Memo lays out Trump administration’s approach to handling transgender students’ civil rights complaints - The Washington Post

Memo lays out Trump administration’s approach to handling transgender students’ civil rights complaints - The Washington Post:

Memo lays out Trump administration’s approach to handling transgender students’ civil rights complaints

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has directed its lawyers to consider transgender students’ discrimination complaints on a case-by-case basis, according to an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post, which makes clear that lawyers may decide to dismiss complaints related to the polarizing issue of transgender students’ access to school bathrooms.

Candice Jackson, acting head of the civil rights office, said she sent the memo to clarify that transgender students may still have valid discrimination complaints even though the Trump administration withdrew guidance specifying that they have a right under federal law to use school bathroom and locker room facilities corresponding to their gender identity.

“It was very important to the secretary and to myself that our investigators not make the mistake of assuming that just because that particular guidance has been rescinded, that all complaints filed by transgender students are going to be dismissed,” Jackson said in an interview Friday. “We wanted to very carefully explain in written format to our field that every investigator assigned to one of these cases needs to go through and individually examine every complaint, and actively search for ways that OCR can retain jurisdiction over the complaint.”

Some civil rights advocates immediately assailed the memo as part of an attempt by the Trump administration to whittle away at civil rights enforcement.

“This guidance says that OCR gets to pick and choose which cases it will open, and it could be appropriate to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction an allegation that a transgender student is not able to access a bathroom consistent with their gender identity,” said Catherine Lhamon, who helmed the Office for Civil Rights under President Barack Obama and now chairs the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “That is not an option under the law, and OCR does not have the option to pick and choose the cases it wants to open.”

[Trump administration plans to minimize civil rights efforts in agencies]

While working under Obama, Lhamon helped write guidance explaining to schools that Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination, protects students’ right to use bathrooms Memo lays out Trump administration’s approach to handling transgender students’ civil rights complaints - The Washington Post:

Commission on Civil Rights to probe Trump administration's handling of civil rights - POLITICO

Commission on Civil Rights to probe Trump administration's handling of civil rights - POLITICO:

Commission on Civil Rights to probe Trump administration's handling of civil rights

An independent watchdog group on Friday approved an investigation of civil rights enforcement in the Trump administration, saying it has "grave concerns" about signals coming from federal agencies — calling out comments by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in particular.

The 6-2 vote by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights approving the statementcalling for a two-year review followed a dispute between two commissioners over the language that calls out DeVos. That language cites that the Education secretary's "repeated refusal in Congressional testimony and other public statements to commit that the department would enforce federal civil rights laws" is "particularly troubling."

The commission, an independent body authorized by Congress, serves as a watchdog on civil rights issues, but has no authority to force change in the government.

Commissioner Gail Heriot, a political independent and law professor at the University of San Diego, said the line about DeVos was "utterly over the top" and sought unsuccessfully to have it removed.

“At no time did she say that she would not enforce federal civil rights law," Heriot said of DeVos. "She has a different interpretation of what those laws require.”

But Commission Chair Catherine Lhamon, who oversaw the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights under the Obama administration, said the statement doesn't say DeVos won't enforce civil rights law — only that she's Commission on Civil Rights to probe Trump administration's handling of civil rights - POLITICO:

Betsy DeVos meets with anti-LGBTQ groups after pretending to care about equality - Shareblue

Betsy DeVos meets with anti-LGBTQ groups after pretending to care about equality - Shareblue:

Betsy DeVos meets with anti-LGBTQ groups after pretending to care about equality

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos met with radical anti-LGBTQ groups and a millionaire right-wing conspiracy theorist who has spent his career attacking teacher rights.

Betsy DeVos is one of Donald Trump’s most dangerous, destructive cabinet members. And she is listening to people who support her radical right-wing agenda.

On Thursday, DeVos invited representatives from Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council to the Department of Educations’s “Engaging Families and Fathers” event.

Both groups promote extremist antigay propaganda, and the Family Research Council is classified as a hate groupby the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Its president, Tony Perkins, has lobbied against anti-bullying initiatives and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, claims homosexuality is “disgusting” and tries to “recruit” children, promotes “conversion therapy” programs that abuse LGBTQ kids, and bought the mailing list of Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

In her recent testimony, she said, “Discrimination in any form is wrong. I don’t support discrimination in any form.” While of course refusing to commit to refusing funding to schools that do discriminate.

On Tuesday, DeVos also held a private meeting with Missouri-based millionaire and Trump donor Rex Sinquefield, a self-styled school “reform” advocate and conspiracy theorist who despises public schools.

Sinquefield has claimed public schools were a plot by the Klan to “hurt African-American children,” and says his personal mission is “rescuing education from teachers’ unions.” In Missouri, Sinquefield spent $750,000 on a campaign to end public school tenure protection, and gave millions to the right-wing Show-Me Institute, a think tank which conducts “studies” blasting public schools and promoting policies to subsidize private and parochial schools for rich families.

These are the kinds of people and organizations DeVos is consulting to run the Department of Education.

Over the past few weeks alone, DeVos proposed ending a program that forgives student loans for low-paid public Betsy DeVos meets with anti-LGBTQ groups after pretending to care about equality - Shareblue:

NYC Public School Parents: Take 5 minutes to help stop the expansion of privatization of education in NY State!

NYC Public School Parents: Take 5 minutes to help stop the expansion of privatization of education in NY State!:

Take 5 minutes to help stop the expansion of privatization of education in NY State!

Only a few days are left in the NY legislative term, and the NY State Senate leadership and now Gov. Cuomo are pushing a deal to exchange the extension of Mayoral control in NYC for more charter schools and/or a tuition tax credit for religious and private schools.

One of the bills introduced in the Senate would extend mayoral control for five years while expanding charters & tax credits for private and religious schools. The other bills would offer one- or two-year extensions for more charters both statewide and in NYC.

Please take five minutes to call your Assemblymember and your State Senator TODAY, and tell them do not make any trade that would allow the further privatization of our schools and the diversion of precious education funds to private schools and charters.

Message to your Assemblymember: As your constituent, I want to thank you for holding tough against a deal to trade mayoral control in NYC with more charters or tuition tax credits – and please continue to do so. Can I count on your support? You can find his or her phone no. by filling in your info here.

Message to your State Senator: As a constituent, I want to strongly urge you to vote against any deal that would allow for the expansion of charters or a tuition tax credit for private and religious schools in exchange for extending mayoral control in NYC. Can I count on your support? You can find his or her phone no. here.

You can call either their Albany or district offices if the other phone is busy or not answering. Please also let me know how they or their staff responds by replying to this email.

Thanks so much, Leonie

PS A few seats are still available for our Skinny dinner Tuesday – but the room is almost full. If you want to come, please be sure to reserve your seat now!



 NYC Public School Parents: Take 5 minutes to help stop the expansion of privatization of education in NY State!:

Wildin Acosta: From solitary confinement to graduation

Wildin Acosta: From solitary confinement to graduation:

This time my tears are of joy: Felicitaciones Wildin Acosta

A year ago I had tears in my eyes to learn of one of our students, Wildin Acosta, was taken by ICE agents to be deported.  He was in the country living with his family in North Carolina awaiting word on his request for asylum, fleeing the violence of his home country.  The teachers and support staff at his high school love this young man.  

They contacted the NEA and other organizations, and together we organized our voices on his behalf.  Against all odds, he was released to the loving arms of his family.  

Today, I have tears in my eyes again—this time because I have learned of Wildin’s graduation from high school. This amazing young man received his diploma and the congratulations of the educators, fellow students and their parents in this learning community that has become his extended family.

We all dream with Wildin for a future where his dreams will come true.  

Felicitaciones, mijo.  We are proud of you.

 Wildin Acosta: From solitary confinement to graduation:

Torlakson Visits Mexico to Promote Collaboration - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

Torlakson Visits Mexico to Promote Collaboration - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):

Torlakson Visits Mexico to Promote Collaboration 

 SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson met today with the top-ranking education official in Mexico to promote closer ties and friendship between California and Mexico, expand teacher exchange programs, and help serve California students if their parents are deported to Mexico.

Torlakson met with Mexico’s Secretary of Education Aurelio Nuño Mayer as well as other government officials and discussed ways California could work more closely with Mexico.

“The national political atmosphere at this time makes it especially important to reiterate the bonds of friendship between California and Mexico. Our goal for this trip is to deepen our friendship, build stronger ties, and create closer cooperation between educators in California and Mexico,” said Torlakson, a former high school science teacher and coach.

Torlakson leads the nation’s largest public education system with more than 6.2 million students at 10,000 schools. About 54 percent of California students are Latino, and nearly 1.4 million are English learners.

“It is critical that we work together to provide support to students who end up attending schools in both California and Mexico so they are not left behind and can receive a world-class education,” he said.

Torlakson also said he wants to expand and improve teacher exchange programs. “There are many terrific examples of how California and Mexico can both help educators build and expand their professional development and skills,” Torlakson said.

California has a Binational Migrant Education Exchange Program, which includes nearly 60 teachers from Mexico who work side-by-side with California educators, to assist students in migrant families. That’s nearly double the number of teachers from Mexico just two years ago.

The CDE’s Exchange Teacher Program is up to 105 full-time contracts for classroom teachers who come to California, including 31 from Mexico. Torlakson said the demand for bilingual teachers is growing after California voters last year overwhelmingly passed Proposition 58, which removed outdated limitations on bilingual and multilingual instruction. He encouraged Mexican officials to host more California teachers and help them develop their Spanish-language skills.

Torlakson also thanked Mexican officials for assisting families when an undocumented parent is deported to Mexico and students have to leave California classrooms to rejoin their families. Torlakson said he strongly opposes any immigration actions by the administration of President Donald Trump that target schools or interrupt a student’s education.

Torlakson has urged California school districts to declare themselves “Safe Havens” to show that students and their families are safe at school, regardless of immigration status. To date, about 120 local school districts representing 2.7 million students have adopted Safe Haven resolutions.

# # # #

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

Torlakson Visits Mexico to Promote Collaboration - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):

America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse. | HuffPost

America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse. | HuffPost:

America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse.

A new look at the president’s budget reveals devastating cuts to education.

JIM WATSON VIA GETTY IMAGES

Native American dancers perform for U.S. President Barack Obama during the Cannon Ball Flag Day Celebration in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, June 13, 2014.

A century ago, the U.S. government forced hundreds of thousands of Native American students to attend boarding schools where authorities shaved their heads, banned their traditional languages and gave them Western names. Today, these students still attend schools in crumbling buildings with white-washed curriculum and dismal resources.  

So when recent college graduate Teddy McCullough went to the White House’s first ever Tribal Youth Gathering in 2015 and listened to Michelle Obama celebrate the beauty of his people, he finally felt recognized.

“It was one of the most inspiring events I’ve been to,” said McCullough, a member of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. “To have the First Lady of the United States talk about her own experiences growing up and relating it to some of the things a lot of Native youth face … it felt personal.”

Former President Barack Obama made unprecedented investments in Native American youth. He budgeted millions of dollars to repair and replace dilapidated Native American schools. He launched a cross-agency initiative to help Native American students become future leaders. And he invited over 1,000 Native American students to D.C. for a gathering to celebrate their potential.

But President Donald Trump, who released his full budget proposal in May, plans to dismantle all of that.

The cuts proposed in Trump’s budget to Native American youth initiatives have received little attention on a national scale. But community leaders say that if the budget passes in its current form, the results will be beyond devastating for their children.

“This budget as it’s been proposed would absolutely decimate Indian education,” said Ahniwake Rose, executive director of the National Indian Education Association and America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse. | HuffPost:

Love of Learning More Predictive of Success Than Grades - The Atlantic

Love of Learning More Predictive of Success Than Grades - The Atlantic:

Why Grades Are Not Paramount to Achievement

The intrinsic love of learning supplants the drive for high marks in the long run.

At the beginning of this school year, my colleagues and I decided to avoid giving the sophomores in our English classes any grades for six weeks. 

Research showsthat providing students with a number or letter in addition to quality comments prevents them from authentically reflecting. Quantitative grades also diminishstudent interest in learning, reduce academic risk taking, and decrease the quality of thinking. But beyond academics, as teachers, we saw the negative impact grades made on our students’ mental and emotional health. In fact, though a bit outdated, a 2002 study conducted by a psychologist at the University of Michigan showed 80 percent of students based their self worth on their academic success, leading to low self-esteem and other mental-health issues. In a highly academic setting, here was an opportunity to catalyze our students’ broader motivations for learning—a quality with macro-benefits in an environment obsessed with single Scantron marks.

Ours is the type of school that when I input grades into our electronic gradebook system, it is usually a matter of minutes before students knock on my classroom door and parents send me emails questioning single points and marks. It is frustrating for me to have the work I do distilled down to a data point, so I was excited to try something new without the pressures of the gradebook. Our principal approved the plan and we sent a letter to families explaining the research and our reasoning for withholding grades. I also set up a closed Love of Learning More Predictive of Success Than Grades - The Atlantic:

Massachusetts Teachers Take A Stand Against “Personalized Learning” – Wrench in the Gears

Massachusetts Teachers Take A Stand Against “Personalized Learning” – Wrench in the Gears:

Massachusetts Teachers Take A Stand Against “Personalized Learning”

During the annual meeting in May, representatives of the Massachusetts Teachers Association overwhelming approved three New Business Items opposing the roll out of so-called “personalized” learning programs in the Commonwealth via the MAPLE/LearnLaunch initiative. Additionally, a commitment was made to expand research the MTA has been conducting on privatization to include “personalized” learning and to create a webpage to share information and document the harm being done by such programs to teaching and learning.

I have written about digital curriculum in Massachusetts HERE and HERE. Mark Zuckerberg’s “personalized” learning platform Summit Basecamp has been making its way into a number of Massachusetts districts as well as districts in neighboring Rhode Island, which reformers have targeted for conversion as the nation’s first “personalized learning” state. More on that HERE.

In an email to members yesterday, Delegates say NO to personalized learning and YES to funding, MTA president Barbara Madeloni highlighted a number of NBIs passed by delegates during the meeting, including those related to Personalized Learning. See the screenshot below.

The email also acknowledged the need to incorporate “personalized” Massachusetts Teachers Take A Stand Against “Personalized Learning” – Wrench in the Gears:

IEPs are a Public School Thing: Let’s Not Forget That!

IEPs are a Public School Thing: Let’s Not Forget That!:

IEPs are a Public School Thing: Let’s Not Forget That!

The Governor of Florida and other education reformers seem to have forgotten where Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) started. In this post, I’d like to remind them.

The other night I watched the movie Danny Collins. It’s a loosely based true story about a burned out rock star who learns that years earlier he received a letter of encouragement from John Lennon. This has a profound influence on him. The movie stars Al Pacino and Annette Bening. I thought it was a good movie—and perhaps a nice story for Father’s Day. But one part of the movie disturbed me.

Collins, trying to win favor with his estranged son and daughter-in-law, enrolls their hyperactive daughter, his granddaughter, in an exclusive New York City private school for students with disabilities. While visiting the school, which is beautiful and shows a ballet class in the background, the principal, or headmaster, says to the parents and Pacino’s Danny Collins character, that they do IEPs because they care about the individual. He brags about not doing everything in a “one-size-fits-all” fashion.

With his comments there’s subtle implication that public schools don’t do IEPs, and that students don’t get the attention they deserve in those schools. But IEPs never IEPs are a Public School Thing: Let’s Not Forget That!:

NYC: Mother Banned by Success Academy Because She Said “Damn” in Presence of Students | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC: Mother Banned by Success Academy Because She Said “Damn” in Presence of Students | Diane Ravitch's blog:

NYC: Mother Banned by Success Academy Because She Said “Damn” in Presence of Students

Eva Moskowitz’s Harlem Success Academy Charter chain won the Broad award for its high test scores a few days ago.

The next day, news broke that the mother of a child in fourth grade in a Success Academy Charter School in Brooklyn was banned from the school because she used the word “damn” in the presence of children.

“Latasha Battle feared the banishment by Success Academy of Cobble Hill was going to keep her from attending her son’s fourth-grade graduation Wednesday. She said security guards at the Baltic St. school told her they were instructed to call the police if she showed up.

“Enter the Daily News.

“After a reporter raised questions about the apology demand on Tuesday, Success Academy officials backed down. They told Battle she would be allowed to attend.

“The exile began a few weeks back when Battle and other parents and children were stuck standing outside the school in a downpour because the school doesn’t open the building until 7:35 a.m. sharp.

“When the doors finally opened, she admits that she angrily said, “It’s a damn shame the school made these kids stand in the pouring rain.”

“That apparently infuriated Principal Brittany Davis-Roberti, who within hours fired off a caustic letter to Battle with the tone of an adult chiding a child.

“The letter notified Battle she was no longer allowed on school grounds “until you schedule an appointment with me to apologize for your behavior NYC: Mother Banned by Success Academy Because She Said “Damn” in Presence of Students | Diane Ravitch's blog:

 

Trump Will Allow ‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S., Reversing Campaign Promise - The New York Times

Trump Will Allow ‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S., Reversing Campaign Promise - The New York Times:

Trump Will Allow ‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S., Reversing Campaign Promise

Leer en español

WASHINGTON — President Trump has officially reversed his campaign pledge to deport the so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as small children.

The Department of Homeland Security announced late Thursday night that it would continue the Obama-era program intended to protect those immigrants from deportation and provide them work permits so they can find legal employment.

A fact sheet posted on the department’s website says immigrants enrolled in the 2012 program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, “will continue to be eligible” to renew every two years and notes that “no work permits will be terminated prior to their current expiration dates.”

Immigration rights activists, who have fiercely battled Mr. Trump’s travel ban and increased enforcement of other immigration laws, hailed the decision.

“This is a big victory for Dreamers amid months of draconian and meanspirited immigration enforcement policy,” said David Leopold, an immigration lawyer. “The preservation of DACA is a tribute to the strengthTrump Will Allow ‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S., Reversing Campaign Promise - The New York Times: 

Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Get It: Catering to the Desires of Individuals Won’t Serve the Common Good | janresseger

Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Get It: Catering to the Desires of Individuals Won’t Serve the Common Good | janresseger:

Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Get It: Catering to the Desires of Individuals Won’t Serve the Common Good

Betsy DeVos is a libertarian. One cannot drill this concept often enough. DeVos believes in the freedom of individuals to make the choices that benefit themselves and their children. It is the kind of thinking that promotes the rights of individuals above all else. Wikipedia’s definition of libertarianism perfectly describes the thinking of Betsy DeVos: “Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy, emphasizing freedom of choice, voluntary association, individual judgment, and self-ownership.”  Libertarians don’t believe government should interfere with individual liberty.

The other day, Betsy DeVos made people in the audience mad when she addressed the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (We’ll ignore for a minute the fact that charter schools are, as a form of private contracting, not really public schools.), because she didn’t seem fully to endorse charter schooling. Here is what she said: “Charter schools are here to stay… But we must recognize that charters aren’t the right fit for every child. For many children, neither a traditional nor a charter… school works for them… I suggest we focus less on what word comes before ‘school,’ whether it be traditional, charter, virtual, magnet, home, parochial, private, or any approach yet to be developed… and focus instead on the individuals they are intended to serve… We need to get away from our orientation around buildings or systems or schools and shift our focus to individual students.”  She also emphasized “the parents’ right to decide.”

She also criticized the bureaucracy and red tape that she believes are hampering charter schools, a critique meaning that DeVos rejects the role of government to protect our society through regulation. For DeVos, government regulation is the enemy, which is why the Great Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Get It: Catering to the Desires of Individuals Won’t Serve the Common Good | janresseger:

Personalized Learning: What The News Isn’t Telling You – Save Maine Schools

Personalized Learning: What The News Isn’t Telling You – Save Maine Schools:

Personalized Learning: What The News Isn’t Telling You

Recently, a spate of articles have appeared in major news sources shining a light on personalized (competency-based) learning.  While it’s nice to see these topics being talked about in the mainstream press, they aren’t (shocker) telling you what you really need to know.

Take the claim found in the New York Times that Silicon Valley tech moguls are remaking America’s schools:

“Mark Zuckerberg,” the Times tells us, “is testing one of his latest big ideas: software that puts children in charge of their own learning, recasting their teachers as facilitators and mentors.”

There’s no question that Silicon Valley executives like Zuckerberg are playing a major financial and development role in current ed reforms, but let’s not give credit where credit isn’t due (especially to Zuckerberg, who already gets way too much of that). The idea of software that puts children “in charge of their own learning” has not only been around for well over sixty years (watch this video of B.F. Skinner explaining how it worked back in the fifties)  – it’s also been actively advanced by our very own Departments of Education Personalized Learning: What The News Isn’t Telling You – Save Maine Schools:

Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 1)

There you stand trying to get the attention of your thirty-four students. Each one is so different from the others that it would take hours to list their physical, mental, emotional, and cultural differences. Yet, your job is to impart to this group a very specific body of information and skills in a prescribed amount of time using prescribed texts and materials — and you are to keep them quiet, attentive, and on-task after you give them an assignment. It is totally impossible to do hour-after-hour, day-after-day.

Further, you are to take into consideration that the students come from many different subcultures and families with very different philosophies of life, religious beliefs, and ethical-moral standards. In your presentations you must understand and anticipate these enormous differences and must be careful not to say anything that may contradict what their parents or subculture believes. Since, even though in each subculture, there are major differences in interpretation, you must not offend any of them. Of course, this is also impossible!

Every second of every minute of every hour you are faced constantly with split second decisions in what you say and do depending on what the student or students are really doing or not doing. You are expected to plan for and have Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Charter Isomorphism, or the Charter Sector Trying to Un-sector Itself | deutsch29

Charter Isomorphism, or the Charter Sector Trying to Un-sector Itself | deutsch29:

Charter Isomorphism, or the Charter Sector Trying to Un-sector Itself

On June 12, 2017, the Center for Education Reform (CER) announced that it published a “new book” (which I would call a report) entitled, “Charting A New Course: The Case for Freedom, Flexibility, and Opportunity Through Charter Schools”.

According to the CER press release, it seems there is a rift among charter school advocates. Here is how CER frames it:

The book compares the approaches of the two main groups in the charter-school world: those who want to empower bureaucrats and politicians, and those who want to empower parents.

In the intro of the 120-page book/report, CER founder and CEO, Jeanne Allen et al. term these two groups as “system-centered reformers” and “parent-centered reformers,” respectively:

System-centered reformers want to arrive at higher quality educational options by expertise-driven management. They believe that bureaucrats and politicians should have ample authority to decide what schools may open and what schools must close using standardized test-scores to make data-driven decisions.

Parent-centered reformers trust parents more than bureaucrats when it comes to determining school quality. They want to see a more open and dynamic system, where educational entrepreneurs are freer to open new schools and parents decide which schools should close and which should expand based on whether they want to send their children there.

Note that the tag, “parent-centered reformers,” still has parents in a secondary role to the edupreneurs, who open schools. But the parents would get to decide if the schools close or expand. Allen et al. want to shake off the test score criteria. Let the parents decide. How parents will manage to keep a school open or expand a school if the CEO squanders funds is unanswered. Furthermore, those with money and political Charter Isomorphism, or the Charter Sector Trying to Un-sector Itself | deutsch29:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Even Trumpsters can see holes in Rahm's school plans

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Even Trumpsters can see holes in Rahm's school plans:

Even Trumpsters can see holes in Rahm's school plans

It's getting hard to tell who's worse on school issues these days, Donald Trump or Rahm Emanuel.

Trump's appointment of Betsy DeVos as ed secretary and his pumping $20B into so-called "choice" programs while making draconian cuts to public ed, certainly keeps his hold on the worst spot locked in for now. Arguably the worst ever.

But Trump still needs legislative and judicial support for his assaults on all things public while Rahm is able to carry out similar attacks through his autocratic control over CPS. The effects are just as chilling.

No need to rehash Rahm's devastating history of mass closings of public schools in Chicago's black community. He's still at it , like a one-trick poney, with 4 high schools in Englewood and the National Teachers Academy in South Loop now on the chopping block. They'll be replaced in theory by new, large, expensive megaschools.

Past school closings, where carried out by overriding mass opposition expressed in dozens of community meetings. The closing of every high school in Englewood  is now a fait accompli, without the benefit of community forums. A few are planned, after the important decisions have been made.

Mass closings in the past haven't saved much money for the district. They have created more Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Even Trumpsters can see holes in Rahm's school plans:

An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers | The Patiently Impatient Teacher

An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers | The Patiently Impatient Teacher:

An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers

An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark Johnson:

I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am addressing you all today in regards to several key education policy issues contained with the Senate and House budget drafts that you are currently negotiating to a compromise final budget.

Arts Graduation Requirement

The House version of the budget includes a provision for an arts graduation requirement. I have 17 years experience as a visual arts teacher in NC including a number of years as a department chair for a large high school visual and performing arts department. An arts graduation requirement, especially without additional funding, could have negative unintended consequences. To ensure a quality arts education experience, a teacher is only part of the equation. Visual and performing arts courses require facilities and supplies well beyond the typical classroom supply costs. Running water, instrument storage, piano tuning, set pieces, sheet music…each specialty has major facility requirements, expensive required supplies, and often large start up costs.

Even more concerning is the pressure that a graduation requirement would put on existing arts programs. Many students thrive in the arts and take multiple arts courses throughout their high school careers. Outstanding arts programs get that way because of extended student study and leadership of experienced students. The pressure of a An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers | The Patiently Impatient Teacher: