Times

Teacher Tom: A "Boy Team" and a "Girl Team"

Teacher Tom: A "Boy Team" and a "Girl Team"

A "Boy Team" and a "Girl Team"

Charlotte was one of those kids who had been coming to Woodland Park since before she was born, arriving first in our classroom in utero to drop off and pick up her older brother, then continuing on her own behalf until she was five. If I've ever known a student, it would be Charlotte, and among the many things I know is that she is not conflict averse: she will stand up for herself, and for righteousness in general, like few people I've ever known, whatever their age.

To say she knew her way around the place would be an understatement. When we began making our classroom agreements early in her final school year, she took the lead in creating a short, but very workable list, including the vital ones of "No hitting," "No kicking," "No biting," and "No taking things from other people." We would, of course, add to this list in the coming days and weeks, but could in theory function as a community quite well with these dozen or so rules we had created to get started.

The following day, we played with our catapults. The kids fell on them enthusiastically. It was wild at first, although I was proud of how well the kids -- most of whom were just getting to know one another -- figured out how to share the five machines without any input from me. 

Naturally, they quickly began targeting one another with the ping pong balls. I was trying to stay out of the way, observing, and helping to retrieve balls that had gotten under furniture, waiting all the while for a signal from the kids that CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: A "Boy Team" and a "Girl Team"

McKeesport School Board Recklessly Votes to Reopen to Half Day In-Person Classes During a Global Pandemic | gadflyonthewallblog

McKeesport School Board Recklessly Votes to Reopen to Half Day In-Person Classes During a Global Pandemic | gadflyonthewallblog

McKeesport School Board Recklessly Votes to Reopen to Half Day In-Person Classes During a Global Pandemic

For a moment there, I thought things might go differently.

With Covid-19 cases exponentially more numerous today than they were when schools closed in March, last night McKeesport Area School Directors voted whether to reopen buildings to half day in-person classes.

And it really looked like they might decide against it.

For about 10 seconds.

The first vote was from Jim Brown, and it was a “No.”

Then came Dave Donato.

He has made no secret that he champions in-person reopening. Since no residents came before the board to praise the plan – either at tonight’s meeting or last week’s work session – he read aloud a letter he said he received from someone advocating for it.

But when the time came to vote, Donato stopped. He paused.

And for a moment things looked like they might come out right.

Then he voted in favor of the reopening plan.

The final vote was 7-2 in favor with Brown and Mindy Sturgess voting against.
Donato, Joseph Lopretto, Tom Filotei, Ivan Hampton, Steven Kondrosky, Jim Poston CONTINUE READING: McKeesport School Board Recklessly Votes to Reopen to Half Day In-Person Classes During a Global Pandemic | gadflyonthewallblog

SSPI Outlines Priorities for a Return to Learning - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

SSPI Outlines Priorities for a Return to Learning - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Commends Students, Families, and Educators on Return to Learning and Outlines Ongoing Priorities

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on Wednesday commended the around-the-clock dedication of educators, families, and students as most schools across California begin a new school year under distance learning. In a virtual news media briefing, Thurmond also outlined several urgent areas of focus for the California Department of Education (CDE) to help schools strengthen virtual instruction, connect with students, and reach all learners.

“Our back-to-school season looks very different this year, and as a parent of two school-age children myself, I understand the anxieties and uncertainties we all are feeling right now. But what hasn’t changed is the tireless work of our educators to prepare up until the first day of school for a successful year,” said Thurmond. “At the CDE, our goal remains to provide the real-time support our schools need as they make decisions about how best to resume learning while keeping everyone safe.”

Thurmond discussed several priorities for CDE heading into the new school year, including:

Continuity of learning: The CDE is finalizing updated guidance to support educators in strengthening distance learning and maintaining rigor in the days and weeks ahead. As part of its research, the CDE solicited examples of successful strategies from teachers across California and will highlight selections as models for others to use. Additionally, the CDE will continue to provide assistance to local educational agencies to ensure they are meeting the unique needs of students with disabilities, students learning English, and other vulnerable student populations.

Family engagement: Thurmond encouraged schools to continue proactive, two-way communication and engagement to ensure families and students who are harder to reach, or who experience increased barriers to access, don’t fall behind. He stressed that relationships and connections—just like in the classroom—must be a primary focus in the first days of the new school year.

Digital divide: With hundreds of thousands of students still without computing devices or internet connections across the state, the State Superintendent reminded schools to take advantage of their share of $5.3 billion in Learning Loss Mitigation Funds authorized by the 2020–21 state budget. The CDE has posted online each school district’s initial allocation of Learning Loss Mitigation Funds(XLS) and answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

The continued effort to close California’s digital divide got a boost from a corporate partner: Thurmond announced that PG&E has pledged $500,000 to support the immediate need of computing and connectivity. The commitment will support ongoing efforts to ensure equity across school districts in PG&E’s service area in Northern and Central California, including computing devices and internet hotspots.

An archived broadcast of the full media check-in can be viewed on the CDE’s Facebook page.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

SSPI Outlines Priorities for a Return to Learning - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Mobile Billboard Stalks DeVos

CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Mobile Billboard Stalks DeVos

MI: Mobile Billboard Stalks DeVos

Protect Our Public Schools is a group of retired teachers and other stakeholders working out of Livonia, Michigan. While their reach may not be large nor their pockets deep, they have come up with a fun way to demand Betsy DeVos's attention.

While demanding that public schools be open and full this fall, DeVos herself has been working remotely from one of the family mansions. POPS has been calling attention to that, at least in Michigan, by hiring a mobile billboard. It's technically a truck with three giant LED screens, and they're taking it on a tour of Michigan, with special stops in Detroit for US Senators as well as the Trump campaign.

The messages on the screens are pretty direct:

Secretary DeVos: Stop hiding in your mansion. Start protecting our kids.

No plan. No funding. No experience.

The truck (well, another truck with the same messages and sponsored by POPS) also made a tour of Washington, DC where it sat outside the Department of Education for a while. The cost was CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Mobile Billboard Stalks DeVos

NYC Public School Parents: Getting it Right: Reopening our Nation's Schools. A National Town hall on Sat. Aug. 15 from 12-4 pm.

NYC Public School Parents: Getting it Right: Reopening our Nation's Schools. A National Town hall on Sat. Aug. 15 from 12-4 pm.

Getting it Right: Reopening our Nation's Schools. A National Town hall on Sat. Aug. 15 from 12-4 pm.

This Saturday August 15, I will be co-hosting the second half of a four-hour program called "Getting it Right" from 12 -4 PM EST on school reopening and how best to educate students during the pandemic.   My panels will focus on issues with remote learning and health and safety.  There is an amazing set of panelists; see below. 

You can watch at the Washington Teachers' Union Facebook page; listen live on WBAI 99.5 FM in NYC or at wbai.org; and/or register at Zoom at https://bit.ly/31mpSfh.  

              National Town Hall: Getting It Right: Reopening Our Nation's Schools

Educators, Health Experts, Civil Rights Leaders to Discuss the Chaos, Complexities, How Best to Reopen Schools

Melissa Harris-Perry to Moderate Opening Panel

WASHINGTON-The Washington Teachers' Union, WPFW-FM and WBAI-FM are co­ sponsoring a national town hall on Aug. 15 to discuss the chaos, complexities and most effective ways to reopen our nation's schools; it will feature national education, health and civil rights leaders, teachers and social workers.

"Getting It Right: Reopening Our Nation's Schools" will be aired live on WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, D.C., and audio streamed on wpfwfm.org; aired live on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York City and audio streamed on wbai.org; and can be seen live on the Washington Teachers' Union Facebook page- www.facebook.com /WTU1ocal6.

The four-panel, four-hour town hall will be on Aug. 15, from noon to 4 p.m. EDT:

Noon-1 p.m. EDT:

The opening panel, moderated by Wake Forest University's Maya Angelou Presidential Endowed Chair Melissa Harris-Perry, will focus on the state of reopening schools, the chaos and politics involved and the inequities for disadvantaged children that COVID-19 has exposed. Panelists include:

•       American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten

•       Washington Teachers' Union President Elizabeth Davis

        •       Florida Education Association President Fedrick Ingram

        •       Dr. Reed Tuckson, co-founder, Black Coalition Against COVID-19

•       April Goggans, core organizer, Black Lives Matter DC

  1  p.m. - 2 p.m. EDT:

Moderated by WPFW's Askia Muhammad and D.C. teacher Michelle Bollinger, this panel will focus on what's happening on the ground across the country and lessons learned from the spring months of remote learning. Panelists include:

•       Texas AFT President Zeph Capo

•       Dallas-area teacher Misty Griffin, who resigned rather than be forced to teach remotely from her school

        •       Detroit Federation of Teachers President Terrence Martin

        •       Providence, R.I., first-grade teacher Ashley Davis

•    Western Washington University professor Joheen Neem will address concerns about the future of public education as well as how the COVID-19 situation could encourage more privatization

2  p.m. - 3 p.m. EDT:

Moderated by WPFW's Askia Muhammad and WBAI's Leonie Haimson, the panel will focus on technology for remote learning: how effective it has been; how to do it well; problems providing disadvantaged children access to devices and Wi-Fi; advice for parents; and lessons learned from the spring.

•       WTU President Elizabeth Davis 

•       United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats

•       Washington, D.C., teacher Ashley Kearney

•       Lyndsie Galizia, Fairfax County, Va., school-based tech specialist. The county had a very difficult remote rollout in the spring.

•       Grace Hu, Washington, D.C., parent/ community activist will address tech issues and lack of investment for disadvantaged children.

3  p.m. - 4 p.m. EDT

Moderated by Aslda Muhammad and Leonie Haimson, this panel will focus on the physical and mental health issues that families, educators and others are dealing with.

•       Dr. Melissa Clarke, health educator and member of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19

•       Dr. Jennifer Lighter, NYU Langone Health pediatric infectious disease specialist

•       Mary Balla, Washington, D.C., teacher on task force about moving a portion of law enforcement funds to social and emotional learning programs

•       Maureen Eigenfeld, New York City school social worker, works in a high-needs Bronx middle school.

 NYC Public School Parents: Getting it Right: Reopening our Nation's Schools. A National Town hall on Sat. Aug. 15 from 12-4 pm.

MAGA: “My Awesome Gettysburg Address” | The Merrow Report

MAGA: “My Awesome Gettysburg Address” | The Merrow Report

MAGA: “My Awesome Gettysburg Address”

My fellow American patriots, Welcome to this historical monument and this even more historical occasion, because today your favorite President is accepting his party’s unanimous nomination to continue to lead our beloved country to even greater heights, now that we have the China virus under control.

You know, many people said that I should come to Gettysburg or Mt. Rushmore to accept the nomination. But I’ve already been to Mt. Rushmore, and I hear that someday I will be there forever, along with Abe and the other greats.

Honest Abe made a famous speech here, which my loyal aide Steven Miller read to me the other day,  the one where he said “Four score and seven…”   That’s how I learned that ‘score’ has another meaning than the one I’m used to.

Some people, mostly in the Democrat party or the ‘fake news,’  have criticized me for coming to what they call “Hallowed Ground” to accept your unanimous nomination, but I remind them that I am the President, and the Constitution says I can do CONTINUE READING: MAGA: “My Awesome Gettysburg Address” | The Merrow Report