Advice to Parents: Forget the Worksheets! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Advice to Parents: Forget the Worksheets! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Advice to Parents: Forget the Worksheets!

Joel Westheimer has advice for parents who are at home organizing their children’s days.

FORGET THE WORKSHEETS AND TRYING TO REPLICATE SCHOOL

I am really struck by the variety of media inquiries I’ve been getting about the impacts of Covid-19 on education, what parents should be doing at home, and so on. The interest doesn’t surprise me (I am an education columnist on public radio), but the preoccupation with whether kids will “fall behind” or with how they will “catch up” has. I see hundreds of stories, websites, and YouTube videos that aim to help parents create miniature classrooms at home. Maybe some parents have folding chairs they can bring up from the basement and put in rows. Where’s that big blackboard we used to have? Is there a run on chalk at Costco?

Stop worrying about the vague and evidence-less idea of children “falling behind” or “catching up.” This is a world-wide pause in life-as-usual. We’ve spent the last 25 years over-scheduling kids, over-testing kids, putting undue pressure on them to achieve more and more and play less and less. The result? Several generations of children and young adults who are stressed-out, medicated, alienated, and depressed.

This is not a time for worksheets. This is an opportunity CONTINUE READING: Advice to Parents: Forget the Worksheets! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Ed Notes Online: Another Teacher Dies of Corona Virus -- A disturbing timeline and possible coverup

Ed Notes Online: Another Teacher Dies of Corona Virus -- A disturbing timeline and possible coverup

Another Teacher Dies of Corona Virus -- A disturbing timeline and possible coverup

Unlike other city agencies, including the police department, the education department has declined to say how many of its employees have died due to the coronavirus or are infected. A principal, paraprofessional, and school safety agent are among those whose deaths have been publicly reported.

Asked Wednesday about why the education department has not confirmed infection or fatality rates, schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said: “You have to keep in mind that the police and fire department are out right now serving the public.” ..... Chalbeat

And teachers aren’t?.... Leonie Haimson

“there is no mechanism” for the department to track how many teachers have tested positive.... Chalkbeat

WTF - they track everything else - too busy with the usual DOE bullshit that doesn't seem to change no matter who is in charge. Here's another beauty:

.... some educators have criticized the department for its shift in policy to no longer confirm coronavirus infections, leaving it to educators to inform each other if they are concerned the infection is spreading within their school community. 

Department officials have countered that because the coronavirus is widespread in New York City, educators were not at greater risk when reporting to school than they were elsewhere in the community.

Double wtf.

I posted the Sue Edelman piece on coverups at the DOE over teachers who were testing positive: Carranzavirus: Sue Edelman, NY Post: DOE, DeB Blood on hands.

Chalkbeat also did a piece on the Brooklyn Tech story on March 19, the last day they had to report as the teacher  CONTINUE READING: Ed Notes Online: Another Teacher Dies of Corona Virus -- A disturbing timeline and possible coverup

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Path Opens To Killing Public Schools

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Path Opens To Killing Public Schools

FL: Path Opens To Killing Public Schools

If there was a state most likely to grab the coronaviral opportunity to gut its public school system, it would have to be Florida, some those ducks appear to be lining up.

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) has had its share of rough times. Started by the state in the 90s, spun into a private business (a "publicly-funded non-profit," so a charter school), and then mired in a mess of incompetence and corruption, the entire shooting match had its board replaced by the state, which installed a bunch of politically connected board members, and a half-assed audit was ordered up. Now the Board of Trustees is the Sate Board of Education, headed by evolution-denier Andy Tuck. That was just last year, but apparently everyone is feeling much more confident about FLVS no because, as trumpeted by reformster cheerleading site redefinED, FLVS is "preparing to blast off."

By "blast off" they mean "get a huge infusion of money." FLVS has already been handed some great help from the state legislature, which mandates that all Florida students must take at least one on-line course in order to graduate. That's a great deal for FLVS, which is paid by taxpayers based on CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Path Opens To Killing Public Schools

Teacher Tom: "Their Language Will Always be Adequate for Their Own Understanding"

Teacher Tom: "Their Language Will Always be Adequate for Their Own Understanding"

"Their Language Will Always be Adequate for Their Own Understanding"

We were on the playground, down on our knees in the wood chips, playing with rocks, sticks, general debris, and a variety of broken or otherwise orphaned toys. Sylvia suggested, "Let's play a story."

We all knew exactly what she was talking about even though none of us had heard that particular phrase before. It delighted me, striking me as a uniquely inventive way of expressing herself. It was an invitation to join her in an idea, and not just any idea, but an idea to work together to create more ideas. Her phrase opened a door of understanding for me, giving me insight into something I thought I previously fully understood. I was so impressed that I've since made the expression my own, "Let's play a story," continuing to use it to this day.

"(T)here is no reason to give children "language tools" in order to facilitate clear thinking, intelligence, or greater knowledge. Their own use of language will always be adequate for their own understanding."  ~Eleanor Duckworth

Sonya definitely understood what she was proposing and her language was obviously equal to her understanding. She was an avid player of pretend and her understanding of it, judging from her use of words to talk about it, told me that she really CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: "Their Language Will Always be Adequate for Their Own Understanding"

Federal Coronavirus Relief Act Will Provide Urgently Needed Money for Public Schools, But Not Nearly Enough | janresseger

Federal Coronavirus Relief Act Will Provide Urgently Needed Money for Public Schools, But Not Nearly Enough | janresseger

Federal Coronavirus Relief Act Will Provide Urgently Needed Money for Public Schools, But Not Nearly Enough

Education Week‘s Andrew Ujifusa contrasts the public education support in the new federal coronavirus stimulus passed this week by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump to the 2009 federal stimulus passed during the Obama administration to address the Great Recession: “Remember the last time we had a big federal stimulus for education? The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ended up being a lot smaller than the coronavirus aid package President Donald Trump signed last week, but it included much more money for education in coping with the impact of the Great Recession. And it also teed up President Barack Obama’s education agenda for his two terms… The majority of the 2009 stabilization cash—$48.6 billion—went out to states by formula for early learning, K-12, and postsecondary education. The remaining money? It was earmarked for Race to the Top and the Investing in What Works and Innovation programs.” (Emphasis is mine.)

Let’s pause for a moment and express gratitude that this week the Trump administration has not earmarked any of what will be desperately needed education relief funding to force states to qualify to participate in a competitive grantmaking process like Race to the Top.  Remember when, just to qualify for money from that particular federal stimulus program, states were forced to grade their teachers according to their students’ test scores and spend the money on rapid school turnaround plans like firing principals and teachers, charterizing schools, and closing schools. In this very significant way, we are all much better off.

But, according to experts, we are also worse off in 2020 than in 2009.  Why?  So far, at least, there is a whole lot less federal money available to meet the challenges public schools will need to address in the current emergency and as they try to get back up and running in the context of what is likely to be a state fiscal crisis. All the things states tax in order to generate the revenue to operate public services are now losing money. Sadly many businesses are closing and many people are losing their jobs. State budgets are likely to be much reduced in the immediate future.

The Education Law Center’s David Sciarra, Jessica Levin, and Wendy Lecker provide the CONTINUE READING: Federal Coronavirus Relief Act Will Provide Urgently Needed Money for Public Schools, But Not Nearly Enough | janresseger

NYC Educator: Better Than Nothing

NYC Educator: Better Than Nothing

Better Than Nothing

 I've never done online instruction before. I've been trying different things almost every day, kind of throwing darts to see what sticks.

The lesson I spent the most time on was a song called Morning Has Broken. I really love that song. My goal was to get students to love it too. The first time I taught it, it fell flat. The vocabulary was a little rugged for my newcomers.

But I got a chance to do it again. The second time, I reviewed the vocabulary a second time and spent more time on it. It wasn't the best lesson I'd ever delivered, but my students were a little more engaged. Maybe I leaned on the more eager participants a little too much, in an effort to not bomb twice in a row.

 This week I'm moving back toward things I'd use in my physical classroom, and by next week I'll be giving more at-home assignments. I'll try not to give them more than 15 minutes worth per class. I hear they are overworked.

When I'm in a classroom, I'm always looking around to see who's listening and who's lost in space. If a students head goes down, my voice might get remarkably loud as I'm CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Better Than Nothing

Several Colleges Waive ACT/SAT, Other Admission Requirements, Due to Coronavirus | deutsch29

Several Colleges Waive ACT/SAT, Other Admission Requirements, Due to Coronavirus | deutsch29

Several Colleges Waive ACT/SAT, Other Admission Requirements, Due to Coronavirus

For high school seniors unable to take the ACT and SAT, a number of colleges and universities are waiving testing and other requirements as part of admission for fall 2020 and possibly beyond.

From the March 30, 2020, Inside Higher Ed:

Colleges are dropping the SAT or ACT for admissions, they are waiving fees and they are extending deadlines. These are some of the ways admissions officials are responding to the coronavirus — and they’re just getting started in what is likely to be an unprecedented and potentially difficult spring.

At least 17 colleges have dropped the SAT or ACT in recent weeks for one or two admissions cycles, specifically citing the impact of COVID-19.

Boston University announced that it will go test optional for those applying in the fall of 2021 or the spring of 2022, but only those two semesters. …

Tufts University announced a three-year experiment with going test optional. …

In Oregon, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University announced that they would no longer require the SAT or the ACT, permanently. …

The approach of combining concern over COVID-19 and equity concerns generally is prompting many colleges to act.

Among them is Drury University….

Scripps College announced a similar change and said that the policy “will CONTINUE READING: Several Colleges Waive ACT/SAT, Other Admission Requirements, Due to Coronavirus | deutsch29

CURMUDGUCATION: Of Pandemics And Teacher Motivation

CURMUDGUCATION: Of Pandemics And Teacher Motivation

Of Pandemics And Teacher Motivation

Remember that time that schools were shut down because of a pandemic, and all the teachers said, "Yippee! Extra vacation! I am out of here" and all jumped in their Porches and drove to their beach homes?

Yeah, neither do I.

Here's what I'll remember. Teacher after teacher, from the ones in my Twitter feeds to the ones in my email to the ones that I know personally, sharing how miserable and worried they are, how they can't sleep for worrying about their students. Teacher after teacher frustrated about a lack of clear direction and leadership-- can we work? how can we work? what resources are we going to be given, or do we just have to hunt down the right tech ourselves?

And the scrambling. I'll never forget that when our governor finally closed schools, he announced it after 3:00 on a Friday afternoon, leaving many teachers no time to say "see you soon" to students or to grab materials from their rooms (this morning, my wife was finally allowed back into her classroom for twenty minutes, to grab whatever she could). The scrambling mixed in with the waiting for communication from bosses, political leaders, or a chance to connect with colleagues.

The scrambling was everywhere, with some teachers expected to convert to some sort of crisis schooling model in twenty-four hours. The varied and bizarre obstacles (like these teachers who work where wi-fi and cellphones are illegal).

Plus the pitching in. A thousand little stories, like the teachers who helped out medical workers with CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Of Pandemics And Teacher Motivation

Please take action NOW on the state budget & cancelling Regents exams! | Class Size Matters

Please take action NOW on the state budget & cancelling Regents exams! | Class Size Matters 

Please take action NOW on the state budget & cancelling Regents exams!  

Dear Friends,

1 -Sadly, it looks like the state budget that was just voted on by the NY Senate will freeze education funding for next year, which given increased costs will be experienced in many schools and districts like a cut. Please call your Assemblymembers now and ask them to vote no on the education budget, and to raise revenue instead by boosting taxes on ultra-millionaires. You can find their phone numbers by filling your address in here. But do this ASAP as they’re due to vote today.

2- Please also send a letter to the State Education Commissioner and the Board of Regents, demanding that they cancel the Regents exams immediately. It is simply unfair to require students to pass a series of high-stakes exams to graduate from high school given that their education has been hugely disrupted by the school shutdowns and the coronavirus pandemic. You can send them a letter by clicking here.

3- I interviewed Randi Weingarten yesterday on my WBAI radio show “Talk out of School” where we discussed the Governor’s order that schools cancel spring break, on the need to eliminate the Regents exams this year, about the threat to schools of looming budget cuts and to privacy by the rapid adoption of ed tech programs, and about Randi’s proposal that students should be assigned a capstone project of their own choosing this year instead of trying to complete the standard curriculum. You can listen to our conversation here.

Hope you’re all staying healthy and safe, Leonie

Please take action NOW on the state budget & cancelling Regents exams! | Class Size Matters 

The Great Zoom-School Experiment | The New Yorker

The Great Zoom-School Experiment | The New Yorker

The Great Zoom-School Experiment

In some ways, the Lang School, a small, private school in the Financial District, was well-suited to the age of the coronavirus. Lang, which has students in grades two through twelve, is a “2e” school, which stands for “twice exceptional.” The term refers to gifted students who also have some form of learning disability such as dyslexia, ADHD, or mild autism. Such students present all kinds of teaching challenges, and so Micaela Bracamonte, the founder and head of school, said, “I seek out teachers who are flexible and improvisational and adaptable. A lot of them have an arts background.”

On Wednesday, March 11th, the day the World Health Organization announced that covid-19 was officially a pandemic, the school’s staff sprang into action. They spent two days setting up the transition to remote learning—configuring Zoom, developing lesson plans. Online classes commenced on Tuesday, March 17th. By Wednesday, Bracamonte was getting frantic e-mails from the parents of second and third graders. For those students, she said, “it was clear that it was a disaster.” The problem had to do with the teaching format. Older students were taking live classes via Zoom. But the New York State Association of Independent Schools and other pedagogical authorities had recommended “asynchronous learning” for younger children. The six- and seven-year-olds were given assignments to complete on their own time, with their parents acting as presumed enforcers. The result was a “mini revolt,” Bracamonte said. “The kids were just not doing the work. And the parents were exasperated.” CONTINUE READING: The Great Zoom-School Experiment | The New Yorker

Los Angeles: Large Number of Students Get No Instruction | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: Large Number of Students Get No Instruction | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: Large Number of Students Get No Instruction

Howard Blume and Sonali Kohl’s report on the large number of students in Los Angeles who are getting no instruction during the shutdown.

About one-third of some 120,000 Los Angeles high school students have not logged onto online classes every day, and 15,000 are absent from all online learning as efforts to continue distance learning fall short, according to the school district.

The disappointing figures were released Monday by L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner during a morning video update.

“It’s simply not acceptable that we lose touch with 15,000 young adults or that many students aren’t getting the education they should be,” Beutner said in prepared remarks. “This will take some time and a good bit of trial and error to get it right. And it will take the continued patience and commitment of all involved — students, families and teachers.”

Beutner says he hopes the online reach will improve as more families take advantage of free computers provided by L.A. Unified and free internet through community hot spots that Verizon is setting up through a contract with the nation’s second-largest school system.

 “The great big digital divide many have spoken about is CONTINUE READING: Los Angeles: Large Number of Students Get No Instruction | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jeff Bryant: Homeschooling Movement Sees Opportunity During Health Calamity - LA Progressive

Homeschooling Movement Sees Opportunity During Health Calamity - LA Progressive

Homeschooling Movement Sees Opportunity During Health Calamity

n the early days of the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., when the number of known cases was barely cresting 1,000, advocates for homeschooling were greeting news of the outbreak as an opportunity to promote their cause.

“While the virus has caused illness and hardship for many, keeping children out of school is not a global calamity,” wrote libertarian think tank operative Kerry McDonald in Forbes on March 11, two days before President Trump declared coronavirus a national emergency.

McDonald wasn’t the only cheerleader for homeschooling in the face of a pandemic. “Learning can happen anywhere,” Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos enthused on Twitter.

School closings were turning parents into “the nation’s teachers,” according to the Washington Times, a consistent advocate for public school privatization. The article, by Christopher Vondracek, told readers not to think about home-schooling as being “associated with religious reactions to the secularization of public education and the banning of prayer in public schools during the 1960s.” Homeschooling, he contended, “looks nothing like that of yesteryear,” because now “innovative lessons abound” and new technologies—including video streaming, apps, and social media—have made homeschooling a better option for parents seeking “individualized instruction and safer environments” for their children.

But homeschool advocates, and other proponents of public school privatization, who cheerlead for their cause while tragedy unfolds resemble vulture capitalists that have taken advantage of other catastrophes.

Vondracek pointed readers to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), which “lists a variety of reasons for home-schooling.” What Vondracek failed to mention is that NHERI is not an educational organization but is instead part of a network organized by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), an intensely powerful homeschool advocacy and lobbying group.

HSLDA founded Patrick Henry College, which, as the New York Times noted, is known as “the first college primarily for evangelical Christian home-schoolers.”  In 2017, HSLDA received an audience with DeVos “to discuss the success of homeschooling and to determine what homeschoolers need from the federal government for continued autonomy and success,” according to NE News Now, the media outlet of the American Family Association, a Christian advocacy.

Another source Vondracek quoted is the same Kerry McDonald who said, “Homeschooling can be CONTINUE READING: Homeschooling Movement Sees Opportunity During Health Calamity - LA Progressive

People’s Historians Online– Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April: 1) Rebellious Rosa Parks; 2) Young People in the Civil Rights Movement; 3) Civil Rights Movement Outside the South – I AM AN EDUCATOR

People’s Historians Online– Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April: 1) Rebellious Rosa Parks; 2) Young People in the Civil Rights Movement; 3) Civil Rights Movement Outside the South – I AM AN EDUCATOR

People’s Historians Online– Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April: 1) Rebellious Rosa Parks; 2) Young People in the Civil Rights Movement; 3) Civil Rights Movement Outside the South

I’m excited to announce that I will be joining the great people’s historian, Jeanne Theoharis for a series of racial and social justice online courses for the first three Fridays in April. I first began working with Professor Theoharis last school year when she contacted me about partnering with the Black Student Union at my high school to have them provide ideas for her forthcoming young adult version of her seminal book, “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.” My students and I had the unbelievable opportunity to read the original version of the book together and provide feedback to Professor Theoharis for translating the book into a YA version.

That partnership led to us joining together to host an online class about Rosa Parks on March 27, 2020. That session filled up so quickly–and was so much fun–that we quickly organized a “People’s Historian Online Class” series where we will join together in dialog every Friday for the next three weeks.

This Friday, April 3rd the class will be at 10am PST/1pm EST, and for the following Fridays the class will be held at 11am PST/2pm EST. Students, parents, educators, and everyone else, are invited to join us to unlearn the many Master Narratives that have used by those in power to distort and hide the lessons of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movements and learn the true history that we can use today to fight for justice in this time of deep health, ecological, economic and social crises. Already, some educators are registering their whole classes for these courses and I hope we will see you there too!

-Jesse Hagopian

People’s Historians Online: Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April

In support of middle and high school teachers while school buildings are closed, the Zinn Education Project is hosting online people’s historians miniclasses.

The pilot session was with historian and author Jeanne Theoharis and high school teacher/Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian on March 27 on “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.” The response to the pilot session was so enthusiastic that we are hosting three more sessions with them in April. Read more and register below.

Jeanne Theoharis is a distinguished professor at Brooklyn College. She is the author or co-author of nine books and numerous articles on the civil rights and Black Power movements and the politics of race and education. Her books include the award-winning titles The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History.

Jesse Hagopian teaches Ethnic Studies and is the co-adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School in Seattle. He is an editor for Rethinking Schools, the co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives, and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing.

The session format is as follows:

• Presentation by Jeanne Theoharis in conversation with Jesse Hagopian.
• Small group conversations by participants (using Zoom breakout rooms) with time to discuss insights from the talk and approaches to teaching.
• Facilitators respond to questions with the full group and share teaching resources.
• Evaluation by participants.

The upcoming sessions, all on Fridays, are:

April 3, 10am PST/ 1:00pm EST: Did you know that Rosa Parks was an activist for many years prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (MBB), went to the Highlander Folk School, and dedicated decades of her life challenging racism in the North after the MBB? Join us for a conversation about Parks’ rebellious life.

April 10, 11am PST/ 2:00pm EST: Did you know that teenagers led at crucial points in the Civil Rights Movement, at times against the objections of many adults in their lives? Join us for a conversation on the role of young people in the Civil Rights Movement, from the teenagers who led the case desegregating Montgomery’s buses to the student sit-ins to the high school walkouts of the 1960s.

April 17, 11am PST/ 2:00pm EST: Did you know that the biggest civil rights demonstration of the 1960s happened in New York City? Did you know that at the same time people were pressing for desegregation in Montgomery and Birmingham, they were doing so from Los Angeles to Milwaukee to Boston? Join us for a conversation on the Civil Rights Movement outside the South.

Participants will need access to Zoom (on computer or phone). Register below. A day or two before the session, you will receive a confirmation, the Zoom link (with a password), and an optional pre-reading.

Questions? Write to zep@zinnedproject.org

Please consider making a donation so that we can continue to offer people’s history lessons, resources, workshops — and now online mini-classes — for free to K-12 teachers and students. We receive no corporate support and depend on individuals like you.

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People’s Historians Online– Mini-Classes with Jeanne Theoharis and Jesse Hagopian in April: 1) Rebellious Rosa Parks; 2) Young People in the Civil Rights Movement; 3) Civil Rights Movement Outside the South – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Challenges, questions as special education shifts to homes during statewide school closure | The Lens

Challenges, questions as special education shifts to homes during statewide school closure | The Lens

Challenges, questions as special education shifts to homes during statewide school closure

As many parents navigate the new reality of having students at home for at least another month under a statewide public school closure, students with disabilities may face even more challenges with online learning. 

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the closure on March 13, part of an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. It is currently scheduled to end on April 13. But Edwards this week announced that he will extend a statewide “stay-at-home order” until the end of the month, meaning the state’s schools will be closed at least that long as well. 

Many schools are trying to adapt, quickly designing distance-learning programs to make sure their students don’t fall behind during the closure. In New Orleans, some charter schools have started online classes, and the NOLA Public Schools district purchased 5,000 wireless hotspots with emergency funding to distribute to families without internet service at home. Many are also sending paper packets of school work to students’ homes. 

Students with disabilities, however, often work in personal, one-on-one settings with CONTINUE READING: Challenges, questions as special education shifts to homes during statewide school closure | The Lens

'Distance Learning' in Sacramento Means 20,000 Chromebooks

'Distance Learning' in Sacramento Means 20,000 Chromebooks

'Distance Learning' in Sacramento Means 20,000 Chromebooks
School districts in the Sacramento area are ramping up the distribution of essential technology to households as formal "distance learning" programs are close to launching for tens of thousands of students.

School districts in the Sacramento area are ramping up the distribution of essential technology to households as formal “distance learning" programs are close to launching for tens of thousands of students.

Students and parents lined up Monday at Mira Loma High and El Camino Fundamental high schools for laptop computers. Natomas Unified announced it will be distributing nearly 7,000 Chromebook laptops and about 2,000 Wi-Fi hot spots to families.

And the union representing teachers in the Sacramento City Unified School District proposed that the district spend $1.7 million in savings from a new health plan to purchase Google Chromebooks — and potentially Wi-Fi hot spots — for students.

“Our proposal would immediately redirect that $1.7 million in savings to purchase Chromebooks and/or hot spots for students to enable them to participate, to the extent feasible, in Distance Learning instruction beginning on April 13,” said Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) President David Fisher. “The use of these funds has been at dispute between the district and SCTA up to this point. We believe this use of funds should be sufficient to provide every student who lacks a computer or tablet with a device and should be immediately applied so that we can serve our students who suffer from an opportunity gap.”

Sacramento City Unified officials said that, while they appreciate the SCTA’s proposal, the $1.7 million in savings cited by the union is still a matter of dispute and currently in arbitration.

The district said it has worked with the Sacramento County Office of Education to identify resources to purchase laptops, and told The Sacramento Bee that it used $5.1 million in Measure Q funding to order 20,000 Chromebooks last week. (The district notified the union of the purchase Monday afternoon, after the union’s announcement.)

In recent weeks, school districts across the country have announced they were remaining CONTINUE READING: 'Distance Learning' in Sacramento Means 20,000 Chromebooks

Many public schools never recovered from Great Recession of 2007-09. The coronavirus could spark a new education crisis. - The Washington Post

Many public schools never recovered from Great Recession of 2007-09. The coronavirus could spark a new education crisis. - The Washington Post

Many public schools never recovered from the Great Recession. The coronavirus could spark a new education crisis.

This may seem difficult to believe but public school funding has, in some places, never recovered from the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Now, districts and states around the country are facing the prospect of a new financial crisis for public education as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Insufficient education funding and low teacher pay sparked the 2018 Red for Ed movement, in which teachers, first in Republican-led states, went out on strike to demand more resources for their schools and higher salaries. Some states settled the strikes with promises to pay teachers more money, but now, some of those raises are in jeopardy.

With the economy reeling from the closure of most public life in America due to the coronavirus pandemic, Congress just passed a $2 trillion assistance package that includes about $13.5 billion for public schools.

But it was far from the minimum of $75 billion that the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s two major teachers unions, had asked for in a recent letter to Congress. And educators say schools will need far more help from Congress in the coming months.

This post looks at the lessons that emerged from the efforts to recover from the recession more than a decade ago and how they could be applied today. It was written by Derek Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and author of the 2016 book “Ending Zero Tolerance: The Crisis of Absolute School Discipline.” He also writes the Education Law Prof Blog.

By Derek W. Black

During the Great Recession of the late 2000s, Congress hoped that most of a $54 billion set-aside in stimulus funds would be enough to save public school budgets, which had been savaged by state and local governments. It wasn’t enough. CONTINUE READING: Many public schools never recovered from Great Recession of 2007-09. The coronavirus could spark a new education crisis. - The Washington Post