Broadie Antwan Wilson, schools chief in Oakland, Calif., expected to be nominated for D.C. schools chancellor - The Washington Post

Antwan Wilson, schools chief in Oakland, Calif., expected to be nominated for D.C. schools chancellor - The Washington Post:

Antwan Wilson, schools chief in Oakland, Calif., expected to be nominated for D.C. schools chancellor

 D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser is expected to name Antwan Wilson — the superintendent of schools in Oakland, Calif. — as her nominee to lead the District’s school system on Tuesday, according to city officials, betting that an outsider with fresh eyes will bring new ideas for addressing wide achievement gaps between the city’s needy and affluent children.

Bowser’s pick for schools chancellor is one of her most politically consequential decisions and signals a willingness to take a chance: The city’s school system has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s fastest improving over the past nine years, a period of sweeping and often controversial change ushered in first by chancellor Michelle Rhee and then continued by Rhee’s friend and onetime deputy, Kaya Henderson.

But Henderson stepped down earlier this year, and Bowser has decided against the continuity of an internal candidate, choosing instead to go with Wilson, who has built a reputation as an up-and-comer within the same education reform circles that are home to Rhee and Henderson.

The news of Wilson’s hire was first reported Monday night by NBC4. The D.C. Council must confirm his nomination to make it official.

An African American man, Wilson arrives at a time when Bowser and the school system are particularly focused on improving outcomes for young black men, whose test scores and graduation rates lag city averages.

Wilson, 44, has said he knows that schools can change the trajectory for poor children because he was one himself. He grew up with a single mother and a lot of instability, living in 15 homes and going to 10 schools between kindergarten and high school graduation.

He made it, he has said, with excellent teachers helping him navigate the path to and through college.

“Schools can save lives,” he said earlier this year in his state of the schools address for Oakland Unified School District. “They saved mine.”

Wilson began his career as a teacher in North Carolina and Kansas before landing in Denver for nearly a decade, first as principal and then as an assistant superintendent. He was credited with helping to turn around struggling schools, increase enrollment in Advanced Placement courses and boost high school graduation rates.

Wilson underwent leadership training at the Broad Academy, an initiative to train urban school superintendents funded by billionaire philanthropist and charter school supporter Eli Broad.

The Oakland school board hired Wilson in 2014 as the financially troubled district was emerging from a long period of state receivership. During his two and a half years there, graduation rates have risen and suspension rates have fallen.

But Wilson ran into a buzz saw of opposition as he pushed to create a more cooperative environment for Oakland’s traditional schools and its charter schools, which enroll about 25 percent of the city’s 48,000 public school students. His proposal for a common enrollment system — which he argued would simplify a chaotic enrollment process that was too onerous for Antwan Wilson, schools chief in Oakland, Calif., expected to be nominated for D.C. schools chancellor - The Washington Post:

Obama Administration Calls On Schools To Stop Abusing Kids | The Huffington Post

Obama Administration Calls On Schools To Stop Abusing Kids | The Huffington Post:

Obama Administration Calls On Schools To Stop Abusing Kids

In the 2013-2014 school year, more than 100,000 students were subjected to some form of corporal punishment.

Although 28 states and the District of Columbia explicitly prohibit the act of physical discipline in school, corporal punishment is hardly a relic of the past. In the 2013-2014 school year, over 110,000 students were struck, paddled or flogged in the classroom, according to the most recent available data from the federal government. Now, the Obama administration is taking steps to reduce this number further.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. sent a letter to governors and state school officers imploring them to eliminate the practice from their schools. Currently, 15 states have laws expressly allowing corporal punishment, and seven more states do not have rules prohibiting the practice. The letter does not provide legal guidance but general reasoning for banning physical discipline. 

Corporal punishment “teaches students that physical force is an acceptable means of solving problems, undermining efforts to promote nonviolent techniques for conflict resolution,” says the letter. “The very acts of corporal punishment that are permissible when applied to children in schools under some state laws would be prohibited as criminal assault or battery when applied to adults in the community in those very same states.”

As it is currently practiced, corporal punishment does not impact all students equally. While black students only make up about 16 percent of the student population, in 2013-2014 more than one-third of public school students subjected to corporal punishment were black. During that time, black girls were 2.9 times more likely to get physically disciplined than white girls. Students with disabilities also face disproportionate rates of corporal punishment. 

“These data and disparities shock the conscience,” says the letter.

Moreover, the letter states that research simply does not bear out the usefulness of these practices. Corporal punishment does not deter misbehavior, and actually makes a child more likely to act aggressively. Besides the immediate physical effects of corporal punishment, the practice can cause long-term mental health damage, making a child more likely to develop anxiety disorders or a dependency on drugs and alcohol, research shows.  

The education department letter comes a day after the National Women’s Law Center issued its own statement to policymakers, also urging an end to corporal punishment. The center’s letter was issued on behalf of more than 60 organizations, including the American Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychological Association and the NAACP.

The education secretary explained the letter on a call Monday with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; Nathan Monell, executive director of the national PTA; and Fatima Goss Graves, senior vice president for program at the National Women’s Law Center. 

 “Tradition is not a justification for ignoring the facts or failing to take steps to protect the rights of children,” said King.Obama Administration Calls On Schools To Stop Abusing Kids | The Huffington Post:

Top 5 Reasons @TeachForAmerica and ed reformers LOVE Trump and Rhee – Cloaking Inequity

Top 5 Reasons @TeachForAmerica and ed reformers LOVE Trump and Rhee – Cloaking Inequity:

Top 5 Reasons @TeachForAmerica and ed reformers LOVE Trump and Rhee

Word on the street is that Teach For America (TFA) wants to publicly endorse Michelle Rhee (TFA alum) for US Secretary of Education. Apparently there is some pushback within the organization against the alliance of TFA, Rhee and Trump. The election of Donald Trump has positioned TFA, Education Post, the Democrats for Education Reform (DFERs), Black Alliance for Education Options (BAEO) and all of the other purportedly “civil rights” focused education reformers to get EVERYTHING they want— billions of dollars in privately-controlled school choice from the neoliberal president.

Here are five reasons the education reformers LOVE the idea of Rhee and Trump.

1. Michelle Rhee and education reformers are hostile to teachers’ right to organize. Trump’s presidency poses potential threat to labor unions.

After creating conflict in DC for three years, Rhee went on to found Students First. Students First’s biggest publicity stunt was arguably their State Policy Report Card (SPRC). A look at the 2014 version clearly shows bias in their “methodology” against states that provide teacher input and say in education policy. For example, states were dinged in the report card if teacher evaluation was subject to collective bargaining. Her tenure at Students First was short lived when it was announced Michelle Rhee Will Leave CEO Job At StudentsFirst.

“People often say to me the teachers unions are here to stay, that they are big players, that I have to find a way to get along. I actually disagree with that.”

“People tell me the unions are an inevitable part of this [school reform]. My thing is, what has that gotten us so far? All the collaboration and holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’?”

Read more here: Who’s right on unions?: #CesarChavez or @Campbell_Brown and @MichelleRhee

2. Donald Trump likes privately-controlled school choice. Michelle Rhee and the education reformers also LOVE privately controlled school choice.

In 2014, I had a debate/conversation after a @MichelleRhee tweet about her “tiredness” with the traditional school versus charter school debate. I tweeted that I was “totally tired too” of people “ignoring data” that traditional schools outperform charters. The debate also often ignores the access and equity issues that plague charters too. (See all of Cloaking Inequity’s posts on charters here) Debates on Twitter usually get lost in the annals of twitter history— so I turned to Storify to log the debate/conversation. What is Storify? It “helps making sense of what people post on social media.” Users curate voices and turn them into stories.Click the link below to follow the Storified conversation about charters versus traditional public schools with Michelle Rhee et al. It’s worth the click. Enjoy.

https://storify.com/ProfessorJVH/charter-schools-michelle-rhee-julian-vasquez-heili

3. Trump and Rhee both live amongst scandal. You know, like a reality show. Rhee’s husband scandal has a strange twist related to school choice.

A Deadspin article Secret Emails Show Kevin Johnson Spying On, Attempting To Bankrupt Enemies focuses on the release of Kevin Johnson mayoral emails that he has fought long and hard in court to prevent releasing… and there is an interesting twist… charter schools. The plot is Top 5 Reasons @TeachForAmerica and ed reformers LOVE Trump and Rhee – Cloaking Inequity:

What About the Crazy Talk of “Moving Students into High Quality Seats”? | janresseger

What About the Crazy Talk of “Moving Students into High Quality Seats”? | janresseger:

What About the Crazy Talk of “Moving Students into High Quality Seats”?

What Could Go Wrong?

These days, as part of the rhetoric of technocratic school reform, you often hear people talk about the goal of moving more students into high quality seats.  It’s a puzzling way of talking, as though education is purely a function of any student’s placement–part of the idea that moving kids around from school to school via school choice will make up for a state’s failure to invest enough money to ensure that every school has excellent teachers, a full curriculum, and a range of co-curricular opportunities. Such talk is a symptom of a lack of public generosity. School districts intent on moving  kids to “high quality seats” invest lots of money in exclusive magnets and boutique charters instead of the even more expensive project of investing enough in the traditional neighborhood elementary and middle schools and the comprehensive high schools that serve the mass of any school district’s students. By selecting some children for elite schools, the school district will be able to boast about high scores at “successful” schools and graduation rates at the elite high schools.

In Chicago, due to affirmative action policies at the elite high schools, a significant number of students from families with low income have now been admitted. Researchers from the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research just conducted a study to test how poorer students at selective-admissions high schools are faring.  Here are the assumptions researchers set out to examine:  “High-quality public schools may be a lever for closing the gap by providing equitable educational opportunities for students who have fewer economic resources at home. We know that low-income students can succeed in school, but many who are high-performing in elementary school fail to make it to college, suggesting that high-achieving, low-income students may lack good high school options or that there are barriers to entry into high-performing high schools for students who have fewer resources. If selective public schools improve student outcomes for low-income students by a greater amount than they improve outcomes for high-income students, then selective public schools may help close achievement gaps by family income.”

The study’s findings do not confirm the assumptions. “Overall, we find little effect on test scores or educational attainment, but students admitted to selective schools have lower grade What About the Crazy Talk of “Moving Students into High Quality Seats”? | janresseger:

Education Under Trump: Who Will Ride Shotgun, and Who Will Get Locked Out? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Education Under Trump: Who Will Ride Shotgun, and Who Will Get Locked Out? - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Education Under Trump: Who Will Ride Shotgun, and Who Will Get Locked Out?

By Alyson Klein and Andrew Ujifusa

President-elect Donald Trump hasn't picked an education secretary yet, and he didn't talk a great deal about schools on the campaign trail. But his triumph in the election already has radically altered the prospects for various K-12 groups in the next several years, both inside Washington and out.

So with the dust still settling after the Nov. 8 results, who looks set to prosper under the Trump presidency, and who's going to be tempted to put on sackcloth and ashes for a while? We've provided a list below—let us know if you think any group is missing or miscategorized.

Teacher's Pets

The American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation: Two of the bigger and more influential right-leaning think tanks in Washington when it comes to public school policy, AEI and Heritage look well-positioned to serve as an external brain trust for a Trump Education Department (assuming there is one). They are big fans of school choice, the one public school policy area where Trump has discussed details of what he'd like to do, and are consistently skeptical of the federal government's role in education. And AEI's Gerard Robinson has also, separate from his role with the organization, served as a Trump transition team adviser on education. 

That's not to say everyone at those two organizations has professed unyielding support for Trump on K-12. Andy Smarick, the president of the Maryland state school board who recently joined AEI, highlighted Trump's inattention to policy earlier this year. And his AEI colleague Nat Malkus said in an interview before the election that entrusting Trump with education policy was like "giving a teenager a 12-pack and the keys to your car."

Other Beltway groups that could do well include the American Principles Project, which has vigorously opposed the Common Core State Standards (more on that below), and the Cato Institute. 

School Choice Advocates: This includes AEI and Heritage, but also the constellation of groups that support charter schools, vouchers, and education savings accounts around the country. Think of the American Federation for Children and the Foundation for Excellence in Education, as well as more state-specific groups like the Goldwater Institute in Arizona, as examples.

Many charter school advocates will look to advance their cause under Trump. However, those that support charters but not vouchers and ESAs might have a more complicated outlook depending on what happens. In fact, some Democrats who back school choice are very nervous about the prospect about one of their own working in a Trump administration. 

Hoosiers: Let's start with the fact that not only will Indiana Gov. Mike Pence serve as vice president, but he could become Trump's point man for education policy.  

Then there's GOP Rep. Luke Messer, whose proposal last year to make Title I funds for disadvantaged children "portable" to public and private schools could be revived in some form by Trump. Messer said recently he'd be honored to serve as Trump's education secretary, although he added he hasn't been contacted about the position yet. Former Indiana superintendent Tony Bennett has also come up in discussions about possible Education Department leaders in a Trump administration.

And don't forget that GOP Rep. Todd Rokita, also of Indiana, is on the House education committee—he currently leads that panel's K-12 subcommittee. 

States Ready to Push the ESSA Envelope: Peer reviewers picked by the Education Department are slated to review state plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act starting in March 2017. 

It seems unlikely that peer reviewers picked by a Trump administration would be particularly prescriptive or heavy-handed when it comes to these plans, compared to how a Hillary Clinton administration might have handled the situation. That's for several reasons, including the fact that GOP leaders in Congress want to see states (and districts) given lots of freedom when it comes to handling issues like school turnarounds and identifying underperforming subgroups of students.

Enemies of the Common Core: A Trump administration can't get rid of the Common Core State Standards unless it signs a bill banning them outright. Absent that, the administration will be handcuffed when it comes to getting states to drop the standards, thanks to ESSA. And the majority of the states that originally adopted the standards have kept them.

However, common-core foes will certainly be pleased any time Trump or his education secretary uses the megaphone of the presidency to blast the standards. And it's possible that such a push against the standards could cause some states on their own to reconsider their use of the common core. 

People Who Hate the Obama Administration's Draft ESSA Regulations: A variety of groups have come out against the proposed rules for accountability and the requirement for federal money to supplement state and local school spending. However, the latter has probably attracted more, and more vociferous, critics. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the leader of the Senate education committee, had encouraged lawsuits against the Obama administration over its approach to ESSA before Trump's victory.

And what is Alexander saying now about the Obama draft regulations?

 Follow

Sen. Lamar Alexander 

✔@SenAlexander

Says w/ Trump's election, #ESSA will now be implemented as written & this administration's rules/regulations on the law will be overturned

4:45 AM - 11 Nov 2016

 
•  2828 Retweets
 
•  1212 likes

Stuck in Detention

Teachers' Unions: The American Federation of Teachers and the the National Education Association have had a tough row to hoe for almost two decades. First, they tangled with the administration of GOP President George W. Bush on things like standardized testing. Then, they had to fight the Democrats when President Barack Obama pushed through policies, like teacher evaluation through test scores, that the unions really, really didn't like. 

Recently though, things were finally looking up. The unions had successfully worked with Republicans to enact the Every Student Succeeds Act, which seeks to scale back the federal role in accountability. And they endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, early on in her competitive primary, earning themselves a prime seat at her policymaking table. The AFT and NEA poured millions of dollars and hours and hours of manpower into trying to send Clinton to the White House, and came up short. Now, instead of new money for priorities like early-childhood education and school construction, they're stuck having to fight school vouchers and try to keep Congress from cutting education funding. And they aren't likely to have the ear of the White House.

Maybe even worse than all that for the unions? Trump will get to appoint a Supreme Court justice to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat. That new, likely conservative judge, could be on the bench if and when the court decides to revisit the issue of whether unions can collect mandatory service fees from nonmembers. The question was temporarily settled in the unions' favor earlier this year when the justices split 4-4, failing to overturn a lower court's decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, but it could resurface now. Losing the ability to collect those fees in 25 states and the District of Columbia could mean a major decrease in revenue for the unions. 

There's one silver lining in the unions' dark cloud: The new administration is almost certain to toss or tweak regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act that NEA and AFT didn't like.

Civil Rights Groups: These groups had a friend in Obama and Education Secretary John B. King Jr., who made equity the centerpiece of his agenda. Now they're facing a president who got elected despite rhetoric and policy proposals deeply offensive to many blacks, Latinos, Muslims, those with disabilities, and others. Civil rights groups could face a huge battle on immigration. And on education, the incoming Trump administration could rein in the Education Department's office for civil rights, which seeks to blow the whistle on school districts that aren't meeting the needs of English-language learners, students in special education, and other historically overlooked groups of students. What's more, some fear Trump and Company may not put the pedal to the metal when it comes to enforcing the parts of ESSA that the civil rights community fought hard for, including protections for subgroups of students.

Democratic Education "Reformers": Groups pushing for a particular basket of what they calll "reform" strategies had a great run through the first six years of the Obama administration. The education secretary, Arne Duncan, loved to challenge the K-12 status quo. He used unprecedented sums of federal money to push ideas like teacher evaluation through student outcomes, dramatic school turnarounds, changes to teacher preparation, and more. Then, of course, there was a huge backlash, and these groups found many of their favorite priorities scaled back, or totally tossed in ESSA. Behind the scenes, in the run up to the election, many were wary that an incoming Clinton administration would be far more sympathetic to teachers' unions than to their cause. Still, they would have had some influence with her administration, and it's not clear how much Trump will listen to them. Adding insult to injury: Two ballot measures such groups loved went down to defeat on Election Night, including a push to lift the charter cap in Massachusetts and an effort to create a state-run school turnaround district in Georgia. One consolation for these folks: Most Democratic "reformers" support charters. So does Trump. 

The Center for American Progress: The think tank, which does a lot of work on education, was incredibly influential during the Obama administration and was poised provide an incoming Clinton administration with legions of staff and reams of policy proposals. Now more of its energy may be directed at pointing out the pitfalls in Trump's education ideas, or coming up with proposals for congressional Democrats, who don't have control of either chamber of Congress right now. That doesn't sound nearly as satisfying as helping to lay out an education roadmap for a new president. One bright spot: CAP can still seek to support state education agencies or school districts as they roll out ESSA.

Education Department Employees: These folks spent months setting up (and sitting through) negotiated rulemakings, crafting regulations for ESSA, and sifting through more than 20,000 public comments on a proposed accountability regulation alone. Now all that work may go up in smoke, if Trump and Company withdraw some or all of the Obama administration's regulatory proposals, as most folks expect. What's more, Trump has said he wants to downsize or even scrap the department. Even though it would be very, very hard to get rid of the department and most of its programs, it can't be the most fun talking point to hear if you work at 400 Maryland Ave. At a minimum, the agency probably can't expect mega-spending increases or tons of new hires under Trump. Speaking of which ...

Education Funding Advocates: For years, these groups have been trying to stave off cuts to education and other domestic programs. And now that's going to be a lot harder, particularly for folks advocating for smaller programs. Now that the same party is in control of both chambers, Congress may actually come up with a budget deal to get rid of across-the-board cuts to military and domestic programs. And domestic programs are likely to end up on the losing side of that equation. Programs closely associated with the Obama administration, like the Education Innovation and Research Fund, the successor to Investing in Innovation, could be first to the chopping block. One (maybe) bright spot: funding for special education and Impact Aid, something Republicans can usuallly get behind. 

Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia: Scott, an ESSA architect, was at the top of the list to replace Clinton's running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in the Senate if he had become vice-president. Now, he'll be returning as the top Democrat on the House education committee. Scott was able make his mark on ESSA, and was a driving force behind protections for subgroups of students added to the law in conference. But with a Republican now in the White House, he's likely to have less influence next year. Education Under Trump: Who Will Ride Shotgun, and Who Will Get Locked Out? - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

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Photos from top: President-elect Donald Trump, right, and Vice President-elect Mike Pence; Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind.Education Under Trump: Who Will Ride Shotgun, and Who Will Get Locked Out? - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: N.Y. Dems try and regroup behind Cuomo after the Clinton debacle

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: N.Y. Dems try and regroup behind Cuomo after the Clinton debacle:

N.Y. Dems try and regroup behind Cuomo after the Clinton debacle

Fallout from the Clinton debacle.

N.Y. Gov. Cuomo, is not wasting any time. He's positioning himself for 2020 and trying to prevent a takeover of the party by progressives.

Daily News' Kenneth Lovett reports:

Gov. Cuomo this past week met separately with a group of powerful union leaders and a group of donors to talk about how to move forward in the Donald Trump era...

...Among those in attendance were SEIU Local 1199 President George Gresham, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York head Gary LaBarbera, state AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, Hotel and Motel Trades Council President Peter Ward, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum, and Transit Workers Union head John Samuelsen...

...Also present were city teachers union president Michael Mulgrew and his predecessor, Randi Weingarten, who now leads the American Federation of Teachers. Both were warring with Cuomo just two years ago...

...And he told the group he discussed with California Gov. Jerry Brown that if the two states and their federal delegations banded together “they can really make a huge difference from the coasts.”

Strategic plan include keeping control of the party apparatus, stopping Trump on Supreme Court appointments and taking power back the Congress in the midterms. Cuomo will also have to decide if he'll run for gov again in 2018.

Look for similar moves here towards a new "united front" here in Chicago, to take down Gov. Rauner.

One question is, can this bloc unite with Schumer/Sanders/Warren/Ellison/deBlasio to keep the party together? It's doubtful. Without their progressive base, Dems are headed for more defeats. Look for sharp inner-party struggle in the next few weeks, months, years.

Who can lead? Buckle up.Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: N.Y. Dems try and regroup behind Cuomo after the Clinton debacle:

More Books! | Deborah Meier on Education

More Books! | Deborah Meier on Education:

More Books!

Here is my latest in both some new(ish) books that I want to recommend as well as a few older ones that are still worth reading.

The Artisan Teaching Model,
by Kenneth Baum and Daniel Krulwich

“Explore a powerful and innovative new approach to leadership development within schools. Based on the authors’ success in a South Bronx school, this book merges the idea of teamwork with the concept of an artisan-apprentice relationship. As in any apprenticeship, newer members of the profession work alongside experts (“artisans”). As apprentices become more skilled, they take on larger and more substantial roles and continue to work alongside, and together with, artisans. Over time, the apprentices become artisans themselves and in turn share the art and craft of teaching with newer teachers.”

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood—and the rest of y’all tooBy Christopher Emdin

“Drawing on his own experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in classrooms as a young man of color and merging his experiences with more than a decade of teaching and researching in urban America, award-winning educator Christopher Emdin offers a new lens on an approach to teaching and learning in urban schools. He begins by taking to task the perception of urban youth of color as unteachable, and he challenges educators to embrace and respect each student’s culture and to reimagine the classroom as a site where roles are reversed and students become the experts in their own learning.”

Mismeasuring Our Livesby Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen ad Jean-Paul Fitoussi

On the problems with using GDP for measuring economic process (which is as biased politically as measuring chidren’s education their teachers effectiveness and the school itself) and offers alternatives.   (Then reread “Mismeasuring Man” on testing.)

Choice Time: How to Deepen Learning Through Inquiry and Play, PreK-2by Renee Dinnerstein

“In her inspirational, well-researched book, Renée describes the kinds of learning opportunities that all parents want for their own children. Her accessible writing style makes it easy to envision the environment, teaching, and community she describes with such clarity you’ll want to get started on her ideas tomorrow.” —Jennifer Serravallo

And go back and read  Parental Involvement and the Political Principle by Seymour Sarason, as well as his book Productive Learning with Stanislaw Glazek

Also a reminder of a book I recently reviewed here:

Education and the Commercial Mindset 
by Samuel Abrams
On keeping the market place and privatization out of public education.

Meanwhile, please come up with wonderful ideas to protect the vulnerable and rebuild the Democratic Party.  (Reminder: the Democratic Party got more votes in both the Presidential race and the senatorial races.)

More Books! | Deborah Meier on Education:

Audio: Schools increasingly seek out tolerance workshops post-election | 89.3 KPCC

Audio: Schools increasingly seek out tolerance workshops post-election | 89.3 KPCC:

Schools increasingly seek out tolerance workshops post-election

Fall would typically be a slow period in the Anti-Defamation League’s education department. The group usually holds about 20 anti-bias programs at schools during the autumn months.

Not this year.

“We’ve seen a 50 percent increase this fall,” said Dave Reynolds, the education director of the League’s Pacific Southwest Regional Office. “Some began because schools reached out to us before the election to say, 'Listen, the elections has brought a level of rhetoric into my classroom that I need help for my teachers or for my students.'”

He said traditional public schools, charter schools, private and parochial schools have called. The calls are confidential, but he said the incidents the schools report are troubling.

“Everything from swastikas being painted or drawn or carved into trees to Muslim students having hijabs ripped off, to Latino students being targeted with comments like, 'now that Donald Trump has been elected president you’re all going to be kicked out and have to go home,'” Reynolds said.

Schools pay the ADL to run half-day or longer programs that train teachers on how to recognize bias and address it in themselves and their students. One of the program’s goals for students is to empower them to help stop speech and actions that could lead to bullying.

Last year, the group reached 3,100 students through these programs, Reynolds said.

As reports of bias and hate have increased in schools after Donald Trump’s election, school leaders have had to decide how to address the incidents, whether to keep lessons focused on the students involved in a particular incident or to send an anti-bias message to the larger student body. Many schools are increasingly seeking outside help.

“We want future leaders in our communities to be educated and to be tolerant and to be willing to have discussions with each other, as opposed to just stereotyping and creating these problems,” said Orange Unified Superintendent Mike Christiensen.

His school district hired O.C. Human Relations about six years ago, he said, after he heard anti-gay and transgender talk among students on some campuses. About sixty high school students and a dozen teachers and administrators, he said, go through the group’s Walk in My Shoes program each year.

“They have talks based on people who actually come forward who have experienced bullying. They’ll have people from the gay rights community, they will have Muslims come and talk, Jewish people come and talk," Christiensen said. "It’s a very wide cross section of Orange County,”

O.C. Human Relations said it reached 20,000 students last year through its various anti-bias and bullying programs.

Not all school districts seek outside help.

Some school districts provide no anti-bias training to students, or have their own teachers provide similar instruction to what the outside groups provide.

L.A. Unified has its own in-house office that provides anti-bias training.

Educators said it’s necessary, even at the earliest grades.

“We just did a program for early childhood educators across L.A. County,” said Reynolds of the Anti Defamation League.

At the program, he said, educators talked about how 3- and 4-year-old children talked about and used building blocks to build walls, imitating the language they’ve heard but without understanding the implications.Audio: Schools increasingly seek out tolerance workshops post-election | 89.3 KPCC: