NANCY BAILEY: Researching DeVos’s $185 Million School Funding Plan During a Pandemic

Researching DeVos’s $185 Million School Funding Plan During a Pandemic  

Researching DeVos’s $185 Million School Funding Plan During a Pandemic 

During this pandemic, public school funding is critical. The American public deserves to know as best as possible how their tax dollars are being spent on education and every area for that matter. That’s why it’s disappointing to review Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s recent spending of $185 million on education innovation and acceleration.

Program emphasis is on STEM, social-emotional learning, and teacher professional development. There’s no mention of reading, geography, the arts, or child-find programs to locate children who did not sign up for school due to the virus.

A teacher’s needs when it comes to remote learning are not well addressed. Nor is there specific attention to math, aside from STEM. It has been stated that students are behind in math, although those reports seem faulty.

Mental health is vaguely addressed by SEL programs, but not necessarily by school psychologists, social workers, or professionals at the school level. More local outreach is needed.

I asked her this question on Twitter, and am still waiting for an answer. I will likely wait CONTINUE READING: Researching DeVos’s $185 Million School Funding Plan During a Pandemic  

Children Are Born Scientists. What If School Encouraged That? (Kristina Rizga) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

 Children Are Born Scientists. What If School Encouraged That? (Kristina Rizga) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice 

Children Are Born Scientists. What If School Encouraged That? (Kristina Rizga)

Kristina Rizga is a writer based in San Francisco, co-creator of The Atlantic’s “On Teaching” project, and author of Mission High. This article appeared in The Atlantic Online September 11, 2020.

Growing up, Gary Koppelman, now an award-winning science teacher, didn’t think he’d make it to college. In elementary school in the late 1950s, he struggled with math and reading and got mostly Cs and Ds. Speaking in front of his classmates made him stutter. He was teased relentlessly, and he had very few friends. By the time he began high school in 1966, his counselor told him to forget about college.

And then, as has happened to many students, one teacher changed everything. Koppelman’s high-school Spanish teacher, Doug Cline, made a point of frequently praising Koppelman’s strengths, like his work ethic and resilience, and helped him navigate incidents of teasing and bullying. When Cline and Koppelman discovered that they shared a passion for horses, the teacher taught his student how to compete in horse shows, and Koppelman went on to win many of them.

“Mr. Cline helped me feel successful, and convinced me that my challenges will make me stronger to help others in need,” Koppelman told me late last year. We were sitting in the science lab that he designed at Blissfield Elementary, a small rural school in southeast Michigan, where he worked for 32 years until retiring in 2019.

Cline also encouraged Koppelman to try college for at least a year. In 1970, CONTINUE READING:  Children Are Born Scientists. What If School Encouraged That? (Kristina Rizga) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice