Once again, the polls misled us. We were expecting an overwhelming defeat for the incompetent racist-misogynist-xenophobic liar Trump, but it didn’t happen. As of 2:35 am, when I wrote this, the election was undecided. Trump held on to most of the states he won in 2016. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are not decided, although the polls showed comfortable leads for Biden in all three. The blowout that the polls told us to expect did not happen.
Republicans Joni Ernst, Mitch McConnell, and Lindsay Graham were re-elected, perhaps even the pusillanimous Susan Collins. It’s not yet clear which party will control the Senate.
As awful as Trump is, as badly as he has damaged the Western alliance, as surely as he has mishandled the pandemic, there’s a chance that we will have four more years of this mendacious buffoon. What does that say about the American people? What does it say about the Republican Party?
Four more years of DeVos or someone just like her? Heaven help us. Trump would wind the clock back to 1925, before the New Deal. No restraints.
If Biden ekes out a victory and has a Republican Senate, he won’t be able to fulfill any of his promises. A sad day.
Like many of you, I'm hoping that Trump's Executive Order establishing a 1776 Commission will be rendered moot sometime within the next 12-2,215 hours. But because, like many of you, I need something to distract me from doomscrolling (and the board of directors is napping), I'm going to go ahead and look at this damn fool executive order. The short form is that this is all empty political hooey, but I'm trying to kill time here.
First, it has to be said that somebody at the White House has a real gift for hamfisted baloney writing. Right of the bat we get the purpose of this EO-- "to better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776, and, through this, form a more perfect Union." Because he's sure he heard that "more perfect union" thingy in some patriotic program once.
Let's go.
Section 1. Purpose.
The American founding envisioned a political order in harmony with the design of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” seeing the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as embodied in and sanctioned by natural law and its traditions.
Despite society’s earnest push to confront systemic racism head on, we have actually fallen further behind in ensuring an equitable education for our nation’s children. Virtual school is widening racial disparities, as in-person learning has become yet another white privilege.
Race is a strong predictor of whether students are receiving in-person instruction. A survey of public schools covering more than 13 million children, found that districts where the vast majority of students are white were three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for in-person learning.
It’s not only that in-classroom instruction is likely to be superior to online classes, especially when too many low-income kids lack the devices or quality internet connection they need; the social interactions that happen in school buildings contribute to children’s overall emotional wellbeing.
Low-income children in particular rely on in-person school for basic needs, and when in-person school is unavailable, we are perpetuating inequalities. Nearly 32 million underserved children rely on school-based meals, and millions more receive vital access to special education, therapy and counseling services.
Despite society’s earnest push to confront systemic racism head on, we have actually fallen further behind in ensuring an equitable education for our nation’s children. Virtual school is widening racial disparities, as in-person learning has become yet another white privilege.
Race is a strong predictor of whether students are receiving in-person instruction. A survey of public schools covering more than 13 million children, found that districts where the vast majority of students are white were three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for in-person learning.
It’s not only that in-classroom instruction is likely to be superior to online classes, especially when too many low-income kids lack the devices or quality internet connection they need; the social interactions that happen in school buildings contribute to children’s overall emotional wellbeing.
Low-income children in particular rely on in-person school for basic needs, and when in-person school is unavailable, we are perpetuating inequalities. Nearly 32 million underserved children rely on school-based meals, and millions more receive vital access to special education, therapy and counseling services. CONTINUE READING: Virtual learning exacerbates racial disparities: There are better ways to guard against COVID-19 while prioritizing all kids’ education - New York Daily News
If we were ranking weeks according to our anxiety levels, this one would rank up there with the worst of them, if not at the top.
The 2020-21 school year has been tough enough, starting out with classes online almost everywhere because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the arrival of Election Day — election week or month, really — has made it harder to focus than ever — for kids and adults.
That’s what prompted a senior at Denver South High School named Jadyn Mill to write a letter to teachers about how students are feeling at this moment. She sent it to veteran history teacher Hayley Breden, who tweeted it out — and now they are getting supportive reactions from students and educators alike about the sentiments it captures.
“I wrote this letter to offer insight into the experiences of young people during this time,” Mill said in an email Monday. “I sat down yesterday and all I could think about was the election and the fear associated with it. These past few months have been quite the struggle and I just knew this week would not be an exception. I wanted to find a way to communicate how myself and many others are feeling in a way that felt comfortable, safe, and honest.”
The letter says in part:
This feels like life or death for many of us. We are sitting here, pits in our stomachs, teachers in our eyes, and futures on the line. So please, take it easy this week, not only on us, but on yourselves as well!
Here’s Breden’s tweet, and the full text of the letter by Mill.
Teachers responded to Breden, including a teacher named Alfredo Silva, who tweeted: CONTINUE READING: ‘This feels like life or death for many of us’ -- student writes letter to teachers - The Washington Post