Covid-19's Devastating Impact on Our Children - LA Progressive

Covid-19's Devastating Impact on Our Children - LA Progressive

Covid-19’s Devastating Impact on Our Children

Interviews with Five Educational Professionals

Ihad the privilege of asking five educational professionals to give their perspectives on the current pandemic by providing their thoughts, concerns, and advice. Most are retired teachers. Their insights come from many years of experience within the Los Angeles school district. Some of these educational professionals have over 30 years or more teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

What are we facing? According to Human Rights Watch, there are over 3.1 billion students out of school worldwide. And 55 million American children are out of school. School budgets are already underfunded and are now facing more difficult funding choices. Thousands of students are involved in home studies or on-line curriculum learning in a district where 80% of the Los Angeles students are living in poverty and do not have this in-home luxury. School districts are desperately trying to develop plans for reopening schools in a safe manner. Much of the current crisis is due to the impact of the coronavirus. Additional pressure will be placed on our public schools because the state budget is now in a crisis.

What are your concerns around the Covid-19 given the severe impact this pandemic has had on our educational system?

Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, in a Los Angeles Times article wrote that there are three things that need to be accomplished to prevent this health crisis from becoming a crisis in education:

• The need to secure adequate funding.
• The need to invest in making sure all students continue to have internet access.
• The need for continuing community support.

Will this be enough to save our students, provide confidence to our parents, and maintain our public school district? We need to wait to see but hopefully, this waiting period won’t devastate our students and schools.

My question to them: What are your concerns around the COVID-19 given the severe impact this pandemic has had on our educational system? Especially on Latino students and the impact facing our children’s quality of education. These written responses to my query have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Isela Galdamez is a 1st Grade Teacher at Huntington Park Elementary CONTINUE READING: Covid-19's Devastating Impact on Our Children - LA Progressive

Asian-Americans for Black Lives - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Asian-Americans for Black Lives - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Asian-Americans for Black Lives

Being a friend means standing up for folks, even when they aren’t in the room. Because it’s Best Friends Day, I decided to share a post written by one of my very best friends, Tula Jeng. I’m deeply grateful for her voice, her friendship, and her unwavering advocacy in service of Black liberation.

Thank you Tula Jeng for being one of my closest friends. For always, always listening without judgment (or tone-policing me), and for speaking up, even in high school. Your allyship and friendship mean so, so much to me. 💕💕💕💕💕

---

Asian Americans MUST Show up and speak up for Black lives

“To my Asian American friends: we MUST show up and speak up for Black lives. We MUST talk to our family about anti-Black racism. Silence and complacency only continues to perpetuate white supremacy.

[Click through the photo’s in Tula’s IG post above to see more Asian American voices who support the #BlackLivesMatter movement.]

Remember, the model minority myth was created by mainstream (read: white) media in the ‘60s and weaponized by white politicians to drive a wedge between Asian Americans and Black Americans during the civil rights movement. The image of the “hard-working, quiet, and assimilated” Asian became a convenient way to deny the demands of Black Americans. The model minority myth continues today. We must dismantle it if we are committed to racial justice.

I hope when we remember Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death by two white autoworkers in 1982, that we also remember George Floyd, Ahmaud Abery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Charleena Lyles, Terence Crutcher, Stephon Clark, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and many other Black men, women, people, and children who were killed by white nationalists and racist police. #SayTheirNames.

At one of the #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protests this weekend, I carried an “Asians for Black Lives” sign created by Kayaya’an Mendoza In addition to Kayaya’an powerful art, I will share with you his powerful words:

“As we witness the Black community once again get brutally attacked, murdered & targeted by the State & those that benefit from State violence (looking at you Amy Cooper) we must commit to not be silent bystanders.

Kayaya’an Mendoza

During a time when our own community is facing rampant anti-Asian violence, some of us may choose to go insular. In the hopes that if we don’t make noise, it will pass over us. What we need to understand is that this wh*te violence against our communities is intentional & interconnected.

If we Asian Americans want this country to be a safe space for us it needs to be safe for everyone. This complicity and colluding to white supremacy and CONTINUE READING: Asian-Americans for Black Lives - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Rich schools get richer new school spending analysis shows

Rich schools get richer new school spending analysis shows

Rich schools get richer

School spending analysis finds widening gap between top 1% and the rest of us

n his 2013 book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” French economist Thomas Pikkety made a provocative argument about rising income inequality and the growing importance of disparities in wealth. He suggested that the world was returning to a sort of 19th century dynastic capitalism where the rich, with their inherited wealth, and the poor masses were growing ever farther apart. Pikkety’s follow-up book, “Capital and Ideology,” published in English in March 2020, argued that inequality trends are turbocharged in our current period of “hypercapitalism.” 

There are consequences for education, too. A new analysis of school funding by a Pennsylvania State University researcher finds that the highest spending school districts are investing even more in their public schools, from kindergarten through high school. The school funding gap between a top 1 percent and an average-spending school district at the 50th percentile widened by 32 percent between 2000 and 2015, the study calculated. These top 1 percent districts were already funding their schools at much higher levels in 2000 but then increased annual school funding at a faster rate than everyone else. 

“The people who can and wish to spend more are running away with it,” said Bruce Baker, a school finance expert at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. “This is what educated people with fewer fiscal constraints want for their own children. Those communities clearly set a higher bar and increase that bar at a faster rate over time.”

The May 2020 study didn’t identify the roughly 1,300 districts at the top, which educate fewer than 500,000 of the nation’s children, but characterized them as mostly wealthy, white suburbs. They are not necessarily the wealthiest zip codes in the United States or where the CONTINUE READING: Rich schools get richer new school spending analysis shows

Will Congress Provide Fiscal Relief to Public Schools at an Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment Level? | janresseger

Will Congress Provide Fiscal Relief to Public Schools at an Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment Level? | janresseger

Will Congress Provide Fiscal Relief to Public Schools at an Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment Level?

In a NY Times column last week, David Brooks responded to the tragic police killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, and the massive protests responding to the evident racism and inequality that underpin our society: “This moment is about police brutality, but it’s not only about police brutality. The word I keep hearing is ‘exhausted.’ People are exhausted by and fed up with the enduring wealth disparities between white and black, with the health disparities that leave black people more vulnerable to Covid-19, with the centuries-long disparities in violence and the threat of violence, with daily indignities on African-Americans and stains that linger on our nation decade after decade. The killing of George Floyd happened in a context—and that context is racial disparity. Racial disparity doesn’t make for gripping YouTube videos. It doesn’t spark mass protests because it’s not an event; it’s just the daily condition of our lives. It’s just a condition that people in affluent Manhattan live in one universe and people a few miles away in the Bronx live in a different universe. It’s just a condition that many black families send their kids to struggling inner-city schools while white families move to the suburbs and put on black T-shirts every few years to protest racial injustice.”

Brooks correctly identifies the problem: Structural inequality, segregation, and racism permeate our society.  But when it comes to a solution, Brooks looks to individuals, grants to neighborhood groups, and social entrepreneurship. Despite that injustice always involves systemic problems and that justice requires eliminating disparities in the system itself, Brooks suggests national service programs for young people, an endowment for civic architecture, Moving to Opportunity Grants, and even the Betsy DeVos solution, education savings account school vouchers for private education services (with the money coming out of public school CONTINUE READING: Will Congress Provide Fiscal Relief to Public Schools at an Austerity, Subsistence, or Investment Level? | janresseger

Report: Schools Need a Federal Bailout in Order to Reopen | Education News | US News

Report: Schools Need a Federal Bailout in Order to Reopen | Education News | US News

Report: No Way to Reopen Schools Safely Without Federal Bailout
A new cost estimate from school superintendents shows reopening following CDC guidelines is cost-prohibitive

IN ORDER TO ADHERE TO the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention safety recommendations for reopening, school districts will be forced to spend nearly $2 million per district that they hadn't budgeted for – a cost so prohibitive that some are now scrapping plans for in-person classes entirely this fall.

"There are some saying, 'It's early, but I have to tell you, I don't see how we could possibly open without additional funds,'" Daniel Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, says. "It's becoming an overwhelming problem and many districts are considering returning to distance learning."

The cost analysis from the superintendents organization and the Association of School Business Officials International shows that in some cases school districts can expect to spend an additional $490 per student in order to cover costs associated with purchasing hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and other cleaning supplies, gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment, hiring additional custodial staff and nurses, and more. The additional expenses for an average school district of about 3,700 students total $1.8 million.

"The $1.8 million is for an average school district," Domenech says. "When you escalate to large urban school districts the numbers are impossible in order to adhere to CDC guidelines."

The estimate comes amid statewide budget cuts that have already or are likely to put a 10% to 25% dent in school budgets for the upcoming academic year, with some cuts as high as 35% already expected for the 2021-22 school year.

Los Angeles Unified School District and five other large urban districts in California have already notified Gov. Gavin Newsom that a projected $7 billion budget cut would dash all hopes of opening in time for the fall semester.

"It's impossible to do," Domenech says. "It's becoming an overwhelming problem."

The biggest ticket items associated with reopening in line with CDC guidance include hiring additional school personnel: A 3,700-student school district should expect to spend an additional $448,000 to hire more custodial staff to keep up with frequent cleaning recommendations, an additional $400,000 to ensure one nurse for each school and an additional $384,000 to hire one aide per school bus to screen student temperatures before they board.

Also cost prohibitive is the additional $169,000 to resume before- and after-school child care with proper social distancing and cleaning protocols, as well as the additional $148,000 to provide disposable masks for the estimated 30% of students who won't bring them from home.

The biggest concern of most school superintendents as they plan for how to reopen safely is the cost, as well as the logistics, associated with running buses at 25% capacity to comply with recommended social distancing guidelines. And the cost analysis from the associations deems it nearly impossible because it is cost-prohibitive.

"Bus fleets would need to quadruple in size to safely transport 100% of students under COVID-19 circumstances, which is financially unfeasible for districts," the analysis reads.

Shane Hotchkiss, the superintendent of Bermudian Springs School District in York Springs, CONTINUE READING: Report: Schools Need a Federal Bailout in Order to Reopen | Education News | US News

MN Police Union President, Bob Kroll, Needs to Go. | deutsch29

MN Police Union President, Bob Kroll, Needs to Go. | deutsch29

MN Police Union President, Bob Kroll, Needs to Go.

I am pro-union. I believe that as a public school teacher, I benefit from belonging to a union and from the collective bargaining that my local union engages in on behalf of teachers and staff in my school district.

That does not mean that I would bend to the pressure of union leadership to support colleagues whose actions disparage the profession and reputations of other collegagues and myself.

Thus, I support the following position of Minnesota AFL-CIO president, Bill McCarthy regarding Minneapolis Police Union president, Bob Kroll:

MINNESOTA AFL-CIO CALLS FOR MINNEAPOLIS POLICE UNION PRESIDENT BOB KROLL’S IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION

Jun 2 2020

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement calling on Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis President Bob Kroll to immediately resign:

Minneapolis Police Union President, Bob Kroll, has failed the Labor Movement and the residents of Minneapolis. Bob Kroll has a long history of bigoted remarks and complaints of violence made against him. As union President, he antagonizes and disparages members of the Black community. He advocates for military-style police tactics making communities less safe and the police force more deadly. Despite his conduct, Kroll was reelected with an overwhelming majority. If Bob Kroll does not value the lives that he is sworn to protect, then we can only expect more death under his leadership.

Now, instead of seeking meaningful dialogue or reform to make sure what happened to George Floyd never happens again, Bob Kroll is trying CONTINUE READING: MN Police Union President, Bob Kroll, Needs to Go. | deutsch29

SPECIAL EDITION PROTEST AND EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

SPECIAL EDITION PROTEST AND EDUCATION

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

National Superintendents Organization Estimates The Added Costs Of Reopening Schools & It Looks Bad

by Larry Ferlazzo / 6min

Report: No Way to Reopen Schools Safely Without Federal Bailout is the headline of a new article in U.S. News. It talks about a new report from the School Superintendents Association that estimates that in order to reopen under the CDC guidelines, “the additional expenses for an average school district of about 3,700 students total $1.8 million.” For a district like ours in Sacramento, that could

“Teachers ‘Cannot Stop at Conversations’ About Racism”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Teachers ‘Cannot Stop at Conversations’ About Racism is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Three educators discuss what teachers can do in response to George Floyd’s death, including not stopping at conversations and instead moving to action.

Why PayPal Members Need This Genius Tool

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If you aren't using this tool when you shop online, you're probably wasting money.

YESTERDAY

The Best Online Tools For Remote Teaching – Share Your Own

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

geralt / Pixabay Here are my choices for the best online tools for remote teaching. This list is divided into three sections: 1.The tools I used teaching ELLs and my Theory of Knowledge classes this past year and which I expect to continue to use next fall. 2. The tools I plan on using when I teach ELL U.S. History next year. 3. Tools I’m exploring over the summer to determine if I want to use th

Guest Post: “My Year As An ELL Peer Tutor”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 14h

Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Venegas is graduating from our school, Luther Burbank High School, this week. She is an amazing student and person. She volunteered as a peer tutor all last summer and in previous summers to help Newcomers, and did the same during the school year – including working as a peer tutor in our virtual daily live classroom. She wrote this guest post. You might also be intereste

Video: Barack & Michelle Obama’s Commencement Addresses Today For High School Graduates

20by Larry Ferlazzo / 14h

Barack and Michelle Obama gave commencement addresses today as part of Dear Class of 2020 . They were both good, though I think Michelle’s was a bit better and more useful as a teaching tool with students. Here are both of them. Let me know if you disagree! I’m adding this post to The Best Commencement Speeches .

“Four Ways Schools Can Support Teachers to Become ‘Actively Anti-Racist’

by Larry Ferlazzo / 18h

Four Ways Schools Can Support Teachers to Become ‘Actively Anti-Racist’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Three educators share what schools should and should not do to support teachers to become anti-racists, such as lifting up black student voices and bypassing prepackaged “character-building” lessons that don’t address racism. Here are some excerpts:

What Advice Would You Offer For Having Online Asynchronous Class Discussions When Teaching Remotely?

35by Larry Ferlazzo / 21h

pencilparker / Pixabay I didn’t really have any asynchronous online discussions this year – my ELL classes met live daily, and my IB Theory Of Knowledge classes focused on preparing and giving live Oral Presentations, as well as writing a final essay. However, there’s no time like the present for preparing for the future! I know many teachers have used Google Classroom to facilitate asynchronous

Research Studies Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 22h

I often write about research studies from various fields and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published that it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve started writing a “round-up” of some of them each week or every other week as a regular feature . By the way, you mig

June 12th Is The World Day Against Child Labor – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

PublicDomainArchive / Pixabay The United Nations has declared June 12th to be The World Day Against Child Labor . You might be interested in The Best Resources For The World Day Against Child Labor .

Helpful Resources For Teaching About George Floyd’s Death

20by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Wokandapix / Pixabay I’ve been sharing lots o resources about George Floyd’s murder (see PART SIX: IMPORTANT TWEETS ABOUT THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD ). I thought it would be useful to take the 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007