Friday, April 23, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Friday, April 23, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Education Research Report: Rates of Recovery from COVID-19 Impact - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/

New York State education department faces questions on some standardized tests | wgrz.com - https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/education/new-york-state-education-department-faces-questions-on-english-language-arts-exams/71-24a5f01a-da70-4a97-8a68-e7808522a785 on WGRZ

Heeding pleas, Philadelphia revises district budget to add positions to schools - Chalkbeat Philadelphia - https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/22/22398784/philadelphia-school-district-budget-proposal on chalkbeat

California public universities plan to require Covid-19 vaccines https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/04/22/california-public-universities-plan-to-require-covid-19-vaccines-1377292

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says White Plains reopening 'an inspiration' https://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2021/04/22/us-education-secretary-miguel-cardona-visits-white-plains-high-school/7336706002/

City Council approves $1.5 million in Harrah’s Fund for NOLA Public Schools programs https://thelensnola.org/2021/04/22/city-council-approves-1-5-million-in-harrahs-fund-for-nola-public-schools-programs/

2020–21 Statewide School Enrollment Data Released - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education) - - Newsroom (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/

Kindergarten declines fuel steep drop in public school enrollment amid pandemic http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/R_G_e-BDUDM/kindergarten-declines-fuel-steep-drop-in-public-school-enrollment-amid-pandemic

Beyond defunding school police: What teen activists are thinking after Chauvin verdict http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/bGXP4Jic5xE/la-defund-police-teen-activists-reflect-chauvin-verdict

$400M in new state borrowing for upgrades to schools, libraries, environmental projects https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/04/nj-borrows-400-million-modest-upgrades-schools-libraries-environmental-projects-one-most-indebted-states-lawmakers-question-murphy-administration/

Jersey City schools reverse again on in-person learning, will reopen next week https://www.njspotlight.com/video/jersey-city-schools-reverse-again-on-in-person-learning-will-reopen-next-week/

High school rodeo club in South Dakota cancels annual 'slave auction' of students after backlash: report http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/rxA5u2KOdr0/

SEIU calls off Sacramento school strike at last minute, allowing all schools to reopen https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/22/seiu-a22.html

Lack of busing, not COVID-19 fears, keeping Elk Grove kids from in-person learning, parents say https://news.yahoo.com/lack-busing-not-covid-19-164315634.html

Pell changes could mean more eligible students, more money, more programs https://hechingerreport.org/pell-changes-could-mean-more-eligible-students-more-money-more-programs/

Western Heights sues over Board of Education probation https://nondoc.com/2021/04/22/western-heights-sues-over-board-of-education-probation/ via @nondocmedia

Educators across the country are voting for pro-public education legislation https://educationvotes.nea.org/?p=49162#.YIL8mI2hHLU.twitter via @EdVotes

As California schools reopen to in-person instruction, students and families decide if it's right for them http://edsource.org/?page_id=652944 via @edsource

Ed Notes Online: Municipal Healthcare Retirees kept in dark by UFT Leaders over coming forced medicare advantage plans - https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2021/04/municipal-healthcare-retirees-kept-in.html

GOP lawmakers start moral panic over schools teaching 'To Kill a Mockingbird' -- and get owned by local news anchor http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/AJo371PdItw/

OPSB approves 20 school buildings to be renamed, including McDonogh 35 https://thelensnola.org/2021/04/23/opsb-approves-20-school-buildings-to-be-renamed-including-mcdonogh-35/

States Scramble to Disburse K-12 Relief Funds Ahead of Deadline | Education News | US News - https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-04-22/states-scramble-to-disburse-k-12-relief-funds-ahead-of-deadline#new_tab on @USNews

New York City School Bus Fleet Will Be 100% Electric By 2035, Mayor De Blasio Says – CBS New York - https://cbsloc.al/2S10b2Z on /CBSnewyork

North Dakota governor vetoes bill restricting transgender athletes | Grand Forks Herald - https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/government-and-politics/6995686-North-Dakota-governor-vetoes-bill-restricting-transgender-athletes#new_tab

California public schools see 'sharp decline' in enrollment - https://apnews.com/article/health-san-francisco-government-and-politics-california-education-5d08cb1e62fe59d292bbda955c6b3d27#new_tab on @ap

Texas House OKs 2022-23 budget, tries to ban school vouchers | The Texas Tribune - https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/22/texas-house-state-budget/#new_tab by @erinmdouglas23 on @TexasTribune

Why all the secrecy about Robert Runcie’s indictment? Maybe more charges are on the way http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BB1fYiA3?ocid=st

Virginia moving to eliminate all accelerated math courses before 11th grade as part of equity-focused plan | Fox News - https://www.foxnews.com/us/virginia-accelerated-math-courses-equity#new_tab on @foxnews

After NY recycles state test questions, will results be useful? - Chalkbeat New York - https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/22/22398168/ny-recycles-state-test-questions-2021#new_tab on chalkbeat

House passes bill forbidding 'critical race theory' in schools, sends to Senate | KBOI - https://idahonews.com/news/local/education-committee-sends-critical-race-theory-bill-to-idaho-house#new_tab on @CBS2Boise

Schools look to ‘acceleration’ to fill pandemic learning gaps - Chalkbeat - https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/22/22398311/schools-acceleration-learning-loss#new_tab on chalkbeat

Big Education Ape: Cartoons about Life during Covid | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/cartoons-about-life-during-covid-larry.html

10th Period: Let's Talk Charter Schools | National Education Policy Center

by Mike Simpson / 23min

10th Period: Let's Talk Charter Schools Let's discuss charter schools -- a topic you've seen a lot of on this blog over the years, but has kind of gone away recently for obvious (COVID) and non-obvious (Vouchers/School Funding) reasons. Despite House Bill 2 , which was supposed to slim down our notoriously poor-performing charter school sector and the closure of the nation's largest online schoo

Education Department Announces State Allocations of $800 Million in American Rescue Plan Funds to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness | U.S. Department of Education

by Mike Simpson / 23min

Education Department Announces State Allocations of $800 Million in American Rescue Plan Funds to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced today plans to distribute $800 million to help support the needs of students experiencing homelessness under the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief – Homeless Children and Yo

Teacher Tom: If Freedom Lies Anywhere, it is Here

by Mike Simpson / 1h

If Freedom Lies Anywhere, it is Here As I'm recording interviews with my guests for the upcoming Teacher Tom's Play Summit , I've noticed that at some level, every single one of them is talking about trusting children enough to set them free. To me, freedom is a fascinating concept that, like love or play, is a pure good that's almost impossible to define, yet we know it when we see it -- or rat

Texas: Charter Industry Goes for the Gold: Power | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Texas: Charter Industry Goes for the Gold: Power Texas has five million public school students. It has 356,000 charter school students. The latter matter far more to the Governor, the Legislature and the State Education Commissioner than the former. This report came to me from Austin, where officials are trying to remove any “barriers” to charter. The local school board has no say in whether a n

NYC Educator: Is Remote Learning Here to Stay?

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Is Remote Learning Here to Stay? A Daily News article explores that this morning. It works for some families, evidently: “When they’re home, they can be one on one with you,” said Livingstone, a single mother of a fourth and eighth-grader who doesn’t work because of a disability. I can see how it would appeal to people who have no issue staying home and supervising their kids. These days, though

Buying into the Social Contract is Different from Buying Education with a Public Tuition Voucher in a Privatized School Marketplace | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Buying into the Social Contract is Different from Buying Education with a Public Tuition Voucher in a Privatized School Marketplace For a quarter of a century, Ohio has pursued the accountability-based “education reform” strategy that was formalized in the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. Ohio holds schools accountable for raising students’ scores on high-stakes standardized tests by imposing sanc

Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. Standardized testing is set to commence in schools and districts across the state of Louisiana. What does this mean regarding the now-common misuse of scores for grading teachers and schools and for student placement decisions? Some answers can be found in two pieces of legislation passed in the Louisiana legislature’

Think of Children as POW’s, and Act Accordingly | The Merrow Report

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Think of Children as POW’s, and Act Accordingly The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fault lines in our society, including in public education. Thankfully, nearly all our children and youth have survived, but many went through harrowing experiences, including serious illnesses and deaths of family and friends. Some of our young have prospered, thanks to their parents’ wealth and savvy, but many

2020–21 Statewide School Enrollment Data Released + 2021 CA Green Ribbon Schools + CA Middle Schools Selected as 'Schools to Watch’ - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

by Mike Simpson / 3h

2020–21 Statewide School Enrollment Data Released - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education) California Department of Education Releases 2020–21 Statewide School Enrollment Data SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today released K–12 public school enrollment data for the 2020–21 academic year. The annual snapshot of fall enrollment shows a sharp one-year decline as the state and natio

Why Tax Billionaires Out of Existence | tultican

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Why Tax Billionaires Out of Existence By Thomas Ultican 4/22/2021 Twenty years of studying education policy, politics and practices has been awakening. Seeing billionaires inflict their often misguided and unpopular beliefs on our nation’s public schools has made it clear how undemocratic and dangerous extreme wealth is. They have established voucher programs routinely sending taxpayer money to

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, April 22, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

by Mike Simpson / 22h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES After the COVID-19 money is spent, schools will still be underfunded https://thehill.com/opinion/education/548045-after-the-covid-19-money-is-spent-schools-will-still-be-u

Big Education Ape

Cartoons about Life during Covid | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons about Life during Covid

Vaccinations against Covid-19 have picked up, infections were down then plateaued, and now have risen a tad but the outlook is far more positive than it was in January. So this monthly feature of cartoons will look at life during Covid. It will be the last set of stabs at humor about the year of the plague and the gradual resumption of “normal” activities. Enjoy!

SEE MORE CARTOONS: Cartoons about Life during Covid | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

10th Period: Let's Talk Charter Schools | National Education Policy Center

10th Period: Let's Talk Charter Schools

Let's discuss charter schools -- a topic you've seen a lot of on this blog over the years, but has kind of gone away recently for obvious (COVID) and non-obvious (Vouchers/School Funding) reasons.

Despite House Bill 2, which was supposed to slim down our notoriously poor-performing charter school sector and the closure of the nation's largest online school -- ECOT -- which closed because the school literally stole hundreds of millions of tax dollars to educate kids they never educated, we are currently spending more on charter schools than any other year on record.

By a mile.

According to the latest Charter School funding report from the Ohio Department of Education, we are set to spend $999.7 million. The previous record was $955 million from the 2015-2016 school year -- the high-point of the ECOT years.

Despite this massive recent increase (an extraordinary $111 million jump ... over two years), it's not because we've had more students attending charters than ever.

No. That record remains the 2013-2014 school year when 122,130 students attended charters.

It's because Ohio politicians have continued bumping up the per pupil amounts flowing to charters. So now kids in Ohio charters, on average, get nearly $8,500 per pupil in state aid -- about double what that same kid would receive in a local public school.

As I've recounted for more than a decade, because of the way we fund charters, that means that local property taxes have to subsidize charter school kids.

It doesn't take a Ph.D. in Rocket Science to understand that if you're removing $8,500 in state aid from a district for a kid the district was only getting about half of that from the state to educate that the difference has to come from somewhere.

This year, that subsidy is slated to be $148 million. And in some districts, it's really high. Like in CONTINUE READING: 10th Period: Let's Talk Charter Schools | National Education Policy Center

Teacher Tom: If Freedom Lies Anywhere, it is Here

If Freedom Lies Anywhere, it is Here

As I'm recording interviews with my guests for the upcoming Teacher Tom's Play Summit, I've noticed that at some level, every single one of them is talking about trusting children enough to set them free.

To me, freedom is a fascinating concept that, like love or play, is a pure good that's almost impossible to define, yet we know it when we see it -- or rather, when we feel it. At any given moment, I'm not free, of course. There is some obligation, self-imposed or otherwise, that hinders me. When I was younger, this idea bothered me so much that I fantasized about running away to a desert island, because, I thought, it was all those other people who kept me in captivity with their expectations, their needs, their constant impingement upon my perfect freedom.

I don't think that any longer. As I performed the mental experiments that we call daydreaming, I came to realize that freedom, at least in the sense we typically think of it, can never be complete. Even if one eliminates the demands and dictates of living in a society, even if one has a billion dollars, even if one becomes a master of meditation, there is still Mother Nature who sends her storms and droughts and CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: If Freedom Lies Anywhere, it is Here

Texas: Charter Industry Goes for the Gold: Power | Diane Ravitch's blog

Texas: Charter Industry Goes for the Gold: Power

Texas has five million public school students. It has 356,000 charter school students. The latter matter far more to the Governor, the Legislature and the State Education Commissioner than the former.

This report came to me from Austin, where officials are trying to remove any “barriers” to charter. The local school board has no say in whether a new charter should open in their district. Local folks may be strong supporters of their public schools but they are not allowed to veto new charter schools.

To show how nutty this embrace of charters is, one legislator tried to slip in a proviso giving charters the power of eminent domain. Imagine the Jones family sitting down for their evening meal, and someone knocks at their door to inform them that a KIPP or IDEA charter needs their lot for a playground; they are given a few days or weeks to vacate their beloved home.

On the third reading of the bill—-SB 28– the eminent CONTINUE READING: Texas: Charter Industry Goes for the Gold: Power | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC Educator: Is Remote Learning Here to Stay?

Is Remote Learning Here to Stay?

A Daily News article explores that this morning. It works for some families, evidently:

“When they’re home, they can be one on one with you,” said Livingstone, a single mother of a fourth and eighth-grader who doesn’t work because of a disability.

I can see how it would appeal to people who have no issue staying home and supervising their kids. These days, though, that's likely a relatively small group. I can also imagine how supervised students might function better in online classes. If my kid were in an online class, I wouldn't allow her to place a cat picture up in Zoom and nap through classes. (Alas, a good portion of my students lack that level of supervision.)

And indeed the article covers drawbacks in online education:

“It doesn’t replace the magic that being in a classroom does, either instructionally, or just taking care of kids,” said Nate Stripp, a teacher at Middle School 50 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who’s also completing a masters degree in educational technology.

I don't know who Nate Stripp is, but I agree with him. I am acutely aware that what I've been doing for the last year does not compare with what I've done for most of my career. I'm constrained in many ways. For one, I simply do not trust the notion of giving tests online. I can't imagine why someone, especially someone hiding behind an avatar, wouldn't a. look up the answer on Google, b. text a friend for the answer, c. check classwork for a solution, or d. all of the above.

More importantly, I don't believe that subject matter is the only thing we provide students. We are role models. On a fundamental level, every student who sees us sees people who get up every morning and come to work. They see people who've gone to CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Is Remote Learning Here to Stay?

Buying into the Social Contract is Different from Buying Education with a Public Tuition Voucher in a Privatized School Marketplace | janresseger

Buying into the Social Contract is Different from Buying Education with a Public Tuition Voucher in a Privatized School Marketplace

For a quarter of a century, Ohio has pursued the accountability-based “education reform” strategy that was formalized in the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act.

Ohio holds schools accountable for raising students’ scores on high-stakes standardized tests by imposing sanctions on schools and school districts unable quickly to raise scores. Ohio identifies so-called “failing” public schools, ranks them on school district report cards, and locates privatized charter schools and voucher qualification within the boundaries of low-scoring districts. Additionally, the state takes over so-called failing school districts and imposes Academic Distress Commissions as overseers. Ohio’s students are held back in third grade if their reading scores are too low, and high school seniors must pass exit exams to graduate.

After more than two decades of this sort of school policy, student achievement hasn’t increased and test score gaps have not closed. Ohio is a state with eight big cities—Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo, Youngstown, Akron, and Canton; lots of smaller cities and towns; Appalachian rural areas and Indiana-like rural areas; and myriad income-stratified suburbs. Just as they do across the United States, aggregate standardized test scores correlate most closely with family and neighborhood income, not with the characteristics of the public schools. In the fall of 2019, the Plain Dealer’s data wonk, Rich Exner, created a series of bar graphs to demonstrate the almost perfect correlation of school districts’ letter grades on the state school district report card with family income.

But while Ohio has punished so-called “failing” schools, it hasn’t done much to help the public schools in Ohio’s poorest communities. In profound testimony before the Ohio State Board of CONTINUE READING: Buying into the Social Contract is Different from Buying Education with a Public Tuition Voucher in a Privatized School Marketplace | janresseger

Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not.

Standardized testing is set to commence in schools and districts across the state of Louisiana.

What does this mean regarding the now-common misuse of scores for grading teachers and schools and for student placement decisions?

Some answers can be found in two pieces of legislation passed in the Louisiana legislature’s 2020 Special Extraordinary Session (September 28, 2020 to October 23, 2020): Act 53 and Act 47. However, some of those “some answers” are better defined than others.

Below is the heart of Act 53:

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the2020-2021 school year, the board (Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE) shall examine the results from student assessments and school-level test data but shall not use such assessments and data for purposes of evaluating teacher performance or making placement decisions for fourth and eighth grade students.

And lest anyone should miss the “shall not use assessments and data for purposes of evaluating teacher performance,” language is included specific to VAM (so-called “value-added” modeling) (and subsequently repeated in the section pertaining to charter school employees):

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the 2020-2021 school year, value-added data shall not be used to evaluate teacher performance or effectiveness.

As for the grading of schools and districts using test scores from 2020-21, the CONTINUE READING: Louisiana Standardized Testing 2020-21: Maybe We Grade Your School, Maybe Not. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Think of Children as POW’s, and Act Accordingly | The Merrow Report

Think of Children as POW’s, and Act Accordingly

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fault lines in our society, including in public education. Thankfully, nearly all our children and youth have survived, but many went through harrowing experiences, including serious illnesses and deaths of family and friends. Some of our young have prospered, thanks to their parents’ wealth and savvy, but many more have been left out, left behind, and deeply scarred.

Soon almost all our young people will be back in school buildings, for what one might call ‘brick-and-mortar learning.’ What should that look like? What should happen in classrooms? Will there be a mindless rush to measure “learning loss” and then ‘catch up,’ or will the adults in charge recognize the gravity of what most kids have experienced?

I suggest that we think of our children as recently freed Prisoners of War who’ve been kept in isolation for months. They have endured unprecedented and often harrowing experiences, and they’ve also endured endless stretches of boredom. They now need time and space to process what they have been through. They need to learn how to be together. Basically, they need a safe way to re-enter society.

We don’t want to go back to ‘normal,’ not now and not ever! Pre-COVID, most schools were uncomfortable and even unsafe for many youngsters, who were bullied and teased and victimized by their peers, conscious of their place in the dreaded CONTINUE READING: Think of Children as POW’s, and Act Accordingly | The Merrow Report

Why Tax Billionaires Out of Existence | tultican

Why Tax Billionaires Out of Existence

By Thomas Ultican 4/22/2021

Twenty years of studying education policy, politics and practices has been awakening. Seeing billionaires inflict their often misguided and unpopular beliefs on our nation’s public schools has made it clear how undemocratic and dangerous extreme wealth is. They have established voucher programs routinely sending taxpayer money to religious schools even though these programs have lost decisively whenever submitted to voters. In her book Slaying Goliath, Diane Ravitch labeled these 0.1% of Americans as disrupters. She asked and answered the question “what do disrupters want?” They want:

Inexperienced teachers with little or no training from organizations like Teach For America.
To replace teachers with machine teaching (“blended learning” – “personalized learning”).
To move fast and break things including school systems, historic schools and communities.
To eliminate local democratic control over schools.
To eliminate teacher tenure and seniority rights.
To eliminate teacher defined benefit pensions.
To eliminate teachers unions.
To evaluate teachers and schools with standardized test scores.
To lower taxes and reduce spending on education.

Controlling the Political Process

In 2018, the Network for Public Education (NPE) produced a masterful report detailing how school board elections are being stolen from local residents. In the introduction to “Hijacked by Billionaires: How the Super Rich Buy Elections to Undermine Public Schools,” the authors state, “This report provides some insight into how the very wealthy insert themselves into local elections through direct contributions, Independent Expenditure Committees and even non-profit organizations.”

The Billionaires Cited in “Hijacked by Billionaires”

In my post-election analysis of three elections, “School Board Elections 2020: CONTINUE READING: Why Tax Billionaires Out of Existence | tultican

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Friday, April 23, 2021