What Home Schooling Could Teach Parents - LA Progressive

What Home Schooling Could Teach Parents - LA Progressive

What Home Schooling Could Teach Parents

A lot of people, both left and right, like to condemn our educational system.  Teachers don’t do a good job.  Teachers don’t have sufficient resources.  Class sizes are too large.  School buildings are too old and unmaintained.  They’re not teaching what students need to learn.  They don’t teach about anything but what white corporation owners want their drones to learn.

Now, with schools closed, a lot of parents are learning more about what teachers actually do.  And they are getting the opportunity to put into effect all those backyard barbecue and Christmas break party pontifications about, “What I would do, if I were teaching those kids.”

Sitting in my own quarantine enclave, with no children around making noise, interrupting at-home work schedules, and no pets needing to be walked, I can’t really imagine how much satisfaction there must be in these recent weeks of putting into practice all that decisive wisdom which seemed so obvious when spoken over a cold Corona or a hot eggnog toddy.

There may be parents who, now having a duty to try to contribute to their children’s schooling, beyond merely helping crib their math worksheets, might be interested in considering the educational possibilities of relating today’s Covid-19 pandemic with history

I can imagine, however that there may be parents who, now having a duty to try to contribute to their children’s schooling, beyond merely helping crib their math worksheets, might be interested in considering the educational possibilities of relating today’s Covid-19 pandemic with history, the development of science, and how different cultures handle similar issues.

Schools, with their standardized testing, formal curriculae, and tight scheduling may not be able to integrate cross-subject topics.  And may not have time to allow individual students to develop their own thinking about issues.  But parents with children at home have the flexibility to allow, and guide their students.  And the opportunity to make learning less of rote memorization and more of an adventure.

As an initial, easy step in this process, I suggest two books which parents might find useful in home teaching efforts.  One is a young adult novel, and one a history book.  The young adult novel is one which can be read to younger children, or by middle school children.  The history book can give parents insights with which to teach their children. Both books deal with CONTINUE READING: What Home Schooling Could Teach Parents - LA Progressive

The Census is an Education Justice Issue | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Census is an Education Justice Issue | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Census is an Education Justice Issue

The 2020 Census is underway, with the first wave of forms being mailed across the country on April 1, and data collection continuing through the Fall. The COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted all of our lives could make the Census more difficult—so it’s critical that communities mobilize to make sure all their neighbors are counted.

The Impact of the Census is Bigger than You Think

How the United States’ population is counted affects far more than legislative district boundaries: the present crisis is providing stark examples of the critical, life-and-death importance of an accurate Census. At a time when the shuttering of public schools reminds us of the vital roles they play in educating, feeding, and supporting children and their families, we should also remember the Census determines where and how $14 billion in Federal public education funds will be allocated. Through programs like Title I, the National School Lunch Program, Head Start, and special education grants, these are dollars that will decide whether a school stays open or closed, or if a district can hire school nurses and support staff.

More than 130 public programs allocate over $675 billion to serve primarily low-income people. Because the most disadvantaged are also the most likely to be underreported — including Black, Latinx, and other racialized groups, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming persons, people with disabilities, and those experiencing homelessness — getting the 2020 Census right is more important than ever.

What You Can Do CONTINUE READING: The Census is an Education Justice Issue | Schott Foundation for Public Education

CATCH UP WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE)

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

CATCH UP WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE)

Prisoners Reveal Inhumane Conditions Inside Mississippi Prisons

by Mark Anthony Neal / 15h

' Inmates inside Parchman State Penitentiary, Mississippi’s most infamous prison, describe the inhumane conditions that have them fearing for their lives. They’ve shared videos from inside the prison, exposing the hellish surroundings. Overflowing sewage, rats, mold, and threats of violence are all part of their day-to-day reality. It’s a situation that’s been years in the making. Now, it’s reach

Black Thought Of The Roots: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

by Mark Anthony Neal / 15h

'While our culture adjusts to the New Normal, artists are revealing the threads of our common humanity as they find new ways to bring their work to virtual communities. In this installment of Tiny Desk (home) concerts, hip-hop wordsmith Tariq Trotter , aka Black Thought of The Roots crew, took the occasion to premiere three new songs.'

Stop Wasting Money - This App Finds Every Promo Code Online

by Honeysponsored

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

Joking from a Distance: Ziwe Fumudoh on Processing Trauma Through Comedy

by Mark Anthony Neal / 15h

' The last time Ziwe Fumudoh , a comedian and writer for Showtime's Desus & Mero , was on The Takeaway , she discussed the relationship between empathy and comedy. For the next installment in our series "Joking from a Distance," The Takeaway checked back in with her to see whether comedy can still be used to build empathy during the coronavirus pandemic.'

People’s Party: Talib Kweli & Chuck D Talk Public Enemy, Flavor Flav, Tupac and Trump

by Mark Anthony Neal / 16h

' In this episode of People’s Party , Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with rapper, author, producer, and one of the most influential and respected figures around the world in all of culture. The leader of the iconic group Public Enemy -- "Mista" Chuck D .' -- UPROXX Video

Just Blaze Unpacks His Samples for Beyoncé And Jay-Z

by Mark Anthony Neal / 16h

'In the first installment of NPR Music's video series The Formula , producer Just Blaze unpacks the drum-centric samples he created for Jay-Z and Beyoncé . Whether he's tapping out sampled drums or incorporating live drummers in the studio, his ability to harness energy is what makes his sound so dynamic.'

Why Racial Data on Coronavirus Testing and Deaths is Needed

100+by Mark Anthony Neal / 16h

'In some communities, the coronavirus pandemic appears to be disproportionately affecting people of color. African Americans have higher rates of the underlying health issues that can lead to death by the virus. Jericka Duncan speaks with health experts, Dr. Uché Blackstock including about the need to collect data on the race of those who have tested positive or died from coronavirus.' -- CBS Thi

9th Wonder Breaks Down His Beats For Kendrick Lamar's 'Duckworth.'

by Mark Anthony Neal / 16h

'Three samples. Three genres. Three generations. Watch 9th Wonder take NPR Music on a sonic journey while breaking down the trio of beats he produced for one Kendrick Lamar classic: "Duckworth".'

TWO DOLLARS AND A DREAM: The True Story of Madam C.J. Walker (dir. Stanley Nelson, 1987)

by Mark Anthony Neal / 17h

'TWO DOLLARS AND A DREAM is the biography of Madame C.J. Walker , America's first self-made millionairess. Mrs. Walker's fortune was built on skin and hair care products, parlaying a homemade beauty formula into a 

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Teacher Tom: The Path Into the Future

Teacher Tom: The Path Into the Future

The Path Into the Future

If you've read here for any length of time, you'll know that I'm dismissive of anyone talking about those mythological jobs of tomorrow. No one can possibly know what jobs the children we teach will be applying for when they start to enter the job market 20 years from now, but there's never a shortage of deep voiced know-it-alls who assert not only that they know what's coming, but how we can best prepare our children for it. During the Industrial Revolution they told parents that their kids better get ready for a future on the assembly line, when I was a boy the future was all about plastics, now our kids are all going to grow into technology careers whether they like it or not. It never comes to pass because no one ever knows the future, except maybe the five-year-olds who will be the ones inventing those jobs of tomorrow, and they're currently quite busy planning their futures as princesses and baseball players.

We've all had occasion to contemplate the future these past couple months as we're living lives very few of us anticipated. Of course, like earthquakes and stock market crashes, pandemics are to be expected, but most of us haven't spent our lives preparing for them. We might have some canned goods and bottled water stashed away on a bottom shelf of the pantry, laid away in anticipation of disasters to come, and I know a few people who live each day as if the sky were about to fall, but most of us choose to not spend our short CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: The Path Into the Future

Are Charter Schools Public or Private? Trying to Have It Both Ways When Federal Emergency Money Is Involved | janresseger

Are Charter Schools Public or Private? Trying to Have It Both Ways When Federal Emergency Money Is Involved | janresseger

Are Charter Schools Public or Private? Trying to Have It Both Ways When Federal Emergency Money Is Involved

One reads that a pandemic is likely to inspire greed as people struggle protect themselves and their loved ones.  Right now that theory seems to be confirmed by the behavior of charter school advocates, who want to have it both ways. Such advocates call their institutions “public charter schools,” but when it is convenient, the same prominent advocates insist that charter schools should qualify to benefit from federal funds appropriated for the purpose of shoring up small businesses.  Public and private all at the same time.

Nina Rees is the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. On Wednesday, she published a commentary in which she poses as a supporter of the needs of public schools and charter schools alike. She affirms the importance of the $13.5 billion in the emergency federal CARES Act, money to provide relief for publicly funded schools including traditional and charter schools: “First, the $13.5 billion in emergency K-12 funding that Congress passed will be allocated to states and distributed to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) according to the formula that guides Title I funding. Districts and schools that typically receive Title I funds should see around 80 percent more money this year. Charter schools that operate their own LEAs are assured funding. Those that are overseen by school districts will rely on their districts to provide funding. Secretary DeVos and governors should encourage districts to make these decisions solely in the interest of students, without regard to differences in school model.”

The website of Rees’ organization, the National Association for Public Charter Schools, on the other hand, promotes a strategy for charter schools as though they are private businesses and not public schools at all. The organization’s website explains how charter school operators can qualify for loans designed not for educational institutions, but instead for small businesses CONTINUE READING: Are Charter Schools Public or Private? Trying to Have It Both Ways When Federal Emergency Money Is Involved | janresseger

Big Education Ape: Tell Congress Charters Should Not Line Their Pockets During the COVID Crisis - Network For Public Education - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/04/tell-congress-charters-should-not-line.html

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Another Charter PR Push

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Another Charter PR Push

PA: Another Charter PR Push

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public [sic] Charter Schools has been having a rough year, what with PA Governor Tom Wolf threatening to finally implement the charter school reforms that the heavily-lobbied legislature just can't seem to get done. So they've launched themselves another PR push to try to make their case.

Meet 143K Rising. This is ostensibly a group of "families united for charter schools," but there's no pretense here that this is a spontaneous grass roots group. As their website puts it, "The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools (PCPCS) has created 143K Rising to give families a voice in the battle to protect public charter schools." And they are raising the alarm-- "Special interest groups are trying to rob Pennsylvania families of their rights. Let's rise up together and stop them!"

The 143K Rising site has a fuzzy handle on most of the issues it is upset about (143K refers to the number of students currently enrolled in charter schools-- no word if they plan to regularly rename the group as enrollment rises or falls). On their "issue" page (apparently there's just one issue), they say that "limiting public charter schools as an educational option" would be "devastating." They complain that "every year" there are "policies that would spell the death of public [sic] charter schools" in the state, proposed by lawmakers "listening to education special interest groups." And if by now you are wondering what, exactly, the proposals are, or who, exactly, these special interest groups are--well, 143K Rising isn't saying. You just have to take their word for it-- evil forces are coming to "take away a child's only hope for a good education."

This chicken littling appears to come in response to the governor's call for things like transparency and ethics; there's been no call for any existing charters to be shut down. But Wolf has been clear CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Another Charter PR Push

Faulty Billionaire Financed Education “Study” | tultican

Faulty Billionaire Financed Education “Study” | tultican

Faulty Billionaire Financed Education “Study”

By Thomas Ultican 4/9/2020

This January, the new organization Brightbeam and its CEO Chris Stewart published “The Secret Shame: How America’s Most Progressive Cities Betray Their Commitment to Educational Opportunity for All.” The name clearly indicates the paper’s political leanings and the underlying data is suspicious. The paper is a polemic rather than a study. Like many “reports” coming from what Diane Ravitch labels the “disrupter” community, this 33-page document has not been submitted for peer-review. Never-the-less, it has been widely disseminated as legitimate research to the Brightbeam network including Education Post. It has also gone to hard right media like The Blaze and found its way into mainstream media like NBC and the Boston Herald.

About Brightbeam

Last year, Brightbeam was created to be the umbrella organization for the Education Post and other digital media sites. Brightbeam is the new operating name for the Results in Education Foundation (RIEF) which is the legal moniker for the obscure billionaire financed organization providing the operating funds for this new digital publishing group. Brightbeam also controls the cyber platforms, Citizen Education and Project Forever Free and it has influence over at least fourteen local internet publications in various American cities.

The billionaires financing Brightbeam include Michael Bloomberg, Alice Walton, Jim Walton, Laurene Jobs Powell and Mark Zuckerberg.

Chris Stewart who was named CEO of Brightbeam has been on the payroll at RIEF since its founding in 2014. The last available tax record puts his 2017 salary at $226,417.

The new “report” says, “Brightbeam is a nonprofit network of education CONTINUE READING: Faulty Billionaire Financed Education “Study” | tultican

SOME TRUTHS ABOUT TEACHERS | The Merrow Report

SOME TRUTHS ABOUT TEACHERS | The Merrow Report

SOME TRUTHS ABOUT TEACHERS

Last week in this space I posted an almost entirely fabricated** article about faux “research’ I claimed to have done by hitchhiking while posing as a retired teacher, CPA, doctor, et cetera. Although the piece was posted on April Fools Day, a fair number of readers took what I wrote at face value.

Why would smart people take me at face value? I think it’s because my phony research supported their core belief–teachers matter–and they simply couldn’t wrap their brains around the notion of anyone poking fun at that.

Big Education Ape: A WEEK LATE…. | The Merrow Report - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-week-late-merrow-report.html

“Teachers Matter” is a core belief of mine as well, so let me be serious for a moment, because what many teachers are doing during this awful pandemic again demonstrates their value.  

Our teachers are stepping up big time, judging from news reports and from the stories I’m hearing from family and friends.  In some communities teachers have organized ‘drive throughs’ of the neighborhoods where their students live, so the kids can come outside and wave hello–from a safe distance–to their teachers.  Here’s one TV report about how teachers in California are staying connected with their elementary school students.  

A high school teacher I know well is working with some of his students–at a CONTINUE READING: SOME TRUTHS ABOUT TEACHERS | The Merrow Report