Institute for Policy Studies: Reimagining School Safety | Diane Ravitch's blog

Institute for Policy Studies: Reimagining School Safety | Diane Ravitch's blog

Institute for Policy Studies: Reimagining School Safety

This valuable report analyzes how money could be better spent to protect students at school. It’s findings are stunning. We as a nation are spending vast sums on police in schools but insignificant amounts on mental health services and counselors who interact directly with students.

KEY FINDINGS & OBSERVATIONS

*Since 2018, states have allocated an additional $965 million to law enforcement in schools.

*According to a 2019 ACLU study, 1.7 million students have cops in their schools, but no counselors; 3 million have cops, but no nurses; 6 million have cops, but no school psychologists; and 10 million have cops, but no social workers.

*As of 2020, nearly 60 percent of all schools and 90 percent of high schools now have a law enforcement officer at least part time.

*The $33.2 million “school security” budget allocated for 2021 in Washington, D.C., could instead fund up to 222 psychologists, 345 guidance counselors, or 332 social workers.

*The $15 million “school security” budget approved for 2021 in Chicago could instead fund up to 140 psychologists, 182 guidance counselors, or 192 social workers.

*The $32.5 million “school security” budget allocated for 2021 in Philadelphia could instead fund up to 278 psychologists, 355 guidance counselors, or 467 social workers.

The report describes “militarized schools”:

As of 2019, there were nearly 50,000 school resource officers patrolling the hallways of America’s schools.

In schools that serve predominantly Black student populations, it is often much more than hallways that are patrolled.

For example, D.C. police are deployed to nearly all high schools to monitor cafeterias, auditoriums, hallways, stairwells, restrooms, entrances, and exits, as well as provide security for school-sponsored events. Such schools promote a learning environment that is more akin to that of a correctional institution than an educational one

Institute for Policy Studies: Reimagining School Safety | Diane Ravitch's blog

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POLITICO Article on Charter Schools Entirely Misses the Point | janresseger

POLITICO Article on Charter Schools Entirely Misses the Point | janresseger

POLITICO Article on Charter Schools Entirely Misses the Point

Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, the ethicist, tells us that “justice is the community’s guarantee of the conditions necessary for everybody to be a participant in the common life of society… It is just to structure institutions and laws in such a way that communal life is enhanced and individuals are provided full opportunity for participation.”  (Christian Perspectives on Politics, pp. 216-217)  Because public education is systemic and schools are operated according to the law, it is possible to ensure that public schools protect the rights and serve the needs of all children, while charter schools are designed to serve the choices of individual families.

Charter schools were set up according to a theory of social entrepreneurship—the idea that if you give individuals enough freedom, they will experiment and innovate and do a better job of meeting the needs of particular students one school at a time.  Of course, our nation’s public schools have never fully embodied the principle of justice; like all core social institutions they have reflected the injustices and biases of the society they represent. But over the generations, as our society has begun to acknowledge racial and ethnic biases and realized that disabled people ought to be made full participants in our society, our representatives have passed laws and regulations to protect the rights of children formerly left out of the blessings promised in our nation’s principles. Our representatives in Congress passed Title I as part of the War on Poverty in 1965 to supplement investment in the public schools that serve concentrations of our nation’s poorest children. In 1975, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to help public schools pay for expert teachers to support the needs of disabled children. And the courts have protected the rights of immigrant children—even undocumented students—in the public schools. Further, in accordance with the principles of equity embedded in many state constitutions, courts in a number of states have been able to CONTINUE READING: POLITICO Article on Charter Schools Entirely Misses the Point | janresseger

NYC Educator: De Blasio Suggests Our Lives Don't Matter.

NYC Educator: De Blasio Suggests Our Lives Don't Matter.

De Blasio Suggests Our Lives Don't Matter.

In a summer full of spectacular incompetence and total lack of planning, it's harder and harder for things to stand out, but this suggestion  is really rather startling:

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that there is no real plan to disclose positive tests because students are not back in school yet.

Wow.  We have 16 positive cases we know of, and there was no plan to let us know about them. It's not important. It's not relevant. Think about that.

In Bill de Blasio's plan, 16 positive cases at square one ought not even to be considered moving forward. I can only suppose the mayor would just as soon have us not know about them. Lack of knowledge is power, perhaps.

I'm always put off by the argument of, "Children first, always," that the DOE used to use as a motto. It always suggested, "We don't give a crap about teachers or working people," to me. That was a flawed motto because the very children we place first would, we very much hoped, grow up to be adults. But de Blasio seems to have taken this statement and added steroids or something.

The fact is we are a substantial sample of the school population, and if the students outnumber us by a factor of about ten to one, you could assume ten times as many cases with students in the buildings. You know, they are human and we are human, even though word may not have reached the mayor. This poses a problem in that humans meeting humans in school buildings did not work well last March. 

How sure is the mayor the virus will spread?

"Of course there will be days where you find a case in a classroom and classroom will have to be shut down, sometimes a school will have to be shut down," he said. "But it’s a temporary reality."

From what I can tell, he's absolutely sure. And he appears to have no problem whatsoever with it. I don't know who's advising the mayor, or whether he listens to his advisors, but CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: De Blasio Suggests Our Lives Don't Matter.

New Seal of Civic Engagement - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

New Seal of Civic Engagement - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

California State Board of Education Approves State Seal of Civic Engagement Award

Honor is hoped to encourage students to become active participants in democracy

SACRAMENTO—The California State Board of Education today approved criteria for California students to earn a new Seal of Civic Engagement, an incentive aimed at encouraging active and ongoing citizenship.

To earn the seal, students must demonstrate excellence in civic learning, participation in civics-related projects, contributions to their community, and an understanding of the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the American democratic system. Students may earn the seal on a transcript, diploma, or Certificate of Completion. California history and social science teachers worked in partnership with the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop the initial requirements.

“The future of our democracy depends on a knowledgeable and actively engaged citizenry,” said State Board President Linda Darling-Hammond. “With this new seal, we hope to prepare all students with an empathetic concern for others, a deep understanding of democracy, and the civic engagement skills needed to contribute to the welfare of their local communities, the state, and the country.”

“We know that when young people activate their voices, they can be among the strongest change agents in our communities,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “Education is the cornerstone of realizing our democratic ideals, and this new seal puts additional tools in students’ hands as they work to shape the future.”

Since then-Governor Brown signed AB 24 into law in October 2017, the CDE has worked with teachers, a variety of stakeholder groups, and the public to draft criteria and guidance for the seal.

Under direction of the State Board, the Department worked to ensure that the criteria approved today are accessible to all students, support rigorous and continuous civic engagement, promote diversity and inclusion, engage young students, reflect an interdisciplinary approach, and recognize civil disobedience as a form of civic engagement.

The criteria are:

1. Be engaged in academic work in a productive way;
2. Demonstrate a competent understanding of U.S. and California constitutions; functions and governance of local governments; tribal government structures and organizations; the role of the citizen in a constitutional democracy; and democratic principles, concepts, and processes;
3. Participate in one or more informed civic engagement project(s) that address real-world problems and require students to identify and inquire into civic needs or problems, consider varied responses, take action, and reflect on efforts;
4. Demonstrate civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions through self-reflection; and
5. Exhibit character traits that reflect civic-mindedness and a commitment to positively impact the classroom, school, community, and/or society.

The criteria include extensive guidance to support local educational agencies as they implement the seal in their communities. The CDE also created a Resources to Support Civic Engagement web page.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

New Seal of Civic Engagement - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

CURMUDGUCATION: The Biden Education Red Flags

CURMUDGUCATION: The Biden Education Red Flags

The Biden Education Red Flags

Before I get started here, let me be clear about one thing--it is almost impossible to imagine a candidate worse for public education than Donald Trump. His "polan" for education has only two items-- school choice (via vouchers) for everyone, and make every school teach American exceptionalism, which, given his recent assaults on the 1619 project and diversity training, appears to mean getting back to the white-centric education that gramps enjoyed as a boy. Plus you've got Betsy DeVos, who is twelve kinds of awful when it comes to public education, which she seems to pretty much hate and wants to get rid of.

So just to be clear-- there's no universe in which Donald Trump is a better choice for public education.

Now, let's look at what we've been hearing from the Biden campaign.

First of all, you may remember that something called the Unity Committee drafted up some platformy ideas by smushing the Biden and Sanders campaigns together. That resulted in an education platform that repudiated the private profit motive in education and called for tighter charter controls. They also promised to "end the use of high stakes tests"--well, they promised to "work" to do that, and then blah blah blah multiple and holistic measures. It was weak sauce, but it was something.

That language has disappeared entirely from the Biden platform on K-12 education. The words "charter" and "profit" don't even appear on the page.

Then there's this piece from yesterday's the74, profiling "Biden's most important staffer you've never CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: The Biden Education Red Flags

VIDEO–“Expel The Police”: TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” hosts Monique Morris, Jesse Hagopian, Dream Cannon, & Nathaniel Genene to talk about #PoliceFreeSchools! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

VIDEO–“Expel The Police”: TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” hosts Monique Morris, Jesse Hagopian, Dream Cannon, & Nathaniel Genene to talk about #PoliceFreeSchools! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

VIDEO–“Expel The Police”: TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” hosts Monique Morris, Jesse Hagopian, Dream Cannon, & Nathaniel Genene to talk about #PoliceFreeSchools!

The popular late night comedy news show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, just ran a powerful expose on the brutality of police against students in school. As they wrote of the program,

Correspondent Mike Brown gets an education from Dr. Monique Morris, Dream Cannon, Nathaniel Genene, and Jesse Hagopian in all the reasons School Resource Officers should be in schools. Just kidding, there aren’t any!

Check out this episode and then join the Black Lives Matter at School movements new campaign, the “Year of Purpose.” Part of BLM at School’s campaign is to demand, “Fund Counselors, Not Cops.” Also learn more about police in schools from The Advancement Project and Dignity in Schools.

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VIDEO–“Expel The Police”: TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” hosts Monique Morris, Jesse Hagopian, Dream Cannon, & Nathaniel Genene to talk about #PoliceFreeSchools! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

When Should Journalists Speak Up? | The Merrow Report

When Should Journalists Speak Up? | The Merrow Report

When Should Journalists Speak Up?

By now everyone must know that President Trump has been lying about the coronavirus for months, telling us it would magically disappear when he knew all along that it was a killer threat. Trump admitted this in phone conversations with Bob Woodward recorded in February and March, but only now–in September–have some of the tapes been released.

That Trump is unfit to serve as our President has been clear for an awfully long time. That most Republicans don’t care what he does is also painfully clear.

So let’s ask another question: Should Bob Woodward have released those tapes months ago. If he had done so, would that possibly have saved thousands and thousands of lives?

At some time or other, every journalist is presented with this classic hypothetical situation: Suppose you are filming or photographing a raging river and you see a young child being swept downstream. The child is clinging to a piece of wood and is clearly in danger of drowning. Should you keep on filming, or do you jump in and try to save the child?

In other words, where is the line between a reporter’s job and their responsibility as a citizen? Which comes first?

Of course, it’s really a no-brainer: You must try to save the child, because public CONTINUE READING: When Should Journalists Speak Up? | The Merrow Report

COVID-19 and Mass Protests: Lessons Learned and Future Directions | Schott Foundation for Public Education

COVID-19 and Mass Protests: Lessons Learned and Future Directions | Schott Foundation for Public Education

COVID-19 and Mass Protests: Lessons Learned and Future Directions

On August 20, 2020, The People’s Think Tank (PTT), an intersectional movement space for reimagining a radically democratic future for education justice, held a virtual convening: COVID-19 and Mass Protests: Lessons Learned and Future Directions.

The online gathering brought together more than thirty of PTT’s fifty-plus members, which included a diverse representation of the educational justice movement and social justice allies. Together, members engaged in a deep conversation about how the education justice movement is responding to the COVID-19 crisis and the rise of mass protests against police killings and systemic racism.

A panel discussion Can’t Stop! Won’t Stop! Education Justice in the Now moderated by Letha Muhammad, Director of Education Justice Alliance included: Marika Pfefferkorn, Midwest Center for School Transformation, Maria Fernandez, Campaign for Police-free Schools and Advancement Project, Jitu Brown, Journey for Justice Alliance, Zakiyah Ansari, Alliance for Quality Education and Chianne “Cloudy” Carrier, Sacramento Areas Youth Speaks. The panel explored how COVID-19 has affected panelists personally and in their community and work, lessons learned, and future directions for the movement.

Immediately following the panel, Jonathan Stith, National Director of the Alliance for Educational Justice, led members through small group circles to dive deeper into dialogue with one another.

Across the panel and small groups, participants shared how the pandemic has devastated communities of color and heightened inequities in public education. Organizers themselves have felt more challenged and overwhelmed than ever trying to support their own children and families, help their communities by quickly facilitating mutual aid support, engage with school districts around plans for the fall, and mobilize quickly to take advantage of new openings in challenging anti-Black racism and racial inequities. Some participants shared new and emerging strategies, like the Journey for Justice Alliance’s Equity or Else principles for safe and equitable return to schools and campaigns that have won police-free schools. The heightened need for solidarity across issue-based movements came out strongly as a result of the twin pandemics of CONTINUE READING: COVID-19 and Mass Protests: Lessons Learned and Future Directions | Schott Foundation for Public Education

In crackdown on race-related content, Education Department targets internal book clubs, meetings - POLITICO

In crackdown on race-related content, Education Department targets internal book clubs, meetings - POLITICO

In crackdown on race-related content, Education Department targets internal book clubs, meetings

The guidance largely echoes OMB’s memo in describing the type of content that is now disfavored in government training sessions.

The Education Department plans to scrutinize a wide range of employee activities — including internal book clubs — in search of “Anti-American propaganda” and discussions about “white privilege” as it carries out the White House’s demand that federal agencies halt certain types of race-related training.

In an internal email this week obtained by POLITICO, the department ordered a review of agency contracts for diversity training and "internal employee activities" to root out topics such as “critical race theory” or materials that suggest that the U.S. is an inherently racist country. The crackdown comes as the department implements a government-wide directive the White House issued Friday to stop what it called “un-American propaganda training sessions" about race.

To implement that policy, the Education Department will require each of its offices in D.C., as well as regional outposts throughout the country, to review a range of training materials, including outside contracts for diversity workshops, plus content produced internally at the agency.

An Education Department spokesperson did not comment on the internal agency guidance Wednesday night.

The department's guidance largely echoes OMB’s memo in describing the type of content that is now disfavored in government training sessions: any material “that teaches, trains or suggests the following: (1) virtually all White people contribute to racism or benefit from racism (2) critical race theory (3) white privilege (4) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country (5) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil (6) Anti-American propaganda.”

Department officials, according to the email, have already concluded that at least some of its training activities — including a program called “Unconscious Bias and Conversations in the Midst of Change” — would be allowed to continue because they do not include any of the topics prohibited by the OMB memo.

The email said department officials have similarly determined that all diversity and inclusion training offered by the agency’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Services complies with the new OMB policy.

The OMB memo, first reported on Friday evening by The Washington Post, states that “it has come to the President’s attention” that the federal CONTINUE READING: In crackdown on race-related content, Education Department targets internal book clubs, meetings - POLITICO

Russ on Reading: Do Our Children Deserve the Truth?

Russ on Reading: Do Our Children Deserve the Truth?

Do Our Children Deserve the Truth?

Knowing our history, the good and the bad, is the first step, I want my children to love the country they live in, but I also want them to be clear-eyed about what that country is.- America Ferrara , Actor

In 1970, when I was a wet-behind-the-ears, 22 year-old social studies teacher at Bristol Junior-Senior High School, I was teaching a ninth grade Civics course. The topic was the the Bill of Rights and specifically, the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which states in part:

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion...

I explained that the Founding Fathers were concerned about the co-mingling of religion and government that many had escaped in Europe and wanted to be sure that religious freedom was guaranteed in the new country.

A student raised his hand. "Mr. Walsh, if that law is in the Constitution, why do we have do we say "under God" every morning when we salute the flag. Isn't that mixing religion and government?"

Good question. My answer: 

The original Pledge of Allegiance did not contain the words "under God." These words were added in 1954 during the Cold War, a period when the fear of an atomic war between the United States and the communist USSR was high. Many viewed communism as a threat to the American way of life, and were particularly concerned that communism was a godless philosophy.  In this country the period was known as McCarthyism, named after a Senator from Wisconsin, who accused many people of being CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: Do Our Children Deserve the Truth?

SSPI Thurmond Convenes California School Leaders to Review Public Health Guidance for Safe Learning Webinar on Public Health Guidance - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Webinar on Public Health Guidance - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Convenes California School Leaders to Review Public Health Guidance for Safe Learning

LivingWorks Virtual Youth Summit - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel74.asp

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hosted a special webinar today for thousands of school leaders, parents, and educational partners to answer questions and assist schools in their understanding of state public health guidance as they continue to ensure the health and safety of students and staff during the pandemic.

The State Superintendent was joined by Ben Chida, Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the Governor’s Office, and Dr. Erica Pan, Acting State Health Officer at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

“I want to acknowledge how proud I am of California’s entire education community, and I just have to commend everyone for doing your part,” Thurmond said. “This is not easy, but I am inspired by our students, educators, administrators, families, and partners leaning in under unimaginable circumstances. Thank you to our partners in the Governor’s Office and CDPH for helping school leaders plan for the weeks and months ahead. We are grateful for all efforts to help schools navigate these complicated decisions in their communities.”

Today’s webinar was a wide-ranging deep dive into myriad issues on the minds of educational leaders, including how schools can plan for teaching, learning, and reopening under the new county monitoring system and how it relates to schools, the elementary waiver process for in-person learning, and a small cohort guidance document (PDF).

The small cohort guidance document outlines the parameters for schools to serve limited in-person groups that are targeted for specialized support and services. According to CDPH guidance, students with disabilities should be prioritized for cohorts, along with English learners, students not participating in distance learning, students at risk of abuse or neglect, and foster and homeless students.

Partner associations posed questions on behalf of educational stakeholders and their specific areas of concern, including personal protective equipment, testing, and more. Partners who participated in the Q&A session included the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, the Association of California School Administrators, the California School Boards Association, the Small School Districts Association, the California School Business Officials Association, the California Teachers Association, the California School Employees Association, and the California Federation of Teachers.

A recording of the webinar can be found on the CDE Facebook page. Schools can learn more about the state’s COVID-19 monitoring system on the California for All Blueprint for a Safer Economy web page.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Webinar on Public Health Guidance - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Choosing Democracy: Why Can't They Just Get Along ? Union Teachers v SCUSD Administration

Choosing Democracy: Why Can't They Just Get Along ? Union Teachers v SCUSD Administration

Why Can't They Just Get Along ? 

Union Teachers v SCUSD Administration

 Many in Sacramento are frustrated and angry about the continuing conflict between the Sacramento City Teachers Assoc, and the SCUSD Superintendent and Board of Education.  Families are being disrupted and children are having their school schedules scrambled.

So, what is going on ? 

To find the District view, read the Sacramento Bee and particularly Marcos Breton.  He opines regularly.

I wanted to hear the teachers' side. So,  at a meeting of the Communities Priority Coalition, I asked David Fisher, President of SCTA to explain the issues.  I got an explanation I could understand.  Here it is.


At its heart, our dispute can be boiled down to one major difference. It's not a dispute about the length of teachers' workday, or teacher pay, it's about providing the best instruction to address student needs and foster a love of learning. In a brick and mortar setting, teachers have the ability to use their professional expertise and judgement to provide an education based on the individual needs of their students. Rather than extend that respect for the professional judgement of teachers to the distance learning setting, SCUSD administrators, with no direct experience teaching in a distance learning environment, are trying to impose a rigid, overly scripted learning model that devalues teachers' professional judgement. It's a choice of quality, rather than simply quantity.

Other districts have been more respectful to the experience of teachers. Here is what one assistant superintendent from Folsom Cordova Unified who "placed his full faith in the teachers" had to say: "Teachers are the educational experts. They went through a lot of training, a lot of college, and a lot of credentialing classes on how to engage kids and help them with their learning."

There's no reason such a respect for teachers should not apply in Sac City as well.


We are moving forward teaching every day to the best of our abilities based on the needs of our students but we want the learning experience to be much better than it was in the Spring.

Last Spring the District unilaterally implemented their proposal without any input from educators at all. It was unclear what the expectations were and was inconsistent at best.

We want this fall to be much better with much clearer expectations based on input from those who are charged with implementing the instruction. That is why we pushed so hard for training that the District only finally agreed to a few hours before the day began.

That is also why our current proposal including our schedules were developed by hundreds of teachers from every school site and segment. We considered our experience in the Spring, expert recommendations by the American Association or Pediatricians and the W.H.O, we reviewed research on sleep patterns of teenagers, as well as looked at what other Districts were doing and what was working and what wasn't.

The teachers on our bargaining team believe their ethical obligation requires them to teach in the manner that is in the best interest of students.  In addition we have received feedback from hundreds of parents, teachers and community members who prefer our more flexible, comprehensive proposal.

As far as the schedules, we are in agreement with our District that the total instructional minutes are the same as recommended by the CDE and the same that most districts also have. While there is some variance in other districts around required live screen time, most other districts give teachers the same discretion they have in a brick and mortar setting to divide their instructional minutes between whole group, small group and independent practice.

For example Folsom Cordova has no minimum required synchronous minutes and leaves it up to the discretion of the individual teachers based on student needs.
https://www.fcusd.org/Page/39750

San Juan requires 45-65 synchronous minutes at elementary level.

https://www.sanjuan.edu/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=79679&ViewID=9fc4dc78-f943-4224-8465-6c780e58f4df&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=55014&PageID=50114

Our proposal requires a much higher minimum of (110 1-3) and 120 synchronous minutes at the elementary level (4-12) and gives the teachers flexibility to increase the minutes for those students who need extra support.

As far as standards and assessments, all teachers will continue to use standards to guide their instruction and will assess students appropriately just like they always have.

It's also important to emphasize that the decision to propose our schedules was not made by me or only a handful of leaders, it was a unanimous Decision of our 85 member bargaining team and by hundreds of school site representatives elected by their peers at each school.

I could not unilaterally make that decision nor change that decision even if I wanted to. And for some additional context, after discussion with other local association leaders, they all said they would never sign on to our District's overly rigid proposal as written. Natomas even went so far as to take a strike vote to make sure they got an acceptable plan and Folsom Cordova didn't have an agreement until about two weeks into their school year.

All that being said our teachers are committed to, and will continue to teach our hearts out to the best of our abilities with or without the trust or respect of our district leadership. And instead of ignoring the disparities in the schools we proposed multiple options for meeting the needs of students that are unable to connect during the live screen time instruction. Unfortunately the District has rejected those ideas.

David Fisher
President SCTA
Phone: 916-452-4591
Fax: 916-452-4675

Choosing Democracy: Why Can't They Just Get Along ? Union Teachers v SCUSD Administration

CURMUDGUCATION: A Robot Wrote An Article. I'm Not Concerned Yet.

CURMUDGUCATION: A Robot Wrote An Article. I'm Not Concerned Yet.

A Robot Wrote An Article. I'm Not Concerned Yet.

The tech world continues its attempts to build a computer that can do language. It's not easy, as witnessed by the fact that they still haven't succeeded. But then, we don't really know how the human brain does language, either.

The current leading construct for computer-generated English is GPT-3. It can do 175 billion parameters (its predecessor had 1.5 billion). It uses deep learning. It is the product of OpenAI, a for-profit outfit in San Francisco co-founded by Elon Musk. It "premiered" in May of this year and really hit the world in July. It is a third generation "language prediction model,: and you want to remember that phrase. And you can watch this video for a "layperson's explanation,"

People have been impressed. Here's a couple of paragraphs from a gushing Farhad Manjoo  review in the New York Times

I’ve never really worried that a computer might take my job because it’s never seemed remotely possible. Not infrequently, my phone thinks I meant to write the word “ducking.” A computer writing a newspaper column? That’ll be the day.

Well, writer friends, the day is nigh. This month, OpenAI, an artificial-intelligence research lab CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: A Robot Wrote An Article. I'm Not Concerned Yet.

A DISCOMFORT WITH THE TRUTH – Dad Gone Wild

A DISCOMFORT WITH THE TRUTH – Dad Gone Wild

A DISCOMFORT WITH THE TRUTH

“A man will seek to express his relation to the stars; but when a man’s consciousness has been riveted upon obtaining a loaf of bread, that loaf of bread is as important as the stars.”
― Richard Wright, Black Boy

“Your whole house smells of dog, says someone who comes to visit. I say I’ll take care of it. Which I do by never inviting that person to visit again.”
― Sigrid Nunez, The Friend

This morning I watched last night’s MNPS school board meeting and now I have to ask, am I the only seeing a trainwreck of monumental proportions approaching? I appreciate Dr. Battle’s steady hand at the wheel but in order to execute a safe return to face to face learning, we need an actual plan, with actual details. Based on what I saw this morning, we have neither. Not only do we not have an actual plan, but we are not even asking the right questions.

Yesterday a survey went out to Nashville families informing them that they must make a decision by September 15th on whether to return to f2f instruction after October’s Fall Break or remain virtual. A decision that they must stick with for the rest of the year, hypothetically parents could change their decision in December based on a vague description of a change in factors. Does a drop in COVID numbers of 20% represent enough of a change to allow for alteration? What if the virtual instruction drops of in perceived quality based on a number of factors – district focus, teacher attrition, unresolved technical issues. Does that warrant a change? Who knows? Like the rest of the plan, details are lacking.

Before we go any further in this discussion, it needs to be acknowledged that district leadership has failed to instill virtual school with any fidelity, not just on a school to school basis, but even inside CONTINUE READING: A DISCOMFORT WITH THE TRUTH – Dad Gone Wild

NYC Public School Parents: Reopening schools amid funding cuts & how to minimize the harm of remote learning

NYC Public School Parents: Reopening schools amid funding cuts & how to minimize the harm of remote learning

Reopening schools amid funding cuts & how to minimize the harm of remote learning

On this week's "Talk out of School" I interviewed Jasmine Gripper, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education, about Governor Cuomo’s damaging and inequitable budget cuts to public schools. 

Then Josh Golin, Executive Director of Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood, explained why schools need to minimize screen time and the use of ed tech apps and should protect student privacy during remote learning. He also explained how parents can advocate for this.  Resources below.

You can also subscribe to our weekly podcast and listen to past shows here.

 More resources here:

Alliance for Quality Education report: Set Up to Fail: How Cuomo’s School Cuts Target New York’s Black & Brown Students 
For more information on AQE’s planned 9/12/20 actions on school funding, contact  Maria@aqeny.org  

News on Albany school cuts  and Schenectady layoffs 

Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood’s statement urging schools to minimize screen time and ed tech 

Also: CCFC petition on this issue and an article on the subject.

Parent Toolkit for Student Privacy from CCFC and the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy 

NYC Public School Parents: Reopening schools amid funding cuts & how to minimize the harm of remote learning

Teacher Tom: Perhaps, Parents, That Future is Closer Than We Think

Teacher Tom: Perhaps, Parents, That Future is Closer Than We Think

Perhaps, Parents, That Future is Closer Than We Think

Parents should know that what is happening right now via Zoom meetings is being called "school," but please don't judge your children's teachers by what is happening right now. Or rather, please remember that just as this is an all new world for you and your children, it is likewise an all new world for the teachers who are tasked with inventing this way of delivering curricula via a schedule that has been imposed upon them by administrators and school boards.

I'm guessing that most young children, despite the upheaval, are excited and enthusiastic about the start of the new school year, diving in, adopting the can-do spirit of their teachers. Parents are proudly posting those first day of school pictures on social media, one of the traditional highlights of fall for me as it's a chance to sort of "catch up" with children I know who are no longer preschoolers. There will be even more challenges ahead, we're going to have to maintain our collective sense of humor, and of course we're all hoping for an end to the pandemic, but getting off to a good start is no small thing.

That said, I know it's already been hard for a lot of kids, especially those who thrive on moving their bodies or socializing or who simply don't have an affinity for the CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Perhaps, Parents, That Future is Closer Than We Think