Latest News and Comment from Education

Show All

Thursday, February 23, 2017

DeVos reveals chat with fiercely critical teachers union president | New York Post

DeVos reveals chat with fiercely critical teachers union president | New York Post:

DeVos reveals chat with fiercely critical teachers union president 

OXON HILL, Md. — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos revealed Thursday that she had a “great” peacemaking conversation with one of her fiercest opponents, national teachers union president Randi Weingarten.
DeVos said she called Weingarten after her confirmation and they agreed to tour two schools together — one a traditional public school that Weingarten will choose and another selected by DeVos.
“I had a great conversation with Randi. I think it’s imperative that we work together to find common ground,” DeVos told the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“If students represent 100 percent of our future, we need to be focused on what’s right for them.”
Teachers unions and Democratic activists strongly opposed DeVos’ nomination, charging that she would undermine public education in efforts to implement school choice policies.
Weingarten was among her harshest foes.
“The president-elect, in his selection of Betsy DeVos, has chosen the most ideological, anti-public education nominee put forward since President Carter created a cabinet-level Department of Education,” Weingarten said when DeVos was nominated.
On Thursday, Weingarten responded to DeVos’ speech by retweeting a quote from Todd Mann, head of the public Magnet Schools of America: “It is absolutely imperative that our Secretary of Education understands [public schools].”
At the conservative conference outside Washington, DeVos also defended rescinding the federal transgender bathroom directive, saying the protections were a “very huge example of the Obama administration’s overreach.”
She argued that transgender issues are “best dealt with and solved at a personal level and a local level.”
While she and DeVos may have found some common ground, Weingarten didn’t hold back her frustration with DeVos’ transgender stance. “When did protecting children & their safety become over-reach,” she tweeted.
DeVos maintained that the federal government’s role in education should be as “light a touch as possible,” except for civil rights and special education obligations.
During her CPAC appearance, DeVos called for school choice policies and more conservative activism on college campuses.
She also spoke about the need for conservative voices to be heard on college campuses and told students: “Don’t shut up.”
“The fight against the education establishment extends to you too,” DeVos said.
“The faculty, from adjunct professors to deans, tell you what to do, what to say, and more ominously, what to think. They say that if you voted for Donald Trump, you’re a threat to the university community. But the real threat is silencing the First Amendment rights of people with whom you disagree.”
DeVos reveals chat with fiercely critical teachers union president | New York Post:

Posted by at

‘The system is failing too many kids’ — text of Education Secretary DeVos’s speech at CPAC - The Washington Post

‘The system is failing too many kids’ — text of Education Secretary DeVos’s speech at CPAC - The Washington Post:
‘The system is failing too many kids’ — text of Education Secretary DeVos’s speech at CPAC


Here are the full remarks Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivered Thursday at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference, as provided by the Education Department:
Hello! Thank you for that warm welcome. I always love the energy and enthusiasm CPAC brings together every year.
I’m Betsy DeVos. You may have heard some of the “wonderful” things the mainstream media has called me lately. I, however, pride myself on being called a mother, a grandmother, a life partner, and perhaps the first person to tell Bernie Sanders to his face that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
The media has had its fun with me, and that’s OK.
My job isn’t to win a popularity contest with the media or the education establishment here in Washington. My job as Secretary of Education is to make education work for students.
But today, we know the system is failing too many kids.
Why?
Because our nation’s test scores have flatlined.
Because 1.3 million children drop out of school every year.
Because the previous administration spent seven billion of your dollars on “School Improvement Grants,” thinking they could demonstrate that money alone would solve the problem. Yet their own report, issued as they walked out the door, showed that it had zero impact on student outcomes and performance.
They tested their model, and it failed … miserably.
This is not an indictment of teachers. We all know good public school teachers. My mom was one. Good teachers make a real difference. Good teachers deserve to be honored and compensated accordingly.
But the education establishment has been blocking the doorway to reforms, fixes and improvements for a generation.
This not a Left or Right issue. This is an American issue. We need education to work for every child.
Let me ask you: Do you believe parents should be able to choose the best school for their child regardless of their ZIP code or family income?
(YES!) Me too. And so does President Trump.
We have a unique window of opportunity to make school choice a reality for millions of families. Both the President and I believe that providing an equal opportunity for a quality education is an imperative that all students deserve.
Now let me ask you: How many of you are college students?
The fight against the education establishment extends to you too. The faculty, from adjunct professors to deans, tell you what to do, what to say, and more 
‘The system is failing too many kids’ — text of Education Secretary DeVos’s speech at CPAC - The Washington Post:

Posted by at

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) continues to pour big money into political campaigns - Wait What?

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) continues to pour big money into political campaigns - Wait What?:

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) continues to pour big money into political campaigns

Since its formation in 2006, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) has raised over $690,000 for its federal political action committee.  In addition to the federal DFER PAC, the organization has formed numerous political action committees at the state level including, DFER Colorado, DFER Colorado Small Donor Committee, DFER Connecticut PAC, DFER DC Independent Expenditure Committee, DFER DC PAC, DFER Illinois PAC, DFER Illinois Independent Expenditure Committee, DFER Massachusetts Independent Expenditure PAC, DFER New Jersey PAC, DFER Louisiana PAC, DFER New York PAC, and DFER Washington State PAC.
DFER is the political action committee front for the corporate education reform movement’s Education Reform Now, Inc. (ERN), a 501(c)(3) and Education Reform Now Advocacy, Inc. (ERNA), a 501(c)(4).
DFER uses Education Reform Now and Education Reform Now Advocacy as “Dark Money” groups to funnel millions of dollars into lobbying and political campaigns on behalf of the charter school industry.  In 2016, Education Reform Now Advocacy dumped nearly half a million dollars into the charter school industry’s failed effort to lift the cap on the number of charter schools in Massachusetts. As a dark money group, ERN and ERNA refuse to disclose the names of their donors.
Funded by major Wall Street executives and the education reform foundations, DFER and its related entities lobby for charter schools, the Common Core testing scheme, teacher evaluations based on scores and school vouchers.  They are perhaps best known for their opposition to democratically elected boards of education.  Instead they push for mayoral controlled schools.
Whitney Tilson, a co-founder of DFER, “explained the hedge funders interest in education saying that “Hedge funds are always looking for Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) continues to pour big money into political campaigns - Wait What?:

Posted by at

The 'Trust Gap' in Schools ... And How Teachers Can Help Close It

The 'Trust Gap' in Schools ... And How Teachers Can Help Close It:

The ‘Trust Gap’ in Schools … And How Teachers Can Help Close It

trust gap students teachers

If students of color don’t believe that school officials treat them fairly, a “trust gap” emerges that could impact college enrollment, even if they receive good grades, according to a new study.
What causes the “trust gap”? Extreme disparities in discipline and low expectations from teachers. Many students, particularly Black and Hispanic youths, develop a growing mistrust for authority once they perceive and experience these biases, says David Yeager, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of the new report, published in the journal Child Development.
“When students have lost trust, they may be deprived of the benefits of engaging with an institution, such as positive relationships and access to resources and opportunities for advancement,” explains Yeager.
In an eight-year study, Yeager and his colleagues conducted twice-yearly surveys with white and African American students in the northeast and white and Hispanic students in rural Colorado, tracking them from middle school through the end of high school. The survey measured students’ trust level by their responses to statements such as ” I am treated fairly by my teachers and other adults at my school” and “If a black or a white [school name] student is alone in the hallway during class time, which one would a teacher ask for a hall pass?”
The researchers found that trust decreased for all students during seventh grade – a time when a student is most likely to first detect unjust policies – but the declines were much faster for Black and Latino students. Furthermore, these students were more likely to be cited for behavior infractions the following year, even if they had never been in trouble before and received good grades. School records revealed that the racial disparity reported by many students did in fact exist.
“Perceived bias and mistrust reinforce each other. And like a stone rolling down a hill that triggers an avalanche, the loss of trust could accumulate behavioral consequences over time” – David Yeager, University of Texas at Austin
African American students who lost trust in seventh grade were also less likely to make it to a four-year college six years later.
The perception that a wide racial gap exists in school disciplinary actions is grounded in a growing body of evidence. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than are White students.


Posted by at

The Last Cut? We the People of Detroit Documentary on School Closings on Vimeo

The Last Cut? We the People of Detroit Documentary on School Closings on Vimeo:

The Last Cut? We the People of Detroit Documentary on School Closings


Posted by at

Jay’s way: Sacramento school board president sees drama ahead with Trump administration, looming deficit -

Sacramento News & Review - Jay’s way: Sacramento school board president sees drama ahead with Trump administration, looming deficit - News - Local Stories - February 23, 2017:

Jay’s way: Sacramento school board president sees drama ahead with Trump administration, looming deficit
Jay Hansen says his district, fellow board members ‘haven’t even had the conversation’ about bleak district finances


Jay Hansen became an appointed trustee of the Sacramento City Unified School District in 2012. Two years later, he campaigned for the position and won. Today, he is president of the school board, having been chosen by his fellow trustees to lead them.
It’s a big job. The district faces serious economic challenges even as it’s charting new directions and hiring a new superintendent. SN&R President and CEO Jeff vonKaenel recently interviewed Hansen and discovered that he doesn’t mince words when it comes to those challenges. (Editor’s note: The interview has been edited for clarity and length.)
How is the district doing?
We’re in a really interesting place now. We’re trying to figure out ways to make Sacramento’s schools more of a destination district than in the past. That means creating educational programs that are enticing and exciting for students and parents.
I just created an academic ad hoc committee to examine what kind of school programs we have—what kinds of civics programs at which schools, and what kinds of technical-education programs at which schools. And then I want to have a series of meetings that look at our different academic programs to see what we can do to build those out at schools that need something special. Some people don’t realize that two-thirds of students aren’t going to get a four-year college degree. The reality is that, no matter what, it is not going to be the pathway that a lot of students want to take.
The question for us is: How can we help those students be successful when they graduate from high school? What else can we help them prepare for—trade schools, the military, the construction industry—so they are ready to start a career right out of high school.
District finances seem fairly bleak, in terms of increased pension and health insurance costs. At November’s board meeting, the prediction was for a $22 million deficit in 2018.
We have some really serious challenges. We have to be straightforward about the obligations made in the past. Previous school boards and negotiating teams frankly weren’t very good to their future employees.
We have a gigantic unpaid and unfunded health care liability; the district estimates the cost at about $620 million over time, and we barely have started putting money aside for that. We are up to about $15 million a year, but at least it’s something. We need to do a lot more.
How much, $30 million?
We would need to contribute about $20 million per year on an ongoing basis so as not to dig ourselves any deeper in the hole. That is keeping our current benefits and keeping our commitments to retirees. We have as many retirees drawing health care benefits as we do current employees. It was frankly a bit of malfeasance by the previous school boards and previous labor negotiating partners that they never set up a program to start paying for this.
How are you proposing to fix that hole?
We haven’t even had the conversation. There has been no recognition that there is even an issue, and that’s malfeasance in itself. Some people don’t want to deal with it because they don’t want it to affect current negotiations—salary raises and whatever else people would like to have. So they pretend that magically this money is going to appear in the future.
In addition, the pension increases the state has obligated us to pay are going to triple in the next three or four years. Those are fixed costs that we can’t do anything about, so we have to budget for that as well.
Our total budget, including federal money, is about $550 million a year. We’ve never gone out to a competitive bid for our health care products; that’s crazy, too. We’ve got to do that. We could save $4 million to $6 million a year if we did that, and then we can plow that money back into retiree benefits.
Why do the district and the teachers’ union have such an antagonistic relationship?
Posted by at

Teachers speak out on the schools crisis and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - World Socialist Web Site

Teachers speak out on the schools crisis and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - World Socialist Web Site:

Teachers speak out on the schools crisis and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos

New US Education Secretary billionaire Betsy DeVos has lost no time in making known her ideological opposition to public education, contempt for educators and hostility to democratic rights.
Her installation has evoked strong opposition to teachers, who rightly see DeVos as the spearhead of a ramped up attack at all levels on public education.
Following her narrow Cabinet confirmation, DeVos’ first appearance was a brief visit to a public school, Washington DC’s Jefferson Middle School Academy, on February 10. Her arrival was greeted with protests by parents and teachers, temporarily preventing her from entering into the school.
Speaking to the press after the visit, DeVos insulted the teachers, haughtily characterized them as in “receive mode … waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child.” She has routinely referred to public schools as a “dead end.”
In a subsequent interview with the right-wing news site Townhall, DeVos alleged the protests were “not genuine”. “We’ve seen enough written that they want to make my life a living hell”, she added. Also denouncing the protesters was American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who tweeted, “Just heard a protester blocked & almost knocked Secy @BetsyDeVos down at Jefferson. We don’t condone such acts. We want her to go to pub schls.”
DeVos has now made the highly unusual and expensive demand that she be accompanied by US federal marshals for the foreseeable future. No Cabinet-level secretary has requested a similar level of protection since at least 2009.
The secretary is not just fearful of protesting teachers, she also issued a not-so-veiled threat that any Education Department employees who try to “subvert the mission” (her pro-privatization agenda) would be attended to “swiftly and surely”, according to Townhall.
For his part, President Trump reiterated his support for privatization at a White House “listening session” with a handpicked group of parents on February 14. Trump, with DeVos at his side, described charter schools “fantastic”, “amazing” and “unbelievable.” He has pledged $20 billion in federal aid for school vouchers through block grants to the states or a federally funded scholarship tax credit program written into the tax code.
In an interview with Axios published February 17, DeVos stated that she would “be fine” with the abolition of the Department of Education and Teachers speak out on the schools crisis and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - World Socialist Web Site:


Posted by at

DeVos Watch, February 2017 – Live Long and Prosper

DeVos Watch, February 2017 – Live Long and Prosper:

DeVos Watch, February 2017

She has never worked or taught in public schools.
She has never attended public schools.
She has never been a parent of public school students.
This billionaire has spent her (and her husband’s) money to privatize public education in Michigan. She bought state legislators to pass legislation which the people had rejected.
Now she wants to bring the same privatization plan to the rest of the nation. She used her billions to buy her cabinet position by bribing federal legislators with campaign contributions.
Her nomination and confirmation mobilized millions and people learned that she is unfit for her job. The nation educated itself on how she has spent her money to privatize education in Michigan, Indiana, and elsewhere across the country.
But America supports its local public schools and we’re watching.
DEVOS WATCH
After her first visit to a public school as Secretary of Education (or possibly ever?), DeVos said, “They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child. You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.”
She was talking about teachers…professionals who had spent years in preparation for their job and held college-level credentials which allowed them licensure to teach. She was talking about teachers who had spent a varying number of years in public school classrooms teaching children.
These are people who she claims are “waiting to be told what to do?” No, Secretary DeVos. Public school teachers know what to do.
People knew that the democrats on the HELP committee were not given much time to give questions to receive more glaring answers from a lady who does not give a damn about public schools.
So if anybody is in “receive mode,” it is Betsy DeVos.
She certainly gave a lot to receive her office.
What she should be willing to receive is an education about how public schools have been doing despite the obvious pressures that influence academic outcomes that schools have no control over like poverty. But that takes willingness, honesty, integrity, and humility.
And Betsy DeVos has not given much of that.
Test and punish is still the rule in America. Betsy DeVos said, “You have to have DeVos Watch, February 2017 – Live Long and Prosper:


Posted by at

A For-Profit Charter ALTERNATIVE School?

A For-Profit Charter ALTERNATIVE School?:

A For-Profit Charter ALTERNATIVE School?



A confusing article was just published by USA Today using the term “for-profit charter alternative school.” I’ve never seen a charter school described this way before. Charter schools and alternative schools are two different schools. And since Betsy DeVos is crookedly selling school choice to America, it is important to understand the difference.
So I am reviewing two meanings of two schools, charter schools and alternative schools.
We learn in the report that students were pushed out of a high-functioning high school in Orlando into a for-profit charter school called Sunshine, run by Acelerated Learning Solutions.
They literally had no plan for instruction. Students were seated in front of computers with no guidance.
Of course this is outrageous. But there is a blurring of the lines in the report between a A For-Profit Charter ALTERNATIVE School?:


Posted by at

Find Out How To Use Our Education Data For Your Reporting | The Huffington Post

Find Out How To Use Our Education Data For Your Reporting | The Huffington Post:

Find Out How To Use Our Education Data For Your Reporting

Image result for How To Use Our Education Data

The U.S. Department of Education recently released the largest and most comprehensive snapshot of the educational opportunities afforded to millions of students across the country. The new data include information on which students are taking advanced courses often tied to academic success, the experience level of teachers, as well as the racial makeup of schools.
We used the data to look at why some states are leaving low-income students behind [1] while others appear to have leveled the playing field when it comes to enrollment in important courses.
We also used it to create our Opportunity Gap news application [2], which lets readers find information on specific schools and compare them to similar schools.
Because the data also provide loads of brand-new material for education reporters, we2019re hosting a conference call Tuesday at 3 p.m. to discuss how to use the data in local stories. Just sign up here, and we’ll get you the call-in information [3].
Our news application makes it easy to point readers to profiles of specific schools or districts. Here’s our guide on how to use it, including instructions on how to share your findings from within the app, and how to embed a special link to it in your story.
What’s new about this data?
In June, the Office for Civil Rights released, for the first time, detailed information on the number of children enrolled in particular classes such as Advanced Placement courses and advanced math, and the number of inexperienced teachers at each school.
We had early access to the data and combined it with information on poverty, using the percentage of students in each school who were eligible for the government’s free and reduced-price lunch program. Our analysis included data on all schools in districts with at least 3,000 students, which account for more than three-quarters of all students in the U.S. Read our complete methodology for more details [4].
Here are some tips for analyzing the data to generate story ideas in your state or district.
Start by looking at how your state compares to others.
The graphic on the left-hand side of our main Opportunity Gap [5] page illustrates the statistical analysis we did to see how strong the relationship was in each state between poverty and enrollment in five programs: AP courses, gifted-and-talented programs, advanced math, physics and chemistry. The darker the shading, the likelier it is that children in wealthier schools are enrolled in that kind of class, compared with children at low-income schools.
The courses included in our analysis have been associated with academic success [6], including high school graduation and college attendance. States where low-income children often miss out on advanced courses are said to have an “opportunity gap.”
As you’ll see, clicking on “chemistry” brings North Dakota to the top of the list, which indicates that high-poverty schools in the state offer less access to chemistry classes than wealthier schools. If you select “AP courses,” you’ll see that Oklahoma and Kansas shoot to the top of the list, meaning that there’s a stronger relationship in those states between poverty and whether kids are enrolled in AP courses.
We were surprised to find virtually no opportunity gap in Florida when it came to AP course enrollment. Our reporting showed that over the past decade the state has undertaken a Find Out How To Use Our Education Data For Your Reporting | The Huffington Post:


Posted by at

CURMUDGUCATION: DeVos Folds

CURMUDGUCATION: DeVos Folds:

DeVos Folds


It was pretty much zero surprise that the Trump administration chose to undo the Obama protections for transgender students (despite his vociferous campaign assertion that he would be a far better friend to LGBT folks than Clinton).


Donald J. Trump 
✔@realDonaldTrump
Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.
10:31 AM - 14 Jun 2016
Yeah, that's a real Trump tweet.

Only a tiny bit of my soul died this week. Hardly hurts at all.

But no-- the actual surprise was that according to several published reports (because, apparently, DC leaks like a buckshot-blasted colander) Betsy DeVos balked at this move. Rescinding the protections required two departments to sign off, and DeVos reportedly did not want to do it. She expressed her concern that transgender students could be more vulnerable to harm without the rue, according to "three Republicans with direct knowledge of the internal discussions." Attorney General Jess Sessions escalated to Defcon Five. Per the New York Times:

Mr. Sessions, who has opposed expanding gay, lesbian and transgender rights, pushed Ms. DeVos to relent. After getting nowhere, he took his objections to the White House because he could not go forward without her consent. Mr. Trump sided with his attorney general, the Republicans said, and told Ms. DeVos in a meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he wanted her to drop her CURMUDGUCATION: DeVos Folds:



Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)