Wednesday, January 20, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, January 20, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE #Inauguration #BIDEN #HARRIS #46

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Biden will extend student loan relief through September https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/20/biden-student-loan-relief-september-460664

On Biden’s To-Do List Today Is Rescinding the Racist 1776 Commission https://www.theroot.com/on-biden-s-to-do-list-today-is-rescinding-the-racist-17-1846092086

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Launches Scholarship for 50 Future Civil Rights Attorneys After Receiving $40 Million Anonymous Donation https://www.theroot.com/naacp-legal-defense-and-education-fund-launches-scholar-1846087628?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=theroot_twitter via @TheRoot

K-12 enrollment down statewide, in Orleans Parish https://thelensnola.org/2021/01/19/k-12-enrollment-down-statewide-in-orleans-parish/

NOLA Public Schools COVID-19 cases decline; announcement on reopening could come this week https://thelensnola.org/2021/01/19/nola-public-schools-covid-19-cases-decline-announcement-on-reopening-could-come-this-week/

Trump's right-wing 1776 history report appears to plagiarize authors: report http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/CNhYRByWRtI/

40 Funny Tweets That Sum Up Kid Logic https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kid-logic-funny-tweets_l_5fb16b14c5b6b956698c38e1

New blow to SAT empire shows California's key role in diminishing college admissions tests http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/P30R7QTf4IM/sat-test-diminish-california-key-role

Another blow to the SAT: Essays and subject tests to be scrapped amid pandemic fallout http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/8ny9vrewWh8/college-board-to-scrap-sat-subject-tests-and-optional-essay-citing-pandemic-fallout

The SAT Announces Dropping Essay and Subject Tests https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/sat-essay-subject-tests.html

OPINION: Will the Biden administration boost early childhood education? https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-the-biden-administration-has-a-real-chance-to-boost-early-childhood-education/

COLUMN: History textbooks must not ignore white supremacist violence - https://hechingerreport.org/?p=76681 via @hechingerreport

Sarah Lahm: Charter Schools Movement Sees a Growth Opportunity in Public School Funding Cuts | Ed Politics - https://edpolitics.org/?p=312

January 2021 IQC Meeting Agenda - Instructional Quality Commission (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/cc/cd/jan2021iqcagenda.asp

Big Changes to the SAT https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/us/big-changes-to-the-sat.html

With possible teacher strike vote looming, CPS chief says union talks need to focus on how, not whether, to reopen schools - Chicago Tribune - https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-chicago-public-schools-covid-19-reopening-teachers-union-20210119-skqq4vjipndtrmgbbq3oehivne-story.html#new_tab via @chicagotribune

100-plus Broward schoolteachers, staff won’t return amid COVID | Miami Herald - https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article248613495.html#new_tab on miamiherald

SC public school enrollment dips amid pandemic, private schools get unexpected boost | News | postandcourier.com - https://www.postandcourier.com/news/sc-public-school-enrollment-dips-amid-pandemic-private-schools-get-unexpected-boost/article_90988374-5425-11eb-835b-1bdab215f181.html#new_tab on @postandcourier

For schoolchildren struggling to read, COVID-19 has been a wrecking ball - The Boston Globe - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/19/magazine/schoolchildren-struggling-read-covid-19-has-been-wrecking-ball/#new_tab on @BostonGlobe

School choice proponents galvanized by remote learning struggles speak out at committee hearing | Education | stltoday.com - https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/school-choice-proponents-galvanized-by-remote-learning-struggles-speak-out-at-committee-hearing/article_8ae0d778-d956-50fb-b77b-8f374ec8cb8c.html#new_tab on @stltoday

Newark’s new high schools will handpick students, raising equity concerns https://newark.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/19/22239693/newark-specialized-high-schools via @ChalkbeatNWK

College Board drops SAT's optional essay and subject tests to 'reduce demands on students' - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/college-board-drops-sat-s-optional-essay-subject-tests-reduce-n1254694#new_tab by NBCNews on @NBCNews

How much learning have Washington students missed? The state doesn’t know | The Seattle Times - https://www.seattletimes.com/?p=13366505 by @joy_resmovits on @seattletimes

Proposed school reopening fund could cost districts money | CalMatters https://calmatters.org/education/2021/01/newsom-school-reopening-fund-proposal-problems/

Some schools won't show inauguration in classrooms over concerns of potential violence https://www.foxnews.com/us/schools-inauguration-violence #FoxNews

Why public school enrollment in Louisiana is down nearly 17,000 students | Education | theadvocate.com - https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/education/article_5cee1a84-5a83-11eb-b062-23c04a5a70a0.html#new_tab

Biden to Revoke Trump's 'Patriotic Education' Order, Shield DACA on First Day as President - https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/biden-to-revoke-trumps-patriotic-education-order-shield-daca-on-first-day-as-president/2021/01#new_tab by @andrewujifusa on @educationweek

Biden to Rescind the Racist 1776 Commission - https://www.theroot.com/on-biden-s-to-do-list-today-is-rescinding-the-racist-17-1846092086#new_tab on TheRoot

Full text: Joe Biden inauguration speech transcript - POLITICO - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/20/joe-biden-inauguration-speech-transcript-full-text-460813

Biden’s Covid-19 stimulus plan includes $40 billion for child care https://www.vox.com/2021/1/20/22238757/joe-biden-covid-19-stimulus-child-care

Tennessee bill threatens to withhold funds as school reopening debate heats up https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/19/22240042/bill-state-funding-dependent-on-reopening-classrooms-bill-lee-condemns-virtual-learning via @ChalkbeatTN

Big Education Ape: NYC Public School Parents: The impact of Covid on NYC schools and class size & critique of DOE's plans for next year - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/nyc-public-school-parents-impact-of.html

Big Education Ape: Before You Must Go (The Whole Trump of You) | The Jose Vilson - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/before-you-must-go-whole-trump-of-you.html

Big Education Ape: Joe Biden Has a Golden Opportunity to Strengthen Public Education | Ed Politics - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/joe-biden-has-golden-opportunity-to.html

Big Education Ape: Educators, Social Justice Is About Consistent Action, Not Simply When It's Trending On Social Media - Philly's 7th Ward - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/educators-social-justice-is-about.html

Big Education Ape: Locals – Including NAACP – Oppose Biden’s Pick of Cindy Marten - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/locals-including-naacp-oppose-bidens.html

Big Education Ape: Educators welcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and their support for public schools - Education Votes - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/educators-welcome-joe-biden-and-kamala.html

Big Education Ape: Think of a Leader. Who did you picture? | Teacher in a strange land - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/think-of-leader-who-did-you-picture.html

Big Education Ape: Take the Money and Run – Tennessee Education Report - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/take-money-and-run-tennessee-education.html

Big Education Ape: NYC Educator: No, It's NOT Time To Fully Open School Buildings - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/nyc-educator-no-its-not-time-to-fully.html

Teacher Tom: Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful"

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful" The Technology of Speaking With Children So They Can Think , To learn more and to register, click right here. Awhile back , I riffed on what is popularly called "risky play," what author and consultant Arthur Battram argues we should call "challenging play," what I want to re-label "safety play," and what one reader pointed out used to just be called

CURMUDGUCATION: What Donald Trump Means To Me

by Mike Simpson / 3h

What Donald Trump Means To Me I have followed Trump's career for decades. As anyone who has been paying attention knows, and as some folks insist on being shocked and surprised to discover on a regular basis, he really is that bad, and has always been that bad. I cannot think of a single human virtue that the man has ever displayed, and he is not even particularly good at many of the human vices

Biden must build a more equitable US education system: To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson

by Mike Simpson / 3h

To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson TO A GREATER GLORY [NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER] In my latest op-ed, I wrote an article as an open letter to the Biden administration that harkened back to my Jesuit education (Nativity Mission, Xavier High). Here’s a little bit: In this way, I’m asking us to live out our stated values politically and spiritually. If God truly lives

Miguel Cardona, Who Are You? | Real Learning CT

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Miguel Cardona, Who Are You? President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Miguel Cardona, the current Connecticut Commissioner of Education, to be the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Anyone he nominated would be better than Trump’s Secretary of Education. But who is Miguel Cardona and what is the vision that he brings to the U.S. Department of Education and to the teaching and learning in all of th

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, January 19, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE #Inauguration #BIDEN #HARRIS #46

by Mike Simpson / 21h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Free Market Facts And School Choice - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/01/19/free-market-facts-and-school-choice/?sh=45f219496a9b by @palan57 on @forbes Why Must

Big Education Ape

NYC Public School Parents: The impact of Covid on NYC schools and class size & critique of DOE's plans for next year

The impact of Covid on NYC schools and class size & critique of DOE's plans for next year

My testimony at the City Council hearings on the impact of Covid on education and class size. This exchange already occurred this morning:

Of course, they know very well how many students are in classes over 30, but prefer not to answer and have repeatedly delayed releasing any class size data as legally required by Nov. 15.

On Oct. 26, at the Mayor's press conference, Chancellor Carranza reported that the DOE has been collecting attendance data and thus class size in "literally three buckets of attendance every single day": in-person classes, remote blended learning classes and full-time remote.

See my testimony below, which includes class size data from a parent survey undertaken by survey undertaken by Special Support Services LLC. My testimony also critiques the administration's plans to double down on online learning next year.

NYC Public School Parents: The impact of Covid on NYC schools and class size & critique of DOE's plans for next year

Before You Must Go (The Whole Trump of You) | The Jose Vilson

BEFORE YOU MUST GO (THE WHOLE TRUMP OF YOU)

By the time this publishes, you’ll officially only have four hours left in your presidency. “Good riddance” isn’t strong enough.

For you and your cabal of fascist, racist, sexist, imperialist, homophobic, classist, seditious sycophants, I would wish your souls the agony you’ve bestowed upon the world over multifold. When the substitute teacher across the hall from me yelled your name in triumph at my Latinx and Black kids, you smirked that your name could inspire such terror. When another adult used your name in an assembly to let students know to fear him, he got explicit permission from your own ill-wrought bullying and calls to violence. When an administrator clamps down on some of the strongest advocates for kids because of their explicit anti-racism, they’re using the loopholes and laws already in our policies to displace the already marginalized, creating conditions in schools where justice feels further and further away.

Yes, having that much power revealed much of who you always were, a cultish following flanking you through every move. Every time you lied about a pandemic, every family you intentionally separated, every bit of land you stole from Native American/indigenous peoples for profit, every woman of color you targeted with a tweet or a snide comment were a framework for the millions of lives you’ve made worse for having put your hand on a Bible you never read on Capitol steps you allowed your followers to smear with feces. Time went four years forward, yet seemingly a century back.

You and your administration bragged about not starting any new wars abroad, but the walls rose against the United States to keep us CONTINUE READING: Before You Must Go (The Whole Trump of You) | The Jose Vilson

Joe Biden Has a Golden Opportunity to Strengthen Public Education | Ed Politics

JOE BIDEN HAS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC EDUCATION

In picking Connecticut Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona to be his nominee for U.S. secretary of education, President-elect Joe Biden appears to have made a Goldilocks choice that pleases just about everyone. People who rarely agree on education policy have praised the decision, including Jeanne Allen, CEO of the Center for Education Reform, a nonprofit group that advocates for charter schools and school choice, who called Cardona “good news,” and education historian Diane Ravitch, who also called the pick “good news” because he does not seem to be aligned with advocates for charter schools and vouchers. Sara Sneed, president and CEO of the NEA Foundation, a public charity founded by educators, called Cardona an “ideal candidate,” in an email, and hailed him for “his emphasis on the need to end structural racism in education and for his push for greater educational equity and opportunity through public schools.”

But as Biden and Cardona—should he be approved, as most expect—begin to address the array of critical issues that confront the nation’s schools, there’s bound to be more of a pushback. Or maybe not?

After decades of federal legislation that emphasized mandating standardized testing and tying school and teacher evaluations to the scores; imposing financial austerity on public institutions; incentivizing various forms of privatization; and undermining teachers’ professionalism and labor rights, there is a keen appetite for a new direction for school policy.

Due to the disruption forced by the pandemic, much is being written and said about the need to “restart and reinvent” education and a newfound appreciation for schools as essential infrastructure for families and children. With an incoming CONTINUE READING: Joe Biden Has a Golden Opportunity to Strengthen Public Education | Ed Politics

Sarah Lahm: Charter Schools Movement Sees a Growth Opportunity in Public School Funding Cuts | Ed Politics - https://edpolitics.org/?p=312

Educators, Social Justice Is About Consistent Action, Not Simply When It's Trending On Social Media - Philly's 7th Ward

EDUCATORS, SOCIAL JUSTICE IS ABOUT CONSISTENT ACTION, NOT SIMPLY WHEN IT’S TRENDING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Since the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012, activists and stakeholders of the Black community have done the yeoman’s work of highlighting all murders of Black people at the hands of the state (police) and domestic terrorists (vigilante white citizens).

Sadly, the murders of Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Sandra Bland, Atatiana Jefferson, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice were tragic, however no murder quite caught the attention of America than that of George Floyd. Maybe it was how he was murdered or that much of America was on quarantine when it happened. No matter the reason, Mr. Floyd’s murder captivated an audience of Americans that couldn’t perceive any American being killed like he was, or who simply believed that Black people spent years lying on the police.

I have no doubt that some of my colleagues in my current and former workplaces had their eyes opened. One of those colleagues approached me a few months back when school reopened and asked me a question stemming CONTINUE READING: Educators, Social Justice Is About Consistent Action, Not Simply When It's Trending On Social Media - Philly's 7th Ward

Locals – Including NAACP – Oppose Biden’s Pick of Cindy Marten

Locals – Including NAACP – Oppose Biden’s Pick of Cindy Marten

Ken Stone over at Times of San Diego published a piece Monday that included critiques and opposition to President-Elect Biden’s choice of San Diego Unified schools chief Cindy Marten for a federal education post. Marten was nominated for a Deputy Secretary of Education post.

Locals who are not happy with Biden’s nomination include the NAACP’s San Diego chapter and community activist Tasha Williamson, the former mayor candidate.

Amidst the wide-spread praise for Marten, Stone writes – and he ticks off praise from everybody from Mayor Gloria to Assemblywoman Weber to former mayor Faulconer – he adds that the NAACP and Williamson oppose her nomination:

Katrina Hasan Hamilton, the local NAACP’s education chair, said:

“Educators at all levels must have a track record of dismantling the harmful practices of Anti-Black Racism that occur in schools. Cindy Marten has a historical pattern of allowing CONTINUE READING: Locals – Including NAACP – Oppose Biden’s Pick of Cindy Marten

Educators welcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and their support for public schools - Education Votes

Educators welcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and their support for public schools

By Amanda Menas

Educators across the country are looking for a new beginning for their students and school communities with the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on January 20. They will be sworn in on the steps of the United States Capitol building, which just weeks ago was attacked by insurrectionists.

Hundreds of educators responded to NEA’s call to offer well-wishes to the incoming administration. Among them were many history and social studies teachers who are using this historic moment to help their students learn about democracy.

“If democracy is messy, then we should be educating our students as to how to navigate as a citizen of a democratic republic,” said Melanie D., a retired educator from Arizona. She hopes President Biden will reach out to educators to help grow an informed citizenry. “The number one issue would be the importance of teaching truth and integrity in history. The role of racism and disenfranchisement must be taught with a rigorous curriculum based on equality and respect for all.”

Following four years of anti-public education policies under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, many educators asked the Biden team to reverse course.

Rochelle W., a retired educator from Oakland, California said specifically, “Please put a halt to federal support for charter schools!” Her school district saw decreased funding for public schools, which she says harmed students in special education classrooms, immigrant students, and more.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still impacting students and educators, many still teaching CONTINUE READING: Educators welcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and their support for public schools - Education Votes

Think of a Leader. Who did you picture? | Teacher in a strange land

Think of a Leader. Who did you picture?

It was a fascinating article in the NY Times, about a management training exercise that directs groups of people to draw a leader. Originally designed to bypass detailed verbal discussion about leadership in groups where multiple languages were spoken, the assignment merely asked participants to sketch their conception of a leader, with as much detail as possible.

I was especially interested because this draw-a-leader technique was one I have used, many times, in workshops around teacher leadership, for diverse audiences. I can testify that if you want to clear a room of school administrators, who suddenly have to step out in the hallway for an ‘emergency’ call, start passing out chart paper, crayons, and markers–and ask them to draw something.

Management trainers and organizational psychologists who use this exercise agree:

In terms of gender, the results are almost always the same. Both men and women almost always draw men. Even when the drawings are gender neutral [which is uncommon], the majority of groups present the drawing using language that indicates male (he) rather CONTINUE READING: Think of a Leader. Who did you picture? | Teacher in a strange land

Take the Money and Run – Tennessee Education Report

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN

If school districts don’t do what House Majority Leader William Lamberth wants, he’s going to take their money and run. Seriously. It’s actually pretty much the text of HB7021.

As introduced, the bill says that if districts fail to provide at least 70 days of in-person instruction for students in grades K-8 in the 2020-21 academic year and 180 days in the 2021-22 academic year, the Commissioner of Education may withhold all or a part of that district’s BEP funds.

I mean, I wrote a few days ago about carrots and sticks, but this is taking it a bit far.

It’s not clear to me what Lamberth hopes to accomplish by this other than forcing districts to make a decision to return to in-person learning at a time when COVID is still surging in our state.

Here’s the deal: Districts can’t take the risk they’d lose any BEP money. In fact, the BEP is inadequate (by $1.7 billion) as it is. So, it’s not like there’s tons of extra cash sitting around and districts can just ignore this ridiculous request.

While most people agree that in-person learning is the best possible climate for CONTINUE READING: Take the Money and Run – Tennessee Education Report

NYC Educator: No, It's NOT Time To Fully Open School Buildings

No, It's NOT Time To Fully Open School Buildings

I'm fairly gobsmacked to see an op-ed from a teacher suggesting otherwise in the NY Post, but everyone's entitled to their opinion. There are some things in this piece, however, that are quite correct. Zoom just is not what we do. I've been personally discouraged, more than I can say, by doing a job other than the one for which I signed up.

I teach on Zoom, and like many of my colleagues, I've been doing so for months. I'm as discouraged by it as the writer of this piece. I know why I love being a teacher, and it has little to do with anything I've been doing since last March. Were this the job, I'd never have lasted. There are great rewards to this job, and CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: No, It's NOT Time To Fully Open School Buildings

Teacher Tom: Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful"

Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful"

The Technology of Speaking With Children So They Can Think,

To learn more and to register, click right here.

Awhile back, I riffed on what is popularly called "risky play," what author and consultant Arthur Battram argues we should call "challenging play," what I want to re-label "safety play," and what one reader pointed out used to just be called "play."

Whatever we call it, most people who read here agree that we need to give children more space to engage in their self-selected pursuits, even if they sometimes make us adults nervous. At the same time, it can be difficult it is to break the habit of constantly cautioning children with "Be careful!"

Adult warning to "be careful" are redundant at best and, at worst, become focal points for rebellion (which, in turn, can lead to truly hazardous behavior) or a sense that the world is full of unperceived dangers that only the all-knowing adult can see (which, in turn, can lead to the sort of unspecified anxiety we see so much of these days). Every time we say "be careful" we express, quite clearly, our lack of faith in our children's judgement, which too often becomes the foundation for self-doubt.

Sometimes people ask me about alternatives, such as saying, "Pay attention to your body." For me, "pay attention" has the same flaws as "be careful." They are both commands that give children only two choices -- obey or disobey. On top of that, they are both quite vague. Better, I think, are simple statements of fact that allow children to think for themselves; specific information that supports them in performing their own risk assessment. This reminds me of the "good job" or "well done" habit many of us adults have acquired, in that we know we ought not do it, but can't help ourselves. So, in the spirit in which I offered suggestions for things we can say instead of "good job", here are some ideas for things to say instead of "be careful."

"That's a skinny branch. If it breaks you'll fall on the concrete."

"I'm going to move away from you guys. I don't want to get poked in the eye."

"That would be a long way to fall."

"When people are swinging high, they can't stop themselves and might hit you."

"That looks like it might fall down."

"Tools are very powerful. They can hurt people."

"I always check to make sure things are stable before I walk on them."

"Sometimes ladders tip over."

"You're all crowded together up there. It would be a long way to fall if someone got pushed."

"When you jump on people, it might hurt them."

"You are testing those planks before you walk on them."

"That's a steep hill. I wonder how you're going to steer that thing."

When we turn our commands into informational statements, we leave a space in which children can think for themselves, rather than simply react, and that, ultimately, is what will help children keep themselves safe throughout their lives.

******

"Be careful" is just one of the ways that well-intended adults, through the words we habitually choose, create a reality for young children in which they are discouraged from, and sometimes even "punished" for, thinking for themselves. In so many ways, both overt and subtle, adults unwittingly tend to shut down critical thinking, replacing it with a reality in which mere reaction and obedience is rewarded.

If you are keen to dig deeper into this phenomenon and to learn how you as an educator or parent can transform your language in ways that empower real learning, then my new six-part e-course, The Technology of Speaking With Children So They Can Think, might be a great way to start your New Year. This is the culmination of more than 20 years of research and practice. I've been speaking on this topic around the world for the past decade and know that it can be transformative both for adults and children. Special pricing ends soon. To learn more and to register, click right here. We need more critical thinkers in the world! Thank you.

Teacher Tom: Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful"

CURMUDGUCATION: What Donald Trump Means To Me

What Donald Trump Means To Me

I have followed Trump's career for decades. As anyone who has been paying attention knows, and as some folks insist on being shocked and surprised to discover on a regular basis, he really is that bad, and has always been that bad. I cannot think of a single human virtue that the man has ever displayed, and he is not even particularly good at many of the human vices that he wields like a toddler with a twisted light saber. He is a shambling mountain of human awfulness. The closest thing to an excuse that might be offered in his defense may also be simply the capper of his awfulness--unlike other odious politicians like Mitch McConnell or Mike Pence, he is incapable of being any better.

He has always been that bad. In writing, conversation, casual discussion, Trump has always been my go-to example of the personification of the worst in humans.

So nothing in his Presidency has shocked or surprised me. In fact, I've sometimes lost patience with people who clutch their pearls and declare, "Oh my goodness! How could he do such a thing?!" Likewise, the repeated insistence that "this time he's pivoting to a new style" and "this time he's made the mistake that will really sink him" have gotten no sympathy from me. If you are doing such a bad job of paying attention, you deserve to be alternately surprised and disappointed, because one of the human vices that Trump enacts poorly is guile and sneakiness. This is what his CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: What Donald Trump Means To Me

Biden must build a more equitable US education system: To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson

To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson

TO A GREATER GLORY [NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER]

In my latest op-ed, I wrote an article as an open letter to the Biden administration that harkened back to my Jesuit education (Nativity Mission, Xavier High). Here’s a little bit:

In this way, I’m asking us to live out our stated values politically and spiritually. If God truly lives within each of us when two or more of us are gathered, then we need to make the spaces where we gather our youth the spaces we know serve them. If we know that Jesus of Nazareth arose from squalor, then we have a duty to make our schools in our poorest districts the envy of the world in honor of the poor.
We should eradicate child poverty measures where we see them and address structural racism, xenophobia and other forms of identity oppression in our policies and practice. Yes, we can do so with culturally responsive and sustaining practices, professional development around trauma-informed learning and teaching, lowering caseloads for guidance counselors, social workers and other in-school mental health professionals, and, yes, making every public school a great school.

To read the rest, click here.

To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson

Miguel Cardona, Who Are You? | Real Learning CT

Miguel Cardona, Who Are You?

President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Miguel Cardona, the current Connecticut Commissioner of Education, to be the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Anyone he nominated would be better than Trump’s Secretary of Education. But who is Miguel Cardona and what is the vision that he brings to the U.S. Department of Education and to the teaching and learning in all of the schools in this nation?

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good.

The majority of Connecticut teachers who don’t know him personally say that he has been largely quiet as Commissioner and are critical that he seems more interested in keeping schools open than in caring about public health, including the welfare of teachers, students and students’ families during the pandemic.

But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. CONTINUE READING: Miguel Cardona, Who Are You? | Real Learning CT

Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, January 20, 2021