Big Education Ape

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Disaster CalFresh Outreach Materials - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

Disaster CalFresh Outreach Materials

There has been a presidential disaster declaration in a number of counties across the state of California. The California Department of Education (CDE) is assisting the California Department of Social Services, (CDSS) to share information about Disaster CalFresh food benefit services. Currently, families in Lake, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Yolo counties are eligible for Disaster CalFresh benefits.

The application process for Disaster CalFresh benefits is a two-phase process. First, families in eligible counties must pre-register for Disaster CalFresh benefits by calling or texting 1-916-237-1909 between Wednesday, October 7 and Tuesday, October 13. Those families that have pre-registered will be contacted by their local counties to complete the application and interview process between Wednesday, October 14 and Thursday, October 22.

To assist with community outreach, the CDSS has announced the availability of new Disaster CalFresh outreach materials. These materials are available on the CDSS website

and will be updated routinely.

Available Now: Outreach materials focusing on pre-registration (English and Spanish)
- Disaster CalFresh Eligibility Flow Chart Visual Tool
- Applying for Disaster CalFresh in 1,2,3 Visual Tool
- Flyer (lived or worked in impacted county)
- Flyer (students)
- Flyer (all Californians – Immigrants/Non-Citizens)
- Social Media Document
- Social Media Postings (4 visuals)
- Disaster CalFresh FAQ Sheet

In Progress: Standard application materials (English; Spanish coming soon)
- Disaster CalFresh Eligibility Flow Chart Visual Tool
- Applying for Disaster CalFresh in 1,2,3 Visual Tool
- Flyer (lived or worked in impacted county)
- Flyer (students)
- Flyer (all Californians – Immigrants/Non-Citizens)
- Social Media Postings (4 visuals)

The CDE requests that program operators share these resources with families to ensure that they can access these Disaster CalFresh benefits.

Contact Information

Please send any questions related to outreach materials to CalFreshAccess@dss.ca.gov.

Families with general questions about CalFresh can contact the CDSS CalFresh Benefits Help Line at 1-877-847-3663 or send an email to CalFreshPolicy@dss.ca.gov.

Questions: Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

Disaster CalFresh Outreach Materials - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

Robbery in Broad Daylight | JD2718

Robbery in Broad Daylight

Bill de blasio walked up to NYC teachers – on a weekday this time.

Think about that. Through this whole pandemic he has saved his announcements for Friday. After the work day is over. Or over the weekend. He is a coward. Schools closed? Sunday. Vacation lost. Friday. Zoom banned. Friday. Passover and Good Friday stolen? Friday. He skulks in the shadows.

But not this time. He walked right up to us and stole money, in front of the whole world. It is a brazen, daylight robbery. Or at least an attempt. It is Trump-worthy.

Over a decade ago, under that slimeball, Mayor Bloomberg, teachers worked under an expired contract. He wouldn’t negotiate fairly. And we were not going to sign yet another concessionary deal. Teachers were still smarting (and still are) from the massive concessions that Weingarten and her lieutenants made on our behalf in 2005. So when the contract expired in 2009 we kept working….

When Bloomberg left we negotiated with de blasio. In 2014 we completed an ok agreement – the raises started right away, but de blasio complained that he did not have the money in hand to pay the back CONTINUE READING: Robbery in Broad Daylight | JD2718

Improve Reading Achievement. Teach More Social Studies | Live Long and Prosper

Improve Reading Achievement. Teach More Social Studies

OUR STUDENTS/SCHOOLS AREN’T FAILING

Using the “failing schools” trope has long been a tactic of school “reformers” to claim that privatizing education is necessary. It was called out again in an article in Hechinger Report where we were told that…

Only a third of American students are reading proficiently at grade level, according to national benchmark tests.

(The article continues by suggesting that the failure to teach phonics is the reason for the poor test scores, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

This description of the apparent desperate condition of the nation’s readers comes from the NAEP test, the Nation’s Report Card. Diane Ravitch, a former member of the National Assessment Governing Board, has frequently reminded her readers that “proficient” on the NAEP is equivalent to “a very high level of academic achievement,” like a grade of A, and that a score of “basic” is not terrible.

When I served on NAGB for seven years, the board understood very well that proficient was a high bar, not a pass-fail mark. No member of the board or the staff expected that some day all students would attain “NAEP Proficient.” Yet critics and newspaper consistently use NAEP proficient as an indicator that “all students” should one day reach. This misperception CONTINUE READING: Improve Reading Achievement. Teach More Social Studies | Live Long and Prosper

Teacher Tom: "It's Not Fair"

"It's Not Fair"

In my early years as a teacher, I had an idea for teaching four and five-year-olds about fairness. I filled a small treasure box with a collection of plastic cut gems, the kind one often finds be-sparkling princess jewelry. I told the children it then gems were "special" and asked them to not touch as I showed the box around. I could see it appealed to the kids and many of them struggled with their self-control as the open box was passed under their noses. I then said, "I'm going to give one gem to every girl."

My idea was that the boys would object, which would then lead to a discussion about fairness. I was operating under the well-established (at the time) idea that young children are essentially selfish and selfless concepts like fairness were learned behavior. I felt pretty clever.

As I began doling out the gems one at a time to the girls, I noted the concerned looks on the faces of the boys, just as I was hoping, but then something unexpected happened. One of the girls refused her gem, saying, "That's not fair. The boys should get gems too." Then one of the girls who already had a gem in her fist handed it back to me saying, "Yeah, it's not fair. I don't want mine either." I even tried to plow forward with my little exercise, but the girls, as one, refused. Even more surprisingly, the boys sat silently until finally one of them said, softly, as if still not so sure, "It's not fair."

Not only had they blown up my plan, they had both rebelled CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: "It's Not Fair"

MARK WEBER: New Jersey’s Shrinking Pool of Teacher Candidates | New Jersey Policy Perspective

New Jersey’s Shrinking Pool of Teacher Candidates | New Jersey Policy Perspective

New Jersey’s Shrinking Pool of Teacher Candidates

To read a PDF version of the full report, click here.

Executive Summary

Maintaining a high-quality teaching workforce is critically important for the future of public education in New Jersey. Federal data, however, show cause for concern: New Jersey is producing far fewer teacher candidates than a decade ago. In fact, the number of candidates completing teacher preparation programs has dropped 49 percent between 2009 and 2018. These declines, which are part of national and regional trends, cut across both gender and race. The dwindling number of teacher candidates creates instability in the teaching profession and jeopardizes the ability of students to learn.[1]

While reasons for the decline in teacher candidates are complex, we know that New Jersey’s teachers are paid considerably less than other college-educated workers, even when controlling for age and time worked.[2] Of particular concern is that the evidence suggests fewer college graduates see teaching as a viable career option with adequate compensation. New Jersey must aggressively address these problems if it wishes to retain its status as having one of the best education systems in the nation.

To stem the decline in teacher candidates, New Jersey should work to make the teaching profession more attractive by raising teacher pay, shoring up benefits, and increasing the respect and appreciation shown to New Jersey’s educators.

This report explores enrollment and completion data in teacher preparation programs, gives context around state policy changes affecting education professionals, reviews the level of teacher demand in the state, and examines the change in demographics within the profession over the past ten years.

Background

This past September, NJPP published an analysis of the New Jersey teaching corps entitled, New Jersey’s Teacher Workforce, 2019.[3] Among its findings:

While factors outside of school are the strongest influences on student achievement, teacher quality is the most significant in-school influence.
The research on teacher quality suggests that qualified people become teachers based, in part, on how well teaching pays compared to other jobs.
Despite the importance of teachers, there is a significant gap in wages between New Jersey teachers and other college-educated workers in the state, even when accounting for differences in time worked.
Pensions and health benefits do not fully close the pay gap between teachers and college-educated workers in other professions.
New Jersey’s teaching workforce is mostly white and female; there is little evidence of a trend toward a more diverse teaching workforce.
New Jersey’s teacher workforce is aging, suggesting a new wave of retirements in the next several years.

These findings are similar to other analyses, which show a significant pay gap for teachers compared to other college-educated workers.[4] Critics suggest, however, that these studies are flawed in that they don’t fully account for differences in benefits and other non-pecuniary compensation, unmeasured differences in talent between workers, and other factors. Teachers, they argue, are actually well-compensated, even in today’s tightening labor market.

To test these criticisms, this report examines whether more or fewer workers are becoming teachers. If teacher pay and benefits have kept pace with compensation in other sectors, we would expect to see workers respond in kind, and continue to enter the profession at previous rates. Because compensation levels influence workers’ decisions to go into teaching those workers would judge the benefits that teachers receive as adequate to close the teacher pay gap and continue to enroll in programs to prepare to become educators.[5]

The data, however, tell a different story. Fewer workers in New Jersey are electing to enter teacher preparation programs, a clear indication that teaching is not as attractive a career option as it once was.

Findings

Teacher Preparation Programs: Enrollment & Completion CONTINUE READING: New Jersey’s Shrinking Pool of Teacher Candidates | New Jersey Policy Perspective

Wendy Lecker: Michigan’s inadequate funding of schools a lesson for CT

Wendy Lecker: Michigan’s inadequate funding of schools a lesson for CT

Michigan is the home state of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Before she was appointed by President Donald Trump, DeVos wielded her influence and wealth there to push and expand unregulated charters. “School choice” is one of the policies that opponents of adequate public school funding claim can improve education without spending more money. They also tout increased accountability. These two policies are often sold using the civil rights language, promising equal opportunity for all.

A new report by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (“MCRC”), Education Equity in Michigan, demonstrates how underfunding public schools, while relying on choice and increased accountability, has undermined equity and quality in public education across that state. The report is the result of a year of hearings throughout Michigan, where the commission heard from residents as well as subject matter experts.

MCRC notes the persistent underfunding of Michigan public schools, particularly for students with additional needs. In 1993, in an attempt to reduce funding inequity among school districts, Michigan shifted from a system reliant on local property taxes to one relying primarily on state revenue sources. However, the state neglected funding adequacy. Since 1993, Michigan’s school funding revenue steadily declined. A 2019 study found Michigan ranked last in the nation in total education revenue growth and 48th out of 50 in per pupil revenue growth. A key problem is inadequate funding of students living in poverty, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities. The disparity in resources between affluent and poor districts is matched by a disparity in educational outcomes, especially among the most underserved students.

Compounding Michigan’s inadequate state funding is a “money follows the child” system where funds leave with students as they move from public school to charter to Public School Academies — three different systems competing for the same limited pot of state education funds. The report notes that the state “provides taxpayer money to charter schools without CONTINUE READING: Wendy Lecker: Michigan’s inadequate funding of schools a lesson for CT