California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom? - POLITICO

California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom?

California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom?

Gov. Gavin Newsom and powerful California lawmakers are standing firm against allowing distance learning next school year.

SACRAMENTO — The biggest state Capitol battle this spring could pit California leaders against local school officials, civil rights groups and teachers unions over whether Zoom school should have a permanent place in the public education system.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and influential state lawmakers are standing firm against allowing distance learning next school year, saying that children are best served by returning to classrooms for social and academic reasons. They are tired of California's status as the slowest state to reopen schools despite having the lowest infection rate in the nation as vocal parents call for full in-person learning.

The debate has given “school choice” a new meaning and sparked racial justice concerns about what's best for the state’s most vulnerable students.

Newsom says that "everybody should be back in the fall and in person" and released a budget proposal Friday intended to accomplish that. He's not only a father of four young children but a governor facing a recall election. While political momentum has swung in Newsom's direction lately, even partial fall campus closures could give opponents an opening, especially if students in other states are fully back in class.

A growing number of legislative Democrats are coalescing around limits on distance learning, fearful that some schools will stay with a hybrid or virtual model in the fall — and that the approach will hurt students who have disengaged from school and lost access to vital services.

“I just question why, if we're talking about racial justice, we would want to levy all those additional things on our Black and brown children," said Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. "I don’t think we should be doing it at the expense of the children or at the expense of CONTINUE READING: California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom?

Teachers union leader calls for 'fully reopening’ schools this fall - POLITICO

Teachers union leader calls for 'fully reopening’ schools this fall - POLITICO

Teachers union leader calls for 'fully reopening’ schools this fall

Randi Weingarten is promising a campaign that resembles a "get out the vote" effort, but for school reopening.

Nothing should stop public schools from fully reopening this fall, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten will declare this morning in a speech that will also set out details of a $5 million union outreach campaign to coax families back to in-person classes.

"Given current circumstances, nothing should stand in the way of fully reopening our public schools this fall and keeping them open," Weingarten is expected to say in an address scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.

"Public health experts caution that, unless many more people get vaccinated, we will not reach herd immunity against COVID," Weingarten said of returning to classes in a draft version of the address. "But we can manage the threat by encouraging people to get vaccines and following guidance from the CDC to prevent the spread of disease — which currently includes the layered mitigation of masking and distancing, ventilation and sanitizing, handwashing, and COVID testing and contact tracing that help prevent outbreaks and minimize quarantines."

Outreach campaign: Weingarten is promising a campaign that resembles a "get out the vote" effort, but for school reopening.

She's expected to note local unions, such as the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, will go door to door to visit students’ homes and encourage families to send their children back for in-person learning, and cite Covid-19 vaccination events in Los Angeles and Chicago.

The union released new polling results Wednesday that concluded 73 percent of parents — but only 59 percent of Black parents — said they are comfortable with in-person learning for their child this fall. By contrast, 94 percent of parents (and 87 percent of Black parents) said they’d be comfortable with in-person learning this fall if schools adopt safety measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing requirements and make Covid-19 vaccines available at school buildings.

"These mitigation measures are vital," Weingarten is expected to say. "So is collaboration with parents to create trust and transparency."

Looking ahead: Weingarten will also use her speech to continue union calls CONTINUE READING: Teachers union leader calls for 'fully reopening’ schools this fall - POLITICO

Opinion | Does your child’s teacher know how to teach? - POLITICO

Opinion | Does your child’s teacher know how to teach? - POLITICO

Does your child’s teacher know how to teach?

The pandemic pushed a lot of ‘alternatively’ credentialed teachers into schools. That’s a problem.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated harmful educational inequalities in the preK-12 public education system. The nation’s poorest students, Black and Latino students, and our disabled students have been the most negatively impacted by school closings necessitated by the pandemic. Black students in high poverty schools have been especially hard hit because of the racialized, historic and ongoing disinvestment in the education of Black children and youth.

One of the most obvious — and dangerous — ways this inequality shows up is by channeling a proportionally larger share of less qualified or alternatively credentialed teachers to schools with higher percentages of Black, Latino and disabled students. Black and Latino students are more likely than their white peers to be taught by teachers in training who are in alternative teacher preparation programs. These alternative route programs differ from traditional teacher preparation programs in at least one significant way: Most alternative route teacher interns become teachers of record prior to completing any teacher training. This means that as teachers in training, they are not profession-ready on Day 1. They are training on the backs of our neediest students — the students who most need a profession-ready teacher.

The pandemic and racial unrest have revealed just how much further the nation has to go to fulfill children’s constitutional right to equal educational opportunity. State constitutions define this right to an education in beautiful and compelling language as a "democratic imperative," "fundamental value" and "paramount duty." Yet, despite these powerful phrases, nearly 30 years of research shows that in schools serving students of color where 50 percent or more are on free or reduced lunch (one indicator of poverty status), these students are 70 percent more likely to have a teacher who is not certified or does not have a college major or minor in the subject area they teach. This finding holds true across four critical subject areas: mathematics, English, social studies, and science. CONTINUE READING: Opinion | Does your child’s teacher know how to teach? - POLITICO

Some kids never logged on to remote school. Now what? - POLITICO

Some kids never logged on to remote school. Now what? - POLITICO

Some kids never logged on to remote school. Now what?

Connecticut was the first state in the nation to provide every student in need with a remote learning device. It wasn’t enough

Kristen Record, a science teacher at Bunnell High School in Stratford, Conn., looks forward to the day she can use regular lab equipment again. Teaching AP Physics through a computer is hard, even for Connecticut’s 2011 Teacher of the Year.

Record’s taught pupils over Zoom for most of this school year, but some students never appeared on her screen. Even after students had the choice to remain remote or return to the classroom, she estimates about 10 percent didn’t show. Emails to their homes went unanswered, or listed family phone numbers were no longer in service. It was like pushing information into a black hole.

“I have missing kids,” Record said. “Kids that are on my roster who I haven't seen in weeks, and are not going to pass my class. I wish I could go to their home and sit and talk them through whatever is going on. I wish a team of us could be doing that.”

In December, Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont declared his state the first in the country to get a laptop computer for every elementary and high school student who needed one for remote learning.

That moment was significant, and not just because state education commissioner Miguel Cardona was on the verge of being named President Joe Biden’s pick to replace Betsy DeVos as education secretary in Washington. Record marveled at how quickly her students and classes shifted to online learning. One former Lamont aide likened Connecticut's benchmark to nailing the final, golden spike into the transcontinental railroad. CONTINUE READING: Some kids never logged on to remote school. Now what? - POLITICO

'Parents are powerless': Students face being held back after a year of remote learning - POLITICO

'Parents are powerless': Students face being held back after a year of remote learning - POLITICO

'Parents are powerless': Students face being held back after a year of remote learning

Pandemic-related learning loss means some parents are weighing whether their children should repeat a grade. In 18 states, they won’t have a choice.

David Scruggs Jr. has spent most of the pandemic at his second-grade son’s side, helping him with virtual learning as their Nashville, Tenn., home became a schoolhouse as well as his office. In the next room, Scruggs’ wife, Dorothy, sat beside their first-grade daughter, a mirror image on the other side of the wall, doing the same while holding down her own job.

For a year, the Scruggs worked to keep their kids from falling behind as the pandemic forced children to stay home and America’s education system struggled to adjust. The family installed a whiteboard and baby pink desk next to their TV. The coffee table became a receptacle for homework, folders and laminated multiplication tables.

Now, the Scruggs and thousands of families like them in Tennessee and more than a dozen other states face a reckoning with how well they succeeded in their new role as substitute teachers. In the coming months, under a new, stricter state policy, if their son doesn’t do well enough on a standardized reading test next year, he could be forced to repeat a grade.

“I don’t know how much was lost or gained in this process. That’s the scary part,” Scruggs said of learning during Covid-19. “I would hope he’s not held back. CONTINUE READING: 'Parents are powerless': Students face being held back after a year of remote learning - POLITICO

Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently - POLITICO

Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently - POLITICO

Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently

It’s been a school year like no other. Here’s what we learned.

There was a moment last spring when every parent and employer in America suddenly realized how deeply their lives and livelihoods depended on an institution too often in the background and taken for granted: the nation’s schools.

With almost no notice, adults and children found themselves in the middle of a massive national experiment in new ways of teaching and learning, and new ways of dividing responsibilities between home, school and work.

A year later, it’s clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed education in America in lasting ways, and glimpses of that transformed system are already emerging. School districts are developing permanent virtual options in the expectation that after the pandemic, some families will stick with remote learning — even for elementary school kids. Hundreds of colleges have, for the first time, admitted a freshman class without requiring SAT or ACT scores, potentially opening admissions to the most selective colleges to more low-income students. And thousands of educators across the country, from preschool to college, are finding new ways to spark their students’ creativity, harness technology and provide the services they need to succeed.

The pandemic has unleashed a wave of innovation in education that has accelerated change and prompted blue-sky thinking throughout the system. What if more schools could enhance learning and nutrition by offering their students not just a free breakfast and lunch, but dinner and a snack? What if schools delivered books during the summer? What if high school art students had access to graphic design and architecture software?

It’s not all upside, of course; the pandemic has been a tragedy for many CONTINUE READING: Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently - POLITICO

'Boogers down': Biden’s bid to reopen schools may hinge on ‘pooled’ testing - POLITICO

'Boogers down': Biden’s bid to reopen schools may hinge on ‘pooled’ testing - POLITICO

'Boogers down': Biden’s bid to reopen schools may hinge on ‘pooled’ testing

The process is meant to limit the spread of a potential outbreak while minimizing the costs of the frequent large-scale testing needed to keep the disease in check.

A growing number of the nation’s school districts are experimenting with a Covid-19 testing regime they hope will get millions of children back into their classroom — if they can keep up with the price tag.

The Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief law is steering $10 billion toward developing a national school coronavirus testing strategy as its latest bid to reopen schools. That plan is still in flux but some attention has turned to the practice of “pooled” testing that uses a collection of swabs from a fixed group of kids attending classes together. The process is meant to limit the spread of a potential outbreak while minimizing the costs of the frequent large-scale testing needed to keep the disease in check. Pooled testing can extend testing capacity by testing groups of samples at once rather than each person individually. If a pool sample comes back positive, each individual in the pool is then tested.

Massachusetts is the only state to deploy a broad pooled testing program made available to all of its students and staff — about 1 million K-12 children and educators — to reopen this spring. For the first six weeks, the Bay State expects to spend somewhere between $15 million and $30 million doing pooled testing for about half of its more than 1,800 public schools that have opted in. When the state-funded program ends April 30, school districts will be able to funnel money in from the latest round of federal relief. A Rockefeller Foundation-funded study by Mathematica and RAND Corporation of early pooled-testing results found weekly testing of all students, teachers and staff can reduce in-school infections by an estimated 50 percent.

Similarly, in Maryland, Baltimore City Public Schools has put $5.7 million dollars from the federal stimulus toward launching its own program. Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest district in the state, is spending $5 million to kickstart one. CONTINUE READING: 'Boogers down': Biden’s bid to reopen schools may hinge on ‘pooled’ testing - POLITICO

CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet - POLITICO

CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet - POLITICO

CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet

The new guidance says three feet of separation is safe — if everyone is wearing a mask.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that students attending in-person instruction only need to stay 3 feet apart, rather than 6, as long as universal masking is maintained.

The agency’s new guidance, released Friday, recommends 3 feet of separation at elementary, middle and high schools in communities with low, moderate or substantial transmission. But the agency says middle school and high school students should stay 6 feet apart in communities where test positivity rates are 10 percent or higher and cohorting — when groups of students are kept together with the same staff throughout the day — is not available.

Six feet of distance is still in all schools recommended for staff, between staff and students, in common areas, when students are eating and during activities that require increased exertion such as gym class, choir or band practice.

The change comes more than a month after the Biden administration announced its school reopening guidelines Feb. 12. The CDC’s advice then recommended schools “establish policies and implement structural interventions to promote physical distance of at least six feet” and that “cohorting or podding” could help minimize exposure.

The agency soon after came under intense scrutiny by public health officials and scientists across the country who argued it was safe for schools to maintain 3 feet of physical distance to keep children safe. The dialogue was part of a larger conversation about how the agency’s guidelines included too many restrictions and would limit schools’ ability to reopen.

In a testimony this week before the House Energy and Commerce Oversight CONTINUE READING: CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet - POLITICO

Biden administration's push for standardized tests irks teachers unions, state leaders - POLITICO

Biden administration's push for standardized tests irks teachers unions, state leaders - POLITICO

Biden administration's push for standardized tests irks teachers unions, state leaders

The Education Department is resuming standardized testing requirements after a one-year pause.

President Joe Biden came into office with millions of kids learning remotely, teachers afraid of getting sick and parents balancing too much at home. Now, they also have to worry about standardized tests.

Biden’s administration surprised some schools last week by resuming standardized testing requirements after a one-year pause. The Education Department is offering substantial “flexibility” to states, but critics see the underlying order as an unwelcome stressor after a chaotic school year.

The conflict puts a new spin on the standardized testing debate, which swelled in classrooms and school board meetings during the Bush and Obama administrations. Biden, by contrast, was a sharp critic of the exams during his presidential campaign. He once told a crowd of educators he’d end the use of standardized tests in public schools and suggested it would be a “big mistake” to attach teacher evaluations to student test scores.

So the Biden administration’s decision to press ahead with testing has irked the national teachers’ unions that supported his candidacy — and left some school leaders and testing skeptics worried any 2021 test results won’t offer a complete, meaningful or fair accounting of how childhood education has really fared during the pandemic.

“We have to be really careful,” said Ryan Stewart, New Mexico’s public education secretary, in an interview. “There are some definite concerns we have with regard to validity and reliability, and we have to be measured in the kinds of conclusions we draw from this year’s assessments.”

Georgia school Superintendent Richard Woods offered harsher criticism. CONTINUE READING: Biden administration's push for standardized tests irks teachers unions, state leaders - POLITICO

LA teachers union slams California schools plan as 'propagating structural racism' - POLITICO

LA teachers union slams California schools plan as 'propagating structural racism'

LA teachers union slams California schools plan as 'propagating structural racism'

SACRAMENTO — California's largest local teachers union on Monday slammed the state's new school reopening plan as "a recipe for propagating structural racism" hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers unveiled their compromise proposal.

The United Teachers of Los Angeles' strong condemnation is a bad sign for Newsom and Democrats who spent months working to strike a deal on legislation they believe will spur districts to reopen. Los Angeles Unified is the second largest district in the nation with about 600,000 students — and by far the largest in the state with roughly 10 percent of California's public schoolchildren.

"We are being unfairly targeted by people who are not experiencing this disease in the same ways as students and families are in our communities. If this was a rich person's disease, we would've seen a very different response. We would not have the high rates of infections and deaths," UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said at a news conference Monday. "Now educators are asked instead to sacrifice ourselves, the safety of our students and the safety of our schools."

Most of California's schools have now been closed for a year as districts have struggled to negotiate reopening terms with the state's powerful unions. The California Teachers Association praised parts of the plan on Monday, but made clear that local unions have negotiating rights.

UTLA is one of three large city teachers unions that went on strike in 2019 over pre-pandemic working conditions, along with those in Sacramento and Oakland. Its position could sway union members elsewhere — particularly those serving CONTINUE READING: LA teachers union slams California schools plan as 'propagating structural racism'

Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers - POLITICO

Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers

Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers struck a deal Sunday that would push school districts to open classrooms to the youngest students by the end of March while stopping short of new requirements regarding vaccines and collective bargaining.

The deal more closely aligns with what the governor originally proposed in December than what Democratic lawmakers detailed in a bill in February. It does not require schools to open but instead offers financial incentives for those that do, according to sources close to the deal who asked not to be named because it had not yet been made public.

The new proposal would offer $2 billion in grants to schools that open transitional kindergarten through second grade by the end of March and bring back at-risk students in all grades. That includes districts in counties that are still in the state's purple tier, with infection rates higher than what teachers unions previously said are too unsafe for reopening.

Under the plan, once counties move into the red tier — with daily case rates below 7 per 100,000 residents — schools eligible for the grant funding must open to all elementary grades, plus at least one grade in middle and high school.

The deal speeds up the clock and more strictly ties the grants to in-person instruction than what the Legislature proposed. If schools do not open by the end of March, they will start to lose a percentage of money for each day they remain closed starting April 1.

Most of California's 6 million public schoolchildren have been out of classrooms for almost a year. The state's deference to local school decision-making, along with union resistance and high winter case rates, have made it difficult for California to bring students back. While a Capitol deal may propel districts toward reopening, local school boards and their labor unions still have final say — and many want CONTINUE READING: Newsom strikes school reopening deal with California lawmakers

Biden’s follow-the-science mantra on school meets political reality - POLITICO

Biden’s follow-the-science mantra on school meets political reality - POLITICO

Biden’s follow-the-science mantra on school meets political reality

Nearly a month into Biden’s presidency, the push to reopen schools is laying bare the thorny balancing act between science and politics.

President Joe Biden promised that his administration would lead with “science and truth,” a continuation of a campaign message that he’d prioritize and elevate government scientists, in a sharp break from the Trump administration's pandemic response.

But nearly a month into Biden’s presidency, the push to reopen schools is laying bare the thorny balancing act between science and politics. After promising to reopen schools by his 100th day in office, Biden's already walked back the pledge to just elementary and middle schools, and then, as White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week, "the majority of schools — so more than 50 percent."

The shifts reflect the challenges the White House faces in restoring a sense of normalcy. Blanket vows to “follow the science” create expectations of a fixed path toward defeating the coronavirus, without factoring in the inherent politics.

“You can take science and reach a number of different policy conclusions and policy directions that are different, but are still true to the science,” said Rich Besser, a former acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The CDC on Friday released guidance for reopening schools, outlining strategies to safely bring students and teachers back while mitigating the spread of the virus. The CDC was clear, though, that it was not mandating schools reopen. That, for the moment, circumvented the bitter fight that's pitted teachers seeking strong safeguards as a precondition for returning to CONTINUE READING: Biden’s follow-the-science mantra on school meets political reality - POLITICO

Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it - POLITICO

Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it - POLITICO

Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it

A battle is brewing between teachers’ unions and Republicans. And so far, the White House is siding with the former.

President Joe Biden’s vow to reopen most schools during his first 100 days is crashing into demands of one of his party’s most powerful constituencies: teachers’ unions. And the friction is creating an early test for the Democratic Party’s commitment to following the advice of scientists when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tensions began bubbling up this week as Chicago teachers and city officials clashed over a plan to reopen. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot insists that classrooms are safe, but teachers in the city are pushing for an expansion in vaccinations first. Now, a version of that fight is playing out nationally, as the White House tries to navigate between a growing body of science indicating that long-held fears of reopening schools may be overblown with demands from teachers for more funding and health supplies before returning to the classroom.

Teachers’ unions, which played a crucial role in Biden’s electoral victory last fall, say they share the goal of reopening schools for in-person learning, but that this can only be done if schools have the resources to safely proceed. White House officials, too, said Biden’s 100-day goal depends on Congress following through with more funding for schools to pay for improved ventilation, reduced class sizes and other Covid mitigation strategies.

But the stalemates in Chicago and recent findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which wrote that in-person learning leads to little spread of the coronavirus so long as schools closely follow safety measures — are creating an immediate flash point for the president, along with potential political vulnerabilities.

“This is one of several issues that is going to have some starts and stops—and [it’s] a big challenge for [the White House],” conceded Steve Barr, a longtime Democratic political activist and operative and the founder of a charter school organization in Los Angeles. Barr said he agrees with the White House push for a big financial package, but stressed that the new administration needs to CONTINUE READING: Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it - POLITICO

L.A. schools chief wants to launch California's largest teacher vaccine effort

L.A. schools chief wants to launch California's largest teacher vaccine effort

L.A. schools chief wants to launch California's largest teacher vaccine effort

SACRAMENTO — Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner is calling on state and local health officials to immediately allow the district to turn its more than 1,400 schools into Covid-19 vaccination sites, focusing on shots for teachers and school staff in what would become California's biggest education vaccine push.

California has prioritized teachers among vaccine recipients but left distribution up to counties, and there is no large-scale effort yet to inoculate school employees in the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom altered the state's vaccine course Wednesday when he announced residents 65 years and older could receive shots in a bid to accelerate vaccinations and protect a high-risk population.

It's unclear, however, when the bulk of the state's 300,000-plus teachers will have access. After Newsom paved the way for seniors, vaccinators began making appointments for older residents, but most have not yet allowed teachers or other non-health essential workers to get in line.

Beutner asked in a Monday letter to California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly and Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer to immediately authorize his school system — the second largest in the U.S. — to vaccinate its teachers and school staff.

"This will not only protect the health and safety of our essential employees but will provide enormous benefit to children and their families, leading to a faster reopening of schools and of the economy more broadly by enabling the working families we serve to go back to work," Beutner said in the letter.

California's 6 million schoolchildren have remained in distance learning for nearly a year, and it is becoming increasingly likely that teachers unions will demand CONTINUE READING: L.A. schools chief wants to launch California's largest teacher vaccine effort

Los Angeles school board could sue California over Newsom reopening plan

Los Angeles school board could sue California over Newsom reopening plan

Los Angeles school board could sue California over Newsom reopening plan

SACRAMENTO — The Los Angeles Unified school board voted Tuesday to authorize the district to sue California over Gov. Gavin Newsom's new school reopening plan, escalating tension between the country's second largest school district and the governor.

Following a closed session on Tuesday, the school board announced that it had unanimously "authorized the initiation of litigation against the State of California, state entities and public officials related to California's Safe Schools for All framework."

The Democratic governor has come under intense pressure to reopen schools in California as most of the state's 6 million public school students have been out of classrooms since the pandemic forced closures nearly a year ago. But school districts and labor unions have tremendous power over local decisions, and Newsom has said he will not force them to open. He is instead offering $2 billion to pay for additional staff, testing and other expenditures as an incentive for districts to reopen the youngest grades as soon as Feb. 16.

California lawmakers seemed skeptical Monday during their first budget hearing that school districts could — or should — move as quickly as Newsom has asked. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office also said in its review of Newsom's budget that the governor's timeline is "likely unfeasible." But Newsom's Department of Finance responded in the hearing that a fast timeline is necessary to salvage a meaningful part of the remaining school year.

The district has not sued yet; there is no law to challenge because Newsom's plan is CONTINUE READING: Los Angeles school board could sue California over Newsom reopening plan

Delay, dismantle, resist: DeVos leaves a legacy like no other Education secretary - POLITICO

Delay, dismantle, resist: DeVos leaves a legacy like no other Education secretary - POLITICO

Delay, dismantle, resist: DeVos leaves a legacy like no other Education secretary

Betsy DeVos relentlessly promoted school choice and ended many Obama-era rules. She shares few similarities with her likely successor, Connecticut state education chief Miguel Cardona.

Betsy DeVos will soon step down from her perch as Education secretary, ending her four-year run as the most polarizing person to have led the department.

The Michigan billionaire, education philanthropist and staunch supporter of school choice will be remembered as a Cabinet secretary who successfully delayed and dismantled Obama-era rules at all levels of education. Her nomination to the Education Department’s top office in 2016 attracted more opposition than almost any other nominee and confrontations with public education advocates persisted throughout her term, especially during the coronavirus crisis, when she aggressively pushed for schools to reopen.

If confirmed, the next Education Secretary will be a departure from DeVos. Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona is a longtime educator who won unions' support to be the nation's next top education official, even though they have at times sparred with their state chief.

Like DeVos, Cardona pressed for schools to remain open for in-person lessons during the pandemic, but ultimately left the decision up to local decision-makers and issued statewide rules about masks and other precautions for schools.

DeVos has won favor on the right with swipes at teachers unions as anti-student and by speaking out against federal bureaucracy and overreach.

"Be the resistance," DeVos told her agency's career staff on how they should approach the incoming Biden administration, urging them to put students first as she said she always has, according to a recording of her remarks obtained by POLITICO. In a letter to Congress on Monday, DeVos noted her time in her post is finite and encouraged urged lawmakers to reject much of Biden’s CONTINUE READING: Delay, dismantle, resist: DeVos leaves a legacy like no other Education secretary - POLITICO

Newsom pushes California school reopening plan that could begin in February

Newsom pushes California school reopening plan that could begin in February

Newsom pushes California school reopening plan that could begin in February

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $2 billion push Wednesday to reopen California elementary schools for the youngest students in February, offering incentives and testing to school districts that resume classroom instruction.

Most of California's 6 million public school students have been learning remotely since the pandemic forced widespread closures in March. While a smattering of districts opened this fall when infection rates were lower, most kept campuses shut and stayed online, especially those in large metropolitan areas.

Newsom's plan relies on carrots rather than sticks in trying to reopen elementary schools across California. The centerpiece is a $2 billion mid-year budget request that would channel money toward getting kids back in classrooms, with an emphasis on younger children who are in transitional kindergarten through second grade. Priority will be given to districts with large numbers of low-income students, foster youth or English learners — groups whose disadvantages have been exacerbated during distance learning.

The framework also seeks to ramp up testing at schools and to furnish educators with more protective equipment, including by distributing millions of surgical masks for free. Newsom's plan would prioritize inoculating school staff through the spring; teachers and child care providers are expected to be next in line for CONTINUE READING: Newsom pushes California school reopening plan that could begin in February

Biden to pick Connecticut education commissioner for top schools post - POLITICO

Biden to pick Connecticut education commissioner for top schools post - POLITICO

Biden to pick Connecticut education commissioner for top schools post

Miguel Cardona will be tested on his ability to unify opposing sides in the debate over reopening schools.

President-elect Joe Biden is poised to nominate Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona for Education secretary, adding another Latino to his roster of Cabinet appointees and choosing a leader who has pressed schools to remain open for in-person classes during the pandemic, according to people familiar with the decision.

Cardona’s selection fulfills Biden’s campaign promise to name an educator with public school experience as his nominee for the post. He has spent his entire career in Connecticut, working as an elementary school teacher, principal, district administrator and assistant superintendent, as well as adjunct professor before being named Connecticut’s state chief last year by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont.

About 70 percent of the state’s schools reopened for in-person classes this fall. But when some Connecticut schools decided to shut down in-person learning in November, Cardona and the state’s acting Department of Health commissioner wrote in an email to districts that they did not think “arbitrary, date-based closures of school are warranted at this time.”

The state health and education chiefs said the prevention strategies schools are using are working, and the state wasn’t seeing “sustained person to person transmission” of the virus in schools, or outbreaks at schools, despite a surge in the state. That put Cardona at odds with the state teachers union, although decisions about remote or in-person classes have been left to local districts.

The union has demanded statewide rules on sharing data about school coronavirus cases, testing and availability of personal protective equipment.

Still, the teachers union and other education unions in Connecticut endorsed Cardona’s selection as head of the Education Department.

“While this challenge has been a rocky road — and many issues remain CONTINUE READING: Biden to pick Connecticut education commissioner for top schools post - POLITICO

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife

Biden’s rhetoric and policies suggest the president-elect is still listening closely to teachers unions in a way Obama often did not.

When teachers were upset about the stringent accountability measures Barack Obama imposed on them as president, their union boss turned to Joe Biden for some empathy.

“He listened,” recalls Randi Weingarten, who heads the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers. Obama’s vice president may not have agreed with her during those conversations, Weingarten said in an interview this week, but Biden became her “go-to” when things got tense amid the regime of education reform

Now the good cop has to call the shots — and Biden’s rhetoric and policies suggest the president-elect is still listening closely to teachers unions in a way Obama often did not, including as Biden’s team considers potential nominees for Education secretary.

Obama was questioned about possible signs of daylight between the two men on education policy in a recent interview with New York magazine. When asked whether Biden seemed intent on rolling back his “education-reform legacy,” Obama demurred, “Ah, we’ll see.” CONTINUE READING: Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO