Too many parents and decision makers treat teachers like they don't matter
(CNN)Julie Davis, 49, was an inspirational third grade teacher, a "mother to everyone," who attended her students' extracurriculars and donated to children in need. About three weeks after a student at her North Carolina school tested positive for Covid-19, Davis fell ill. This mother and grandmother died certain, her brother said, that she caught the virus at school (an assessment the superintendent said was unproven). One week after Davis's death, her school system shifted to virtual instruction because of rampant Covid-19 infections in the schools and community.
Alexandra Robbins
Amid growing numbers of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths, I've spoken to educators who told me they're afraid for their lives and the health of their loved ones. Meanwhile, some organized groups of parents are issuing increasingly forceful calls to reopen schools. But too many of them neglect the teachers.
This neglect fits a pattern. In March, some districts initially failed to heedteachers'pleas to close, forcing them to keep workingin person; at least 70 school-based staff died in New York City alone, though it's unclear whether they contracted the disease in schools. In a statement emailed to New York City outlet THE CITY in response to questions in May about how the Department of Education had handled the situation, a spokeswoman said that DOE's practice was to "immediately" notify school communities about Covid cases confirmed by the state Department of Health and added, "All our decisions are informed by public health experts in order to protect the health and safety of our students and staff." In the summer, some decision makers excluded teachers from discussions about how to operate pandemic classrooms. And now, many parents and pundits alike are ignoring teachers again.
A FLOOD OF NEW CHARTER SCHOOLS SHOWS HOW THE INDUSTRY MAY TRY TO THRIVE — DESPITE THE PANDEMIC
As the COVID-19 pandemic began closing school buildings and forcing schools to quickly ramp up online learning programs in April, an op-ed by Alex Medler, the executive director of the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers, made an appeal to Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education to change the guidelines of her department’s grants for new charter school startups to allow the money to go to existing charter schools. Medler justified the request to address “immediate needs during the pandemic.”
But when Chalkbeat broke the story that DeVos would agree with Medler and approve Florida’s request to repurpose about $10 million in grant money for new charter schools to be redirected to existing charters, Medler made the curious admission to Chalkbeat reporter Matt Barnum that another reason for the need to change grant requirements was because “there aren’t enough new [charter] schools being created across the country to spend all the… money on the one purpose of funding the start-up of new charters.”
Is the charter school industry, even before the current crisis, really on the skids?
President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate the commissioner of public schools in Connecticut as his education secretary, settling on a low-profile candidate who has pushed to reopen schools and is not aligned with either side in education policy battles of recent years, two people familiar with the matter said Monday.
Miguel Cardona was named Connecticut’s top schools official last year and if confirmed will have achieved a meteoric rise, moving from an assistant superintendent in Meriden, Conn., a district with 9,000 students, to secretary of education in less than two years.
He was born in Meriden to Puerto Rican parents who lived in public housing. He began his career as a fourth-grade teacher and rocketed up the ranks, becoming the state’s youngest principal at age 28. He was named the state’s principal of the year in 2012...
A finalist for the job was Leslie Fenwick, former dean of the Howard University School of Education and a fierce critic of education policies such as test-based accountability for schools and teachers who have been popular with centrists in both political parties.
K-12 Schools Get $57 Billion in COVID-19 Deal; No Relief for State and Local Governments
K-12 schools would receive about $57 billion in direct aid under a new $900 billion federal COVID-19 relief deal reached over the weekend by congressional negotiators.
The vast majority of that amount, $54.3 billion, would be for public schools in an education stabilization fund, and 90 percent of that must ultimately go to local school districts, including charter schools that function as districts. According to the legislation, schools could use the relief to address learning loss, to improve school facilities and infrastructure to reduce the risk of transmitting the coronavirus, and to purchase education technology. This funding would be available through September 2022.
Education organizations that have long pushed for additional aid for schools grappling with the effects of the pandemic characterized the bill, which is much smaller than some previous proposals, as a down payment. President-elect Joe Biden has suggested he will pursue an additional relief deal after his inauguration.
Miguel Cardona emerges as Biden's choice to open schools
Joe Biden is leaning toward nominating Miguel Cardona, education commissioner in Connecticut, to serve as secretary of the Department of Education and lead a reopening of the country's schools, according to people familiar with the matter.
Why it matters: Cardona, who has focused on reopening schools in his home state, emerged as the president-elect leaned away from another potential candidate, Leslie Fenwick, dean emeritus at Howard University, and two teacher's union candidates. A final decision has not been made.
The big picture: Biden has pledged to reopen the majority of U.S. schools within his first 100 days as president if Congress helps with financial support. It's urgent as parents and educators fear losing a generation of scholars due to coronavirus shutdowns that sent children to remote learning.
There have been broad inequities in this digital environment, spurring a movement to get kids back in classrooms and to secure the health of teachers who must stand before them.
“In-person education is too important for our children to disrupt their education further, unless and until local conditions specifically dictate the need to do so,” Cardona and the acting public health commissioner wrote to school superintendents last month, according to the Hartford Courant.
A Biden transition spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden moved toward Cardona after initially considering two high-profile representatives of the two largest teachers' unions: Lily Eskelsen Garcia, former president of the National Education Association, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
In picking neither, Biden appears to have sidestepped any sibling rivalry between the NEA and AFT.
Una de las promesas de campaña del presidente electo Joe Biden incluyó nombrar a un maestro como el próximo secretario de Educación.
Inmediatamente surgieron varios nombres, incluidos Randi Weingarten, presidente de la Federación Estadounidense de Maestros, y Lily Eskelsen García, ex presidenta de la Asociación Nacional de Educación, quien vive en Nueva York. Pero otro educador de área también es un contendiente.
es otro nombre en la lista de finalistas de Biden. Los padres de Cardona son originarios de Puerto Rico y él creció en viviendas públicas en Meriden, Connecticut. Él llama a la educación, “el gran igualador”.
Cardona solo hablaba español cuando ingresó a la escuela. Después de graduarse de la Universidad Estatal de Connecticut Central, comenzó a enseñar cuarto grado. Más adelante en su carrera, fue nombrado “Director Nacional Distinguido” de la Asociación de Escuelas de Connecticut de 2012.
Desde 2019, se ha desempeñado como comisionado del Departamento de Educación de Connecticut, la primera persona latina en ocupar el puesto.
Si bien Cardona definitivamente se ajusta a los criterios de enseñanza de Biden, también tiene amplias credenciales en materia de políticas. Su tesis doctoral, “Afinando el enfoque de la voluntad política para abordar las disparidades en el aprovechamiento”, se originó en sus primeros años como aprendiz del idioma inglés (ELL, por sus siglas en inglés).
Tanto la Federación Hispana como el Caucus Hispano del Congreso han respaldado a Cardona. En una carta a Biden instando a la nominación de Cardona. Frankie Miranda, presidente de la Federación Hispana, escribió que el país enfrenta un “momento crítico” en la educación pública.
El presidente electo Joe Biden.
“Durante los últimos cuatro años, el Departamento de Educación se ha dirigido a los maestros, las escuelas con dificultades y los estudiantes de color con políticas diseñadas para socavar la confianza y el apoyo a la educación pública. El impacto en las comunidades latinas de esta guerra en nuestras escuelas ha sido devastador”, agregó Miranda.
Betsey DeVos ha ocupado el puesto de gabinete durante los últimos cuatro años. DeVos, una donante de campaña republicana desde hace mucho tiempo, defendió las escuelas charter con fines de lucro durante su mandato. También recortó el presupuesto del Departamento de Educación y trató de revertir la legislación de derechos civiles de los estudiantes.
Cardona es visto por muchos como un antídoto para el reinado destructivo de DeVos. Ha pedido un “enfoque holístico” que refleje la necesidad no solo de una política educativa con visión de futuro, sino también de una que aborde la vivienda, el acceso a la atención médica y la pobreza.
Poco después de convertirse en comisionado de Educación de Connecticut, admitió: “Hubo momentos durante mi juventud en los que creo que la gente tenía expectativas más bajas de las que debería. Simplemente me dio más ímpetu”
Biden to pick Connecticut education commissioner for top schools post
Miguel Cardona will be tested on his ability to unify opposing sides in the debate over reopening schools.
President-elect Joe Biden is poised to nominate Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona for Education secretary, adding another Latino to his roster of Cabinet appointees and choosing a leader who has pressed schools to remain open for in-person classes during the pandemic, according to people familiar with the decision.
Cardona’s selection fulfills Biden’s campaign promise to name an educator with public school experience as his nominee for the post. He has spent his entire career in Connecticut, working as an elementary school teacher, principal, district administrator and assistant superintendent, as well as adjunct professor before being named Connecticut’s state chief last year by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont.
About 70 percent of the state’s schools reopened for in-person classes this fall. But when some Connecticut schools decided to shut down in-person learning in November, Cardona and the state’s acting Department of Health commissioner wrote in an email to districts that they did not think “arbitrary, date-based closures of school are warranted at this time.”
The state health and education chiefs said the prevention strategies schools are using are working, and the state wasn’t seeing “sustained person to person transmission” of the virus in schools, or outbreaks at schools, despite a surge in the state. That put Cardona at odds with the state teachers union, although decisions about remote or in-person classes have been left to local districts.
The union has demanded statewide rules on sharing data about school coronavirus cases, testing and availability of personal protective equipment.
Still, the teachers union and other education unions in Connecticut endorsed Cardona’s selection as head of the Education Department.
Survey: Oklahoma educators ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘scared’
In a recent survey, the Oklahoma Education Association asked more than 3,100 teachers, support professionals and administrators to use one word to describe their current feelings about their job. Words like “stressed,” “overwhelmed,” and “scared” landed in the top 10.
The survey (embedded below) was conducted online Dec. 1 through Dec. 14, and it asked respondents to express their feelings on issues like the pandemic in general, school safety, student learning and how school employees are doing. A total of 3,580 Oklahoma educators completed the survey, with 3,147 responses deemed to be valid. The survey took about 30 minutes to complete and had a 54 percent completion rate, with responses coming from 230 communities.
“As you’ll see in the survey, the number one concern of our members has been the educational progress of our students,” OEA President Alicia Priest said during a Monday press conference announcing the survey results. “However, when the governor released a video last week where blame was placed on OEA and educators for the current state of fear regarding COVID-19 in Oklahoma, or when he declared that all schools must return CONTINUE READING: Survey: Oklahoma educators 'overwhelmed' and 'scared'
Laura Chapman: Charters in Ohio Shaking the PPP Money Tree
Our reader Laura Chapman lives in Ohio. She contacted NPE Execurive Director Carol Burris to find out which Ohio charter schools asked for and received money from the Paycheck Protection Program, even though they already received funding allotted to public schools; even though they lost no income, unlike the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that were closed by the pandemic and had NO income; even though public schools were not alllowed to apply for PPP funds. Under the CARES Act, the average public school received an average of $134,500. Charter schools for their share of that money, plus qualified to double dip into the PPP funds,, thanks to their skilled lobbyists.
Chapman writes:
Diane, You beat me to it. I found the headline this morning: “Charter’s PPP loan called into question. School gave shareholder company a $10M bonus.” That report from Craig Harris of the Arizona Republic (Dec 19, 2020) referred to Primavera, an online charter school based in Chandler. “The school received “a PPP loan of nearly $2.2 million, the largest forgivable loan among the 132 Arizona charter schools that obtained them. https://cdn.newseum.org/dfp/pdf19/AZ_AR.pdf
This scam is about to be repeated if more PPP money is allocated for so-called public charter schools now reinvented as small businesses.
I've been awaking to darkness for the last couple weeks. I’d have to say that the short winter days are one of the most challenging aspects of life in the northern tier, but things are turning around. The Winter Solstice occurred in Seattle on Monday at 2:02 a.m., marking the end of our ever-longer nights and the return of light.
Not to lessen the significance of Christmas, Hanukkah or any of the other festivals of lights, but this astrological event is the original reason for the season. The Earth is tilted on its axis at, on average, a 23.5-degree angle and yesterday was when the North Pole is farthest from the sun, causing it to appear to rise and set in the same place. We call it the first day of winter, and while the days will now grow longer by increments until the Summer Solstice in June, the average temperature of the “top” part of the globe will continue to drop as the oceans slowly lose the heat they still store from the warm summer months.
President-Elect Joe Biden will soon announce his choice for Secretary of Education. He promised to choose a person with experience as a teacher. He said he wants a Secretary who is committed to public education. Here is my choice.
I can’t think of anyone better qualified to be Secretary of Education than Dr. Leslie T. Fenwick, other than Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, who is chair of the Biden education transition team and has taken herself out of the running.
Dr. Leslie T. Fenwick is Dean Emeritus of the School of Education at Howard University.
She understands the most important needs of American education: adequate and equitable funding; experienced teachers; and a commitment to equity and inclusion.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill
Things are bad in Tennessee in relation to COVID-19. Case rates are the highest in the country, and open hospital beds are becoming scarce. As Christmas approaches, fears are ratcheting up for another after the holiday explosion. Especially as many schools are scheduled to re-open for in-person learning the first week in January.
The danger of the current circumstances was highlighted for Governor Lee when his wife was diagnosed with the Coronavirus at the end of the week. In response, a news conference for Sunday at 7 pm was hastily scheduled, with the announcement that local TV stations would carry his words. Speculation ran rampant on what the Governor would say. Some thought he might go as far as to institute a statewide mask mandate, something he’d previously been resistant to instituting.
Sunday, 7 pm arrived, and with it came a mad scramble to find the Governors speech. It wasn’t on any of the stations as advertised, and if you took longer than 8 minutes to find it on an alternative source, you missed it.
What you missed remains unclear because the Governor managed to address a crisis without CONTINUE READING: BACK ROOM QUESTIONS – Dad Gone Wild
Salt Lake City schools reach deal with Utah lawmakers on teacher bonuses - https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/12/18/salt-lake-city-schools/#new_tab by https://www.facebook.com/SchottHappens/ on @sltrib
Nancy Bailey’s Education Website: How Has School Privatization Contributed to Mental Illness in Students Before and During Covid-19? | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10679 on @NEPCtweet
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“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”