Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: Lenny Curry's reckless behavior is going to cost lives (draft)

Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: Lenny Curry's reckless behavior is going to cost lives (draft)

Lenny Curry's reckless behavior is going to cost lives (draft)

I said to the district official, well, several south Florida districts have ignored the state's order and said they are starting school on-line why couldn't we? They said the cities those districts are in have rolled back to phase 1, and we are in phase 2, which gives them the cover to do so.  This is the thing mayor Curry would have to roll us back into phase 1, but I can't see that happening because he has chosen party politics over people's lives.

I have to say I was shocked when Curry declared a mandatory though toothless mask in public order, but at the same time, I was pretty sure it would be lifted a day or two before the Republican Party's national convention.

Against all reason, Curry went after the convention, which at the time would have brought tens of thousands of people to our town during a pandemic. I say at its height because things have changed.

From the Hill,

Republicans announced Thursday they will scale back the Republican National Convention in August as coronavirus cases rise in Florida, where President Trump is expected to deliver a speech accepting his party's nomination for reelection.

Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), informed members CONTINUE READING: Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: Lenny Curry's reckless behavior is going to cost lives (draft)

Safety First | JD2718

Safety First | JD2718

Safety First

That’s the message! We hear it a lot. I’ve written it. Mulgrew’s said it. It’s a sentiment many of us share. But me saying it or Mulgrew writing it or you thinking it – none of that makes it true.

Me writing “Safety First!”, shouting “Safety First!”, repeating “Safety First! Safety First! Safety First!” doesn’t make it true.

I have been saying it a lot. I started mid-June, when the DoE first revealed their plan-that-was-not-really-a-plan. I didn’t direct it at the DoE, I directed it, “Safety First!” at the union president, who rah-rah’ed a response to the DoE, leaving safety an afterthought. Here’s the DoE June 8 draft non-plan. And here’s Mulgrew’s very weak response of June 11 (preceded by my suggestion to his communication people, how to write for Mulgrew in the future. Safety First!). After that he put out a better e-mail, and he was quite good in the June 17 Delegate Assembly and at the June 18 Virtual Town Hall.

“Safety First!” only counts if you say it when it counts. I  have a “right on!” “Safety first” message from Mulgrew on July 2, before the DoE released its latest non-safety-oriented non-plan.

School buildings should only reopen in the fall — even on a limited basis — if the safety of students, staff and families is assured.

Rah-rah! Our union president has it right! But, um, not so fast. Fast forward six days. The DoE’s actual CONTINUE READING: Safety First | JD2718

Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education | deutsch29

Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education | deutsch29

Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education

On July 16, 2020, Yahoo News and YouGov released results of this 159-page poll, conducted on a variety of issues of immediate public concern, including coronavirus, the economy, the direction of the country. Some backgroud on the survey, as reported by Yahoo News:

The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,504 U.S. adult residents interviewed online between July 11 and 14, 2020. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race and education, as well as 2016 presidential vote, registration status, geographic region and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S residents. The margin of error is approximately 3.2 percent.

Note that a margin of error of 3.2 percent means that the true value of a given finding for the entire population, based on this sample of 1,504 respondents, is likely “give or take 3.2 percent.” (With error larger for items with fewer than 1,504 respondents, though such increased error is not reported.)

Given the extent ot the survey, I have decided to offer overall survey responses for questions focused in two areas: Mask wearing and the return to K12 school during the pandemic.

Space limitations preclude my including response breakdowns according to gender, age, race, political party affiliation, 2020 presidential candidate vote intention (Biden or Trump), residency geography (city, suburb, town, rural), and income. In order to examine such breakdowns of responses, open the survey responses to the page number(s) of interest (which I provide below for each item) to view details.

And now, for the Yahoo News/ YouGov poll overall findings related to mask wearing and K12 education during coronavirus. Item wording and response choices are as they appear in the survey findings report. (Note that there may be some rounding error to percentage totals for  given item and that not all respondents have apparently answered all questions.)

• The U.S. is now reporting about 60,000 new coronavirus cases per day, more than ever before. What is the main reason for this? (1,475 respondents) CONTINUE READING: 
Yahoo/YouGov Poll: A Quick View of Results Related to Mask Wearing and to K12 Education | deutsch29

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: The Broad Outlines of the PPP Cash-in

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: The Broad Outlines of the PPP Cash-in

FL: The Broad Outlines of the PPP Cash-in

So it turns out that all you have to do to get some charter and voucher schools to admit they're businesses is just wave some sweet, sweet business-purposed money at them. We've heard the individual stories from here and there about this, but a friend of the Curmudgucation Institute sent along an astonishing piece of data crunching.

I don't have a handy way to attach a spreadsheet to this post, but you can do the work yourself if you want to head to the Small Business Administration site then start looking up other info for your state. I'm going to give you the big sweeping picture here. Just how many schools edu-flavored businesses had their hands out in Florida?

Charters

There are around 658 charter schools operating in Florida. At least 102 signed up for a PPP small business loan. Loans are okayed for a range of monies; the highest top amount a charter was okayed for is $5 million. River City Academy, Doral Academy, Youth Co-op Inc, Discovery Education Services, and Odyssey Charter School Inc were at the top for these biggest loans (minimum is $2 million).

Private 

Almost 400 private schools declared themselves small businesses. Of those, about 140 were just private schools, with the rest actually private religious schools (if they didn't call themselves CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: FL: The Broad Outlines of the PPP Cash-in

A VERY BUSY DAY 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

A VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Is On July 30th – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

25by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

sammisreachers / Pixabay The United Nations has declared July 30th to be The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About Human Trafficking Today .

Friday’s “Must Read” Articles On School Reopening In The Fall

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay Fall reopening plans continue to heavily in the news. Here are a few articles that I think are worth reading by educators. I’m adding them to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : ‘A challenge we can meet’: Sacramento-area teachers react to plans for an online fall is from the Sacramento Bee. There Are Literally No Good Options for Educating

A Look Back: Could This Be A Good Template For Just About Any Professional Development Session?

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from the first half of this year. You can see the entire collection of best posts from the past thirteen years here . TeroVesalainen / Pixabay We’re doing a series of professional development sessions (about three hours each) for all of our teachers on teaching English Language Learners. Because

“A Superintendent Explains Why Having to Decide About Fall Reopening Is the ‘Absolute Worst'”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

A Superintendent Explains Why Having to Decide About Fall Reopening Is the ‘Absolute Worst’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. District school Superintendent PJ Caposey shares the challenges and questions he is grappling with as he plans for a school year during the pandemic. Here are some excerpts:

“WindowSwap” Is A Great Site For English Language Learners

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

Free-Photos / Pixabay WindowSwap lets you look out windows from homes all around the world. It would be easy to open up to browser tabs and have students use the photos to create a Venn Diagram and then some compare/contrast paragraphs. In fact, that’s what I had my Newcomers class do in the spring when we were doing remote learning. The difference was I had them take photos of what they saw outs

Most Popular Posts Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 15h

I’m making a change in the content of the regular feature. In addition to sharing the top five posts that have received the most “hits” in the preceding seven days (though they may have originally been published on an earlier date), I will also include the top five posts that have actually appeared in the past week. Often, these are different posts. You might also be interested in IT’S THE THIRTE

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

BiljaST / Pixabay Six years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO. A

This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Wokandapix / Pixabay I have a number of regular weekly features (see HERE IS A LIST (WITH LINKS) OF ALL MY REGULAR WEEKLY FEATURES ). This is a relatively new addition to that list. Some of these resources will be added to The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coronavirus) – Please Make More Suggestions ! and the best will go to The “Best Of The Best” Resources To

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. Of course, this is a crazy time for “classroom” instruction…. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES ON INSTRUCTION IN 2020 – PART ONE. Here are this week’s picks: How formative assessment boosts metacognition—and learning is from Teach Lea

SEL Weekly Update

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

I’ve recently begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists. You might also be interested in THE BEST SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES OF 2020 – PART ONE. Finally, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources . Here are this week’s picks: The Collaborative for Acad

Statistic Of The Day: More Money Is Coming For Schools, But Will It Have Reopening Conditions?

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

The Washington Post article, Trump administration, congressional Republicans eye tying school aid to reopening in next funding bill , describes Republican plans to provide money to K-12 schools in the next stimulus bill. Education groups have asked for $175 billion, while it appears the 

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