What the latest assaults on science education look like - The Washington Post

What the latest assaults on science education look like - The Washington Post:

What the latest assaults on science education look like

Participants in the March for Science gather at the Washington Monument before marching to the Capitol on Saturday. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)

Each year, anti-science education legislation is introduced in state legislatures around the country — and, in a few cases, has been passed. So what is an anti-science education bill — and how many have been introduced in 2017?

There are essentially two different kinds of anti-science legislation, according to the nonprofit National Center for Science Education.

One involves efforts to repeal the adoption of state science standards or challenge science textbooks. There are also bills that attempt to allow science (and other) teachers to present unscientific criticism of scientific principles as legitimate — usually aimed at affecting classroom discussion on evolution and climate change.

Since 2014, more than 60 such bills have been filed in state legislatures all over the country; two have been enacted, in Louisiana in 2008 and in Tennessee in 2012.

[‘But it’s just a theory!’ — How to teach evolution to a skeptical crowd]

These bills are worded as “academic freedom” bills, but they really are efforts to present foundational science as controversial. For example, evolution is the animating principle of modern biology, but these laws attempt to allow creationism and evolution to be debated in a science classroom as though they had equal scientific basis. There is no scientific basis to creationist thinking.

[It’s about time Bill Nye the Science Guy defends evolution]

So far this year, nine legislative efforts aimed at undermining the teaching of evolution and/or climate change have been introduced in state legislatures:

• Texas House Bill 1485, introduced Feb. 2, supposedly offers science teachers the academic freedom to teach “the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories” covered in the state science standards,” including “climate change, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, and human cloning.” No vote has been scheduled yet.
• Oklahoma Senate Bill 393, which was passed by the chamber, encourages teachers to teach “scientific controversies” and protects them if they do. Essentially, this would give teachers the freedom to teach nonscientific principles as equivalent to actual science.
• South Dakota Senate Bill 55 died in a state House committee earlier this year after passing the Senate; it would have allowed teachers to essentially teach anything they want as science as long as they used certain language.
• Indiana Senate Resolution 17, which targets the teaching of evolution in public schools, passed the state Senate in a 40-to-9 vote in February. It ostensibly urges the state What the latest assaults on science education look like - The Washington Post:

NYC Public School Parents: More grounds for removal of Paladino: violating student privacy

NYC Public School Parents: More grounds for removal of Paladino: violating student privacy:

More grounds for removal of Paladino: violating student privacy

Austin Harig and Carl Paladino

On  June 22, Commissioner MaryEllen Elia will hold a hearing on the legal petition of the Buffalo Board of Education to remove Carl Paladino from his seat on the Board.

Though Paladino has made many outrageous and even racist comments, including most recently about former President Obama and his wife Michelle, the best legal grounds for removing him, according to the Board's attorney, is for violating law or specific Board policies.  Thus the Board is focusing its appeal on the basis of Paladino's breaching the confidentiality of discussions while the Board was in Executive Session. 

Yet unmentioned so far in terms of these proceedings is how last spring, Paladino violated several student privacy laws, both federal and state, in breaching the privacy of a Buffalo high school student, Austin Harig, who ran against him in the School Board elections and lost by only 132 votes.  On election night, Paladino revealed to the media that Harig had been recently suspended, which is personal student information barred from disclosure by education officials such as Paladino by the federal law known as FERPA as well as two state laws.

See the letter below that we sent yesterday to the Buffalo Board President, Dr. Nevergold, on this issue, on behalf of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy and NYS Allies for Public Education.

___

Dr. Barbara Seals Nevergold
President, Buffalo Board of Education

By email: BANevergold@buffaloschools.org

April 21, 2017    

Dear Dr. Nevergold and the Buffalo Board of Education:

We support your efforts to remove Carl P. Paladino from the Buffalo Board of Education for official misconduct in breaching confidential discussions that occurred in the Board’s executive sessions.

We would like to add that Mr. Paladino breached the confidentiality of education records when he announced to the media that his opponent in NYC Public School Parents: More grounds for removal of Paladino: violating student privacy:

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #12. | Fred Klonsky

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #12. | Fred Klonsky:

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #12.

The Klonsky brothers and Dr. Eve Ewing on Hitting Left.

The latest episode of our show is up on MixCloud, and as a downloadable podcast on Liberated Syndication and iTunes.

We spoke with Sarah Chambers, teacher of students with special needs at Saucedo Academy in Little Village. At least she was teaching until CPS suspended her for charges as yet unknown.

But Sarah has her opinions as to why CPS is trying to fire her. “I know why. Because I’m active!” she told us.

Our in-studio guest, Eve Ewing, also has a theory about Sarah’s suspension. She thinks those in power want to send a message to every teacher that if they speak up as advocates for their students, particularly the most disadvantaged students, then they will be fired too.

We all agreed. “An injury to one is an injury to all.”

Eve is a former Logan Square neighbor kid who went on to the University of Chicago and Harvard.  She is now an accomplished author, poet and sociologist who most recently has been looking at the mass closing of Chicago’s public neighborhood schools and the devastating impact that the closings have had on students and communities of color in Chicago.

And don’t miss her poem to Prince on the one year anniversary of his death. It is powerful.

Best show ever.

Thinking about you, Logan Bay.

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #12. | Fred Klonsky:

The Simplest Way to Impress Parents - Teacher Habits

The Simplest Way to Impress Parents - Teacher Habits:

The Simplest Way to Impress Parents

At the end of every school day, I tell myself one thing: smile.

No matter what has just happened. No matter how the day has gone. No matter if I want to scream, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” I tell myself to smile. A smile is the simplest way to impress parents.

I wish I could claim credit for this, but I stole it from another teacher. When my daughter was in first grade there were a few occasions when I was able to pick her up from school. The parents of the children who didn’t ride the bus all stood around awkwardly at the front of the building waiting for their precious ones to emerge.

The teachers walked the classes out, one after another, kind of like “The Locomotion,” but without the annoying song.  I looked forward to seeing my daughter, but I also looked forward to seeing Mrs. Herrera. Mrs. Herrera taught one of the other first grade classes, and every day when she stepped from the shadow of the school and into the daylight she had a bright smile on her face. She engaged happily with her students and smiled as she handed them over to their parents.

I probably picked my daughter up twenty times over the three years she attended that school. Mrs. Herrera smiled like that every single The Simplest Way to Impress Parents - Teacher Habits:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Message to Legislature: Get Off Your High Horse and Get This Done

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Message to Legislature: Get Off Your High Horse and Get This Done:

Message to Legislature: Get Off Your High Horse and Get This Done

No, the Legislature did not finish on time, and yes, the Governor has called a special session.

From The News Tribune

In what has become more or less a yearly tradition, state lawmakers will use a special legislative session to finish writing a budget for the seventh time in 10 years.

While the Legislature hasn’t officially adjourned for the regular session — that is planned for Sunday — Gov. Jay Inslee told reporters on Friday he plans to call an overtime session to begin at 10 a.m. Monday.

“This job cannot wait,” Inslee said, adding he was frustrated that lawmakers hadn’t started formal budget negotiations.

“Both sides are going to have to move fairly dramatically in order to reach an agreement here,” the Democratic governor said.

What's the issue?

Formal negotiations have been obstructed because the two parties have been bickering in recent weeks over the legitimacy of the dueling proposals.

Republicans say they can’t start budget negotiations because House Democrats won’t vote on billions in new taxes in their spending plan. Democrats say the Republican tax plan also relies on nonexistent money because it relies on voter approval to be implemented.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article146004714.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article146004714.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article146004714.html#storylink=cpy

Good article from Crosscut on the dithering and finger-pointing.  And something about "ghost dollars.
You know what aren't "ghost dollars?"  The money being spent for a special Seattle Schools Community Forum: Message to Legislature: Get Off Your High Horse and Get This Done:

Education Lessons From A Sparkly District: PARCC Turmoil in NJ - So What Else Is New?

Education Lessons From A Sparkly District: PARCC Turmoil in NJ - So What Else Is New?:

PARCC Turmoil in NJ - So What Else Is New?

The above picture was taken yesterday at a parents & kids protest of the PARCC exams outside NJ Senator Steve Sweeney's West Deptford office. This colorful bunch gathered to encourage Sen. Sweeney to post SCR132 to the floor for a vote. 

Last month, the Resolution, ACR215, passed through the Assembly quickly. Roll call from the vote can been seen here.

Since the Assembly passing, many people have been pressing Senator Sweeney to Co-Sponsor and bring the Concurrent Resolution to the floor. Senator Teresa Ruiz, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, has also been asked to bring the resolution to her Committee. So far, she has refused. Ironic, no?

A Concurrent Resolution does not require the signature of the governor. If it passes both houses, the resolution goes to the State Board of Education. They then have 30 days to amend their graduation requirements or propose to amend the current NJ State Law.

What does the current State Law actually say about graduation? Conveniently, it's spelled out in the resolutions,

"section 6 of P.L.1979, c.241 (C.18A:7C-6) was amended to provide that the State graduation proficiency test “be administered to all 11th grade pupils and to any 11th or 12th grade pupil who has previously failed to demonstrate mastery of State graduation proficiency standards on said test”

"Beginning in the 1993-1994 school year, the State satisfied the statutory requirement for a graduation proficiency test by administering the High School Proficiency Test, and later its successor the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), to all 11th grade students in the fall. Any student who did not demonstrate proficiency was retested in the spring and, if necessary, in the fall and spring of the subsequent school year..." If the student doesn't pass HSPA, the Alternative High School Assessment (AHSA) was available to them. There was also a portfolio option.

Got that? The graduation requirement is 11th grade, 12th if necessary, and it's the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), or AHSA, if necessary.

What are the current graduation requirements, approved by the State Board of Education this past summer? (Hint: Not HSPA, given in 11th or 12th grade)

PARCC English Language Arts 10th grade and Algebra I as an end of year test (meaning 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th grade). If the student doesn't pass alternative exams (PSAT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, Accuplacer) are available to them. For Class of 2021, those alternative exams will no longer be available for graduation purposes. The student must pass PARCC ELA 10, Algebra I plus all other PARCC tests available for end of year courses, which includes: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, ELA 9, ELA 10, and ELA 11. Yes. That's SIX tests over many years.

The takeaway here is the graduation requirements are clearly in direct conflict with NJ State Education Lessons From A Sparkly District: PARCC Turmoil in NJ - So What Else Is New?:

Schools Matter: Mr. Staples: Here's What Happened to Black Teachers

Schools Matter: Mr. Staples: Here's What Happened to Black Teachers:

Mr. Staples: Here's What Happened to Black Teachers

As the chief education spokesman for the New York Times editorial board, Brent Staples' support for corporate education polices most often goes unsigned in his editorials.  This week, however, Mr. Staples has an editorial piece in the Times that asks, "where did all the black teachers go?"

For almost three decades, Brent Staples has refined the New York Times' editorial policy on education to support, unfailingly, the corporate education reform agenda that began in Charlottesville, VA almost 30 years ago.  It was in 1989 that GHW Bush called together the nation's governors to meet with the nation's leading CEOs to set a national education agenda designed to put corporations in charge of making education policy based on Reagan market ideology, and to put governors in charge of implementation of that policy. 

The year after in 1990, Brent Staples joined the Times editorial board.  It was the same year that one of the governors leading the Charlottesville Conference, Lamar Alexander, was named Secretary of Education and charged with promoting education privatization policies to end the "public school monopoly." The other governor in charge at the Charlottesville Conference, Bill Clinton, was elected President in 1992, which began the school privatization effort in earnest. 

Clinton used the bully pulpit to advance charter growth, and by the time Clinton left office the nation was seven schools short (1,993) of meeting Clinton's goal of 2,000 charter schools in the U. S. by the year 2000. 

As a black man embracing white racist policies, Staples voiced support for the white elite corporate education policies and policy talk that has for centuries blamed the shiftless poor for their impoverished and oppressed conditions and their lazy and ignorant black teachers for falling short of expectations on standardized tests designed to humiliate anyone outside the white middle class for which the tests were normed.

With Clinton, accountability demands began to be ratcheted up with more testing, so that by the time GW Bush was appointed President in 2000 by the Supreme Court, Brent Staples, as the voice of the Times on education, was ready to embrace a multi-Schools Matter: Mr. Staples: Here's What Happened to Black Teachers:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

CURMUDGUCATION:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

Checker Still Doesn't Understand Tenure

1by Peter Greene / 1h

Chester "Checker" Finn, Grand Poobah Emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, is the reformster most likely to unleash his higher dudgeon over Kids These Days and Those Darn Teachers, and he has done so again on the Fordham 

Charters and Commitment

13by Peter Greene / 15h

It happened again. This time in Milwaukee. Students at the Universal Academy for the College Bound Webster Campus returned to find themselves in a completely different school , because a charter management company had decided they'd rather move on than finish out their contract for the year. Universal Companies took with them their books and their technology. Milwaukee Public Schools filled in the

Leaders, Character, and Policy

14by Peter Greene / 19h

Many of us spend huge amounts of time discussing and debating education policy. But where the synthetic rubber meets the recycled asphalt, policy is not the most important thing. In every school, in every district, what really matters is the character of the leadership. In the same way that workers do not quit workplaces so much as they quit a boss, teachers are influenced by the administrators in

The Attack on Charter Schools

26by Peter Greene / 1d

Nashville Charter School parents complain that they are under attack and disrespected . Charter advocates have long panel discussions about how to fight back against the attacks on charters and choice. Every 9-12 months, a new website is launched because reformy fans of charter and choice believe that they are under attack and need to get their story Out There. Even the newly-minted teacher of the

APR 20

Are Charters a Rural Solution

2by Peter Greene / 2d

In a piece that has circulated a bit, Karen Eppley, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Pennsylvania State University suggests that charter schools might be the solution to many rural education problems. While the article is not as gung-ho about charters as the title suggests (I know-- writers rarely get to pick their own headline), it still misses some critical points. Accord

APR 19

Personalization and the Outliers

35by Peter Greene / 2d

Henry Ford was an early proponent of personalization. "Any customer can have a car pained any color that he wants," said Ford in 1909 , "so long as it is black." There have always been limits to personalization. I like to wear hats, but my head is some sort of extra-large melon, so while hat manufacturers may offer choices to fit the personal size preferences of many customers, I'm an outlier. Man

APR 18

PA: Let's Arm Teachers?

51by Peter Greene / 3d

Apparently it's education crazy season in Harrisburg, with one ill-advised ed bill after another. But fear not-- at least one PA legislator wants some of us to start packing heat in school. Senate Bill 383 intends to amend the school code, with the intent of "providing for protection and defense of pupils. Sponsor Donald C White , who was an insurance salesman back before his 2001 election, explai

APR 17

EdTech To Teachers: Who Needs You?

18by Peter Greene / 4d

If you want to see a fully-refined expression of edtech disdain for actual teachers, check out this article by Dr. Karen Beerer, "Greatest Lesson: Teacher Buy-in Is Overrated ." Beerer is VP of Professional Development for Discovery Education. She's held that job since 2012-- before that she was Asst. Super at Boyertown School District for seven years, and before that an "educator" at Quakertown C

Why the Attack on Sarah Chambers Matters

300+by Peter Greene / 4d

Every day, from all over the country, we hear stories of teachers whose jobs are, for one reason or another, are on the line. Sometimes we hang back, correctly assuming that we don't have the whole story, that there are local issues that we don't know about. But sometimes these local stories deserve all the attention we can give them because they are an early warning of kinds of problems we could

APR 16

ICYMI: Easter Edition

3by Peter Greene / 6d

It's easter Sunday and I'm a huge fan. But just in case you have some time to pass today, here's an assortment of worthwhile reads from the week. A Tale of Two Schools Mitchell Robinson takes us to two schools, only twenty miles apart, that illustrate some of the inequity in education today. Apparently Diversity Is Still Nor Innovative for Edtech... At Educolor's blog, a look at the problem with d

APR 15

PA: Are We Future Ready?

8by Peter Greene / 6d

Pennsylvania is using its newfound ESSA-empowered freedom to create a new dashboard for measuring school awesomeness-- Future Ready PA . Many folks in Harrisburg are very excited about it and are touting it as a relief from the standardized tests that are "failing" PA students. Let's grab our flux capacitor and our supply of illegal plutonium! Is Future Ready PA all that and a bag of Snyder's chip

Who's The Boss?

20by Peter Greene / 7d

When someone tells you who they are, listen to them. Representative Markwayne Mullin (Rep-OK) told his constituents a great deal this week, when in a town hall meeting he said this: You say you pay for me to do this. Bullcrap. I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got there and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go. And as a foll

APR 14

IN: Welcome UPSTART Pre-K Cyberschool

200+by Peter Greene / 7d

You probably thought this was going to be one of those posts where I made fun of some trend in education by extending it to its logical yet absurd extreme. Sadly-- I mean, really sadly-- that is not the case. "Seriously, dude. What the hell." Meet UPSTART , a company that... well, let me just quote from their home page: UPSTART is an in-home, technology-delivered kindergarten readiness program tha

CURMUDGUCATION: