NANCY BAILEY: The Racism Behind Firing Librarians and Closing School Libraries

The Racism Behind Firing Librarians and Closing School Libraries

The Racism Behind Firing Librarians and Closing School Libraries

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.  ~Frederick Douglass

If a school has no school library or a flimsy excuse for a library, students are denied access to books and reading material. They miss opportunities to learn information and become proud of who they are. Look for racism behind the decision.

When school districts diminish school libraries and those who run them, they fail to address the critical issues involving history, civics, and race relations. With all the talk of schools and equity, it’s unconscionable that closing school libraries and firing school librarians are accepted practices.

In May 2020, the Washington D.C. school district passed a $70 million budget increase. In January 2021, the American Rescue Plan infused over $368 million of COVID relief and new aid to DC Schools. Today, school librarians there are begging to keep their jobs. Here’s the petition!

The dismal account of dwindling libraries and librarians is happening across the nation, especially in poor schools and schools with children of color. If your child’s school CONTINUE READING: The Racism Behind Firing Librarians and Closing School Libraries

Leslie T. Fenwick: All Students, Especially The Most Vulnerable, Need Certified, Well-Prepared Teachers | Diane Ravitch's blog

Leslie T. Fenwick: All Students, Especially The Most Vulnerable, Need Certified, Well-Prepared Teachers | Diane Ravitch's blog

Leslie T. Fenwick: All Students, Especially The Most Vulnerable, Need Certified, Well-Prepared Teachers

Leslie T. Fenwick is Dean emerita of the Howard University School of Education. She is an eloquent critic of efforts to deprofessionalize teaching. She believes that teachers need more, not less, preparation for the classroom. This post appeared in Politico.

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 CONTINUE READING: Leslie T. Fenwick: All Students, Especially The Most Vulnerable, Need Certified, Well-Prepared Teachers | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden’s Proposed American Families Plan Would Revolutionize Life for Poor Children | janresseger

Biden’s Proposed American Families Plan Would Revolutionize Life for Poor Children | janresseger

Biden’s Proposed American Families Plan Would Revolutionize Life for Poor Children

When public policy has been entirely inadequate and misguided for decades, it is difficult to grasp the full implications of the beginning steps for reform. Such is the case with President Joe Biden’s proposal last week to respond to our society’s outrageous level of child poverty. The development of coherent, efficient policy to ameliorate the overwhelming and complicated problems of America’s poorest families will take a long time, even if Democrats continue to occupy the White House and sustain Congressional majorities.

But on April 28, President Biden introduced a plan to begin the journey to remedy fiscal austerity when it comes to our society’s poorest families and children. We can turn to some experts to put the significance of President Biden’s proposed American Families Plan in perspective.

California’s EdSource quotes Deborah Stipek, a professor in the Stanford University Graduate School of Education: “Biden’s proposals, so far, will go further toward supporting children—especially those living in poverty—than anyone in the White House in my lifetime… Right now, children from low-income families are beginning kindergarten substantially behind their middle-class peers. Most of the achievement gap is well in place when children begin school. One reason is lower participation in preschool and lower quality preschool for low-income children. Anything that broadens access and ensures quality is worth doing, and the child care and extension of the tax credit initiatives are very exciting.”

First Focus on Children’s Bruce Lesley also believes Biden’s American Families Plan is revolutionary: “There are moments in time when historic or transformational changes are made by our nation’s leaders to really make a difference for children and families in this CONTINUE READING: Biden’s Proposed American Families Plan Would Revolutionize Life for Poor Children | janresseger

Biden Asks Congress to Double Title I on top of Stimulus Dollars: Why Is All This Money Needed? | janresseger

Biden Asks Congress to Double Title I on top of Stimulus Dollars: Why Is All This Money Needed? | janresseger

Biden Asks Congress to Double Title I on top of Stimulus Dollars: Why Is All This Money Needed?

On March 11, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, COVID-19 relief bill, which will provide $125.4 billion for state K-12 education programs including investments to help kids catch up, provide after-school programs, offer summer enrichment, undertake facilities upgrades and “stabilize and diversify the educator workforce and rebuild the educator pipeline.”

And on April 9, President Biden proposed doubling the annual Title I allocation in the administration’s FY 2022 federal budget proposal. Title I was created in 1965 as a federal supplement to compensate for inadequate state funding for the nation’s school districts that serve concentrations of poor children.  It has been chronically underfunded. Chalkbeat explains: “The proposal would take the Title I program from its current $16.5 billion to $36.5 billion… The budget plan also includes a boost for special education funding… more counselors, nurses, and mental health professionals in schools… more for child care and Head Start… a big increase for the relatively small Community Schools program (schools with wraparound medical and social services for families)… and more money for the Office of Civil Rights.”  Of course, Biden’s budget is just a proposal for now—the first stage in several rounds of negotiations with Congress before a final federal budget will be passed by September 30.

None of us can fully comprehend what all these billions of dollars will mean. Probably some of us wonder whether they are really needed. In fact, those of us who live in school districts able to pass regular local property tax levies might imagine that all American schools probably look like ours—adequately maintained and at least adequately staffed. But in a CONTINUE READING: Biden Asks Congress to Double Title I on top of Stimulus Dollars: Why Is All This Money Needed? | janresseger

Is Canceling “High Stakes Testing” More Important than Halving Childhood Poverty? | Ed In The Apple

Is Canceling “High Stakes Testing” More Important than Halving Childhood Poverty? | Ed In The Apple

Is Canceling “High Stakes Testing” More Important than Halving Childhood Poverty?

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist , calls our nation “a beacon of failure,”

“The U.S., with its cherished image as a land of opportunity, should be an inspiring example of just and enlightened treatment of children. Instead, it is a beacon of failure,”

“Though an average American childhood may not be the worst in the world, the disparity between the country’s wealth and the condition of its children is unparalleled.”

Our childhood poverty rate is 19.9 percent, the highest among all developed countries, except Romania.

President Johnson’s “War On Poverty” offered hope; however the Republican Calvinist approach, “helping” the poor would only reinforce poverty, prevailed. 

The Biden initiative, the American Rescue Plan reverses half a century of ignoring the “truly disadvantaged” and offers hope for abandoned Americans.

 Nick Kristoff in the New York Times writes,

  Today one of our saddest statistics is this: American children ages 1 to 19 CONTINUE READING: Is Canceling “High Stakes Testing” More Important than Halving Childhood Poverty? | Ed In The Apple

New Equity Bill Levels Educational Playing Field + 2021 Model School Attendance Review Board Winners - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

New Equity Bill Levels Educational Playing Field - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

New Equity Bill to Level the Educational Playing Field Advances with Bipartisan Senate Education Committee Support

SACRAMENTO—New legislation designed to lift up some of the lowest-performing school districts in California—sponsored by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and authored by Senator Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara)—received bipartisan approval from the California State Senate Committee on Education today, providing a pathway to help close opportunity gaps that disproportionately affect students of color.

Senate Bill (SB) 540, which heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee to be heard later this month, will establish a grant program to provide additional targeted assistance to 10 low-performing school districts with identified opportunity gaps for students of color.

“While there are hopeful signs as more and more students return to classrooms, it is important to remember that the inequities that existed before this crisis have only been deepened by this incredibly challenging time,” State Superintendent Thurmond said. “SB 540 will allow the California Department of Education to invest in 10 of the highest-need school districts through an aggressive three-year funding package that focuses on equity coaching and intervention, professional development, and family engagement strategies. We cannot to let students already at a disadvantage slip further behind because of our failure to invest in these schools.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the educational disparities that exist among school districts. SB 540 begins to address the equity gaps that exist in our education system and provide the proper resources to make sure that students, especially those in low-income and communities of color, do not fall behind,” said Senator Limón.

The equity gaps that have existed in the educational system are systemic and long-standing. Research shows that on average, Black students attend schools that are 48 percent Black, while white students attend schools that are only 9 percent Black. By the time Black children enter high school, they are often more than four academic years behind their white counterparts. Suspensions for African American children are approximately three to five times higher than for white children. In the United States, by age 24, only 78 percent of Latinos and 87 percent of Blacks have earned a high school diploma compared to 94 percent of whites. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened these disparities.

SB 540 would allocate grants of $1.25 million to each of the 10 highest-need school districts for the 2021–22 fiscal year and the following two fiscal years. This key investment in underserved California students will urgently and immediately provide assistance to recover and help schools build the structures to accelerate learning for students and to support families hardest hit by a global pandemic.

More information on SB 540 can be found on the California Legislative Information bill analysis website.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

New Equity Bill Levels Educational Playing Field - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces 2021 Model School Attendance Review Board Winners

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today that 20 school attendance review boards (SARBs) have been designated as model programs in California for their attendance strategies during distance learning. The announcement of these Model SARB Awards comes after an unprecedented disruption of in-person attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These 19 school districts and one county office of education created exemplary plans and worked hard to follow through on them to help students stay engaged in their education—all during the unprecedented closure of our schools due to a global pandemic,” said Thurmond. “Many of these same great attendance strategies will also be crucial for student success as even more schools reopen for safe in-person attendance in the near future.”

The Model SARB Award winners, which include 19 school districts and one county office of education, implemented Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans that focused on these four approaches to meeting the needs of students during distance learning:

1. Shifting staff roles and responsibilities to meet the needs of distance learning students.
2. Supporting virtual attendance of pupils with unique needs.
3. Providing for the mental health and well-being of students during distance learning.
4. Pupil and family engagement and outreach.

As an example, Long Beach Unified School District is a Model SARB because its attendance strategies focus on quality interactions with families and students to promote improved attendance. This includes looking at students’ and families’ unique needs and providing personalized supports to remove barriers to attendance. SARB members are assigned follow-up with each referred family to provide materials, asynchronous work assignments, and links to community resources. SARB members also connect with community partners to ensure that families have access to timely and quality services. By working with the family and community as partners for children, Long Beach Unified’s SARB provides families with a supportive and empowering experience.

State Superintendent Thurmond annually convenes the State’s School Attendance Review Board, which brings together key agencies and community partners to score applications submitted by district and county SARBs throughout the state.

The Model SARBs will be recognized publicly and information about their strategies will be shared at the State SARB meeting on April 15, 2021, and at the annual state conference of the California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance on April 27, 2021.

Below is a list of the recognized school districts and county office of education and their Model SARB chairperson:

• Alhambra Unified School District, Lindsey Ma
• Alvord Unified School District, Ian Fish
• Centinela Valley Union High School District, Vanessa Landesfeind
• Centralia Elementary School District, Dr. Stacy Chang
• Corona-Norco Unified School District, John Reynoso
• Fontana Unified School District, Jose Barzaga
• Glendale Unified School District, Dr. Ilin Magran
• Hacienda la Puente Unified School District, Cynthia Cabello
• Jurupa Unified School District, Olga Lidia Alferez
• Kern High School District, Erin Rader
• Lake Elsinore Unified School District, Steve Behar
• Long Beach Unified School District, Claudia Sosa-Valderrama
• Murrieta Valley Unified School District, Katherine Wood
• Pittsburg Unified School District, Dr. ReJois Fraziers-Myers
• Romoland School District, Carmen Kaas
• Sanger Unified School District, Johnny P. Gonzalez
• Santa Ana Unified School District, Jackie Sanchez
• Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools, Rob Egger
• Val Verde Unified School District, Thomas Gronotte
• William S. Hart Union High School District, Erum Velek
  

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces 2021 Model School Attendance Review Board Winners

Why Zip Codes Matter | Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Zip Codes Matter | Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Zip Codes Matter

From the earliest days of corporate reform, which is now generally recognized to have been a failed effort to “reform” schools by privatizing them and by making standardized testing the focal point of education, we heard again and again that a child’s zip code should not be his or her destiny. Sometimes, in the evolving debates, I got the sense that some people thought that zip codes themselves were a problem. If only we eliminated zip codes! But the reality is that zip codes are a synonym for poverty. So what the reformers meant was that poverty should not be destiny.

Would it were so! If only it were true that a child raised in an impoverished home had the same life chances as children brought up in affluent homes, where food, medical care, and personal security are never in doubt.

But “reformers” insisted that they could overcome poverty by putting Teach for America inexperienced teachers in classrooms, because they (unlike teachers who had been professionally prepared) “believed” in their students and by opening charter schools staffed by TFA teachers. Some went further and said that vouchers would solve CONTINUE READING: Why Zip Codes Matter | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Tom: The Original Affluent Society

Teacher Tom: The Original Affluent Society

The Original Affluent Society

One thing that the pandemic has done for many of us is to cut commute times down to zero. I live in an apartment building surrounded by Amazon, Google, and Apple offices that have been more or less vacant for a year. That's tens of thousands of people who have not been getting up early, eating, grooming, dressing, and transporting themselves, which translates to millions of hours that have been freed up for . . . what?

I hope most people have been sleeping longer or engaging in hobbies or some other self-selected activity, but I suspect not. I'm guessing most of that extra time has been used being in some way productive, which is historically what we do with the gift of time. Peasants in the Middle Ages, for example, working with the crudest of farming tools, for instance, worked far fewer hours each day than our modern farmers with their advanced farming machinery. Homemakers continue to always have work to do even as they no longer have to churn their own butter or scrub the laundry by hand in a tub of soapy water. Every day business tasks that once took days, can now happen in seconds, yet office workers still CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: The Original Affluent Society

For Decades America Has Blamed and Punished Public Schools Serving Poor Children: Biden’s Plan Addresses the Underlying Poverty | janresseger

For Decades America Has Blamed and Punished Public Schools Serving Poor Children: Biden’s Plan Addresses the Underlying Poverty | janresseger

For Decades America Has Blamed and Punished Public Schools Serving Poor Children: Biden’s Plan Addresses the Underlying Poverty

For over fifty years sociologists of education have documented the correlation between the ravages of child poverty and challenges for children at school. Hunger, homelessness and the family anxiety that accompanies the struggle to survive make it hard for many students to thrive at school. This is why the Washington Post‘s Valerie Strauss describes the American Rescue Plan, President Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill signed into law last week, as “a huge new school reform.” And Strauss isn’t writing merely about the $130 billion included in the bill for public schools:

“President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is aimed at helping the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic—but it is another thing, as well: a major federal school reform unlike those we’ve seen in the past few decades. While the new law is aimed at helping families get back on their feet and helping businesses and schools reopen after a year of turmoil, it includes measures that together have the potential to slash poverty among the 12 million students who live in low-income households.”

Strauss reminds us how, over the past quarter century, public education policy has gone wrong—blaming the schools themselves and failing effectively to address children’s needs: “Policymakers have been focused for decades on improving public schools with a culture based on standardized testing, the expansion of charter schools and other ‘school choice’ measures, and, in some places, the demonization of teachers. Child poverty, they said, was an excuse for poor performance by adults. But the testing/choice/big data approach has not closed the achievement gap, and on some measures, it has barely moved… Many schools nationwide have attempted to address the out-of-school lives of students including CONTINUE READING: For Decades America Has Blamed and Punished Public Schools Serving Poor Children: Biden’s Plan Addresses the Underlying Poverty | janresseger

Biden’s American Rescue Plan is actually a huge new school reform - The Washington Post

Biden’s American Rescue Plan is actually a huge new school reform - The Washington Post

Biden’s American Rescue Plan is actually a huge new school reform

President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is aimed at helping the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic — but it is another thing, as well: a major federal school reform unlike those we’ve seen in the past few decades.

While the new law is aimed at helping families get back on their feet and helping businesses and schools reopen after a year of turmoil, it includes measures that together have the potential to slash poverty among the 12 million students who live in low-income households.

Biden himself tweeted recently: “No child should grow up in poverty. The American Rescue Plan will expand the child tax credit and cut the child poverty rate in half.”

Outside estimates on its impact have come to the same conclusion, including one from the nonprofit Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which said that two key tax credit provisions could “together lift more children above the poverty line, 5.5 million, than any other economic support program.” An Urban Institute analysis of the plan said the child poverty rate in 2021 will fall by more than 52 percent, largely from changes in tax law and the $1,400 stimulus checks that are part of the relief package.

It should be noted that most of the provisions in this new law will remain in effect only for a year or two — and there is no guarantee what will happen beyond then. But directly aiming to reduce child poverty is exactly what many advocates for children have long said is needed.

Policymakers have been focused for decades on improving public schools with a culture based on standardized testing, the expansion of charter schools and other “school choice” measures, and, in some places, the demonization of teachers. Child poverty, they said, was an excuse for poor performance by adults.

But the testing/choice/big data approach has not closed the achievement gap, and on some measures, it has barely moved.

Critics say research clearly shows that standardized test scores are fundamentally a metric of the state of child poverty in America, not of school quality. Students who live in low-income Zip codes virtually CONTINUE READING: Biden’s American Rescue Plan is actually a huge new school reform - The Washington Post

What Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue Plan Will Mean for American Poorest Children and for Our Public Education System | janresseger

What Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue Plan Will Mean for American Poorest Children and for Our Public Education System | janresseger

What Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue Plan Will Mean for American Poorest Children and for Our Public Education System

On February 27, the U.S House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief bill, and on Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the House bill. Nancy Pelosi says the House will promptly enact the Senate’s version, and the bill will move later this week to the President for his signature. News reports have focused on big economic elements of the relief package—unemployment relief and one-time stimulus checks, but one of the most important things about this bill has been under-reported: what the President and Congress plan to do for America’s children and their public schools.

The American Rescue Plan Supports Public Schools and the State Governments that Fund Public Schools

There has been enormous and utterly confusing guidance coming from the CDC, the White House, and mayors of big cities, all of whom want to get all children back to school in-person. But it is rarely mentioned that when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, public schools had been struggling for years with inadequate funding. Yes, schools could reopen safely if ventilation were adequate, but lots of old schools have windows that don’t open. Yes, schools could reopen safely if classes were small enough that classrooms could house all the students in desks six feet apart, but in too many classes these days, one teacher works with more than 30—sometimes even 40—students. Running school buses with social distancing would require additional buses. Because most of us don’t spend our time inside schools where we can observe the realities children and their teachers live with every day, we like to imagine that reopening schools ought to be an easy process.  But the complexities can be overwhelming and the problems expensive to address—which is why many students are still learning remotely or attending school on complicated hybrid schedules.

The new stimulus package will help school districts address the complexities. The Washington CONTINUE READING: What Biden’s COVID-19 Rescue Plan Will Mean for American Poorest Children and for Our Public Education System | janresseger

Audio: With One Move, Congress Could Lift Millions Of Children Out Of Poverty | 89.3 KPCC

Audio: With One Move, Congress Could Lift Millions Of Children Out Of Poverty | 89.3 KPCC

With One Move, Congress Could Lift Millions Of Children Out Of Poverty

The COVID-19 relief bill working its way through Congress is full of big ideas to help people. But there's one idea that's so big, it was politically unthinkable not that long ago.

President Biden and Democratic lawmakers want to fight child poverty by giving U.S. families a few hundred dollars every month for every child in their household — no strings attached. A kind of child allowance.

If this proposal survives the wrangling in Congress and makes it to Biden's desk, experts say it could cut child poverty nearly in half.

The idea even has some bipartisan support. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, of Utah, has pitched his own, smaller version of a child allowance.

More than 10 million of the nation's children lived below the federal poverty line in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And the pandemic has made life even harder for those already vulnerable families.

Over the past year, job losses have been especially concentrated among single mothers. And with so many school cafeterias still closed and unable to feed kids experiencing food insecurity, researchers are seeing alarming levels of child hunger.

Compared to other wealthy nations, the United States does little to reduce child poverty. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the U.S. ranks 37th among OECD nations — barely ahead of last-place Turkey — for how little it spends on family benefits: just 0.6% of gross domestic product in 2019.

"Right now, less than 3% of families [in the U.S.] receive any kind of cash assistance," says C. Nicole Mason, who heads the Institute for Women's Policy Research. "The social safety net has all but eroded and dissipated over the last two decades or so."

To begin to repair that safety net, Democrats would give caregivers $300 a month for each child under 6, and $250 a month for older kids — for at least the next year. Romney's benefit would last beyond the one-year window and be more generous for CONTINUE READING: Audio: With One Move, Congress Could Lift Millions Of Children Out Of Poverty | 89.3 KPCC

Interactive: Explore who gains most from student debt forgiveness - The Hechinger Report

Interactive: Explore who gains most from student debt forgiveness

Interactive: Explore who gains most from canceling student debt

As economists and policymakers debate the merits of loan forgiveness, a peek into federal data shows how different proposals could affect different groups of borrowers

President Joe Biden, congressional leaders and debt experts continue to argue over student loan debt forgiveness — both how much should be canceled and which branch can offer relief. Biden told a questioner at last week’s CNN town hall he did not think he had the authority to cancel $50,000 for student loan borrowers, and instead would limit relief to $10,000. Earlier, the administration had said it was reviewing its options for forgiveness through executive action. Even the more modest figure of $10,000 per student would represent one of the most ambitious projects under the new administration, erasing an estimated $377 billion in debt.

Student debt forgiveness is popular among voters, but a handful of economists have questioned whether it helps those most in need. They argue that middle-class families will benefit more than poor and marginalized Americans.

There are many ways to look at the types of people loan forgiveness would benefit: Should we consider household income? What about net wealth? How would borrowers of different races be affected? A Hechinger analysis of federal data provides additional dimensions to the picture of student debt. We show more detail about where student debt falls most heavily and how different cancellation plans would affect different groups of Americans.

First, here is the overall picture of student loan debt and its rapid growth.

Americans amassed trillions of dollars in student loan debt in the course of just a few decades. Throughout most of the Department of Education’s life as a guarantor of loans and a direct lender, student borrowing remained below $20 billion per year, according to a 1998 report from the Institute for CONTINUE READING: Interactive: Explore who gains most from student debt forgiveness

The False Narrative of “Needy Kids vs Selfish Teacher Unions” | The Merrow Report

The False Narrative of “Needy Kids vs Selfish Teacher Unions” | The Merrow Report

The False Narrative of “Needy Kids vs Selfish Teacher Unions”

The giant lumbering beast known as the US Economy–akin to a conveyor belt with countless moving parts–wants public schools to reopen.  The beast needs workers, but right now too many adults are at home, supervising their children’s ‘remote learning.’  Open the schools, and the adults can go to work: it’s that simple….

But of course it isn’t simple.  Putting kids back in schools will allow adults to work, and that’s important, but it is what happens inside schools that matters more.  

A quick history lesson: We’ve always sent our children to school for three reasons: 1) Acquisition of knowledge, 2) Socialization, and 3) Custodial care.  The internet has turned that upside down because it puts infinite information at everyone’s fingertips wherever they happen to be and because thousands of apps allow for ‘socialization’ with anyone and everyone.  That left only custodial care as a vital school function, until the pandemic made even that impossible. 

However, students swimming in a sea of infinite information need guidance, because ‘information’ is not knowledge.  It takes a certain skill set to distinguish between CONTINUE READING: The False Narrative of “Needy Kids vs Selfish Teacher Unions” | The Merrow Report

Audio: A Quiet And 'Unsettling' Pandemic Toll: Students Who've Fallen Off The Grid | 89.3 KPCC

Audio: A Quiet And 'Unsettling' Pandemic Toll: Students Who've Fallen Off The Grid | 89.3 KPCC

A Quiet And 'Unsettling' Pandemic Toll: Students Who've Fallen Off The Grid

For American families and their children, school is more than just a building. It's a social life and a community, an athletic center and a place to get meals that aren't available at home. The pandemic has disrupted — and continues to disrupt — the lives of U.S. students in profound ways.

Many kids haven't set foot in their schools since March, when most in-person schooling shut down across the country. Teachers are working tirelessly to educate their students online, but they are growing increasingly anxious about the kids who aren't showing up at all.

An estimated 3 million students may have dropped out of school learning since March, according to Bellwether Education Partners, a national nonprofit that focuses on underserved youth. The group's study cited a lack of Internet access, housing insecurity, disabilities and language barriers as major obstacles to attending virtual classes during the pandemic.

"It is really, really unsettling," says Alex, a teacher in western Virginia, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of repercussions for speaking out. "I think people don't realize how much we need to see these kids. A lot of times in schools, we are the first line for seeing signs of child abuse, for seeing signs of food insecurity. And you don't have that with virtual students. Especially when they ghost."

That "ghosting" is a constant problem for school employees who track attendance in CONTINUE READING: Audio: A Quiet And 'Unsettling' Pandemic Toll: Students Who've Fallen Off The Grid | 89.3 KPCC

The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward

The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward

THE CRIME OF BRANDING STUDENTS AS CRIMINALS

Throughout my time as an educator, I’ve been pulled into my share of “special taskforces” meant to address “at-risk” students – namely Black students. I have no doubt that such groups can be found in schools across America; primarily (I believe) because districts accept “helping” Black children on the backend with interventions that feign problem solving, rather than working on the frontend on behalf of Black children.

Districts that work on the frontend are districts that hire more Black teachers, make curricula culturally relevant and teaching culturally responsive – with rigor – districtwide, and ensure that teaching resources and assignments are both culturally and community affirming. They do not assume that pre-service training is good enough to serve Black students and spend time in deep and meaningful in-service, coaching, and mentoring. But I digress.

“At-risk” students are generally identified by teachers and administrators to identify which students have an increased risk for dropping out of school, usually because of failing grades and an unsightly discipline record. It always starts with an email attached with a list of names; educators love making lists. I’ve received these lists and I always notice the overabundance of Black children on them – lists of children of color that are often rife with racial biases and negative mindsets about Black and Brown communities .

Never did I consider that my colleagues would ever refer these lists to local CONTINUE READING: The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward