Big Education Ape: Oct 16, 2020

Friday, October 16, 2020

THINGS YOU WON'T READ IN THE TEACHER BASHING SAC BEE: Who's donating to the Oakland Unified school board elections?

Who's donating to the Oakland Unified school board elections?

Charter school supporters spend big on Oakland school board races

Four political committees, including two pro-charter groups, a local education policy organization, and the teachers’ union are supporting opposing slates in contentious school board races.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on advertising to support opposing slates of Oakland school board candidates this year, with pro-charter-school organizations, the teachers’ union, and others picking different sides. Wealthy individuals including former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Silicon Valley businessman Arthur Rock, and oil company heiress Stacy Schusterman are among the billionaires who have given money to committees spending money on school board races here.

Critics question whether a few local groups backed by wealthy donors are having an outsized influence on voters. But supporters of these groups point out that local community members are driving the groups’ endorsements, even if the biggest contributions are mostly coming from a few wealthy individuals who live outside of Oakland. Some candidates, meanwhile, say the debate over who’s spending what, and where the money is coming from, distracts from more pertinent education issues in Oakland.

With 17 candidates running for four open seats on the Oakland Unified School District board, it’s a pivotal moment that will reshape the school system’s governing body and influence the direction of the district. On top of their regular duties, when the new school board is seated in January, members will likely oversee the reopening of school buildings and the implementation of a police-free school safety plan. And if Measure Y passes in November, the board will also manage a $735 million facilities bond for campus upgrades.

Billionaire donors support Oakland charter school groups

Power2Families is the newest political action committee to get involved in local school board races. Hae-Sin Thomas, who stepped down as the CEO of the Education for Change charter school network this summer, said she was motivated to start Power2Families after hearing negative rhetoric from some school board candidates and community members towards charter schools. Many OUSD parents, teachers, and some of the current board candidates favor a moratorium on new charter schools, arguing that charters have worsened the financial stability of the district.

“This came about in fear of potentially having school board candidates who could really negatively impact the futures of 16,000 children across the city,” Thomas said, referring to the number of students enrolled in charter schools across Oakland. More than 16,000 students attended one of the 45 charter schools in the city last year, about 32% of Oakland public school students. There are about 80 public schools operated by OUSD in Oakland. “We made a decision to go out and ask some funders whether they would consider funding a CONTINUE READING: Who's donating to the Oakland Unified school board elections?

Big Education Ape: Choosing Democracy: The Sacramento Bee Misinforms About School Budgets - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/10/choosing-democracy-sacramento-bee.html

Big Education Ape: It's Time for A Leadership Change at SCUSD - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/09/its-time-for-leadership-change-at-scusd.html

Big Education Ape: WHO IS FUNDING SACRAMENTO BEE'S ATTACKS ON TEACHERS - EDUCATION LAB - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/10/who-is-funding-sacramento-bees-attacks.html

Economic Policy Institute: Teachers Pay a Penalty for Teaching | Diane Ravitch's blog

Economic Policy Institute: Teachers Pay a Penalty for Teaching

I like the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., for many reasons. I like the research it produces. But I most admire the fact that it is not sustained by the usual billionaires. It follows the facts.

In a recent report, EPI found that teachers pay a wage penalty for choosing teaching as their profession. They are paid about 20% less than others with similar levels of education. This makes it hard to attract new teachers and hard to hold on to teachers. If billionaire-funded “reformers” had spent their time advocating for higher wages for teachers, instead of spinning their wheels about phony evaluations based on student test scores (which have failed everywhere to improve teacher quality) or on merit pay (which has consistently failed for at least a century), they might have actually helped improve the schools. Their bogus efforts have undermined teacher morale and actually reduced the supply of people entering what is one of our most important professions.

The report begins:

As we have shown in our more than a decade and a half of work on the topic, there has been a long-trending CONTINUE READING: Economic Policy Institute: Teachers Pay a Penalty for Teaching | Diane Ravitch's blog

Janitors, Bus Drivers On Returning To Schools: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't | HuffPost

Janitors, Bus Drivers On Returning To Schools: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don’t

Cafeteria workers and other school support staff are afraid of getting coronavirus as more students return — but many are even more afraid of losing their jobs.

As many schools return to in-person classes even as coronavirus cases are mounting nationwide, school bus drivers, cafeteria workers and janitors are left in an impossible bind: worried about being exposed to COVID-19 but also terrified they’ll lose their jobs if schools stay shut.

“We’re back at work. We don’t get the choice of virtual or brick-and-mortar. We’re behind the wheel, five days a week,” said Rhonda Miller, 54, a school bus driver in Florida’s Palm Beach County.

“How can you social distance on a bus? It’s impossible,” Miller said.

States and school districts have had a piecemeal response to the pandemic, with some deciding to return fully in person, others continuing classes virtually and still others doing a combination of both. Many schools, including in New York, Florida and Texas, have opened up only to have to shut again as virus cases have cropped up among students and staff.    

The drivers who bring kids to school, the cafeteria workers who feed them and the janitors who clean up after them are all considered essential workers — and they can’t do their jobs from home. They’re also disproportionately Black and brown. 

With more than 7.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. and over 217,000 dead so far, those getting sick and dying have been disproportionately Black and brown. And  CONTINUE READING: Janitors, Bus Drivers On Returning To Schools: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't | HuffPost

“I’m Hopeful for a Better Tomorrow” (Justin Lopez-Cardoze) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

“I’m Hopeful for a Better Tomorrow” (Justin Lopez-Cardoze)

Lopez-Cardoze is a seventh-grade science teacher at Capital City PublicCharter School in Washinton, D.C. He has taught for nine years.

This story appeared in the Washington Post’s online article, October 6, 2020. Lopez-Cardoze is one of nine teachers the newspaper asked to report on their experiences in returning to remote and in-person instruction during the pandemic.

It was the first day of school with students. After eight years of first days, you would think I would feel calm and confident on my ninth. Honestly, each year it gets harder to manage the nerves. You want to do things right; you want your students to like you and say, “This class will be incredible.” On those first days of the last eight years, the moments felt so magical. I would see new faces, bright smiles, goofy personalities and nerves suddenly disappearing. It felt right.

But my ninth first day? I felt uncomfortable. I’m used to hearing and seeing students interacting with each other when I’m presenting on the first day, but in the world of Zoom, all you hear is yourself against multiple tiles on mute — and that day, most of the tiles were blank backgrounds with names. I didn’t hear a laugh. I couldn’t observe body language. What once felt like joy in my classroom CONTINUE READING: “I’m Hopeful for a Better Tomorrow” (Justin Lopez-Cardoze) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Trump Vs. Biden On Education Policy, Student Loans : NPR

Trump's And Biden's Plans For Education

Key priorities

Joe Biden

Make public colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions tuition-free for families making less than $125,000.
Make two years of community college and training programs tuition-free.
Cancel $10,000 of every American's student debt and revise the current loan repayment system.
Establish universal prekindergarten.
Read details of Biden's plans below.

Donald Trump

Strengthen school choice policy and expand accessibility to charter schools.
Promote "patriotic education" curriculum in schools.
Read details of Trump's plans below.

Biden's plans for education

Biden is advocating to make public colleges and universities tuition-free for students with family incomes under $125,000. He links this proposal to the 2017 College for All Act, legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state.

Biden also wants to extend the 2017 proposal to include private historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. The plan would allocate $70 billion toward those institutions to advance and expand facilities, educational and technological infrastructure and financial accessibility.

He also pledges to make community college and training programs tuition-free for two years of attendance. The plan would invest $50 billion in workforce training programs CONTINUE READING: Trump Vs. Biden On Education Policy, Student Loans : NPR

Fix America by Reversing Decades of Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

Fix America by Reversing Decades of Privatization

K. Sabeel Rahman, president of the think tank Demos, proposes wisely in The Atlantic that the way to fix our nation’s economy and restore equity is to reverse decades of privatization and instead invest in public infrastructure. This would not only create millions of jobs but would restore the balance between the public and private spheres, which are dramatically skewed in favor of the haves and against the have-nots. I wish he said more about the privatization of public schools, but he does not fail to mention the subject.

He begins:

When I refer to public infrastructure, I mean something much more expansive than roads and bridges; I mean the full range of goods, services, and investments needed for communities to thrive: physical utilities such as water, parks, and transit; basics such as housing, child care, and health care; and economic safety-net supports such as food stamps and unemployment insurance. But under America’s reigning ideology, public infrastructure like this is seen as costly, inefficient, outdated, and low-quality, while private alternatives are valorized as more dynamic, efficient, and modern. This ideology is also CONTINUE READING: Fix America by Reversing Decades of Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Tom: "The School of Mankind"

"The School of Mankind"

I reckon it would be best if we didn't put so much energy into worrying about our children's futures. It would be best for both us and our kids if we could more often just be here in the present with them, wondering at who they are right now, appreciating the unique human they already are, helping and loving them right now. That would be best, but human parents have never been very good at it. Sometimes we dream big dreams for them, imagining our child, their best qualities flourishing, as a masterful something or other, admired, inspired, passionate, and supremely comfortable in their own skin. But there are times when we fear their worst qualities and fret that they will grow to be spoiled, disrespectful, and lazy, prone to messy bedrooms, selfishness, depression or worse.

Edmund Burke quote: Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn...

Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn by no other. ~Edmund Burke

These thoughts enter our heads because we are the adults, cursed with the disease of believing we have any control over the future. Maybe, we think, if we just lecture our children enough, take them to church often enough, give them enough chores to do, and reward and punish them appropriately we can somehow stave off the bad future and CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: "The School of Mankind"

For Defining the Right to Public Education, Constitutional Originalism Doesn’t Work | janresseger

For Defining the Right to Public Education, Constitutional Originalism Doesn’t Work

For a couple of weeks now, since the publication of Derek Black’s history of the constitutional basis for American public education, this blog has been reflecting on the meaning of constitutional principles in our nation’s founding documents and the 50 state constitutions for defining the role and meaning of our nation’s system of public schools. (See here, here, and here.)

This blog will take a one week break. Look for a new post on Monday, October 26, 2020

.

But this week, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who defines herself as a constitutional originalist, went through hours of Senate confirmation hearings leading to a Senate vote on her confirmation in the next week or two as President Trump’s latest appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. All week we have been considering what it means for our society today when members of the U.S. Supreme Court define themselves as originalists who are bound to interpret the constitutionality of today’s laws according to the precise wording of the U.S. Constitution of 1787.

The other day when Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, trained in the law and formerly a federal prosecutor, was asked whether she is an originalist, Mayor Lightfood replied: “You ask a gay, black woman if she is an originalist? No, ma’am, I am not. The Constitution didn’t consider me a person… because I’m a woman, because I’m black, because I’m gay. I am not an originalist. I believe in the Constitution. I believe that it is a document that the founders intended to evolve and what they did was set the framework for how our country was going to be different from any other. But originalists say that, ‘Let’s go back to 1776 and whatever was there in the original language, that’s it.’ That language excluded, now, over 50 percent of the country. So, no I’m not an originalist.”

Like Mayor Lightfoot, many people today worry about originalist legal interpretation. In CONTINUE READING: For Defining the Right to Public Education, Constitutional Originalism Doesn’t Work | janresseger

Choosing Democracy: The Sacramento Bee Misinforms About School Budgets

The Sacramento Bee Misinforms About School Budgets

Marcos Bretón today in the BEE, describes what he thinks are the facts of the SCUSD budget. Most of the data are cut and paste from prior articles he wrote. , The title is deceptive. It is not factual.

SCUSD is not going broke, SCUSD has a $93 million surplus at the end of this year,

And, they claim they will spend $100 million on books and supplies.

They usually spend $ 10 million.

I don't know if he wrote the headline.

This is irresponsible reporting. The Bee supports the School Board incumbents. But, at least they should accurately report on the budget.

California itself has a major problem of underfunding of schools. They have been doing so since 1988. This is on the ballot as Prop. 15. See the Prop 15 video below. http://choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-is-prop-15-explained.html

The Sacramento funding crisis is not in teachers’ salaries, or health benefits.

California under funds its schools and that produces large classes- the largest in the nation. We have few counselors and almost no school nurses. Lets talk about the real issue of California school funding,

Choosing Democracy: The Sacramento Bee Misinforms About School Budgets

NY State Student Privacy Regulations Summary and Excerpts | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

NY STATE STUDENT PRIVACY REGULATIONS SUMMARY AND EXCERPTS

As the new school year has started this fall, schools across the country are heavily relying on virtual and blended learning to instruct children. To facilitate this remote learning, many schools are using apps and programs developed and operated by third-parties. New York State regulations create requirements and restrictions for the contracts between school districts and app developers/operators regarding data privacy and usage. Below are a summary and excerpts of these regulations for parents to stay informed on whether school districts are complying and protecting students properly.

NYS-Student-Privacy-Regulations-Summary_v2

NYS-Student-Privacy-Regulations-Excerpts v2

NY State Student Privacy Regulations Summary and Excerpts | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

CURMUDGUCATION: McKinsey Has Ideas For Fixing Schools (Pandemic Edition)

McKinsey Has Ideas For Fixing Schools (Pandemic Edition)

McKinsey is the 800-pound consulting gorilla with its hairy hands in everything. That includes dabbling in education; they've consulted with Boston schools and shown how to slash and privatize the crap out of the district, they've made data based advanced analytics explanations of how to improve test scores, and they've made the argument for computerizing classrooms. Their world view is captured by Anand Giridharadas in the must-read Winners Take All, dubbed Marketworld. They are the kings of neo-liberal thinking-- use data, unleash markets, measure everything (especially money).

So of course it's no surprise that they have some thoughts about how global education should respond to the whole pandemic crisis. Some of it sounds good, but it's important to pay attention to the language (probably a good motto for this blog).

Yet crises often create an opportunity for broader change, and as education systems begin to make decisions about investments for the new school year, it’s important to step back and consider the longer-term imperative to create a better system for every child beyond the pandemic.

Yeah, "investments." Because everything is an investment with these guys, and every investment CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: McKinsey Has Ideas For Fixing Schools (Pandemic Edition)

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

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/10/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos_10.html

Everything You Wanted To Know About Listening & Speaking But Were Afraid To Ask

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h

geralt / Pixabay I have over 2,100 frequently revised and updated “Best” lists on just about every subject imaginable, and you can find them listed three different ways in three different places (see Three Accessible Ways To Search For & Find My “Best” Lists ). I’m starting to publish a series where each day I will highlight the “Best” lists in a separate category. Today, it’s on Listening and Sp

Video: “How systemic racism led to COVID-19’s rapid spread among people of color”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

cromaconceptovisual / Pixabay I’m adding this new USA Today video to A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS :

Oct. 17th Is The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

Free-Photos / Pixabay The United Nations has declared Oct. 17th to be the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty . You might be interested in: The Best Visualizations Of Poverty In The U.S. & Around The World The Best Resources About Wealth & Income Inequality The Best Resources On Why Improving Education Is Not THE Answer To Poverty & Inequality The Best Articles Showing Why Education

Friday’s Must-Read Articles & Must-Watch Videos On School Reopening

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : U.S. schooling during covid-19 doesn’t deserve a passing grade. Here’s the way forward. is from The Washington Post. Another Sacramento County school district votes to reopen campuses — perhaps next month is from The Sacramento Bee. Up to 1 million California students may still l

Study Finds Even “Lightly Trained” Tutors Can Have Major Impact On Student Learning

by Larry Ferlazzo / 14h

It hasn’t gained any political traction, but education researchers have been advocating for a national tutoring program to support students who may be harmed by school closures. I’d certainly be supportive of it and, perhaps, if Joe Biden wins the Presidency and the Democrats win the Senate, it might have a chance of becoming a reality. The 74 just published Using Tutors to Combat COVID Learning

The Best Online Learning Games To Play During Distance Learning – Share Your Additions!

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

cuncon / Pixabay I have a lot of posts about learning games – both online and in the physical classroom. And I have quite a few about dealing with virtual learning . This one is a combination that will list the online games I’m using the most with my English Language Learner students in my English and History classes (feel free to add your own!): Pictionary with Whiteboard.fi is always a winner.

Statistic Of The Day: Eight Million More People In US Fall Into Poverty Since May

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

8 Million Have Slipped Into Poverty Since May as Federal Aid Has Dried Up is a depressing NY Times article today. Economic stress has been found to have a huge negative effect on student academic achievement (see The Best

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