THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, March 10, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

 Big Education Ape

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 

Parents struggle with a new dilemma: Is it safe to send kids back to school? http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/uB0QfsEv2dM/school-reopening-why-some-parents-reject-covid-return

Los Angeles: Teachers and District Strike a Tentative Deal | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tMe via @dianeravitch

LA reopening deal ends California's biggest schools standoff https://politi.co/2Ob793Q

Philadelphia teachers will soon have more options to get vaccinated, health commissioner says - Chalkbeat Philadelphia - https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/9/22322180/philadelphia-teachers-will-soon-have-more-options-to-get-vaccinated-health-commissioner-says on chalkbeat

With “Justine,” Forsyth Harmon Charts Teen Queerness https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/justine-by-forsyth-harmon-interview

UC Davis offers to pay students $75 to stay put for spring break http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/VKhwrh4uc78/uc-davis-offers-to-pay-students-to-stay-put-for-spring-break

L.A. schools could reopen starting in mid-April under deal with teachers http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/x6IaJPor3Cw/la-school-district-teachers-reach-deal-on-school-reopenings

School regionalization plan appears to be on fast track https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/03/nj-school-regionalization-plan-sweeney-njea-bipartisan-approval/

Outrage in Camden over closure of three elementary schools https://www.njspotlight.com/video/outrage-in-camden-over-closure-of-three-elementary-schools/

The challenge is on to vaccinate New Jersey’s teachers https://www.njspotlight.com/video/the-challenge-is-on-to-vaccinate-new-jerseys-teachers/

Young Farmers Face A Barrier Their Parents Didn't: Student Loan Debt https://www.npr.org/2021/03/10/975545467/young-farmers-face-a-barrier-their-parents-didnt-student-loan-debt

New study of NYC school COVID-19 rates presents ‘compelling‘ evidence of low in-school transmission https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-analysis-school-covid-19-data-transmission-20210309-epaxi42255dnfjzxhhmtpxfjg4-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

Los Angeles Schools and Teachers’ Union Agree to Reopen Classrooms https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/us/los-angeles-schools-reopening-deal.html

Ed Notes Online: Jamaal Leads the Charge - Democrats split over Biden plan for academic testing during pandemic - Politico - https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2021/03/jamaal-leads-charge-democrats-split.html

Port Washington School Board Demands Waiver from Spring Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tIz via @dianeravitch

Curmudgucation: Big Brother Knows What's in Your Heart | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10804 on @NEPCtweet

Opinion | California’s Ethnic Studies Follies - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/opinion/californias-ethnic-studies.html on @nytimes

Los Angeles agrees to reopen schools in April https://www.rawstory.com/los-angeles-agrees-to-reopen-schools-in-april/

Veien deler seg i to. Følg den røde. – Wrench in the Gears - https://wp.me/p7SU8W-20y

Back to School! Cleveland public school students set to return, first time in almost a year https://www.cleveland19.com/2021/03/09/back-school-cleveland-public-school-students-set-return-first-time-almost-year/

The Isolation of New Parenthood During the Pandemic http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/M9JKbQqNb-c/

Slowly, More Students Return to Classrooms https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/us/schools-reopening.html

L.A. schools finally have a clear reopening plan. Here is what you need to know http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/Y3Qp5g6tQoA/covid-reopening-plan-la-schools-what-to-know

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to sign bill banning transgender girls from female sports https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-dakota-governor-kristi-noem-bill-ban-transgender-girls-female-sports/ via @CBSNews

What changes were made before Cleveland teachers union agreed to return? - cleveland.com - https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/03/what-changes-were-made-before-cleveland-teachers-union-agreed-to-return.html on @clevelanddotcom

What to know about the Mass. plan to reopen K-8 public schools in April | Boston.com - https://www.boston.com/?p=21661573 by n-decosta-klipa

Philly students could attend school this summer and stay hybrid in the fall, the superintendent says - https://www.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-reopen-hybrid-20210309.html#new_tab via @PhillyInquirer

Guns-in-schools bill heads to the House floor - https://idahoednews.org/pcuYv via @idahoednews

Austin school district plans to cut 200 jobs through attrition - https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/03/05/austin-school-district-cut-jobs-positions-falling-enrollment/4602806001/#new_tab via @statesman

Boston school bus drivers to picket over alleged lack of COVID-19 protocols | Boston.com - https://www.boston.com/?p=21659276 by christopher-gavin

Rep. Harold Dutton files bill that would clear way for takeover of Houston ISD board by state - https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/Rep-Harold-Dutton-files-bill-that-would-clear-16011929.php#new_tab on @houstonchron

USDA announces free school meals for youths through summer http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BB1eqg9g?ocid=st

The Problem With the CDC’s Six-Foot Rule for Schools - https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/the-problem-with-the-cdcs-six-foot-rule-for-schools.html#new_tab on @intelligencer

Proposed Memorandum of Understanding Between Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) & Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA)

Safely Reopening Schools to In-Person Instruction/Services March 9, 2021

- https://returntogether.scusd.edu/sites/main/files/file-attachments/scta_revised_proposal_reopening_3-9-213.pdf#new_tab

Plano schools bringing in outside investigators after viral claims of racist bullying and abuse - https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2021/03/09/plano-schools-bringing-in-outside-investigators-after-viral-claims-of-racist-bullying-and-abuse/#new_tab via @dallasnews

Metro Nashville Public Schools plans to use stimulus to give teachers $1,000 - https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2021/03/09/metro-nashville-public-schools-plans-use-stimulus-give-teachers-1000/6887078002/#new_tab via @tennessean

Big Education Ape: Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/minnesota-time-for-failed-reformers-to.html

Big Education Ape: Teacher Tom: What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/teacher-tom-what-evidence-tells-us-we.html

Big Education Ape: Fact Checking “Cancel Culture” – radical eyes for equity - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/fact-checking-cancel-culture-radical.html

Big Education Ape: Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas! | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/great-news-vouchers-blocked-again-in.html

Big Education Ape: Call Congress Today to Stop Testing - Network For Public Education - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/call-congress-today-to-stop-testing.html

Big Education Ape: Jeff Bryant in German News Weekly Die Zeit: The fixation on testing is deeply anchored in education officials in Washington DC | Ed Politics - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/jeff-bryant-in-german-news-weekly-die.html

Big Education Ape: Rep. Jamaal Bowman Leads Effort to Reverse Federal Stance on Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/rep-jamaal-bowman-leads-effort-to.html

Big Education Ape: NYC Educator: My New Job - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/nyc-educator-my-new-job.html

Big Education Ape: Strategic Advocacy Over Decades Brought Us an Expanded Child Tax Credit: Can the Same Kind of Strategic Organizing Produce School Funding Reform? | janresseger - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/strategic-advocacy-over-decades-brought.html

Big Education Ape: NYC Public School Parents: Letter from members of Congress to Sec. Cardona asking him to waive the tests; and how to have your voice heard - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/nyc-public-school-parents-letter-from.html

Big Education Ape: Yong Zhao: New article: Build back better: Avoid the learning loss trap - Education in the Age of Globalization - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/yong-zhao-new-article-build-back-better.html

Big Education Ape: A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-very-busy-day-larry-ferlazzos_10.html

Big Education Ape: DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #CANCELTEST #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/did-you-miss-diane-ravitchs-blog-today.html

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, March 9, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

by Mike Simpson / 23h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Homeroom: How Grandparents Can Help With Online Learning http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/8K1U0iZ90f0/ Education Research Report: Does Online Course-Taking Increase High School Completion and Open Pathways to Postsecondary Education Opportunities? - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/ Nearly 3,000 NOLA Public Schoo

 Big Education Ape

Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone | Diane Ravitch's blog

Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone | Diane Ravitch's blog

Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone

After thirty years of devotion to “reform” (aka, deform or disruption), reform leaders in Minnesota are proposing a state constitutional amendment that will install more mischief into the state’s public schools. Rob Levine, an ardent critic of privatization, has written this account of their multiple failures and their plans to try yet again to impose their ideas on the state’s schools. He wrote this post at my request, after I saw his tweets about the travesty that “reformers” are promoting. Rob is a “follow the money” kind of person, which unsurprisingly removes the veil from bold promises that never come true. Minnesota is allowing big money to dictate the fate of its schools. Is there any accountability in the state for thirty years of failure? Why do “reformers” never learn from their failures?

He writes:

In the Fall of 2022 Minnesotans may be voting on a constitutional amendment that will fundamentally change state law around public education. How will this change public education? Surprisingly, even the authors profess not to know the answer to this question. The only thing certain about the proposed amendment is that it will CONTINUE READING: Minnesota: Time for the Failed “Reformers” to Leave the Schools Alone | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Tom: What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools

Teacher Tom: What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools

What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Economic Forum, and Unicef (and according to the dubious measurement of standardized test scores) Finland has the best schools in the world. They have achieved this status by building their educational system on evidence. The US languishes around the middle of the pack, often falling into the bottom half according to some measures. We have achieved this lack of success by relying upon the busy-body guesswork of policy makers, billionaire dilettantes, and administrators who listen to them.

It shouldn't be surprising that the system based on evidence, on research, on reality, would outperform the one based on the fantasies and feelings of people who are not professional educators. In Finland, they do not try to teach kindergarteners to read because the evidence tells us that formal literacy instruction should not start until at least the age of seven and that children who are compelled into it too early often suffer emotionally and academically in the long run. In the US we are forcing kindergartners, and even CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: What the Evidence Tells Us We Should Be Doing in Our Schools

Fact Checking “Cancel Culture” – radical eyes for equity

Fact Checking “Cancel Culture” – radical eyes for equity

Fact Checking “Cancel Culture”

Every white person in this country—and I do not care what he or she says—knows one thing. They may not know, as they put it, “what I want,” but they know they would not like to be black here. If they know that, then they know everything they need to know, and whatever else they say is a lie. 

ON LANGUAGE, RACE AND THE BLACK WRITER, JAMES BALDWIN (LOS ANGELES TIMES, 1979)

If we can take seriously the high-quality source, the actor who plays Mr. Bean, it appears we should be fearful of a future where there is no freedom of speech because “what we have now is the digital equivalent of the medieval mob roaming the streets looking for someone to burn,” claims Rowan Atkinson.

Of course, this is but one of many alarm bells about the scourge of “cancel culture.”

It would be easy to smile at Atkinson’s goofy face and brush this off—except there are dire consequences to this manufactured crisis. Take for just one example the language being used to propose legislation in my home state of South Carolina.

“Pushing back against what they called America’s ‘woke mob,’ a group of GOP lawmakers want to protect South Carolina historic monuments and markers and penalize any community or elected official that removes them,” writes Adam Benson for the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). CONTINUE READING: Fact Checking “Cancel Culture” – radical eyes for equity

Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas!

Our wonderful allies, Pastors for Texas Children, send us wonderful news: Friends of public education raised their voices, stood together, and stopped new voucher legislation!

Vouchers Blocked Again!

Last week, we celebrated the victory of your tireless advocacy for public education funding for our children when we announced Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to extend “hold harmless.” Today, we have another piece of good news: 

The voucher proposal in this session’s House Bill 3 has been removed. 

In a meeting earlier today with Pastors for Texas Children and Raise Your Hand Texas, HB 3 author Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) indicated that all education issues, including vouchers, are being taken out of the bill. This change will be reflected in a committee substitute later this week. We thank Chairman Burrows and Gov. Abbott for their wisdom in removing the voucher from the bill.

PTC Executive Director Rev. Charles Johnson gives “joyous testimony to the love and support Texans have for their neighborhood and community public schools – and firm opposition to the privatization of them through vouchers.”  

“That we have to keep delivering that memo to the Governor and a third of the Legislature is outrageous and unacceptable,” he says.  

Year after year, Pastors for Texas Children will continue to deliver that message, with your help.  

In case you missed it, HB3 is a pandemic response bill that deals CONTINUE READING: Great News: Vouchers Blocked Again in Texas! | Diane Ravitch's blog