Saturday, November 28, 2020

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG
A site to discuss better education for all

Trump’s Rush to Cripple the Federal Government

by dianeravitch / 38min

Timothy O’Brien, a biographer of Trump, wrote the following at Bloomberg News: Now that Donald Trump’s administration has allowed Joe Biden’s team to formally begin its transition into the White House, the president is running out of overt ways to disrupt an election he clearly lost 18 days ago. His flimsy and misbegotten lawsuits challenging the vote are all but deflated and he’s been less activ

Happy Birthday, William Blake!

by dianeravitch / 56min

From Garrison Keillor’s “The Writers’ Almanac”:* It’s the birthday of poet and artist William Blake ( books by this author ), born in London (1757). He was four years old when he had a vision that God was at his window. A few years later, he went for a walk and saw a tree filled with angels, their wings shining. He had other visions, too: he saw the prophet Ezekiel sitting under a tree, and angel

YESTERDAY

Pope Francis: What Would He Say to Our Supreme Court about COVID?

100+by dianeravitch / 23h

The New York Times published an essay by Pope Francis about the COVID crisis. He seems to disagree with the Supreme Court decision opposing limits on the number of people who may congregate in houses of worship because such limits restrict “freedom of religion.” Pope Francis wrote (in part): With some exceptions, governments have made great efforts to put the well-being of their people first, act

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Limits on Religious Gatherings

78by dianeravitch / 1d

In a ridiculous 5-4 decision released Wednesday, t he Unitedla States Supreme Court ruled that Governor Cuomo’s limits on the number of people who may congregate in houses of worship are unconstitutional. The deciding vote was that of Trump’s appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Just a few months ago, the same Court ruled that limits on the number of people in religious gatherings were appropriat

NOV 26

Happy, Complicated Thanksgiving!

by dianeravitch / 2d

This is the first time that any of us has experienced Thanksgiving in the midst of a national pandemic. Many people will heed the advice of doctors and cancel their family get-togethers. Others will gather in small groups, hopefully with masks and social distancing. A strange holiday, as will be Christmas and New Year’s. I want to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you the s

NOV 25

SomeDam Poet: Privatize the Planet

by dianeravitch / 2d

Our blog poet frequently favors with rhyme: Privatize the planet Privatize the planet Plunder it for gain Light the fire and fan it Mine the golden vein Privatize the water Sell it to the poor Privatize your daughter Sell her as a whore Privatize the wildlife Charge a viewing fee Like a Wall Street low life That is what you’ll be

Denver: Turmoil Over Superintendent’s Exit

100+by dianeravitch / 2d

The superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Susana Cordova, resigned abruptly, and her departure was followed by finger pointing. Denver has been a hot spot for “reformers,” and it’s school board elections attract DFER, “Education Reform Now,” and other big-money donors from out of state. I asked Jeanne Kaplan, a former DPS board member, to explain what’s going on. She sent me her comments and a

Laura Chapman: Who Is Behind the “Read by Third Grade or Be Retained” Campaign?

by dianeravitch / 2d

Laura Chapman recently wrote about the policy of holding third grade students back if they didn’t pass the third grade reading test. One result of this initiative is to raise fourth-grade reading scores on state tests and NAEP. She writes: There is a national read-by-grade three campaign. The practice of holding students back a grade is not new, but in the olden days it was never based on test sc

Los Angeles: Charter School Games the System for More $$$

61by dianeravitch / 3d

Parent advocate Carl J. Peterson writes here about a charter school in Los Angeles that figured out to game the system for more money and space. He writes that “Citizens of the World” collects signatures of parents who are not likely to apply for the school and uses them as expressions of intent to enroll. A Facebook post by Jirusha Lopez, the principal of COW’s Hollywood campus, provides some in

Why I Object to the Term “Science of Reading”

500+by dianeravitch / 3d

As anyone who read my book Left Back (2000) knows, I have long been persuaded of the value of phonetic instruction for early readers. I was a friend of the late Jeanne Chall, who began her career as a kindergarten teacher and eventually became a Harvard professor and the nation’s most eminent reading researcher. Her 1967 book, Learning to Read: The Great Debate, should have ended the reading wars

NOV 24

Marco Rubio Says He Will Oppose Biden’s Cabinet Choices

by dianeravitch / 3d

This afternoon, President-Elect Biden introduced his first Cabinet picks, all of whom are highly qualified and experienced. None is remotely controversial. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted that he would oppose them all. One reason he gave was that they had Ivy League educations. On Twitter, one of the many responses was a list of Trump Cabinet members who had gone to Harvard, Yale, and other Ivies. Tr

Kevin Welner: The Urgent De-Vos-Ing of the Department of Education

71by dianeravitch / 3d

I recently had the pleasure of reading Kevin Welner’s terrific new Onion-like book, “Potential Grizzlies: Making the Nonsense Bearable.” In tweets, I described Kevin as the Stephen Colbert and Groucho Marx of American education. Kevin and I had fun discussing the book on a Zoom sponsored by the Network for Public Education. ( WATCH: Diane Ravitch in Conversation with Kevin Welner ). Kevin has ple

What Happened to the School in New Orleans That Was First to Desegregate?

100+by dianeravitch / 3d

You may recall the iconic painting of little Ruby Bridges, a first-grader, who was the first African American student to enroll in a previously all-white segregated school in New Orleans. If you don’t, be sure to read this article, which tells what happened to the William Franz Public School. Three scholars–Connie L. Schaffer, Martha Graham Viator, and Meg White–tell the story. The three are also

What My High School Did for One Student

25by dianeravitch / 3d

I am a 1956 graduate of San Jacinto High School in Houston, Texas. The school no longer exists; it is now part of the campus of Houston Community College. When I attended San Jac, it was a thriving community of about 1500 students. Most of the teachers were old-timers. There were many clubs for after-school activities and many sports teams. We were known as the Golden Bears. As a senior, I was ed

To Test or Not to Test, That Is the Question

86by dianeravitch / 4d

Everyone seems to have an opinion about whether the mandated federal tests should be administered this spring. When the pandemic was first acknowledged last March, Betsy DeVos offered waivers to states that wanted to suspend the testing. Although Biden has publicly expressed disdain for standardized testing, there has been no hint of whether he will appoint a Secretary of Education with instructi

NOV 23

The Most Outrageous Effort to Overturn an Election in U.S. History

by dianeravitch / 4d

Political reporter David Sanger wrote a fascinating analysis of Trump’s attempt to reverse the results of the election. Trump lost the electoral college; Biden won 306 votes, surpassing the necessary 270. Trump lost the popular vote by nearly six million votes. He obviously forgot that he swore an oath on the Bible to defend the Constitution. He is actively subverting it. David Sanger wrote: Pres

Philadelphia: Former Chief Financial Officer of Charter School Charged with Huge Embezzlement

45by dianeravitch / 4d

The former chief financial officer of a now-closed charter school in North Philadelphia was charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school for which he was responsible. The school is now closed. The money was diverted from teachers, their pensions, and from students. A former employee of a now-closed North Philadelphia charter school has been charged with embezzling more

Peter Greene: Betsy DeVos’s “Voucherland”

by dianeravitch / 4d

Peter Greene describes Betsy DeVos’s vision of education as provided by the marketplace. He calls it “Voucherland.” DeVos has long argued that she puts students and families over institutions, but that appears to only apply to public institutions. Students who are not straight, not white, not Christian, and not without special needs—and their families—are on their own in a privatized education ma

Missouri: Leaders in St. Louis County Say “No” to New Charter School

by dianeravitch / 5d

Elected officials in St. Louis County, which has no charter schools, are upset that the state legislature has voted to give them a new charter school, against their wishes. Their efforts to improve the struggling Normandy district will be undermined by the charter school. If you recall, Michael Brown (the teen who was shot and killed in Ferguson, leading to national protests), went to school in t

NOV 22

Justin Parmenter: Don’t Blame Educators Who Get COVID

50by dianeravitch / 5d

Justin Parmenter, an NBCT teacher in North Carolina, published this article in the Charlotte Observer. As COVID-19 rates skyrocket in North Carolina and more educators lose their lives to the virus, an unmistakable trend is starting to emerge: school districts falling all over themselves to claim the infected employee didn’t get the virus at work. When Stanly County teacher Julie Davis died last

Burbank: Parents and District Debate Banning Books

24by dianeravitch / 5d

The school district of Burbank, California, is embroiled in a bitter debate about book banning. The books in questions are about racism , and black parents are complaining that the books are racist. Among the books that parents want removed are: Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , one of the most censored books in American literature; Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird ; Mildred D.

Mercedes Schneider Reviews Douglas Harris’s Book About New Orleans

21by dianeravitch / 5d

Mercedes Schneider reviewed Douglas Harris’s book Charter City in Commonweal . As a teacher in Louisiana and a close observer of the politics of education, Schneider is well positioned to assess the claims on behalf of the all-charter NewOrleans district. Harris is a respected economist who heads the Education Research Alliance at TulaneUniversity, which received a $10 million grant from the U.S.

President-Elect Biden: Keep Your Promises!

40by dianeravitch / 6d

During the campaign, Joe Biden made clear commitments to support community public schools. He promised transparency and accountability for privately managed charter schools, as well as a ban on federal funding for charters operated for profit. He also unequivocally took a stand against standardized testing in a public meeting with hundreds of educators in Pittsburgh. NPE board member Denisha Jone

NOV 21

Charles Foster Johnson Is Hopeful about Biden Administration and Education

20by dianeravitch / 6d

Our friend and ally, Dr. Charles Foster Johnson, recently gave an interview in which he expressed his optimism about the incoming Biden administration. Dr. Johnson is leader of Pastors for Texas Children, which fights privatization and supports public schools. He has opened nine state affiliates, the latest one in Alabama. He is a champion of public schools and teachers and students. He understan

Jan Resseger: Ohio Legislature Slips Through More Voucher Legislation

27by dianeravitch / 6d

Jan Resseger writes that the Ohio Legislature is up to its familiar tricks. While no one was looking, it passed more voucher legislation, again brazenly violating the state constitution, which requires public funding of public schools and forbids public funding of private schools. Let us not forget that former Governor John Kasich was instrumental in this violation of the public trust. Five years

In the Public Interest: Beware the Privatization Racket!

36by dianeravitch / 6d

The nonpartisan “In the Public Interest” keeps close watch on privatization across all sectors, including education. Corporate interests are preying on the public sector, looking to extract profit from our public dollars. Be vigilant! Sign up to receive newsletters from ITPI. Students are flocking to poor-performing online charter schools, straining public school budgets. Superintendents in Penns

Report from South Carolina: Rasheem and LaRonda

by dianeravitch / 7d

Arnold and Carol Hillman were educators in Pennsylvania. They retired to South Carolina and, instead of golfing and relaxing, they became involved with rural public schools. They created clubs for high school boys and girls and helped steer their kids towards college. I wrote about their work with

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Friday, November 27, 2020

Schools Struggle To Stay Open As Coronavirus Sidelines Staff | Across America, US Patch

Schools Struggle To Stay Open As Coronavirus Sidelines Staff

Around the country, contact tracing and isolation protocols are sidelining school employees and closing school buildings.

COLUMBUS, OH — The infection of a single cafeteria worker was all it took to close classrooms in the small Lowellville school district in northeastern Ohio, forcing at least two weeks of remote learning.

Not only did the worker who tested positive for the coronavirus need to quarantine, but so did the entire cafeteria staff and most of the transportation crew, because some employees work on both. The district of about 500 students sharing one building had resumed in-person instruction with masks and social distancing and avoided any student infections. But without enough substitute workers, administrators had no choice but to temporarily abandon classroom operations and meal services.

"It boils down to the staff," Lowellville Superintendent Geno Thomas said. "If you can't staff a school, you have to bring it to remote."

Around the country, contact tracing and isolation protocols are sidelining school employees and closing school buildings. The staffing challenges force students out of classrooms, even in districts where officials say the health risks of in-person learning are manageable. And the absences add to the strain from a wave of early retirements and leaves taken by employees worried about health risks.

It's another layer of the "tremendous stress" faced by administrators and educators navigating the pandemic, said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, the nation's leading school CONTINUE READING: Schools Struggle To Stay Open As Coronavirus Sidelines Staff | Across America, US Patch

US Education: 5 Ways Biden Can “De-DeVos” the System - LA Progressive

US Education: 5 Ways Biden Can “De-DeVos” the System

Teachers and other education advocates are feeling giddy at the possibility of moving forward a progressive agenda that the current education secretary, Betsy DeVos, stopped dead in its tracks four years ago.

President-elect Joe Biden campaign’s policy director, Stef Feldman, told the Education Writers Association that as president, Biden would “get some big, bold education legislation passed and certainly immediate relief for our schools and our educators,” and said Biden would take executive actions as well. Many of those executive actions, education advocates hope, will de-DeVos the Department of Education.

Here are some of the likeliest ways public education will change in a Biden-Harris administration.

Enforce All Students’ Civil Rights

Earlier this year, Betsy DeVos announced sweeping revisions to the federal civil rights law Title IX, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded schools. As a result, a judicial-like process is now used to investigate sexual harassment complaints, giving the accused a right to cross-examine accusers in a live hearing. Student advocates have said this would deter survivors from reporting assaults, which were already underreported.

Activists must also pressure representatives to fund Biden’s initiatives: “We can’t just get people elected. We must show up daily with a grassroots push to help Biden-Harris.”

Biden has also vowed to restore Obama-era civil rights guidance letters, which were rescinded by DeVos. Those include allowing transgender students to choose their own restrooms, addressing the disproportionate disciplining of Black students and pressing for diversity in colleges and K-12 classrooms.

“The good news is that Secretary DeVos has been more effective at doing damage to Obama-era policies than at creating anything new,” Kevin Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center, told Capital & Main. “So the first and easiest items on the Biden education checklist should be reissuing — and CONTINUE READING: US Education: 5 Ways Biden Can “De-DeVos” the System - LA Progressive

Teacher Tom: How Brains Grow

How Brains Grow

When our daughter was a preschooler, authority figures informed parents that the human brain was fully formed by around five-years-old. After that, there would be no new brain cells, which was why, they told us, the early years were so important. These were the scientific facts. Just a few days ago, a parent of a preschooler told me that the director of her child’s school told the assembled parents that the human brain was “90 percent developed” by five, information which she conveyed to me in a kind of jittery breathiness that betrayed both awe and panic. I recall feeling similarly about these scientific facts.

The problem with these facts is that they were not facts 20 years ago and they are not facts today. They are the product of a debunked theory about human brain development. Sadly, these non-facts were, and still are, being used to support the toxic academic pressures being applied to our youngest citizens.

It seems that the earlier “facts” were based largely upon studies done on monkey brains in a laboratory. When skeptical scientists more recently tested the theory on CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: How Brains Grow

A Well-Rounded Education Cannot be Digitized | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

A Well-Rounded Education Cannot be Digitized

I am about one-fourth of the way into Jack Schneider’s and Jennifer Berkshire’s A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of Public School. As I experience one in three of my students in quarantine related to COVID-19, I am keenly aware of how limited computer-delivered education is absent immediate, in-person, teacher-student and student-student relationships.

Human beings grow and learn best in relationship, which should come as no surprise since humans are social beings.

And yet, as Schneider (no relation) and Berkshire so deftly explain, the likes US ed sec Betsy DeVos– who would like nothing more than to erase public education from existence– would just as soon also eliminate as many teachers as possible in favor of students interacting with machines– and all in the name of reducing human beings to “career ready” servers of the market. After all, machines are cheaper and cannot unionize, and a *successful* outcome is one that serves business and industry.

However, in this time of pandemic-induced, online-ed proliferation, it is the rare person who sees isolated students sitting in front of computer screens as pedagogically desirable. Having my students in quarantine connected to my classroom only via their Chromebooks is not an “answer” but a tolerated necessity during this COVID crisis, and it has me constantly trying to figure out ways to keep my students’ education afloat until next I see them in person– a “figuring out” that is tedious, time-consuming, and exhausting.

I am not saying I am against quarantining, but I sure do understand the push by some CONTINUE READING: A Well-Rounded Education Cannot be Digitized | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Selling Edtech when Disguised as Philanthropy | tultican

Selling Edtech when Disguised as Philanthropy

By Thomas Ultican 11/27/2020

“Personalized learning” is being driven by foundations derived from companies that stand to profit by its implementation. Last year, George Mason’s Priscilla Regan and the University of Ottawa’s Valerie Steeves wrote the peer review paper “Education, privacy, and big data algorithms: Taking the persons out of personalized learning” in which they state, “Other than the Carnegie Corporation, the private foundations who have been most supportive of personalized learning are those supported by the technology companies, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Google Foundation.”

In the case of the Carnegie Corporation, the authors note that the philanthropy has been supporting education causes since its founding in 1911. Recently, Carnegie has given monetary support to “personalized learning” but “typically in partnership with one of the tech foundations.”

Based on a listing of the fifteen largest education spending philanthropies in the first decade of the millennium, the paper’s authors selected the technology linked Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (the largest donor); Michael and Susan Dell (fourth largest donor); and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (#8 in 2010) for analysis. They added two newer giving organizations, the Google Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to complete their list of five tech associated education grant making companies to analyze.

In their review of scholarly papers and the popular press, they identified five CONTINUE READING: Selling Edtech when Disguised as Philanthropy | tultican

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Respect for Teaching: One Person’s Tale | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Respect for Teaching: One Person’s Tale

Most of my adult life I have been a teacher. And on this day of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for the six decades I have been with students.

As a teacher, however, I winced whenever someone disrespected what I and others did not only for a living but a calling. Sometimes I did more than wince by responding in words at the moment or wrote about it later.

One incident occurred to me over 40 years ago when I worked in the Washington, D.C. schools that was an act of disrespect for teaching. Sure, four decades ago is ancient history so readers will have to judge whether the disrespect displayed in the incident continues today or is merely a historical curiosity.

I wrote the following piece for a Washington alternative journal in 1971.

********************************************************************

I have taught off and on for nearly fifteen years. When not teaching, I have been an administrator…. I directed an experimental teaching project called the Cardozo Project in Urban Teaching 1963-1967. [Afterwards] I taught half-time while writing a book. The following year, in the hope of working with others who shared my interest in [reform], I returned to administration as the Director of Staff Development in the D.C. schools. That lasted two years since the budget and program [were] gutted … by the D.C. Council…. At that point [1970] I decided to return to the classroom rather than occupy a desk [downtown].

It was an uncommon decision I discovered. To understand why, you have to appreciate the nagging guilt that haunts administrators about leaving the CONTINUE READING: Respect for Teaching: One Person’s Tale | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Special Report: To reopen or not to reopen – That is the fraught question for U.S. schools | The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO

Special Report: To reopen or not to reopen – That is the fraught question for U.S. schools

By Kristina Cooke, Benjamin Lesser and M.B. Pell

(Reuters) - After a two-week deluge of calls and messages from parents - and at least one death threat - the school board in Chandler, Arizona, called a special meeting this fall.

The board would revisit its decision, prompted by the coronavirus, to temporarily close local campuses and offer all classes online.

Parents, teachers and others poured out their thoughts in 1,100 public comments posted online before the September meeting. “If our schools do not open in person I will yank both my boys OUT and take them to another school district!!!” one parent wrote.

Many teachers assailed the district, which serves about 44,000 students near Phoenix, for wavering. “You look weak to the public; you look unconcerned for safety to your employees,” wrote one instructor. Ultimately, the board backtracked, voting 3-2 to start reopening school buildings. Eight-six percent of students returned to campus.

Across the United States, district leaders face pressure from all sides as they grapple with how to educate children during the pandemic, a Reuters survey of 217 districts showed. Many parents are balking at online instruction, seeing it as inferior to classroom learning and disruptive to life at home and work. Other parents worry about sending kids back into classrooms prematurely amid a raging pandemic.

At the same time, many teachers, some backed by powerful unions, say they are not comfortable CONTINUE READING: Special Report: To reopen or not to reopen – That is the fraught question for U.S. schools | The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO

We let school buildings crumble for years - that neglect is locking kids out - Hechinger Report

We let school buildings crumble for years - that neglect is locking kids out

Rundown schools forced more students to go remote

Government refused to fund crumbling schools for years. Now the neglect has locked children out of learning.

Yvette Alston-Johnson was seething when she got the news. Children in Paterson, New Jersey would not be allowed to go to school in-person this fall, while many of their peers in predominantly white and affluent suburbs would return.

Alston-Johnson attended Paterson public schools, as did her five children, and she has watched the buildings fall steadily into disrepair over the years. She is now the primary caregiver for her grandson Rayahn, who is in eighth grade at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Educational Complex, where close to 90 percent of students are Black or Latino.

“I feel like we get the short end of the stick,” said Alston-Johnson, who is 54. “We’re always last in line when it comes to our schools and money.”

“It’s cold in those buildings in the winter and then the A.C. doesn’t work in the summer; there’s mice running around,” she added. “If they did more upkeep on the buildings, the teachers would have been able to teach them in the buildings.”

Paterson, which serves mostly low-income families, has struggled to find the money to repair its buildings. In 2016, New Jersey allowed historically underfunded districts to submit requests for health and safety improvements. Paterson asked for ventilation repairs in 11 buildings, but all their requests were denied. In fact, of the roughly 90 applications to fix unsafe heating or air conditioning and ventilation systems, just two were CONTINUE READING: We let school buildings crumble for years - that neglect is locking kids out

Teacher Tom: I'm Thankful to Have a Day Like This

I'm Thankful to Have a Day Like This

I have so many things for which to be thankful. At the top of my list is our daughter (who, like many young people, is spending Thanksgiving away from us today) and my wife to whom, as of two days ago, I've now been married for 34 years. I'm also thankful for my mother and father who I won't be seeing in a few hours, along with my brother and sister and their families and every dog who has ever been my companion. And then there are the children and families that make up, and have always made up, the Woodland Park Cooperative School community, people who, in a very real sense, created the man I am today. I would not trade my life for any other: if I could do it all again, I'd do it exactly the same way, mistakes and all.

Not long ago, I read about a survey in which it was reported that the average American, no matter our socio-economic station, feels that they could be economically satisfied with about 10 percent more money. This was true of both billionaires and paupers. I suspect this is true about most of the good things in our lives. For instance, I know I could do with about 10 percent more sleep, 10 percent more free time, and 10 percent more sex, in addition to that 10 percent pay increase. So, as we don't gather today to reflect upon those CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: I'm Thankful to Have a Day Like This

Happy, Complicated Thanksgiving! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Happy, Complicated Thanksgiving!

I want to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you the strength and good health to persevere. The pandemic will not last forever.

On a personal note, I want to let you know that I am taking a weekend break. It’s something I have not done since I started the blog in April 2012. Right now, there are only a limited number of topics that seem relevant. Whether schools should be open or closed; the joy in seeing Betsy DeVos no longer in charge of the U.S. Department of Education; speculation about who might replace her; and intense concern about whether President-Elect Biden will resurrect the failed Race to the Top strategies or whether he will forge a new path that actually supports students, teachers, and schools instead of punishing them.

These are all important issues. I will turn to them again on November 30, when I resume blogging. If something important happens in the next few days, like Biden naming the new Secretary of Education, you will hear from me. Or if I want to share something. If not, silence.

Stay well. Protect your health and that of your loved ones.

Happy, Complicated Thanksgiving! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Should COVID vaccinations be required for students? For school staff members? | Ed In The Apple

Should COVID vaccinations be required for students? For school staff members?

On Friday I stood on a COVID testing line for four hours, a lovely day, chatting with my line mates, their bosses had given them time off; they needed a negative COVID test in order to fly somewhere. The test, the nose swab, took minutes and my phone beeped with the results before I was home. (Negative). I’m staying at home for Thanksgiving.

Two vaccine developers, Pfizer and Moderna announced vaccines with 90 plus percent protection rates; at least five other companies are near competing trials and China and Russia report they’re already distributing vaccines.

The final hurtle is less than a month away, the CDC/FDA will probably approve the vaccines for use around December 10th.

The distribution procedures, called Operation Warp Speed (Read here) created a nationwide network, over 60 regions with distribution networks in each region, from hospitals down to pharmacies.

Warp Speed has been criticized by the scientific community as being too tied to big pharma and not transparent.

It will take months, perhaps many months to ramp up production, in the CONTINUE READING: Should COVID vaccinations be required for students? For school staff members? | Ed In The Apple

SOMETIMES IT’S WHAT YOU DON’T SAY – Dad Gone Wild

SOMETIMES IT’S WHAT YOU DON’T SAY

“The slickest way in the world to lie is to tell the right amount of truth at the right time-and then shut up.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

Another Tuesday night and another board meeting has left me scratching my head – trying to decipher what I just witnessed.

One thing that is becoming more and more clear is that the MNPS’s leadership is growing increasingly disconnected from what’s actually taking place in schools. Presentation after presentation paints a picture of events unfolding uniformly across the district when the reality is entirely different from school to school – often even within buildings themselves.

Whether it is instruction during quarantine, small group instruction, usage of Florida Virtual School curriculum, or even the Navigator program, results and adoption are greatly varied across the district despite claims from district leadership. Lost in the whole conversation is the increasing level of stakeholder frustration, the declining level of student engagement, the number of students failing, or the actual impact that district initiatives are having on teachers and other building staff.

Take the Navigator program for example. Last night it was painted by Dr. Keri Randolph, Executive Officer – Strategic Federal, State, and Philanthropic Investments, as being highly successful and widely embraced by teachers across the district, Which just isn’t true. The requirements of the CONTINUE READING: SOMETIMES IT’S WHAT YOU DON’T SAY – Dad Gone Wild

Mike Klonsky's Blog: The first thing Biden promised to do...

The first thing Biden promised to do...

Biden was at a candidates event in Houston with National Education Association members in July 2019 when he said: “First thing, as president of United States — not a joke — first thing I will do is make sure that the secretary of education is not Betsy DeVos. It is a teacher. A teacher. Promise.” -- WaPO

Biden's cabinet is filling up fast. So far, once you get past all the chatter about a "second Obama presidency"; or about slipping a disgraced Rahm Emanuel in through the back door (NO, NO, NO please), or even about appointing Trump Republicans as opposed to anyone from the left, the process has been pretty transparent and necessarily fast-moving.

But we're still waiting for more than whispers about his pick for Secretary of Education. This may be the most important pick of all given that most school districts remain in limbo or possibly on the brink of collapse because of the pandemic and Trump/DeVos's disastrous response. But even under the new administration, plans for a necessary, safe reopening are CONTINUE READING: Mike Klonsky's Blog: The first thing Biden promised to do...

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Big Brother Is Watching Your Child

FL: Big Brother Is Watching Your Child

Eyebrows shot up around the country this week as the Tampa Bay Times reported on how the Pasco County Sheriff's Office keeps a secret list of "at-risk" kids who could “fall into a life of crime." Creating the list involves the office collecting and factoring a whole bunch of different you-probably-thought-they-were-confidential records, including records from the school district and from the state's Department of Children and Families.

"We have an agreement with the Sheriff's Office," the superintendent said in an interview with the Times. "The agreement requires them to use (the data) for official law enforcement purposes. I have to assume that's exactly what they are using it for."

Low grades? Absenteeism? Violence in the home? You may well be flagged as a possible future criminal. The Sheriff's Office has a whole manual. And a list, with 420 names on it. And none of the families connected to the names knows a thing about it. This is not a targeted search, where someone is concerned about Pat McStudent; this is a blanket sweep of the entire list of records from the various institutions.

Mark Lieberman at EdWeek did some checking to see if this practice is illegal (if you're old enough, you may remember when FERPA protected students from this kind of thing). The answer seems to be CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Big Brother Is Watching Your Child

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Saturday, November 28, 2020