Webinar: Building ESSA Plans for Equity and Opportunity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Webinar: Building ESSA Plans for Equity and Opportunity | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

Webinar: Building ESSA Plans for Equity and Opportunity

Download the slides for this webinar here

In June the Schott Foundation hosted a special extended-length webinar diving deep into implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. While discussing the minutiae of education policy is rarely an exciting activity, the panelists on our webinar showed how important it is that advocates and community members know how ESSA works: the future of our children’s education depends on it.

Moderated by our Director of Programs and Advocacy Marianna Islam, our panelists included:

• Tanya Clay House, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for P-12 Education, U.S. Department of Education
• Beth Glenn, Director, Education Justice Network (EJN)
• Jaime Koppel, Deputy Director for Strategic Partnerships, Communities for Just Schools Fund
• Marilyn Young, Education Director of Southern Echo

Because ESSA moves so much authority to the state level, each state and the District of Columbia must produce their own ESSA plans. For a brief overview of these plans, and the ways stakeholders can take part, check out our recent infographic.

As Ms. Clay House put it, “We know that this process can seem overwhelming, which is why we are hosting this webinar to assist stakeholders in their efforts to be effective advocates within this entire process.”

Clay House reminded participants that the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act “was created as a civil rights law during the civil rights movement in 1965.” Even with increased deference to states with ESSA, the Federal government still has Webinar: Building ESSA Plans for Equity and Opportunity | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education: The Great Leveler and the Great Divider

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education: The Great Leveler and the Great Divider:

Education: The Great Leveler and the Great Divider

Big Education Ape: David Brooks, All-American: A Reader | radical eyes for equity - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/07/david-brooks-all-american-reader.html

David Brooks had an tense (and some would say awkward) column in the New York Times last week.  It was called, How We Are Ruining America.  

Over the past generation, members of the college-educated class have become amazingly good at making sure their children retain their privileged status. They have also become devastatingly good at making sure the children of other classes have limited chances to join their ranks.

He talks mostly about what means gives to upper-middle class families especially in terms of time and access.  He did have one interesting stat:

Since 1996, education expenditures among the affluent have increased by almost 300 percent, while education spending among every other group is basically flat.

He is does bounce around a bit with his terms- which is confusing - saying things are worse for the middle class but making that sound like almost no one who went to college fits in that category.  Instead he calls out the "upper middle" class.

But his central premise is one that I recognize and have written about before AND it puts forth an even bigger question:

It’s when we turn to the next task — excluding other people’s children from the same opportunities — that things become morally dicey. Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institution recently published a book called “Dream Hoarders” detailing some of the structural ways the well educated rig the system.

I was braced by Reeves’s book, but after speaking with him a few times about it, I’ve come to think the structural barriers he emphasizes are less important than the informal social barriers that segregate the lower 80 percent.

But I don't think it's a 80-20 percentage divide.  I think there is more likely a 60-25-15 divide.  Meaning, the 60% of people who have not gone to college, the 25% who did but not to Ivy League schools and the 15% who have the most Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education: The Great Leveler and the Great Divider:

Sexual assault survivors to Betsy DeVos: ‘Exactly who are you here to serve?’ - The Washington Post

Sexual assault survivors to Betsy DeVos: ‘Exactly who are you here to serve?’ - The Washington Post:

Sexual assault survivors to Betsy DeVos: ‘Exactly who are you here to serve?’

In the Trump administration, you can learn a lot from a list of invited guests.

On Feb. 14, President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos held a meeting at the White House with 10 representatives from the world of education. The list of invitees starkly signaled what the Trump-DeVos education agenda was going to be.

Among the 10,  two were from traditional public schools, and one was from a public school that specializes in special education. Three of the 10 were from private schools, two were home-schoolers, one was from a charter school and another was from a dropout prevention program.

Now consider this:

*Traditional public schools educate more than 80 percent of America’s schoolchildren.

*About 10 percent of schoolchildren in the United States go to private schools, according to 2013-2014 data, the latest available, with 38 percent of these enrolled in Catholic schools.

* About 5 percent attend charter schools, according to 2013-14 data, the latest available, though charter advocates say it is now 6 percent. Charter schools are publicly funded but operate outside traditional public districts, and many are run by for-profit companies.

* About 3 percent are home-schooled, according to 2012 data, the latest available.

If  you didn’t know before that meeting that Trump and DeVos were planning to push school “choice” — alternatives to traditional public schools — you would know from that list of invitees. And since then, the two have not disappointed choice supporters, proposing massive increases in spending for school “choice,” including a new program that would use hundreds of millions of public dollars to pay for tuition and other educational expenses at private and Sexual assault survivors to Betsy DeVos: ‘Exactly who are you here to serve?’ - The Washington Post:

PAA-Oregon fighting Stand for Children’s school board power grab | Parents Across America

PAA-Oregon fighting Stand for Children’s school board power grab | Parents Across America:

PAA-Oregon fighting Stand for Children’s school board power grab 

Deb Mayer, a member of the PAA Board of Directors and leader of PAA-Oregon, was mentioned in Diane Ravitch’s blog a couple of weeks ago. Diane shared a link to Deb’s article about the vicious attack on a Portland school board member by Stand for Children, which had backed a losing candidate in a recent school board election. Looking for enough votes to push their corporate education agenda, SFC is using some slimy techniques and a bushel of Gates money to try to get their way despite the decision of voters.

Standing ON Children (and everyone else…)

You can read Deb’s excellent article for details of the fiasco and how PAA-Oregon and others are fighting back. We echo Diane’s warning – “Stand for Children represents Bill Gates and the rest of the zbillionaire Boys Club that funds SFC. They are not working on behalf of the children and families of Portland. Don’t be fooled.”

That goes for parents everywhere – don’t be fooled!

And email us (info@parentsacrossamerica.org) if you have stories about Stand for Children. We are working on a few strategies to challenge this behemoth group of astroturfers.PAA-Oregon fighting Stand for Children’s school board power grab | Parents Across America:

 June 28 and July 13, 2017 newsletter brief

by Julie Woestehoff / 1h

We combine these two issues since both were focused on promoting the PAA national parent survey. Details about the survey are here. The June 28th issue also reported on a demonstration against secretive school closings in 

Will Medicaid Cuts Mean the Death of Special Education?

Will Medicaid Cuts Mean the Death of Special Education?:

Will Medicaid Cuts Mean the Death of Special Education?

The new American Health Care Act (AHCA) will be a disaster for children with special needs. The GOP still doesn’t discuss what those cuts will mean to children with disabilities, even though they appear to be praying awfully hard.

Back in May, in a PBS report with Judy Woodruff, correspondent William Brangham told us that Medicaid cuts and the effects on children with disabilities weren’t part of the GOP debate. The current bill could mean major cuts to Medicaid, up to $880 billion over 10 years.

On the same PBS program, Sasha Pudelski with the School Superintendents Association reminded us that the federal commitment to fund special education has never been fulfilled. Medicaid has been filling this gap.

Pudelski states:

It’s not kids that are breaking the Medicaid bank, if the bank is even being broken, which I contend it’s not.

But when you look at who benefits from Medicaid, 46 percent of Medicaid Will Medicaid Cuts Mean the Death of Special Education?:

CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Warm Bodies for Charters + A Very Special Busted Pencils

CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Warm Bodies for Charters:

NY: Warm Bodies for Charters

Travel with me to a board meeting at Giant Imaginary Hospital.

Board Member #1: We are still unable to fill several openings in the surgical department. What shall we do?

Board Member #2: We'll just have to offer a more competitive package, with better pay and better perks. I mean, that's how the free market works, right?   

Board Member #3: I have a better idea. Let's just promote Sven.

Board Member #2: Sven Svenberger? From the kitchen at the GIH cafeteria?

Board Member #3: Sure. He uses knives. Surgeon use knives. 

Board Member #2: But we're talking about surgery on actual humans. He's a cook, Jim. Not a doctor.

Board Member #3: Fine. We'll give him a week of training. 

Many starts have been having versions of this conversation as they pass their own version of warm body legislation, legislation that puts pretty much any warm body in the classroom.

But New York is considering a particularly special warm body rule that's especially for charter schools. The State University of New York (SUNY) is one of the main authorizers of charters in New York, and they've proposed that their charter schools be allowed to hire unqualified warm bodies for their schools. These warm bodies might have just thirty hours of classroom experience and training. That's almost a week. 

Why do this? Because charters are too damn cheap to pay teachers a decent wage or offer them attractive working conditions. Or as Times-Union coverage of the story puts it:

Charter school advocates say the proposal would help schools that are struggling to find quality teachers who are certified in New York.

Okay, I could go up to $10.95

Sigh. Why do we have to keep explaining to free market fans how the free market works. If I can't buy a Lexus for $1.95, that doesn't suggest either an automobile shortage or that I "struggling to find quality automobiles." It suggests that I am offering an inadequate "bid" for the goods and services that I want. 

Is that impossible to accomplish? Well, Success Academy (one of SUNY's chains) reportedly employed 1,000 staffers in 2014, and their boss, Eva Moscowitz makes almost $5 million  CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Warm Bodies for Charters:


A Very Special Busted Pencils

I find it extraordinary difficult to find time to take in podcasts. I'm a text guy; I want to consume information through words that I see (I say very Awful Things when a news site tries to make me watch a video).

But there are two education podcasts that I try to listen to regularly. Have You Heard I've plugged before, but I am also a fan of BustED Pencils, a podcast that has been around for a few years and which brings a decidedly rock and roll sensibility to its work. Host Tim Slekar started out as a classroom teacher and now holds down a college gig (and he has the added virtue of being familiar with my little corner of the world. 

The podcast features some fun and quirky features, including a regular What Would Matt Damon's Mom Say feature, and they land some great interviews, including semi-regular appearances by Alfie Kohn. Working your way through the episodes gives you the chance to hear some of your favorite public ed advocates in their own voices (and yes, I was on the show once). The podcast is timely, peppy, and always on the current edge of what's going on. 

But I want to draw extra attention to the most recent episode, which retains the usual sharp, energetic quality of BustED Pencils, but it looks at a deeper topic than usual-- mental health in schools. Dr. Slekar kicks the episode off with an honest an open discussion of his own struggles as a student, and then the episode goes on to deal with issues of suicide and fostering caring students. 

The episode-- What Aren't We Talking About and Why-- is worth your time and attention. These are A Very Special Busted Pencils

The Jeff Bryant Report: Why Teachers Don’t Trust Betsy DeVos, And Neither Should You

7/13/2016 – Why Teachers Don’t Trust Betsy DeVos, And Neither Should You:

The Jeff Bryant Report: Why Teachers Don’t Trust Betsy DeVos, And Neither Should You

 THIS WEEK: NEA Rejects Trump … Rich Won’t Pay For Schools … Koch School Choice … DeVos Boosts For-Profits … Rural-Urban Edu Gap

TOP STORY

Why Democrats Should Unite On A Charter School Moratorium

By Jeff Bryant

“This week, the nation’s largest labor union, the National Education Association, broke from its cautious regard of charter schools to pass a new policy statement that … wants a moratorium on new charters … The NEA’s action echoes a resolution passed earlier this year by the national NAACP calling for a moratorium on the expansion of charters and … a policy statement issued last year by the Movement for Black Lives … Now that labor and civil rights have come together in a unified call for a moratorium on these unregulated, privately-operated schools, prominent leaders in the Democratic party can champion this issue knowing they have a grassroots constituency that supports them.”
Read more …

NEWS AND VIEWS

Teachers Union Leader: We Won’t Work With Trump And Devos Because ‘I Do Not Trust Their Motives’

The Washington Post

“The president of the country’s largest labor union, Lily Eskelsen García of the National Education Association, told delegates at her organization’s annual gathering that they would not work with the Trump administration because the president and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos could not be trusted … Eskelsen García … accusing President Trump of residing ‘at the dangerous intersection of arrogance and ignorance’ … labeled DeVos as ‘the queen of for-profit privatization of public education’ … The NEA and Eskelsen García are strongly opposing the agenda of Trump and DeVos, who have made expanding alternatives to public education their chief education priority.”
Read more …

In The Land Of Bill Gates, A Standoff Over Money For Schools

Good

“Teachers being asked to foot the bill [is] a nationwide problem, due in large part to the fact that teachers, who are evaluated on student success, can’t do their jobs without basic supplies. But it’s surprising that in a prosperous state with a booming economy … schools can’t seem to put the coins together to pay for pencils and paste … Since the 1970s, Washington’s tax revenue has fallen 30% as a portion of state income; meanwhile … 13 billionaires living nearly tax-free – among them, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates – boast a net worth totaling $180.3 billion … Washingtonians pay ‘the fifth highest combined sales tax in the country.’ The result is the ‘most regressive tax system’ in the United States.”
Read more …

An Inside Look At How The Koch Brothers Are Flexing Their Political Muscle To Spread Message Of School Choice, ESAs

The Denver Post

“The Koch network’s six-figure campaign to promote school choice and education savings accounts, or ESAs… in Colorado involves the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Libre Initiative … which promote ESAs … Five states currently offer the accounts … The program allows parents to use taxpayer dollars for private school tuition, online learning programs, books, or tutoring … The Koch network considers Colorado an attractive state for its message because public charter schools are a bipartisan cause.”
Read more …

DeVos Is Discarding College Policies That New Evidence Shows Are Effective

The New York Times

“DeVos announced plans to dismantle a set of Obama-era policies devised to protect students and taxpayers from predatory for-profit colleges. Yet data released in the final days of the previous administration shows that the existing rules have proved more effective at shutting down bad college programs than even the most optimistic backers could have hoped … Close analysis of the more than 500 failing programs that haven’t appealed their status reveals … a substantial majority of them, 300 or so, have already been shut down … If the new rules gut the existing regulations, Ms. DeVos will have destroyed a highly effective tool for protecting students from for-profit colleges.”
Read more …

Rural Youth Chase Big-City Dreams

The Wall Street Journal

“As more young people decide to pursue four-year degrees, college towns are siphoning students out of the rural heart of the Farm Belt and sending them, degrees in hand … to the nation’s urban centers … Other states are struggling with rural population outflow to state-university towns … Many young people in rural communities now see college not so much as a door to opportunity as a ticket out of Nowheresville. The result is a redistribution of educated graduates to urban areas, which is helping to widen the divide in educational attainment between urban and rural areas.”
Read more …

7/13/2016 – Why Teachers Don’t Trust Betsy DeVos, And Neither Should You:

Diane Ravitch : The future of public education under Betsy DeVos | KALW

Your Call: The future of public education under Betsy DeVos | KALW:

Your Call: The future of public education under Betsy DeVos

Listen

Listening...

53:01

Tuesday July 11th's broadcast of Your Call

We’ll have a conversation with education historian Diane Ravitch about the state of public education under the Trump Administration and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

The administration's plan is to cut $10.6 billion from existing programs and divert $1.4 billion to charter schools and vouchers for private and religious schools. Ravitch calls it a boon for privatization and a disaster for public schools and low-income college students. Where is Betsy DeVos taking US education?

Guest:

Diane Ravitch, historian of education at New York University, one of the most prominent and vocal defenders of public education, and author of Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools

Web Resources:

Diane Ravitch

The Washington Post: Ravitch: Why is PBS running this education documentary?

The New York Review of Books: The Demolition of American Education

The Washington Post: Why opening a charter school is like opening your own business
Your Call: The future of public education under Betsy DeVos | KALW:

‘Go Public’, Trauma Informed Education and EnCorps

‘Go Public’, Trauma Informed Education and EnCorps:

‘Go Public’, Trauma Informed Education and EnCorps

 Go Public Project - http://gopublicproject.org/

 By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

A story of intrigue, real education reform and wealthy ignorance.

Photo from gopublicproject.org

A film maker, Rita Grant, called asking me to join an expert education panel at San Diego State University (SDSU). She said she found me when reading Diane Ravitch’s blog and thought I would be a good fit. The event was a screening of the film “Go Public” at EnCorps’ Summer Residential Institute, followed by question and answers with the panel. I was not familiar with EnCorps, “Go Public” or Rita but nothing ventured nothing gained. So, I went.

I arrived at the Aztec Student Center in time to see about 150 people in matching EnCorps tee-shirts posing for pictures. Apparently, all of them had worked in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field and were recruited by EnCorps to enter the teaching profession. I was pleased to learn that it wasn’t another fraudulent path to becoming a teacher. Encorps recruits STEM professionals to become teachers or tutors. If they choose to teach, they must complete an accredited teacher certification course.

EnCorps

I met a wonderful group of people, but their organization’s reason for being is misinformed. It’s another education reform organization created by a well-connected misinformed rich person with little relevant training or experience in education, Sherry Lansing.

To be fair unlike many wealthy education philanthropists, Lansing does have some experience. Her foundation web site says, she “spent four years after college teaching high school English and math at public schools ‘Go Public’, Trauma Informed Education and EnCorps:

All Things Education: When social media meets the academy

All Things Education: When social media meets the academy:

When social media meets the academy

After I started my PhD program, I gave up much of my social media and blogging activity (though not all). This was for reasons of time, energy, but also voice and skills. I read and write so much for school that it's not exactly what I feel like doing when I have free time. In addition, the skills and voice I use for blogging and education writing are different from those needed for scholarly education writing. And, I needed to take some time to learn the later. I have started writing more again recently--more on this here.

This dichotomy came up during a seminar (David L. Clark seminar) for doctoral students I was a participant in at the Annual AERA Meeting this past spring in San Antonio, during a panel discussion entitled "The Role of Education Research Outside of the Academy." On the panel was Morgan Polikoff, a professor of education policy at University of Southern California, who happens to be one of my pre-PhD program #edutwitter pals.

Morgan addressed the confluence of social media and academia. In a nutshell, he said that while it's important to still hold your work to high standards and to make certain stipulations before agreeing to work on non-academic enterprises, activity on social media and doing non-academic writing strengthens, and doesn't supplant, academic writing. It can also help academics to share, articulate, and get feedback/push back on their work and ideas, especially from those in education but outside of academia. 

I was glad to see Morgan advocate for academics having a place and presence on social media. I agree: Activity on social media and informal writing can be part of being a public intellectual and is a way for scholars to communicate with other academics and with non-academics in the same field.

But for me, I had a reverse path in that I was active and had a presence on social media before going into academia. While, as afore-mentioned, I took a break, there was no way I was going to walk that back or dismantle the web of connections and relationships I had made via social media and blogging, nor did I want to just discount all of the work and non-academic education writing I had done.

What's been especially tricky is the clashing of diminished power hierarchies on social media (not eliminated, mind you, All Things Education: When social media meets the academy:

DOE civil rights head apologizes for claiming most campus sexual assaults are just drunken hookups

DOE civil rights head apologizes for claiming most campus sexual assaults are just drunken hookups:

DOE civil rights head apologizes for claiming most campus sexual assaults are just drunken hookups

Candice Jackson, who heads the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, apologized on Thursday for her “flippant” remarks about campus sexual assault, writing in a statement, “I’m so sorry.”

“As a survivor of rape myself, I would never seek to diminish anyone’s experience,” Jackson said in a written apology sent to Politico. “My words in the New York Timespoorly characterized the conversations I’ve had with countless groups of advocates.”

“All sexual harassment and sexual assault must be taken seriously—which has always been my position and will always be the position of this Department,” she added.

In an article published Wednesday by the Times, Jackson indicated the Office for Civil Rights—which is responsible for enforcing Title IX, the education amendment which DOE civil rights head apologizes for claiming most campus sexual assaults are just drunken hookups: