CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Teacher Fired Over Political Tweet. If Only There Was A Way Protect Against Such Injustice.

CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Teacher Fired Over Political Tweet. If Only There Was A Way Protect Against Such Injustice.

MI: Teacher Fired Over Political Tweet. If Only There Was A Way Protect Against Such Injustice.

Be careful what you wish for.

Conservative media made a small summer meal out of the story of Justin Kucera, a 28-year-old social studies teacher/coach at Walled Lake Western High School.

The known facts of the story appear to be this:

On July 6, Kucera retweeted the Trump classic, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL."  He followed that with “I’m done being silent. @realDonaldTrump is our president … Don’t @ me” Further down the thread, he responded to someone with a "liberals suck, man." That tweet, which Kucera later characterized as a sort of light sarcasm, was later deleted, but the damage, apparently, was done.

The district superintendent offered a bit of a subtweet on July 7, including "We believe in the importance of discourse, but we will not stand for speech or actions from those that represent our District that seek to divide or demean our staff, students, citizens."

Kucera was pulled into a virtual meeting with his administrators, the HR department and his union reps on July 10. They asked him why he tweeted those particular messages, and ultimately gave him the choice of resigning or being fired in a July 15 meeting. He chose not to resign, and the district fired him.

The district has maintained that they did not fire Kucera for boosting Trump, but Kucera has presented his story to many outlets as "I was fired for supporting Trump." Many folks have poked around the tweeterverse to unearth other Walled Lake teachers who have been critical of Trump without repercussions. His termination letter cited "a lack of professional judgment."

The superintendent reached out to Kucera, and on July 22 they met. The personnel file obtained by the Detroit News says the superintendent was looking for ways "we may be able to save this CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Teacher Fired Over Political Tweet. If Only There Was A Way Protect Against Such Injustice.

Texas school district's dreadlocks ban "discriminatory," court rules | The Texas Tribune

Texas school district's dreadlocks ban "discriminatory," court rules | The Texas Tribune

Texas school district's dreadlocks ban discriminatory, federal court rules
The decision comes a month after the Barbers Hill Independent School District board of trustees voted to keep the dress code policy, which advocates have deemed racist.

A federal judge has prevented a Houston-area school district from enforcing a dress code policy that states that male students must keep their hair ear-length or shorter. Earlier this year, that policy spurred national attention and outrage after it was used to punish two students who wore their hair in dreadlocks.

The decision from the U.S. District Court in Houston overturns the grooming policy from the Barbers Hill ISD. Earlier this summer, despite criticism from advocates who described the restriction as racist, the Barbers Hill board of trustees voted to keep the policy.

Administrators informed Kaden Bradford and De’Andre Arnold, two Black students at Barbers Hill High School, in January that they had to cut their hair or face consequences. Arnold was told he would not get to walk on the stage at his school's graduation ceremony in May, while Bradford would be indefinitely enrolled in in-school suspension. Both students refused to comply and filed lawsuits against the school district that argued the policy was discriminatorily construed and enforced.

Both students and their families are represented by the NAACP’s Legal and Defense and Educational Fund.

"Locs are communicative, they express pride in one's Black racial heritage, family heritage," attorney Michaele Turnage Young said. "It's 2020, this is a basic recognition ... but to have a federal court recognize that, it's a huge step in the right direction.”

This court decision grants Bradford "temporary relief" while lawsuits against the school continue, Turnage Young said. Both Arnold and Bradford transferred out of the district to another high school earlier this year. Bradford will now be able to return to his former high school for junior year without the threat of suspension. Arnold was unable to graduate from Barbers Hill.

The case has also gained the attention of Texas lawmakers. In February, members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus announced their intent to bring their version of the CROWN Act — a California bill that aims to ban hair discrimination in public CONTINUE READING: Texas school district's dreadlocks ban "discriminatory," court rules | The Texas Tribune

Florida education chief tells districts: Don’t rush to close schools when covid-19 cases appear - The Washington Post

Florida education chief tells districts: Don’t rush to close schools when covid-19 cases appear - The Washington Post

Florida education chief tells districts: Don’t rush to close schools when covid-19 cases appear

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his administration are doubling (or tripling?) down on opening schools during the coronavirus pandemic and keeping them open even when cases of the disease are diagnosed.

On a phone call with school district superintendents late last week, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran urged them to be “surgical” when dealing with covid-19 cases, as opposed to “sweeping” — and told them not to close a school without calling state officials first to discuss it.

A Florida school district wanted to wait to reopen school buildings. Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to cut its funding.

“Before you get to that point of closing a classroom or closing a school, we want to have that communication with you because we want to be as surgical as possible,” Corcoran said, offering to provide specific names and numbers of officials who could take a call.

There is no reason, he said, to automatically close a school just because a student displays symptoms of covid-19 but has not been diagnosed. The goals of a “surgical” approach are to keep “everybody safe” and to allow students to “get the best possible learning experience and the best possible emotional and social support,” he said.

Asked about Corcoran’s comments on districts calling the state before shutting down classrooms or schools, Taryn Fenske, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education, said in an email: “They’re not asking permission nor are we giving permission. We are constantly talking with districts.”

But one district leader, who was on the call with Corcoran and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal from the state, said some district leaders would now be reluctant to unilaterally shut down a school and send all students home for remote learning.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of the Florida High School Athletic Association voted late last week to allow schools to start fall sports Aug. 24 — a decision that ignores a recommendation from the organization’s own medical advisory panel, which had called for delaying fall sports until at least the CONTINUE READING: Florida education chief tells districts: Don’t rush to close schools when covid-19 cases appear - The Washington Post

Los Angeles: Vote for Scott Schmerelson and Patricia Castellanos for LAUSD School Board | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: Vote for Scott Schmerelson and Patricia Castellanos for LAUSD School Board | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: Vote for Scott Schmerelson and Patricia Castellanos for LAUSD School Board

Control of the Los Angeles Unified School District is up for grabs in the 2020 election.

You can be sure that the LAUSD prioritizes public schools by voting for incumbent Scott Schmerelson and newcomer Patricia Castellanos.

The issue now is the same issue that has drawn a sharp divide on the school board for the past decade. Will the schools be controlled by a cabal of billionaires who favor privatization by charter schools or will it be controlled by people who are dedicated to the public schools of Los Angeles, which enroll 80 percent of the district’s children?

The charter lobby supports privatization and high-stakes testing for students and teachers.

California state law defines charter schools as “public schools” because the law was written by charter lobbyists. They have private management, private boards, and they are almost entirely free from scrutiny by public agencies; due to lack of oversight, several charter executives in California have been arrested and convicted of embezzlement from school funds. Lack of oversight explains why so many charters felt empowered to apply for and receive federal Paycheck Protection Program money as “small businesses.” They are charter schools when it is time to collect money available only to public schools, then they shape shift into “small businesses” or “non-profits” when it is time to collect money that is not available to public schools. That is called “double dipping.” It is wrong. It is unethical.

The charter industry is powerful in California due to the CONTINUE READING: Los Angeles: Vote for Scott Schmerelson and Patricia Castellanos for LAUSD School Board | Diane Ravitch's blog

South Carolina: The Hoax of School Choice | Diane Ravitch's blog

South Carolina: The Hoax of School Choice | Diane Ravitch's blog

South Carolina: The Hoax of School Choice

Jen Gibson, who lives in Charleston, writes about how school choice will drain resources from underfunded public schools while not providing access to better schools or better education:

Normally this time of year, my son and I are on the hunt for new shoes and the perfect pencil pouch. This year, we are struggling with masks and stocking up on hand sanitizer.

Like most parents, our family is wrestling with decisions about our work schedules, our vulnerable parents, and our child’s academic and social needs. All of our energy is focused on supporting students, teachers and our community during this unprecedented crisis.

That is why I was shocked and saddened when U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Henry McMaster and S.C. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island, took advantage of this crisis to declare war on our public schools with their coordinated CONTINUE READING: South Carolina: The Hoax of School Choice | Diane Ravitch's blog

Kamala Harris Has Strongly Supported Public Schools and Cracked Down on Unscrupulous For-Profit Charter Management Companies and For-Profit Colleges | janresseger #BidenHarris2020 #DemConvention2020

Kamala Harris Has Strongly Supported Public Schools and Cracked Down on Unscrupulous For-Profit Charter Management Companies and For-Profit Colleges | janresseger

Kamala Harris Has Strongly Supported Public Schools and Cracked Down on Unscrupulous For-Profit Charter Management Companies and For-Profit Colleges

Senator Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s choice as the Democratic candidate for vice president, has a solid record supporting public schools. As California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017, Harris also worked aggressively to protect California’s citizens from fraud committed by the nation’s largest for-profit charter school management company.  She also won a lawsuit in 2016 to provide relief to student borrowers who had been victimized by fraudulent advertising by for-profit colleges and trade schools.

The National Education Association (NEA) reports: “Harris gave her maiden speech on the Senate floor in opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos, focusing on her utter lack of qualifications and experience as a teacher.  In support of the #Red4Ed movement, she also supported educators’ strikes in Los Angeles and Oakland, California in 2019 saying, ‘Teachers in my hometown of Oakland will begin striking tomorrow because they know they deserve a raise. It’s shameful that they don’t earn enough to live in the communities where they teach.'” The 2018-2019 #Red4Ed teachers’ strikes across the United States were instrumental for forcing a number of states to remedy some of the deep budget cuts lingering from the 2008 recession, cuts that had, in Los Angeles, for example, pushed class sizes to over 40 students in public schools serving some of the city’s poorest children, many of them learning English.

NEA reports that, like Joe Biden, Harris has pushed for “increasing funding for Title I schools to make sure every student has a nurse and social worker… in addition to providing incentives to states to conduct racial and resource equity audits, increase their public school spending, and adopt more equitable funding formulas.” Like Biden she has advocated for fully funding important and federally mandated programs for disabled students. When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the promise was that 40 percent of the cost of the programs would be federally funded. Both Biden and Harris have said that that CONTINUE READING: Kamala Harris Has Strongly Supported Public Schools and Cracked Down on Unscrupulous For-Profit Charter Management Companies and For-Profit Colleges | janresseger

CURMUDGUCATION: For Teachers, This Is All Unfortunately Familiar

CURMUDGUCATION: For Teachers, This Is All Unfortunately Familiar

For Teachers, This Is All Unfortunately Familiar

It didn’t have to be this way.

I’m not the first person to make that observation, and I won’t be the last. But it bears repeating. Because, for many regular citizens this school reopening-during-a-pandemic business may seem like a brand new adventure, but for educators, this is a new arrangement of a song they’ve heard many times before.

In some alternate universe, political leaders—top folks, like governors and even the President—sit down last winter, or even last spring, and have a long hard talk about schools in the midst of a pandemic.

“Schools are critical,” someone declares. “The workers who keep the economy going need to be freed up to get back on the job. Beyond that, we cannot tolerate on our watch a generation of young people getting a small slice of the education to which they’re entitled.” A resolution is reached. “We will do,” the elected leaders declare,” whatever it takes, come through with whatever resources are needed. We will assemble a blue ribbon panel of scientists and teachers and they will figure out what is needed to get public education safely running again, and we will take their recommendations and make them real.”

In this alternate universe, the secretary of education is pushing and cajoling and shaming and bully pulpiting Congress to authorize the necessary resources. “Not only that,” says the secretary (and some other leaders), “but if we are going to ask public school teachers to be the front line troops in this critical battle, we are going to make damned sure they are taken care of.” Or perhaps in that universe leaders are declaring, “It can’t be done safely. We’d better repurpose billions of dollars for the training, technology and infrastructure needed to pivot US education to distance learning. It’ll CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: For Teachers, This Is All Unfortunately Familiar

Teacher Tom: Building a Learning Machine

 Teacher Tom: Building a Learning Machine

Building a Learning Machine

A five-year-old boy once accused me of being a "bad teacher." He wasn't mad at me. It wasn't intended as an insult. He was grinning as he said it, but he offered it more as a statement of fact than a joke.

I've had children tell me that I'm "supposed to be a boy," "you smell stinky," and "you're a big, fat guy." Learning the unvarnished, unblinking "truth" about yourself, at least from one person's perspective, is one of the "perks" of being a preschool teacher, but I'd never been told I was a bad teacher. 

"What do you mean? I'm not a bad teacher."

"You are a bad teacher."

"Why am I a bad teacher?"

"You never teach us anything."

"That means I'm a good teacher. I get this place ready and then you all come here and teach yourself things."

He was in the midst of a project he had been working on for a week. To an outsider, it probably just looked like he was gathering junk from the playground and putting in a big heap, but we all knew by now that he was building a machine. He CONTINUE READING:  Teacher Tom: Building a Learning Machine

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

A VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

 

 

Labor Day Is On September 7th – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4h

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay September 7th is Labor Day in The United States. You might be interested in The Best Websites For Learning About Labor Day .

A Good Reminder Of “The Progress Principle’s” Value During COVID-19

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4h

I’ve often written about the work of Teresa Amabile, who’s research developed “The Progress Principle.” Basically, she found that small wins each day are the key ingredient in people’s sense of well-being. It ties in nicely with one of the four key elements needed to create the conditions to support student intrinsic motivation – competence. In other words, students feeling like they can be succe

“Strategies for Online Instruction”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

Strategies for Online Instruction is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Six educators share tips for teaching virtually, including making time to connect personally with each student and emphasizing collaborative work. Here are some excerpts:

Wednesday’s Seven “Must-Read” & “Must-Watch” Videos About School Reopening This Fall

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

MICHOFF / Pixabay Here are new additions to Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : The dystopian tech that companies are selling to help schools reopen sooner is from Recode. Millions return to schools lacking handwashing facilities: UN is from Al Jazeera. New coronavirus cases are emerging at schools. How much you know depends on where you l

Ed Tech Digest

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

Nine years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “” post where I share three or four links I think are particularly useful and related to…ed tech, including some Web 2.0 apps. You might also be interested in THE BEST ED TECH RESOURCES OF 2020 – PART ONE , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this w

New TED-Ed Video & Lesson: “Can the ocean run out of oxygen?”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Claudia14 / Pixabay I’m adding this new TED-Ed video and lesson to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Oceans :

My Mind Was Blown Today After Learning How To Collaboratively Annotate PDFs On Google Drive

by Larry Ferlazzo / 17h

Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay I’ve always had problems trying to figure out how to get Google Docs to play nice with PDFs. I had given up, and concluded that Actively Learn was going to be my “go-to” tool since it lets you upload sizable PDFs and allows students to answer questions within the document. Of course, if you only have the free plan, you’re limited to three uploads each month (Yes

The 19th Amendment Passed 100 Years Ago Today – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

The 19th Amendment passed one hundred years ago today and gave many – though not all – women the right to vote. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About Women’s Suffrage . 100 years ago today: US women gained the federal right to vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified 

 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007