CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Chose Monday: Books. Just Books.

CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Chose Monday: Books. Just Books.

Donors Chose Monday: Books. Just Books.

Researchers actually took a look at teacher fundraising via Donors Chose and other micro-philanthropy sites. Some of the patterns that emerged are not exactly surprising--the site is used for "triage and not extras," and more prevalent in states where funding of schools is less than optimal. 

As I've said before, Donors Choose shouldn't be a thing. The need it meets shouldn't exist, and stories about how Teacher Pat had a project funded are not feel-good stories--they're a sign that funding for education in this country is a mess. 

That said, we can either ignore the problem because it shouldn't exist, or we can try to pitch in. I am not a fan of enabling bad management, but in retirement I keep looking for ways to support not just the profession, but the people working in it. So I continue with this weekly (or bi-weekly or however often I get back to it) choice to find a Donors Chose  project and support it, and invite you to join me. If not on the featured project, then on one of your own choice, or a contribution to a local classroom. 

This time, I'm contributing to Mrs. Ploss and her first grade classroom at Elk Valley Elementary School in Lake City, PA. Mrs. Ploss is looking for books and Scholastic magazine. I can't think of anything any better than getting reading materials into first graders' hands.

Also, Mrs. Small at Shaver Elementary School in Portland, OR is trying to build a classroom library that reflects the diversity of her students. What can I say? I love the books.

And speaking of books for kids-- I've written about and you've probably heard about the Imagination Library, a project of Dolly Parton. It puts a book a month in the hands of families of littles across the country and internationally as well. It's one of the great modern educational philanthropies, and you can contribute to their work directly--just follow this link. 

CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Chose Monday: Books. Just Books.

Additional Guidance for 75 cent Rate Increase + CACFP Meal Patterns Training Slides and Resources - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

Additional Guidance for 75 cent Rate Increase - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

Additional Guidance for 75 cent Rate Increase

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Web Page

This communication provides additional guidance on the identification, accounting treatment, use, and reporting requirements of the supplemental $0.75 rate increase payments (supplemental increase) that the California Department of Education (CDE) has issued to program operators.

Payments for the supplemental increase made thus far are for April through August 2020 claims. March 2020 payments are still being processed, and sponsors can expect to receive payment for March 2020 in Spring 2021.

Background

The supplemental increase was made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act created the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, which established a discretionary amount for the state educational agency reserve. The 2020‒21 Budget Act appropriated funds from the reserve for support for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Seamless Summer Option, and Summer Food Service Program. Hence, the supplemental increase payments, both federal and state, are for the support of School Nutrition Programs (SNP) and Summer Meal Programs (SMP).

Identification of Federal and State Funds

The CDE issued a communication on January 21, 2021, that provided program operators with instructions on how to identify the supplemental increase payments as federal CARES Act or state Proposition 98 funds. This communication can be found on the CDE Nutrition What’s New web page under the disaster tab, title 75 Cent Rate Increase Payment Information.

Accounting Treatment

The CDE School Fiscal Services Division has created two new standardized account code structure (SACS) resource codes to be used to record these supplemental increase revenues depending on if the funds were identified as federal or state. Once the funding source has been identified, please ensure the revenue is deposited in the cafeteria fund and recorded in the respective resource codes below:

Resource 5316, Child Nutrition: COVID CARES Act Supplemental Meal Reimbursement

Resource 7027, Child Nutrition: COVID State Supplemental Meal Reimbursement

Both resource codes are now available in the SACS tables of valid code combinations. If you have questions about the accounting for these funds using the new resource codes, please contact the School Fiscal Services Division at SACSINFO@cde.ca.gov.

Some charter schools do not use the SACS to account for program revenues and expenditures. Such agencies should ensure that revenues and expenditures are accounted for in a manner that demonstrates the deposit and use of funds for the SNP and SMP.

Use of Funds

Supplemental increase revenues are to be used only for the operation and improvement of the SNP and SMP and are subject to the same cost principles as other cafeteria funds.

Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 200 established uniform grant guidance for the use of federal awards. These regulations stipulated that capital expenditures with a per unit value of $5,000 must be approved by the state agency. Certain equipment items used for the Child Nutrition Programs have been preapproved by the state agency and can be found on the CDE Capital Expenditure Approved List web page. Local educational agencies that wish to purchase capital expenditures not on the approved list, should contact the Nutrition Services Division Resource Management Unit (RMU) for approval by emailing the request to snpcafefundquestions@cde.ca.gov.

For additional guidance on allowability of costs, please reference the CDE Cafeteria Funds—Allowable Uses Management Bulletin web page.

Reporting Requirements

Sponsors who received CARES funds are subject to annual reporting requirements. These funds must be included in the ESSER Fund Annual Report. These funds do not need to be included in the ESSER Quarterly Report, and if a sponsor received only State Prop 98 funds then no reporting is necessary. For more information regarding the reporting requirements please contact the Governmental Affairs Division at CARESAct@cde.ca.gov.

Contact Information

If you have questions regarding the allowability of costs in the SNPs, please contact the RMU by email at snpcafefundquestions@cde.ca.gov.

Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

Additional Guidance for 75 cent Rate Increase - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)

CACFP Meal Patterns Training Slides and Resources - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/newcacfpmptslideres.asp

Google Lawsuit, COPPA, Investigating and Blocking Ad Trackers in Children’s Apps | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Google Lawsuit, COPPA, Investigating and Blocking Ad Trackers in Children’s Apps | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

GOOGLE LAWSUIT, COPPA, INVESTIGATING AND BLOCKING AD TRACKERS IN CHILDREN’S APPS

There was some big news last week on the children’s privacy front: A District Judge has ruled that Google and the apps they sell on their “store” cannot  dodge a lawsuit brought by the New Mexico Attorney General. Previously, a state court had said the case couldn’t proceed, but thanks to this decision, Google will face claims that apps they hosted in the “Designed for Families” section of their Google Play Store, and ad networks they employed, had actual knowledge they were targeting and marketing children’s data, in violation of COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The apps in question are owned by Tiny Lab Productions.

This court case will be significant in highlighting how apps use cookies and advertising tools to track children across the web. As explained in the decision, 

“Tiny Lab Productions (“Tiny Lab”), a Lithuanian company, is a developer of child-directed, mobile game apps including Fun Kid Racing, Candy Land Racing, Baby Toilet Race: Cleanup Fun, and GummyBear and Friends Speed Racing. AdMob [AdMob is owned by Google], Twitter/MoPub, InMobi/AerServ, Applovin, and ironSource (collectively, the “Ad Networks”) sold their proprietary software development kits (“SDKs”) to Tiny Lab for installation and use in its gaming apps. Id. ¶ 13. When a Tiny CONTINUE READING: Google Lawsuit, COPPA, Investigating and Blocking Ad Trackers in Children’s Apps | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Take our App Survey

For Data Privacy Day — take our Survey: online apps used by districts and their privacy provisions

In honor of World Data Privacy Day, on January 28, we launched an App Survey for parents, asking what apps your school uses and what privacy protections and transparency notifications are in place.  The response has been incredible and we encourage all parents to share and take this survey; of course your answers will remain confidential. Click here to take the survey and if you happen to install ad blockers, let us know what you find!  

uBlock and AP Classroom trackers

Blacklight and Google Classroom ad trackers

For Data Privacy Day — take our Survey: online apps used by districts and their privacy provisions

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

  NewBlackMan (in Exile)

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm.html

Coffee & Books – Marc Lamont Hill talks with Dr. Yaba Blay, Author, 'One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race‪'

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

'On this episode of Coffee & Books , host Marc Lamont Hill is in conversation with scholar-activist, public speaker, and cultural consultant, Dr. Yaba Blay . They discuss the re-release of her book One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race . The two unpack the origins of the "one drop" rule, why the first edition of the book was difficult to get published.'

The Coffee Brand Beloved by Domestic Extremists

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

'Black Rifle is, at heart, a coffee company. But unlike the vast majority of coffee companies, it markets its beans with a highly militaristic branding that leans on gun-heavy, special-ops themed photoshoots with goofy product placement. Of course, guns and coffee don’t really have a lot in common. A shooting range session might leave you amped like back-to-back espressos, but that’s about it. On

Archie Shepp & Jason Moran: "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

Archie Shepp (Soprano Saxophone and vocals) and Jason Moran (Piano) perform "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" from their recording Let My People Go .

Many Lumens with Maori Karmael Holmes: Blitz Bazawule

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

' Many Lumens host Maori Karmael Holmes chats with Blitz Bazawule , the musician, filmmaker, writer and painter. Topics include The Black Atlantic and Kwame Nkrumah, moving to middle America from Ghana, finding a creative tribe, and the multi-dimensional power of film as a tool for Afro diasporic storytelling.'

Black Art: In the Absence of Light (2021) | Official Trailer | HBO

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

“The American canon is not complete without it.” 'Black Art: In The Absence of Light (director: Sam Pollard ; executive producer: Henry Louis Gates ) is a look at Black American Art and representation using David Driskell ’s landmark Two Centuries of Black American Art exhibition​ as a framing device.' -- HBO

Time Decorated: The Musical Influences of Jean-Michel Basquiat | Part 2 with James Spooner

by Mark Anthony Neal / 20h

'The "Punk and No Wave" segment is hosted by James Spooner , who co-founded Afropunk Festival and ran an underground club on Canal Street in the early 90’s, features tunes by James Chance and The Contortions, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Basquiat’s band Gray, Liquid Liquid, DNA, and Mars.' -- The Broad

liquid blackness: Interview with Larry Clark

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

'Exclusive interview with filmmaker and professor Larry Clark about his legendary film, Passing Through (1977). Clark is interviewed by Alessandra Raengo of the liquid blackness collective.' Interview with Larry Clark by Alessandra Raengo from liquid blackness on Vimeo .

  NewBlackMan (in Exile)