Big Education Ape: Oct 8, 2020

Thursday, October 8, 2020

The Lost Year Fallacy | Teacher in a strange land

The Lost Year Fallacy

The first time I learned about the 1918 flu pandemic—in school, probably junior high history or civics class—I came home and asked my grandmother (who lived with us) what she remembered about the great flu pandemic. She would have been 28 in 1918, still single and working in a grocery and dry goods store.

Not much, it turned out. None of her nine brothers and sisters or their spouses and children had succumbed, nor any friends. She couldn’t remember being ill herself, although she was notorious for living with pain and discomfort. When she was in her 90s, she fell off a stepladder while washing windows. She broke her hip, something that wasn’t verified for a couple of weeks while she hobbled around saying it wasn’t bad enough to go to the hospital, where they might hold her overnight or give her unwanted drugs.

Grandma was no Donald Trump.

World War II broke out when my mother was a freshman in high school. Many of her classmates left school before graduating, to enlist. When they came back, they were offered GEDs and the GI bill to further their education. There were good-paying, middle class jobs for those who just wanted to work, buy a home or start a family.

Their education was disrupted—but hey, duty calls. What’s put off can be reclaimed.

So—why are we claiming that 2020-21 is a lost year? In October, no less? We’re all struggling with this pandemic. Can’t we take a deep breath and try to problem-solve?

Since K-12 public education has been widely operational—for a century, CONTINUE READING: The Lost Year Fallacy | Teacher in a strange land

CURMUDGUCATION: Democracy Is Not The Point

Democracy Is Not The Point

Twitter is often a fine place to catch people saying the quiet parts out loud. For instance, this tweet from this morning:

Mike Lee is a Senator from Utah who tilts all the way over into Libertarian rightness. He loves himself some school choice. He's also part of the crew that got Covid-19 as a parting gift at the White House Amy Barrett soiree.

As a blogging master of multiple typos, I'm not going to dog him for clearly meaning "prosperity." But I am going to whoop and holler and point at the "democracy isn't the objective" part. That was a follow up to yesterday's tweet "We are not a democracy." (Don't bring any "but we're actually a republic" argument in here--that just signals you aren't ready to seriously discuss this).

It's the quiet part out loud, the part that we've been hearing in the assault on public education. It's in the arguments by guys like Reed Hastings (Netflix) that elected school boards are a hindrance and should be done away with. It's in the cities where mayoral control has been implemented. It's in the communities where charter operators come from outside and make education reform something they do to the community rather than with it. It is in the education disruption model that says what we really need is a powerful visionary in charge who isn't held down by regulations or unions and CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Democracy Is Not The Point

Columbus, Ohio: School Board Member Lobbies for School Choice, Not Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Columbus, Ohio: School Board Member Lobbies for School Choice, Not Public Schools

Maureen Reedy is an experienced teacher and advocate for Ohio’s public schools. She wrote a letter to the editor which all public school supporters should read:

https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/letters/2020/10/05/dispatch-letter-writers-take-issue-1-dewines-tweet-and-election/5884874002/

To the Editor:

Let me get this straight: James Ragland, a first-term Columbus school board member, is also a paid advocate for private and for-profit charter schools in Ohio? (Dispatch article, Sept. 23)

In the business world, Ragland’s roles would be a blatant conflict of interest — the fox guarding the henhouse in violation of his fiduciary obligation as a publicly elected board member.

Which hat was Ragland wearing when he joined Betsy DeVos at the School Choice Roundtable in July? Was he participating as the director of provider outreach for School Choice Ohio or as a Columbus City Schools board member?

Clearly, Ragland, while working for School Choice Ohio, has been a player in moving almost $1 billion from CONTINUE READING: Columbus, Ohio: School Board Member Lobbies for School Choice, Not Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Bully Politics, Eugenics, and the Last Days of American Pretense – radical eyes for equity

Bully Politics, Eugenics, and the Last Days of American Pretense

If the American character included the ability to admit that the country’s founding was deeply flawed but aspirational—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as goals we are still trying to achieve for all, not just some—we would not have to admit in 2020 that much of what America believes is simply lies.

Instead, the American character is often trapped in James Baldwin‘s “rigid refusal to look at ourselves,” now disturbingly embodied by the Trump/Pence administration.

Of the many lies at the founding of the U.S. that continue to poison our aspirations for individual liberty and robust democracy, possibly the most disturbing and immediately damning is that people fled England in pursuit of religious liberty.

For some frustrating reason, throughout my 18 years of teaching high school English, students were bombarded by American literature focusing on the Puritans, specifically reading/viewing both Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Students tended to recognize after these works that those first Puritans were CONTINUE READING: Bully Politics, Eugenics, and the Last Days of American Pretense – radical eyes for equity

DeVos pledges use of 'bully pulpit' to urge school reopening - POLITICO

DeVos pledges use of 'bully pulpit' to urge school reopening

The comments come the same day Boston schools paused reopening plans because of a rise in coronavirus cases.

SACRAMENTO — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos pledged Wednesday to use the "bully pulpit" to pressure states to reopen schools for in-person learning amid the pandemic.

DeVos said on a Zoom event hosted by the Pacific Research Institute that she and President Donald Trump have been "very consistent" about the need to reopen schools for in-person learning "in every possible situation."

The context: The comments come the same day that Boston schools paused reopening plans because of a rise in coronavirus cases and as New York City scrambles to reverse its reopening plans for hundreds of schools. In California, some schools have reopened with mandated mask and social distancing policies but many, including Los Angeles Unified, the country's second-largest district, have no plans of a full scale reopening anytime soon.

"We know that in some places where there is a spike in cases of the virus, that there may have to be short times of working at a distance, but for those families who need and want this for their children, learning in person, there's no other substitute for it," DeVos said Wednesday. "We have continued to urge states and districts to make sure they're offering this as an option to families. Of course, these are state and local decisions, but we will continue to use the bully pulpit to urge this to happen."

California reported on Tuesday that there has been no spike in coronavirus cases in the limited openings across the state, which mostly include elementary schools.

The big picture: DeVos used the pandemic as reason to promote school choice, including charter schools, "micro schools" and learning pods, saying now more than ever parents should have a say in their child's education due to campus closures and distance learning struggles.

But teachers unions and civil rights advocates across the country have warned of the impact that an increase in charter school or private school enrollment could have on the traditional K-12 system, worried it will exacerbate already wide achievement gaps for low income students and student of color.

In California, online charter schools that were not a popular choice before the pandemic now have wait lists in the thousands, with parents scrambling for CONTINUE READING: DeVos pledges use of 'bully pulpit' to urge school reopening - POLITICO

Five reasons the Supreme Court matters for educators and public schools - Education Votes

Five reasons the Supreme Court matters for educators and public schools

By Amanda Meanas

Instead of waiting until the American people have had their say and the next president is inaugurated, President Donald Trump and the GOP-led Senate are determined to rush through Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Those efforts led to a COVID-19 “super spreader” event at the White House. More than 20 people, including the president, tested positive soon after the event.

Voters should decide who fills Justice Ginsburg’s seat. But Senate Republicans are attempting to rush through President Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, even though they have dragged their feet and failed to pass coronavirus relief legislation that would help so many Americans and public school systems across the country.

“Judge Amy Coney Barrett has sided with the powerful and well-connected throughout her career. … She has sided with the powerful against workers, allowed racially segregated workplaces, ruled in favor of Trump policies harming immigrants, and against those seeking to protect women from sexual assault,” said former science teacher and NEA President Becky Pringle.

The Supreme Court is a critical institution in our federal government for protecting the rights of those who might otherwise not have a voice in our institutions. That means the next justice absolutely must not be beholden to partisan or corporate interests.

Here are five reasons the Supreme Court and the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett matter for educators:

1. Judge Barrett wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act

In her short three years as a federal judge, Barrett’s record was alarming, and she has promised to continue to side with corporations over working people. While Americans continue to struggle through the global coronavirus pandemic, access to healthcare is at the forefront of conversation.If Barrett is confirmed, she is poised to strike down the Affordable Care Act, throwing millions off their insurance and ending protections for those with preexisting conditions. In fact, for the 7 million Americans who have battled COVID-19, those side effects could now be considered preexisting conditions.

2. The Supreme Court will vote on workers’ rights to join and form unions<

Educators could face increased difficulty in holding their employers accountable for illegal discrimination and unfair employment practices if Barrett is confirmed. During her time in the lower court, Judge Barrett limited workers’ tools to fight against racial discrimination in the workplace, wrote in favor of age discrimination when applying to jobs, and worked to set dangerous precedent that would hurt gig workers. The Court already weakened the rights of educators to collectively bargain in 2018, and the nomination of Barrett means unions will face CONTINUE READING: Five reasons the Supreme Court matters for educators and public schools - Education Votes

California parents mostly disapprove of distance learning - Los Angeles Times

California parents mostly disapprove of distance learning, poll finds

As most public and private school students in California continue to study from home, a majority of voters say the state’s schools are not prepared to offer high-quality distance learning, although they are more positive about their own local schools, according to a poll released Thursday.

Parents worry that if children are at home for the rest of the year, it will result in learning loss for all students, but especially for the most economically vulnerable who suffer from hunger or housing insecurity. Low-income parents, in particular, worry that prolonged distance learning will mean they won’t be able to get back to work, according to a poll commissioned by EdSource, a nonprofit education news organization.

The poll was conducted online between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7 by the FM3 Research polling firm and surveyed 834 registered voters. At the time of the poll, the school year had already begun for three-quarters of the 200 parents or guardians surveyed.

One major issue that has emerged since the pandemic upended education nationwide is how to motivate children when they aren’t in the classroom and don’t have in-person contact with teachers.

These concerns are shared by parents. Four out of five say the biggest challenge of distance learning is sustaining their children’s interest to study. Parents also worry about insufficient instructional time with a teacher and say it’s hard for children to work on their own, as well as understand assignments.

“Many times, my granddaughter comes to my room to have a conversation,” said Anita Flemington, whose granddaughter attends school at the Pasadena Unified School District. “I ask her, ‘Are you on break?,’ and she replies, ‘No.’”

Fully 75% of registered voters, including parents, say that distance learning is worse than in-class instruction. A major reason parents hold such a dim view of distance learning stems from their experience in the spring when districts quickly had to make the transition. Just over half of parents rated their child’s spring experience with distance learning as “not too effective” or “not at all effective.” Only 7% rated it as “very effective,” with another 27% rating it as “somewhat effective.”

One-third of parents were unable to cite anything positive about their experience with CONTINUE READING: California parents mostly disapprove of distance learning - Los Angeles Times

South Carolina: Supreme Court Strikes Down Voucher Plan! | Diane Ravitch's blog

South Carolina: Supreme Court Strikes Down Voucher Plan!

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster thought he could use some of the state’s CARES Act money to create a voucher program.

The Supreme Court of South Carolina just struck down his illegal scheme to divert money from public schools to private and religious schools.

From TheState.com:

Public money cannot be spent on South Carolina’s private schools, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled late Wednesday afternoon.

The unanimous 5-0 decision was a high-profile defeat for Gov. Henry McMaster, who earlier this year announced he was designating $32 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to go to pay one-time tuition grants of up to $6,500 per student for about 5,000 private school K-12 students across the state.

“We hold the Governor’s decision constitutes the use of public funds for the direct benefit of private educational institutions within the meaning of, and prohibited by, Article XI, Section 4 of the South Carolina Constitution,” CONTINUE READING: South Carolina: Supreme Court Strikes Down Voucher Plan! | Diane Ravitch's blog

CURMUDGUCATION: Has Miami-Dade Really Found The Secret Of Cheap Excellence?

Has Miami-Dade Really Found The Secret Of Cheap Excellence?

From school choice to school finance, Florida is the state education disruptors love to point at, though they tend to point verrrrry carefully at very specific features of the Floridian education landscape. For instance, here's Michael Q. McShane at Education Next running a piece about how Miami-Dade schools have "bucked the staffing surge trend" while still maintaining "student achievement." His thesis is right up front:

The Miami-Dade County Public Schools spends less per student than the only three larger districts in the country and still manages to deliver top-tier student achievement results.

The implication, popular with the conservative wing of reformsters, is that educational excellence is available for bargain prices if we just worked the right levers. But there are three large holes in his Florida argument.

About that staffing surge...

McShane starts by pointing out that Miami educates around 350,000 students, and according to the census folks, they do it for less than $10K a year, far less than other huge districts, even when adjusted for cost of living. This has not a surprise; Florida schools have been trying to shake off the "latest" budget cuts for years (here they are in 2011, and here they are this year). Florida is run by politicians who are openly hostile to public education, and they've been trying to bleed the system dry for years.

But Miami-Dade, says McShane, is doing it "partly" by providing low-cost education by pushing back CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Has Miami-Dade Really Found The Secret Of Cheap Excellence?

WILL BETSY DEVOS AND THE USDOE ALLOW THE SCHWINIGANS TO CONTINUE UNABATED? – Dad Gone Wild

WILL BETSY DEVOS AND THE USDOE ALLOW THE SCHWINIGANS TO CONTINUE UNABATED?

“Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.”
― George Eliot, Adam Bede

The hits from 2020 keep right on coming. Last week it was the legendary St. Lous Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson. This week, it’s guitar hero Eddie Van Halen.

Any of you who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s can attest to the power of Van Halen and what it felt like the first time you heard those ferocious guitar licks. Dance the Night Away, off of the second album, will always epitomize the band for me – technical genius that brought forth joy when you heard it. Eddie’s impish grin is forever etched in my mind when a Van Halen tune came on the radio. A decided departure from the pained grimace employed by previous guitar gods. Eddie seemed to be having as much delivering the sound as we did receive it.

As sad as the passing of Van Halen is, there is some solace in that his death brought us all together, if just for a moment. Right, and Left was forgotten, as lasting memories were shared. For just a brief respite, it was refreshing to be able to leave behind the constant political wrangling, and realize that in some things we are more similar than different.

AND THE SCHWINIGANS CONTINUE

If you’ll remember, back in the Spring the Governor and his handmaiden concocted this fantastic – that’s sarcasm in case you missed it – idea to transform literacy in Tennessee. It called for employing only one method of teaching reading the Science of Reading. It increased testing by mandating that all LEA’s utilize a state chosen benchmark test administered 3x a year. It included mandates for teacher prep programs in Tennessee to change how they taught reading instruction. It would serve to rob LEA’s of local control. At its core was promised payday for the preferred textbook CONTINUE READING: WILL BETSY DEVOS AND THE USDOE ALLOW THE SCHWINIGANS TO CONTINUE UNABATED? – Dad Gone Wild

NYC Public School Parents: Why Covid has spread in Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and "Cutting School" -- how Black schools have been a focus of experimentation and profit

NYC Public School Parents: Why Covid has spread in Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and "Cutting School"

how Black schools have been a focus of experimentation and profit

Today on my WBAI podcast "Talk out of School" I updated listeners on the additional school closures planned this week in NYC, first by Mayor de Blasio in nine zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens, and now in larger numbers in red and orange zones of high Covid positivity, determined by Governor Cuomo and his Covid task force.

Naftuli Moster of Yaffed, who first appeared on the podcast in May, explained why many of the hot spots experiencing high rates of COVID positivity in NYC are located primarily in areas with high concentrations of Ultra-Orthodox Jews. He said this was for two reasons: one, there is no science instruction at the Yeshivas, the schools that Ultra-Orthodox boys attend, and thus they don’t understand how viral transmission occurs. Two, the members of these insular communities have long flouted the law in areas of education and public health without any consequences, and in fact have received special favors and additional funding because of their political influence. Many have gotten used to violating rules set down by the city or state, in this case regarding the need to avoid mass gatherings, wear masks, and maintain social distancing.

Naftuli suggested the best way the Governor and Mayor should address the refusal of many members of these communities to comply with the new restrictions would be by threatening their leaders with a loss of public funding, including discretionary child-care vouchers, funds which they have received at disproportionate levels in the past.

Then I interviewed Noliwe Rooks, W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Literature at Cornell, about her new book, Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education, which analyzes the history of education inequity in the U.S. and the way in which the schooling of Black students has been repeatedly used as an opportunity for experimentation and profit by education reformers and entrepreneurs.

Instead of providing these students with the same opportunities wealthy white students receive, such as small classes, experienced teachers, and plenty of extracurricular activities, including art and music, as well as intensive support when they are struggling, Prof. Rooks explained how their schools continue to be defunded and privatized, through the expansion of charters, vouchers and online learning. You can subscribe and download other episodes of "Talk out of School" here.

Episode Notes

Resources:

Young Advocates for Fair Education [Yaffed]
Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education by Noliwe Rooks

NYC Public School Parents: Why Covid has spread in Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and "Cutting School" -- how Black schools have been a focus of experimentation and profit

Jeff Bryant: How online learning companies are using the pandemic to take over the classroom - Alternet.org

How online learning companies are using the pandemic to take over the classroom - Alternet.org

How online learning companies are using the pandemic to take over the classroom

This article was produced by Our Schools.

Opening schools during a pandemic in an underfunded urban district like Providence, Rhode Island, where buildings are in miserable physical conditions, is already a huge undertaking, but the situation is made worse when district leaders bring in private contractors who know nothing about the community and make no effort to collaborate with public school teachers. That's what's happening in Providence, according to Maribeth Calabro, the president of the Providence Teachers Union, who spoke to me in a Zoom call.

As part of its plan to start the new school year with a gradual opening for in-person learning and an online option for all students, the district announced the creation of a new Virtual Learning Academy operated by Scottsdale, Arizona-based company Edgenuity.

When Calabro looked into Edgenuity, she found out the parent company, Weld North Education, was owned by a private equity firm, which had recently acquired Odysseyware. She recalled that when Providence had used Odysseyware for a high school credit recovery program there were problems with students cheating. "Students were quickly flying through courses that should have taken weeks or months," she remembered.

Calabro is also concerned the Edgenuity platform requires little to no human instruction from Providence teachers and will instead rely on learning coaches, who are expected to be the parent, guardian, or someone else in the household of each child. She feels most parents signing up for the program may not realize this because the district's description of the program largely relegates the complete explanation of the responsibilities of a learning CONTINUE READING: How online learning companies are using the pandemic to take over the classroom - Alternet.org