Big Education Ape: Sep 7, 2020

Monday, September 7, 2020

Trump Says California Schools That Teach 1619 Project Will Not be Funded

Trump, the Snowflakeyest of All Snowflakes, Threatens to Defund California Schools for Implementing 1619 Project Curriculum

Despite all of their lamenting of how “overly sensitive” this new generation is, white conservatives are and have always been the most fragile people to walk this here Earth—and Donald Trump is their president. Oh, Trump may not be as smart as some of these ivy league Republicans wish he was, but he still represents their most treasured value: Protect whiteness at all cost.

Trump—whose answer to everything that displeases him is to threaten to “withhold funding” from said thing—is now going all defunder-in-chief on California schools because he heard they would be implementing the New York Times’ Pulitzer-Prize winning collection 1619 Project into their curriculum.

Department of Education is looking at this. If so, they will not be funded! https://t.co/dHsw6Y6Y3M
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2020

For those who don’t know, the 1619 Project is a project directed by Nikole Hannah-Jones that “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”

On Sunday, the whiny white supremacist dipped in Tang that y’all call president responded to a random Twitter post claiming California “has implemented the 1619 [P]project into the public schools” and that “soon you won’t recognize [America],” by tweeting, “Department of Education is looking at this. if so, they will not be funded.” CONTINUE READING: Trump Says California Schools That Teach 1619 Project Will Not be Funded

Coronavirus Puts School Cafeteria Workers At Risk, Too - The Atlantic

The Silent Suffering of Cafeteria Workers

As schools navigate reopening for the fall, most coverage has focused on the safety of students and teachers. But another group on campus has been silently suffering

Shannon Spear’s family had just finished dinner when the phone rang. It was a Friday night in March, and Spear’s school district was calling to announce that her daughter’s high school was moving to remote learning. This was no surprise: Like other parents whose children attend the Contoocook Valley schools in New Hampshire, Spear had received dozens of emails from the district preparing families for the change. Earlier that day, teachers had even reminded Spear’s daughter to make sure that her school-issued Chromebook and charger were in her backpack before the final bell rang.

Spear didn’t notice when her phone vibrated a second time, alerting her to a call from her boss at Fresh Picks Cafe, which serves school cafeterias in Contoocook Valley. Her daughter was going to stay home for the rest of the school year. But, like other cafeteria workers across the country, Spear still had to show up to work the next week.

Spear spent the next couple of months working at the same school that the district had deemed too dangerous for her daughter to attend. She helped bag hundreds of lunches a day, bringing them to color-coded school buses that would make the trek to the nine rural towns her district covered. As unemployment rates rose, so did the number of families signing up to receive free meals. On the first day of remote learning, Spear helped make just under 400 lunches; by the end of the month, she and her colleagues were making nearly 900 each day.

At her job, Spear had to wear a mask and change her gloves every half hour, but toward the end of the school year, her supervisors stopped checking. Another woman in the cafeteria stopped showing up, because she was immunocompromised. Food-service workers in other cafeterias around the country tested positive for the coronavirus, but as far as she’s aware, no one at her job did. Then, in July, her employer laid off Spear and three other workers. CONTINUE READING: Coronavirus Puts School Cafeteria Workers At Risk, Too - The Atlantic

Educators support Joe Biden’s stance on workers' rights and unions - Education Votes

Educators support Joe Biden’s stance on workers’ rights and unions

When unions are strong, our communities are strong. This is a long-held belief of former Vice President Joe Biden, who supports “laws that allow labor unions to flourish and fight for basic worker protections.” He knows that it was labor unions that led the fight for working families, winning protections such as the 8-hour day and the 40-hour week, overtime rights, and access to health care and retirement security.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has knocked down many working families and small businesses, causing millions to lose jobs and healthcare, Biden has led with plans to protect all Americans from increased hardships. His Jobs and Economic Recovery Plan for Working Families addresses issues that were present long before the crisis, which disproportionately impact communities of color who have never been fully welcomed as participants in the economy or compensated equitably.

Workers in unions earn higher wages and are more likely to have employer-covered health coverage. President Donald Trump claims to align himself with workers, but supports “decreased labor protections, rolled back worker safety and weakened federal unions.” He has appointed anti-union judges and cabinet secretaries with life-long track records of fighting against working Americans. His education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has time and again tried to limit the voice of educators and educator unions since she was confirmed.

Here are four ways Joe Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris will protect workers’ rights:

He will support collective bargaining legislation

Joe Biden believes “the federal government should not only defend workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively, but also encourage collective bargaining.” As president, he plans to make it easier for all workers to unionize and supports educators being able to bargain for better pay and benefits in addition to having a voice in decisions that affect their students.

He supports #RedForEd and closing the teacher pay gap

“These walkouts are vital,” said the former vice president of the #RedForEd movement. “Not just to make sure you get paid fairly, or you get health care…you’re walking out to make sure CONTINUE READING: Educators support Joe Biden’s stance on workers' rights and unions - Education Votes

I Am a Proud Anti-Fascist | Diane Ravitch's blog

I Am a Proud Anti-Fascist

Trump and Barr have warned about the dangers of a group called “Antifa.” I had never heard of them and don’t know anyone who belongs to this group. I did a small amount of digging and learned that Antifa means “anti-fascist.”

That confused me. How can it be wrong to be anti-fascism?

Hitler and Mussolini were fascists.

We fought a world war from 1941-1945 to save the world from fascism.

During World War II, there were pro-fascist people in America.

The current American fascists are the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and armed militias like those that stormed the Michigan State Capitol to protest public health measures to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Fascists threaten their fellow citizens with military-type assault weapons. Fascists use extra-legal means to subvert the rule of law and to intimidate people of color and those who oppose them. Fascists want to make America a white a Christian nation where none is welcome who is either white nor Christian.

I oppose fascism. I support the efforts to suppress CONTINUE READING: I Am a Proud Anti-Fascist | Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Does Trump Hate COVID Testing But Love Standardized Testing? | gadflyonthewallblog

Why Does Trump Hate COVID Testing But Love Standardized Testing?

When it comes to COVID-19, Donald Trump sure hates testing.

But when it comes to public schools, his administration simply adores standardized testing.

Why the discrepancy?

Why is testing for a virus during a global pandemic bad, but giving students a multiple choice test during the chaos caused by that pandemic somehow good?

When it comes to the Coronavirus, Trump has made his position clear.

In a June 15 tweet, Trump wrote that testing “makes us look bad.”

Five days later at his infamous campaign rally in Tulsa, he said he had asked his “people” to “slow the testing down, please.”

At one of his White House press briefings, he said, “When you test, you create cases.”

In his infamous Fox News interview with Chris Wallace, he seemed to be saying that the U.S. had just as many new cases now as it did in May. However, since there were fewer tests done in May and more are being done now, it only appears that the CONTINUE READING: Why Does Trump Hate COVID Testing But Love Standardized Testing? | gadflyonthewallblog

Sacramento City Unified to begin distance learning Tuesday | abc10.com

Sacramento City Unified to begin distance learning Tuesday

The plan will move forward without an agreement with the Sacramento City Teachers Association, the district said in an announcement

Big Education Ape: Choosing Democracy: SCUSD Imposes a Plan for Distance Learning - Lets see what teachers do ! - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/09/choosing-democracy-scusd-imposes-plan.html

Teachers in the SCTA want flexibility in the learning styles for their students, not forcing them to be online at a specific time, doing specific work. They say all of the flexible language was taken out of the proposal.

"We can't in good faith use a one-size fits all approach. Our kids deserve better than that," said Ingrid Hutchin, a second grade teacher.

SCUSD and SCTA have been negotiating over the summer about distance learning. Two mediators were assigned, and a mediation session was held on Sept. 4, according to the school district.

"Eight hours of mediation failed to produce any significant movement towards a distance learning agreement. The fundamental difference centers on whether the district will allow teachers to exercise the same professional judgment in a distance learning platform that they exercise in a brick and mortar setting," SCTA said in a Facebook post Friday.

"In our plan our teachers were given the flexibility given the ability to use their professional judgement to determine what is best for their students in terms of how they design their classrooms and how they design their lessons," said Preston Jackson, a middle school teacher.

SCTA said the mediators concluded negotiations and released the parties to fact-finding, the next step in the negotiation process.

"One thing we know for sure is that no matter what happens teachers will be teaching their hearts out come Tuesday," SCTA said.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) announced Saturday that it will implement a full distance learning plan beginning Sept. 8.

The plan will move forward without an agreement with the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA), the district said in the announcement.

"We have little choice but to move forward without an agreement and are committed to providing our community with what they have been asking for: quality instruction, effective communication and accountability to ensure we meet our students’ academic, social and emotional needs," said Superintendent Jorge Aguilar.

The district’s plan includes the following:

Essential standards for every student, which are the building blocks for learning mastery and are part of the Common Core standards.
Recorded instruction to provide students from working families and those with multiple siblings, for example, to access instruction at a later time.
Assessments of student learning and identification of where targeted intervention and support are needed.
Students with disabilities receive documented individualized services as required by their IEP and state and federal law.
Adequate live instruction rather than a reliance for students to learn on their own through independent work.
Professional Development for SCUSD Teachers as provided to teachers on Sept. 1 through 4 to provide teachers with the support to provide the quality distance learning program as indicated above.
Consistent Google Classroom learning platform to provide consistency for our students, and access for site administrators and support providers to assist our teachers and students.
Compliance with federal and state law, including SB 98 which establishes guardrails to ensure that distance learning isn’t the crisis learning of the spring.

"We want to be clear: while we were unable to reach an agreement with SCTA, our decision today is not a judgment of our incredible teachers. However, our families and our educators have been kept in limbo far too long and need to know what distance learning will look like for their students, and their classes," Aguilar said. CONTINUE READING: Sacramento City Unified to begin distance learning Tuesday | abc10.com

Outraged parents want SCUSD, teachers union to agree on plan | abc10.com - https://www.abc10.com/article/news/education/outraged-parents-want-sacramento-city-educators-to-reach-agreement-on-distance-learning/103-d7986de5-90d2-4d0e-a41e-c4849f73d05b on ABC10

Sacramento school district, teachers union hit impasse days before start of school - YouTube - https://youtu.be/yaWwpLI3hbw on @youtube

Teacher Tom: I'm Waving My Flag on Labor Day

I'm Waving My Flag on Labor Day

It's odd celebrating Labor Day in this country given the war being waged against labor by many of the most powerful members of our society, and the outright vitriol coming from elected representatives who malign working men and women as nothing more than selfish, lazy, union thugs. Even now, in the midst of a pandemic. At the beginning of summer, on Memorial Day, you will find no shortage of people stepping to the front to wave their flags in honor of soldiers who gave their lives. But at the end of summer, on Labor Day, these very people actually become the "selfish, lazy, thugs" they condemn, enjoying a three-day weekend of picnics and family time, ignoring the thousands who gave their lives so that they can enjoy a middle-class privilege, brought to them by unions.

Indeed the middle class exists because of the Labor Movement, although it's not surprising that so many Americans are unaware of this fact, and can be so easily manipulated by politicians with anti-union agendas, because most public schools have relegated this vital piece of our civic history to a few paragraphs in text books, if it's taught at all.

And just because you don't belong to a union, don't think that your life is not better because of the long fight in which labor has been engaged on your behalf.

The very weekend you are currently enjoying has indeed been brought to you by people who fought and even died because of the radical notion that families should have time to be together, that children should not burn up their CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: I'm Waving My Flag on Labor Day

NYC Educator: Union 101

Union 101

It's Labor Day, and we are labor. Yet there's no labor section in the newspaper, online or off. We don't study labor history in school. Worse, a whole lot of members see it as a pair of glasses every other year, and the odd chance to ask the chapter leader why there's no toilet paper.

When we were contemplating a strike, a chapter leader told me, "We’re sending draftees onto the coast of Normandy and they’re in the landing craft asking, “What’s a war?”

I feel that way sometimes when I try to explain to people exactly what union is, what it does, and what it means. The United Federation of Teachers hasn't been on strike since 1975. I know only a handful of people who were involved.

I started in 1984 and of course I've never been on strike. Nonetheless I was ready for this one. A member texted me, "I will be a SCAB," with the letters in caps like that. Why? Loss of pay. Inconvenience. As though it were convenient for me, or for anyone. That was antithetical to everything union is and stands for. I could not take that in stride. (Evidently, though, I was expected to.)

My generation of teachers, as well as all those who've followed us, have never really been asked to make a personal sacrifice, e.g. go on strike. This is absolutely dangerous, because there are forces in this country right now that would happily strip us of all our rights, and go out for drinks afterward.

For me, there was no question. I'm ready. You want to penalize me? Penalize me. For others it was tougher. Some people said, "Oh, those young teachers don't know." But I know young teachers who were absolutely ready, and older ones, like the aforementioned, who were not. It's about what you know, what you feel and believe, not how old you are.

Union means coning together as one. It means when a mayor faces one of us, that mayor faces us all. It means that when your principal calls you in to discipline you, there are rules to follow. It means we have help, beginning in the form of a chapter leader, to inform the principal what the rules say. It means the rules will be enforced, though some CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Union 101

Education Matters: Work to the contract and not a minute more.

Work to the contract and not a minute more.

Up till recently, the entire education system depended on teachers giving millions of unpaid hours, sacrificing their time with friends and family, and what little money they have to make sure things keep moving. Now it still requires all that, but now it also wants teachers to risk their and their families' health, and it is way past time teachers said no. The system will never change unless teachers give it a reason to do so.

If teachers aren’t going to be treated with respect and compensated appropriately, if our safety is not assured, then from now on, the system should just get an honest day’s work and nothing more. Then we can rush home with white knuckles so that we can decontaminate ourselves.

Some teachers and families and lots of elected officials might be thinking teachers can’t do that, that their students desperately need all the extra that they do, well friends, teachers need to survive. They need to get home to their families, and if that means not doing all the extra things they would normally do, and for free, then GOOD!!!

In a good year, not working to the contract was a bad thing. The system before the pandemic had no incentive to change. It churned and burned through teachers, and we see how little society has appreciated all the effort teachers did. They appreciated them so much that they now require many of them to risk their lives on top of all the other things they would do.

For the last couple of years’ teachers all over the nation tired of being blamed for society’s ills and both paid CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Work to the contract and not a minute more.