Mercedes Schneider and I Review Mike Petrilli’s Claims About “Dramatic Progress” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Mercedes Schneider and I Review Mike Petrilli’s Claims About “Dramatic Progress” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Mercedes Schneider and I Review Mike Petrilli’s Claims About “Dramatic Progress”

Mike Petrilli, the CEO of the rightwing Thomas B. Fordham Institute, published a report about the “dramatic achievement gains” of the 1990s and 2000s. 

Surprisingly, he attributes most of these gains to improving economic conditions for poor families of color, not to standards, testing, and accountability, a cause that TBF has championed for years. But, not to worry, TBF has not changed its stripes, dropped out of ALEC, and joined forces with those who say that poverty is the main cause of low test scores.

So, I give Mike credit for acknowledging that improved economic conditions and increased spending had a very important effect on student academic performance. But he can’t bring himself to say that the accountability policies of NCLB and Race to the Top were poisonous and harmful, and that Common Core was a complete bust. He seems to be straining to find examples of states where he thinks high-stakes testing and school choice really were positive.

My first thought as I reviewed his data on rising achievement was that all these graphs looked very familiar.  Yes, they were in most cases the graphs (updated to 2017) appeared in my book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools (2013). I used these graphs CONTINUE READING: Mercedes Schneider and I Review Mike Petrilli’s Claims About “Dramatic Progress” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Louisiana Educator: Lane Grigsby, Kingmaker and Education Manipulator

Louisiana Educator: Lane Grigsby, Kingmaker and Education Manipulator

Lane Grigsby, Kingmaker and Education Manipulator

This is an excellent article by Sue Lincoln, veteran reporter, for The Bayou Brief about how Lane Grigsby and a few super rich businessmen decided to take over our public education system as part of an overall plan to become the kingmakers of Louisiana politics. Grigsby and his allies are very close to achieving their goal of controlling virtually all Louisiana governmental functions including possibly the office of Governor.

As we predicted in several recent posts on this blog, with the buying of all elected potions on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LABI has virtually achieved total control of K-12 education. Basically every rule, every directive to school principals and teachers now comes from the state education bureaucracy totally controlled by LABI which is dominated by Grigsby and his rich friends. All the complaints by teachers of excessive standardized testing costing millions that do absolutely nothing to benefit students, inaccurate and unfair test-based teacher ratings, can now be laid at the feet of Grigsby and LABI.

To emphasize the aggressiveness and dishonesty used in the takeover of BESE, here is part of an exact script of one of the radio ads (Paid for by Louisiana Federation for Children which is really financed by an out-of-state group) used against independent BESE candidate Timmie Melancon:  "There are two choices for BESE; Timmie Melancon who has taken thousands from liberal unions like those who spent millions electing O'Bama, Nancy Peloci and Hillary Clinton, . . . who raised money as a member of a radical online group where members promoted socialism, they even referred to our president as a Russian CONTINUE READING: Louisiana Educator: Lane Grigsby, Kingmaker and Education Manipulator

Chicago Teachers Strike for Better Conditions for Students and to Protest Decades of Anti-CTU Policies | janresseger

Chicago Teachers Strike for Better Conditions for Students and to Protest Decades of Anti-CTU Policies | janresseger

Chicago Teachers Strike for Better Conditions for Students and to Protest Decades of Anti-CTU Policies

After 94 percent of its members voted in late September to authorize a strike, and now, after two more weeks of intense contract negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) went on strike yesterday.  WBEZ’s Sarah Karp reports that differences remain over manageable class size and teacher assistants’ salaries, along with chronic shortages of support staff needed to serve Chicago’s children—school nurses, librarians, counselors, and social workers.

Chicago’s teachers are striking for the second time in a decade—fighting to turn back a quarter century of school policy that has demonized teachers and their unions and substituted corporate-style governance reforms, school closures, and the expansion of charter schools at the expense of the traditional public schools where they teach.

In his 2014 book, Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity, Micah Uetricht describes Stand for Children’s executive director, Jonah Edelman bragging (in a videotaped interview) at the Aspen Ideas Festival about how, in 2011, his Oregon-based, astroturf organization hired lobbyists in Springfield, Illinois to ensure passage of a law crippling the Chicago Teacher’s Union by requiring a 75 percent vote by a union’s membership to authorize a strike: “‘In effect, they wouldn’t have the ability to strike,’ Edelman says matter-of-factly in the tape. ‘They will never be able to muster the 75 percent threshold.'” (Strike for America, p. 61)  Edelman’s taunt only challenged CTU’s membership, which authorized the 2012 Chicago Teachers’ Strike by 90 percent of the union’s members.

Edelman’s effort was the second time in recent decades when corporate reformers in Springfield lashed out specifically at Chicago’s teachers union. In a 2016 book, A Fight for the Soul of Public Education: The Story of the Chicago Teachers Strike, University of Illinois CONTINUE READING: Chicago Teachers Strike for Better Conditions for Students and to Protest Decades of Anti-CTU Policies | janresseger

Chicago Teachers Union: The Status of the Strike | Diane Ravitch's blog

Chicago Teachers Union: The Status of the Strike | Diane Ravitch's blog

Chicago Teachers Union: The Status of the Strike

Day 2 of CTU strike will bring educators, allies to City Hall at 1:30 pm

Some movement at bargaining table Thursday, but no agreement on special ed needs, classroom overcrowding, salary floor for low-wage teaching assistants, staffing shortages.

CHICAGO—Educators and frontline staff will hit the picket lines for a second day today, as rank and file union members attempt to bargain a fair contract for 25,000 CTU teachers, clinicians, teaching assistants and support staff. While some progress was made at the bargaining table Thursday, the union and CPS ramain far apart on efforts to reign in exploding class sizes and find a path to remedying dire shortages of school nurses, social workers, special education teachers and other critical staff.

Late this afternoon, CPS refused to discuss a proposal on special education needs with the expert special education teachers and clinicians at the table who had crafted the proposal, because not every CTU officer was CONTINUE READING: Chicago Teachers Union: The Status of the Strike | Diane Ravitch's blog

The Puzzle of Similar Teaching in Universities and Schools: The Case of Technology Use | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Puzzle of Similar Teaching in Universities and Schools: The Case of Technology Use | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Puzzle of Similar Teaching in Universities and Schools: The Case of Technology Use

Why does so much teaching in K-12 schools and universities look the same over time? To be accurate, however, what appears as timeless stability and similarity in teaching has obscured incremental changes. Now professors ask more questions for students in lectures,organize more small group work, and more use of new devices–from clickers to moodles–than academics had done a half-century ago. So, too, for K-12 teachers who have, again over time, made small and significant changes in their classroom teaching. There is more guided discussion, more group work, increased academic content in lower and upper grades, more adventurous teaching by larger fractions of teachers, and, yes, more and more teachers using high-tech devices for instruction.

Yet looking back on one’s experience in most university and secondary school classrooms, the teaching–even accounting for these incremental changes over the decades– sure looks like the same o,’ same o.’

Here’s the heart of the puzzle: In universities, student attendance is voluntary; in K-12 attendance is compulsory. Note also that the complexity of the subject matter, freedom of movement, course choices, student ages, and teachers’ deep knowledge of their subject are other critical markers that distinguish university classrooms from those in K-12 schools. Yet–and you knew there was a “yet” coming–with all of these essential differences many studies point out the similarities in teaching. Including the use of technology for instruction.

Technology Use in Universities

Academics use computers at home and in their offices to write, analyze data, communicate with colleagues, and compose syllabi and handouts for their CONTINUE READING: The Puzzle of Similar Teaching in Universities and Schools: The Case of Technology Use | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Unpacking Last Night's Lollapalooza of a Board Meeting

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Unpacking Last Night's Lollapalooza of a Board Meeting

Unpacking Last Night's Lollapalooza of a Board Meeting

Speakers:

• (literally) screaming woman going way over time? Check.  
• City Council gadfly jerk calling President Harris, rude? Check.
• Cute, polite kids thanking the Board and especially Superintendent Juneau for saving Licton Springs K-8? Check
• Out of nowhere parents of color having their statements translated about claiming no info at their schools about AL, wanting access for their child to AL and, amazingly enough, wanting said AL at their attendance school.  Just like that.  
• But also, a couple of parents pointing out that losing the cohort for HSS would actually not be equitable and hurt the students furthest from educational justice. One parent said other parents need "empowerment" to access these services, not changing the whole system. 
• Librarian pointing out that some elementary schools have counselors via WSS, some via PTSA funding and some with none (usually low-income population schools).
• Chris Jackins pointing out that the IRB committee for curriculum adoptions by law is supposed to have members approved by Board.  He also pointed out that several changes to Board policy, moving power from the Board to the Superintendent, would not be a good idea. 
• An amazing realization, this is one of the few times I have seen the Speakers list made up of POC.  Many teachers who are POC came to speak in support of Ethnic Studies. 

I kind of went in and out watching the meeting at home so my notes may seem scattershot.

One funny moment - Director Scott Pinkham talking about his availability but not during the US/Oregon football game this Saturday.

He also defended not changing the AL policy until after the work of the CONTINUE READING: Seattle Schools Community Forum: Unpacking Last Night's Lollapalooza of a Board Meeting

You Can Tell That *Charter Schools Are Public Schools* by Their Marketing (um…) | deutsch29

You Can Tell That *Charter Schools Are Public Schools* by Their Marketing (um…) | deutsch29

You Can Tell That *Charter Schools Are Public Schools* by Their Marketing (um…)

Charter schools are public schools. No, really.

So, when charter schools sound more like businesses recruiting and retaining customers, just remember that all public schools do such things. (Ahem….)

Consider this job listing for a Dean of Operations (2020-21; Jackson, MS) for the RePublic charter chain.

RePublic introduces the Dean of Operations position as follows:

At RePublic, our school-based operations teams exist to block and tackle for staff to ensure that they can focus on what matters most each day – teaching and learning. Equal parts data mastermind, systems tuner, community builder, and leader in training, the Dean of Operations reports directly to the school-based Director of Operations. He/she works to implement and maintain crucial systems that enable our schools to run like clockwork to create an academic environment in which instruction is top priority – and does whatever it takes in service of this goal.

Strong operations allow our schools to be more academically successful – and our Ops teams do whatever it takes in service of this goal. Masterminds behind the scenes, the scene is better planned, organized, executed, documented, and communicated because of each school’s Operations Team.

Dean of Operations, “works to implement and maintain crucial systems that enable our schools to run like clockwork to create an academic environment in CONTINUE READING: You Can Tell That *Charter Schools Are Public Schools* by Their Marketing (um…) | deutsch29

Choosing Democracy: Chicago Teachers Request Support in Strike

Choosing Democracy: Chicago Teachers Request Support in Strike

Chicago Teachers Request Support in Strike

Chicago teachers and school staff are on strike for the resources their students need. Now it’s critical that we support them, just the way we supported the walkouts in West Virginia and Oklahoma and the strike in Los Angeles.

We want to make sure the entire country sees that we stand in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73. Can you help us make it trend on social media?

Click here to tweet your support and help make #PutItInWriting trend.
Click here to share your support on Facebook.

The Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1, and the Service Employees International Union, Local 73, have been negotiating with Mayor Lori Lightfoot for months. CTU and SEIU want to make sure their contract includes schools that are fully staffed with nurses, librarians, counselors and more, to ensure students are cared for. They want protections for students so they can learn in a safe, welcoming environment, free from fear. They want smaller class sizes, so they can give students more attention and assistance.

Chicago educators have done more with less for years: Classrooms are packed with 40 students at a time. Students are coming to school scared for their safety and dealing with stress and trauma. And school support staff are barely scraping by on their paychecks. Mayor Lightfoot ran for office on the promises of educational equity and investment. But without these promises incorporated into the contract, Chicago educators have no guarantee that their students will see those crucial resources.

It’s time for Mayor Lightfoot to keep her promises. She needs to know that the entire country is watching. Just like we stood with teachers and school staff who walked out in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Los Angeles, we need to show that we have CTU’s back.

Click here to make our support for Chicago’s educators trend on Twitter. And click here to share your support on Facebook.

In unity,

Randi Weingarten

American Federation of Teachers President

Jesse Sharkey

Chicago Teachers Union President

Choosing Democracy: Chicago Teachers Request Support in Strike

A Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates: Permanently Dismantle the School-to-Prison-and-Deportation-Pipeline | Parents Across America

A Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates: Permanently Dismantle the School-to-Prison-and-Deportation-Pipeline | Parents Across America

A Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates: Permanently Dismantle the School-to-Prison-and-Deportation-Pipeline

Through this endorsement, Parents Across America joins over 130 organizations nationwide who are demanding an end to practices and policies that infringe on the civil rights of students of color, disabled students, and LGBTQ+ youth and funnel them into the criminal legal system.

We’re asking presidential candidates to commit to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, ending the privatization of our public schools, and ensuring civil rights protections for our nation’s youth. Please join us as we stand up for the right for every student to be able to learn in a safe and nurturing school environment.

From the Center for Popular Democracy’s Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates:

“Young people across the country demand the next president permanently dismantle the school-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline. The following guidelines outline the minimum policies required to reach that end.

I. Fund education, not incarceration
A. Divest all federal funds from police and criminalizing infrastructure in schools. End programs that militarize schools.
B. Invest federal funding in effective non-punitive school climate strategies such as restorative justice, mental health supports, and hiring counselors and social workers.
C. Fully fund Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

II. Restore and strengthen the civil rights of students
A. Fully fund and staff the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Ensure that those who CONTINUE READING: A Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates: Permanently Dismantle the School-to-Prison-and-Deportation-Pipeline | Parents Across America

Spread the Word: UK Education Policy Studies and Evaluation is hiring faculty! | Cloaking Inequity

Spread the Word: UK Education Policy Studies and Evaluation is hiring faculty! | Cloaking Inequity

SPREAD THE WORD: UK EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES AND EVALUATION IS HIRING FACULTY!

Join us! The University of Kentucky College of Education is hiring two Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation faculty this year. We are hiring Assistant or Associate Professor in Educational Policy Studies and Assistant Professor in Research Methods in Education

Assistant or Associate Professor in Educational Policy Studies

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8G060:Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky invites applications and nominations for a tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor, effective August 16, 2020.

The individual will be responsible for carrying out research, teaching and service within the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation (EPE), in their specialty area related to law, policy, sociology, and/or international education with a focus on education equity, civil rights and social justice. The successful candidate will be expected to have an active research agenda, pursue external funding, teach EPE courses, provide advising to graduate students, participate in the activities of professional organizations, and support philanthropy. This position has the possibility of serving as associate director for a civil rights institute/center.

Main duties and responsibilities include the following: teach courses in EPE; have an active research and professional service agenda; assist with the recruitment and advising of graduate students and serve on program committees; and support the college’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Required qualifications include an earned doctorate in area related to educational law, policy, sociology, or international education; evidence of scholarly productivity; experience working with diverse populations; and excellent oral and written communication abilities.

Preferred qualifications include successful college/university level teaching experience; online teaching experience; experience working in the public policy arena; experience in leadership or program building; and evidence of securing research funding.

Applicants must include a cover letter (upload under Cover Letter), curriculum vitae (upload under Curriculum Vita), and the names of three people from whom references maybe solicited when prompted in the application. The cover letter should address the candidate’s area(s) of specialization and courses that the candidate desires to teach.

The review of applications begins November 1st, 2019, and continues until the position is filled. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Questions regarding the position should be directed to Dr. Jane Jensen, Search Committee Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, 131 Taylor Education Building, Lexington, KY 40506, jjensen@uky.edu.

Assistant Professor in Research Methods in Education

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8G060:Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky invites applications and nominations for an Assistant Professor, tenure-track, effective August 16, 2020.

The Assistant Professor in Research Methods in Education (RMinE) will be responsible for carrying out research, teaching, and service within the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation (EPE). The faculty member will be responsible for teaching 12 credits per academic year, predominately in an online setting, with a primary focus in the area of quantitative and/or qualitative Research Methods. This individual should also have a disciplinary focus within K-12 or postsecondary educational policy studies, within which they will be expected to teach approximately one course per academic year. In addition, this faculty member will provide consultation and advising to graduate students and help facilitate the graduate certificate in RMinE. This faculty member will be an active participant in the RMinE program and its implementation, development, evaluation, and promotion. The successful candidate will be expected to have an active research agenda, pursue external funding, and participate in the activities of professional organizations.

Main duties and responsibilities include the following: teach graduate-level courses in the area of Research Methods in Education (RMinE) and educational policy studies/higher education in an online format; have an active research agenda connected to Research Methods in Education; support the implementation and promotion of the master’s in RMinE and the graduate certificate in RMinE; assist with advising of graduate students and serve on exam committees for RMinE.

Required qualifications include an earned doctoral degree, preferably in Educational Research Methods; experience in research methodology; experience/training in mixed methods research; excellent oral and written communication abilities; evidence of scholarly productivity; and experience and/or training in online course delivery.

Preferred qualifications include successful college/university level teaching experience; experience working collaboratively and with diverse populations, including practitioners and researchers from theoretically, methodologically, and substantively diverse backgrounds relevant to the practice of research methods; extensive knowledge of subject matter of RMinE courses, including the areas: research writing, evaluation, survey research, quantitative, qualitative and/or mixed methods research methods; knowledge of research designs; knowledge of analysis tools and their use in research methods in education; skill in preparation of all instructional materials in both paper and electronic formats; and evidence of securing funds for research and/or program development grants and applications.

Applications should include a letter of application (upload under Cover Letter), curriculum vitae (upload under Curriculum Vita), and the names of three people from whom the system may solicit references. The cover letter should address the specific quantitative and/or qualitative areas that the candidate is qualified to teach, along with (but not limited to) courses in survey research, research writing, evaluation, or others.

The review of applications begins October 14, 2019, and continues until the position is filled. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Questions regarding the position should be directed to Dr. Joseph Waddington, Search Committee Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, 131 Taylor Education Building, 859-257-4923, email rjwaddington@uky.edu

People often ask me what my biggest surprise about the Lexington community has been. I will have to admit that the restaurants are incredible! For me, they are better than what I experienced in Texas and California.

Check out my conversation in my walk across campus about my transition to the University of Kentucky in the Cloaking Inequity post Take a walk with me

Read more here: http://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/campus-walk-meet-new-dean-uks-college-education

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Spread the Word: UK Education Policy Studies and Evaluation is hiring faculty! | Cloaking Inequity

While I Wasn’t Paying Attention…… | The Merrow Report

While I Wasn’t Paying Attention…… | The Merrow Report

While I Wasn’t Paying Attention……

To be honest, the slow-motion train wreck known as the Trump presidency has absorbed most of my energy lately, and so I haven’t been paying close attention to public education.  However, during all this mess, 50.7 million K-12 students, 3.6 million of their teachers, 16 million college students, and their 1.6 million teachers have been going about their business.

Think about that for a minute.  A social studies teacher right now is a modern-day Hamlet.  Should he or she embrace the chaos and encourage students to debate the morality of the flood of demonstrable lies coming from the Oval Office on a daily basis, knowing that doing so is guaranteed to incur the wrath of some parents, and perhaps some administrators as well?  Or should the teacher studiously avoid controversy, knowing full well that doing that sends a powerful value-laden message?  To teach, or not to teach, that is the question…..

Or suppose you were an elementary school teacher trying to model appropriate behavior for your impressionable students.  How do you respond when one of your kids asks you why the President said Joe Biden was kissing Barack Obama’s ass?  Or why Trump can say ‘bullshit’ but kids get punished for swearing?

During my time ‘off task,’ the flood of charter school scandals has continued.  I wish this weren’t the case because the idea of giving school-based educators authority of CONTINUE READING: While I Wasn’t Paying Attention…… | The Merrow Report

Please send a message to the FTC today: do not weaken student privacy! | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Please send a message to the FTC today: do not weaken student privacy! | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE TO THE FTC TODAY: DO NOT WEAKEN STUDENT PRIVACY!

Update: On Oct. 17, the FTC Extended the Deadline for Comments on COPPA  until December 9.

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comments before “updating” their regulations on COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the law that was originally passed in 1998.  The Parent Coalition for Student Privacy is concerned that the FTC may be considering weakening the law, by allowing for the collection of personal data from kids under 13 by school vendors without parent consent.  The deadline for comments is next Wednesday, Oct. 23.  A sample, brief message you can send is below, along with instructions.  Below that and here are the detailed comments submitted by our Parent Coalition.

Given all the breaches of student data in recent years, the widespread use by schools of surveillance software, data-mining apps, digital programs that deliver so-called “adaptive learning” and behavior modification tools, as well as the ubiquity of sites and apps that display advertising to children, the FTC should be strengthening the COPPA regulations rather than weakening them.

Moreover, we agree with this bipartisan group of Senators, who sent a cautionary letter to the FTC on October 4th, pointing out that the FTC isn’t obligated to issue new regulations until 2023, and urging them not to weaken the law through rewriting the regulations.

If the FTC is going to go ahead with issuing new regulations anyway, it should:

1. Continue to require parental consent for any digital collection of CONTINUE READING:Please send a message to the FTC today: do not weaken student privacy! | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Sacramento’s school district needs to own up to its mistakes | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento’s school district needs to own up to its mistakes | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento City Unified School District superintendent deserves blame for budget mess

The Sacramento City Unified School District approved 102 layoffs of certificated employees during a Board of Education meeting on May 9, 2019, as it continues to struggle financially and contends with a possible state takeover. BY VINCENT MOLESKI

BY NIKKI MILEVSKY  SPECIAL TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE

Four weeks into this new school year, more than 100 teaching vacancies remain unfilled. Thousands of Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) students are in classrooms without fully credentialed educators. At C.K. McClatchy High School, one government teacher surveyed her class and found that more than half of her students had a temporary substitute teacher for some of their classes.

How did we get into such a mess?

In February, SCUSD somehow failed to count 730 students in its enrollment figures – which could have been an $8 million per year mistake. Incredibly, District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar and the county administrator charged with overseeing the district’s finances confirmed the error on April 1, but hid this information from the public. Nevertheless, SCUSD plowed ahead in May with layoffs.

While the district reports substantially lower numbers, we know that more than 400 staff were laid off – including 175 certificated teachers – making SCUSD the only major school district in California to implement mass layoffs during a national teacher shortage.

Now the district can’t fill positions. Would you want to work in a school district that lays off dynamic young educators based on dodgy budget numbers?

In March, a top state education finance official, Michael Fine, said he has “no confidence” in the district’s financial data and that he has other serious concerns. District leaders also kept this information from the public and even from members of the school board.

In the face of poorly staffed classrooms, improper budgets and “no confidence” from state officials, what’s the path forward for Sacramento public schools?

Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Bretón thinks he has the answer: He says teachers should sit down and shut up. Breton believes the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA), which represents district educators, should accept whatever the school board demands. He maintains teachers should agree to set aside the collective bargaining agreement, a contract that was personally negotiated by the superintendent with union representatives and unanimously approved by the school board.

Bretón also says teachers and others who care about our schools should stop organizing, stop talking and stop holding our elected school board accountable.

You are wrong, Mr. Bretón. This situation is too critical to stay silent and, as education activists, we won’t apologize for robustly advocating on behalf of our students and families.

Bretón also makes the absurd claim that everyone in Sacramento should feel grateful that the superintendent has moved to live in Sacramento rather than close to his parents in Fresno. Many teachers have made far greater sacrifices to teach in Sac City, joining thousands of our students CONTINUE READING: Sacramento’s school district needs to own up to its mistakes | The Sacramento Bee

Nikki Milevsky

The Delicate Ethics of Using Facial Recognition in Schools | WIRED

The Delicate Ethics of Using Facial Recognition in Schools | WIRED

The Delicate Ethics of Using Facial Recognition in Schools
A growing number of districts are deploying cameras and software to prevent attacks. But the systems are also used to monitor students, and adult critics.

On a steamy evening in May, 9,000 people filled Stingaree Stadium at Texas City High School for graduation night. A rainstorm delayed ceremonies by a half-hour, but the school district’s facial recognition system didn’t miss a beat. Cameras positioned along the fenceline allowed algorithms to check every face that walked in the gate.

As the stadium filled with families, security staff in the press box received a notification that the system had spotted someone on their watchlist. It was a boy who had been expelled from the district and sent to a county disciplinary school, whose pupils are barred by district rules from visiting other campuses.

Less than 30 seconds after the boy sat down, a sheriff’s deputy asked for his name. When he replied, he was escorted from the stadium, and missed his sister’s graduation. “Mama was upset, but that’s the rules,” says Mike Matranga, executive director of security at Texas City Independent School District, on the shore of Galveston Bay south of Houston.

Matranga proudly relates the incident to show how facial recognition can make schools safer. It also shows how the nation’s schoolchildren have been thrust into a debate over the CONTINUE READING: The Delicate Ethics of Using Facial Recognition in Schools | WIRED