CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: No Staff Shortage Here Edition (10/24)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: No Staff Shortage Here Edition (10/24)

No Staff Shortage Here Edition

The advantage of having the Curmudgucation Institute operated with a staff of one, unpaid, is evident at times like these. I would give me a raise, but the Institute can't afford to stretch our budget of $0.00. I mention this because we all need to be periodically reminded that all one needs to be a policy spokesperson, think tank, or important activist group, is one person, a point of view, and access to the interwebz.

Speaking of which, here are the reads from the week. Warning--we have several Washington Post items this week, so if you're burning free views there, you may want to peruse the list and make your choices first.

Teacher Self Care Hinges Upon a Single Word

The indispensable Mercedes Schneider with some short-but-sweet advice. When i think of all the times I tried to coach my colleagues to use this word...

Why so many teachers are thinking of quitting

Leslie Gray Streeter of the Washington Post took the radical step of talking to actual teachers (or former teachers). 

Kentucky judge finds new school voucher program unconstitutional

Jan Resseger with some good news from Kentucky. 

Best school lists are meaningless

Lots of folks had mean things to say about US News and their crazy decision to rank elementary and middle schools, but Jack Schneider had the best dismantling of the whole foolish business for WBUR.

Of all the conservative bands on teaching about racism, the one in Texas is the worst

Michael Gerson for the Washington Post, offering some insight on one of Texas's moves to try to overtake Florida in the crazypants bad education ideas department.

How newspaper closures open the door to corporate crime

In this education-adjacent story, Harvard Business School has the research that shows one bad side effect of closing newspapers.

ACLU: Oklahoma ban violates free speech rights

The first big anti-crt-ban lawsuit is on its way. Stay tuned.

Teachers are barely hanging on. Here's what they need.

The "teachers at the end of their rope" genre has been blowing up lately, but this Cult of Pedagogy podcast (with transcript) is probably the most thorough of the breed.

Nobody Hates The Gifted

While everyone else is worried about bans and disease, NYC has descended into a huge flap over gifted education. Nancy Flanagan has some thoughts about gifted education.

Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids' school curriculum. They don't.

Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire at the Washington Post look at just how much control parents should have over school's programs.

What is Taught in Public Schools? Volunteer as a Substitute Teacher and See for Yourself!

Steven Singer offers some excellent advice for all those lawmakers so deeply concerned about what schools are up to.

Texas school district bans long hair. Lawsuit ensues.

Oh, Texas. Believe it or not, we're back to making rules about how long a young man can grow his hair. 

4th circuit will review skirts-only dress code for charter

What is it--the fifties again? This suit actually has larger ramifications, because the charters' defense is that it's not a public school. 

How protesters came after this Florida board member

The Washington Post has a first-person account from one of the board members being harassed in Florida.

America's Standardized Test Giants Are Losing Money Fast

The Chronicle of Higher Education has this sad, sad tale. Okay, it's not a sad tale. Come enjoy the schadenfreude.

TN librarians speak out again board member's attempt to ban books

Tennessee is the home of one more aggressive attempt to ban books. Here's some good response to that in the Tennessean.

Trump’s Lawyer Sues Wellesley for Charles Koch’s Phony “Parent” Group

If you've heard about this lawsuit, you need to read this piece from dark money expert Maurice Cunningham explaining just where the action is coming from.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: No Staff Shortage Here Edition (10/24)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

This Is The Hard Part Of Teaching. It’s Getting Harder. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/10/15/this-is-the-hard-part-of-teaching-its-getting-harder/?sh=5616c89578e8 by @palan57 on @forbes

How School Choice Becomes School’s Choice - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/10/20/how-school-choice-becomes-schools-choice/?sh=51b6b9f0287b by @palan57 on @forbes

Another Faux Diverse Viewpoint Ed Site

by Peter Greene / 1d

I have reached the point where I really appreciate a website that says "We are here to promote the right wing education agenda," rather than one like Chalkboard Review* that leads with lines like "Everyone is a stakeholder in education" and "Educator perspectives are diverse and necessary." This is, to put it gently, not actually true about this site, which is clearly fully tilted to the right. F

Dear Substitute-Desperate Districts. What Are You Doing About It?

by Peter Greene / 3d

There's a great deal of hollering about the lack of substitute teachers. Like the challenge of filling regular teaching positions, this is not a new problem , but the pandemic has exacerbated it considerably. Everywhere you turn, you can find administrators bemoaning their lack of subs. But if you are one of these administrators, what are you actually doing about it? Are you raising sub pay? Sub

Nevada Family Alliance Still Pro-Cameras, Anti-Irony

by Peter Greene / 3d

Remember Nevada Family Alliance, the activist group that may or may not just be one person with some software and a wifi connection, and that one person, a lady named Karen England, may or many not be a big ole scam artist. I'm still on NFA's mailing list, and my last check-in from my friend Karen, whose latest email is just loaded with stuff. Well, three stuffs. Let's take them one at a time, be

PA: Another CRT Panic Tale

by Peter Greene / 4d

So here's a story from my corner of the state that tells you how far the "critical race theory" panic has seeped into the ordinary operations of school districts. Penncrest School District is located in the NW corner of the state, located mostly in Crawford County. It's a mid-sized (around 3500 students K-12) district that was stitched together out of several very small rural districts . The dist

Let Me Propose A New Teacher Pay System

by Peter Greene / 6d

One feature of modern ed reform over the last couple of decades has been the attempt to "disrupt" teacher pay. I have an idea, or at least a thought experiment. Many education disruptors have noted that it seems unfair to pay "good" teachers and "bad" teachers the same amount. To be honest, that thought has occurred to one or two teachers as well. Meanwhile, not a day goes by that some civilian d

ICYMI: Days Of Rage Edition (10/17)

by Peter Greene / 7d

The anti-crt movement is rapidly changing form into the anti-public education movement. Well, maybe not so much changing as revealing. Things are heating up across the country, and this week was a big week for reads in the Big People Media. Enrollment jumps in charter schools--with biggest gains in the worst sector Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post hosts Carol Burris. Charter schools were ea

NC: Further Suppressing Education

by Peter Greene / 7d

North Carolina has not been a great state for education for many years, and as the fight over all the things lumped under the banner of "critical race theory" has heated up, they've been doing their part to fan the flames. Lt. Governor Mark Robinson set up a website to collect reports of naughty indoctrinatin' going on, then issued a report that seemed more interested in buttressing a pre-selecte

Bad Laws in Texas: The Opposite Side of the Holocaust

Texas Opposing Holocaust

•

by Peter Greene / 8d

Look, this is what you get when you hastily pass a sloppy law. Particularly if it has to do with schools. I feel sorry for Gina Peddy, the Carroll Independent executive director who was caught on a recording telling teachers that, if they have a book about the Holocaust, they should make sure to have one "that has an opposing, that has other perspectives." Speaking of both sides Carroll Independe

US News, Please Knock It Off

by Peter Greene / 9d

US News was once a magazine, but these days it's arguably most famous as a Ranker of Things, especially schools. They rank colleges and high schools annually, and despite the fact that these rankings are hugely questionable

CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Saturday, October 23, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform #TEACHtheTRUTH #CRT

 Big Education Ape

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Brownshirts vs. the Board of Education - by Talia Bracha Lavin - The Sword and the Sandwich - https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/p/brownshirts-vs-the-board-of-education

Shanker Blog: Returning to School During the Pandemic: An Opportunity to Integrate Social-Emotional AND Academic Learning | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/11104 on @NEPCtweet

Public pension transparency. - by Fred Klonsky - Fred Klonsky in Retirement - https://fredklonsky.substack.com/p/public-pension-transparency

SomeDAM Poet: How to Be Free and Unvaxxed | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-uSw via @dianeravitch

Whatever Happened To Language Labs? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice - https://wp.me/pBm7c-8kb via @CubanLarry

Jan Resseger: Ohio State Board of Education Repeals Anti-Racism Resolution | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-uSh via @dianeravitch

Who’s Driving the Bus? – Tennessee Education Report - http://tnedreport.com/?p=5398 via @TNEdReport

Midwest Dispatch: Don’t Mistake Today’s School Board Protests for a Grassroots Campaign - Progressive.org - https://progressive.org/latest/school-board-protests-lahm-211023/

Superintendent Announces Formation Of Black Student Achievement Task Force - The Sacramento Observer - https://sacobserver.com/?p=27001 via @sacobserver

Our advocacy for enhanced COVID-19 safety measures continues to pay off! - SFPS Fam - https://wp.me/p4ndvh-2zS by @alimcollins

Who’s Doing the Choosing—Charter Schools or Students? - BYU Radio - https://www.byuradio.org/40f9c46f-2d3f-49c4-b384-cb232d9a72ca via @byuradio

Student accidentally shot himself in the leg inside Philadelphia school https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/10/22/22741110/student-accidentally-shot-himself-in-the-leg-inside-philadelphia-school via @ChalkbeatPHL

Infographic Of The Week: “Which Countries Have the Most Nuclear Weapons?” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=121296 on @Larryferlazzo

When Germans, Italians, Irish and Eastern Europeans were not considered ‘White’ | GFBrandenburg's Blog - https://wp.me/pGTPP-2CT

“These Findings Boggle My Mind”: Audit Rips Apart Florida Program Created to Aid Brain-Damaged Kids https://www.propublica.org/article/these-findings-boggle-my-mind-audit-rips-apart-florida-program-created-to-aid-brain-damaged-kids#1137935

College Admissions Are Still Unfair http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/sowFc2tkHlY/

John Jennings and the Visual World of Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch | NewBlackMan (in Exile) - https://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2021/10/john-jennings-and-visual-world-of.html via @NewBlackMan

Poll Shows Black Adults Are Increasingly Dissatisfied With The Direction Of The Country | NewBlackMan (in Exile) - https://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2021/10/poll-shows-black-adults-are.html via @NewBlackMan

Google sought fellow tech giants' help in stalling kids' privacy protections, states allege https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/22/google-kids-privacy-protections-tech-giants-516834

Howard University Sit-in: A Struggle For Democracy At An HBCU https://popularresistance.org/howard-university-sit-in-a-struggle-for-democracy-at-an-hbcu/

COVID vaccine for kids: Parents must demand a voice in debate - https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/10/22/covid-vaccine-kids-parents-must-demand-voice-debate/6123764001/ via @usatoday

Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate accused of antisemitism for alleging Soros plot https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/youngkin-virginia-antisemitism-soros-trump-b1943767.html

Department of Education Settles with AFT in Public Loan Forgiveness Suit https://newsnationusa.com/news/education/department-of-education-settles-with-aft-in-public-loan-forgiveness-suit/

Scientists search for cause of mysterious COVID-related inflammation in children https://www.salon.com/2021/10/23/scientists-search-for-cause-of-mysterious-related-inflammation-in-children_partner/

DOJ Finds Racism Running Rampant in Utah School District https://www.theroot.com/doj-finds-racism-running-rampant-in-utah-school-distric-1847916237

Behind The Lens episode 147: The case-to-quarantine ratio https://thelensnola.org/2021/10/22/behind-the-lens-episode-147-the-case-to-quarantine-ratio/

OPSB supports expanded options for English Learners to earn diplomas https://thelensnola.org/2021/10/22/opsb-supports-expanded-options-for-english-learners-to-earn-diplomas/

CA Dept of Education - What's New - https://www.cde.ca.gov/

What Every Parent Needs To Know About Kids And Suicidal Thoughts https://www.huffpost.com/entry/suicidal-ideation-children-what-to-know_l_6172cb24e4b066de4f61cf40

USC students protest toxic Greek life after fraternity suspended for alleged drugging, sexual assault http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/Qu-8Q77Rf0E/usc-protests-intensify-after-fraternity-suspension-over-alleged-drugging-sexual-assault

Despite pandemic, CSU graduation rates climbed, but equity gaps persist http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/h9RvB6zaZL0/despite-pandemic-csu-graduation-rates-climbed-but-equity-gaps-persist

Chat Box: Desegregating NJ’s schools https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/10/chat-box/

With safety in mind, schools are getting their bands back together https://www.npr.org/2021/10/23/1045248341/school-band-classes-back

Students at Howard University are protesting poor housing conditions on campus https://www.npr.org/2021/10/22/1048517681/students-at-howard-university-are-protesting-poor-housing-conditions-on-campus

The Jubilee Singers, HBCU Fisk University's a cappella ensemble, celebrate 150 years https://www.npr.org/2021/10/22/1048492641/the-jubilee-singers-hbcu-fisk-universitys-a-cappella-ensemble-celebrate-150-year

NYC parents, activists rally to expand police presence in schools after gun scares https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-rally-police-presence-schools-guns-seized-20211022-76qxey34m5h2pfnq537hte4cxq-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

After Dropping Free Community College Plan, Democrats Explore Options https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/us/politics/free-community-college-democrats.html

Fight breaks out in Florida school after video shows white students spewing racial slurs and wearing KKK-style sheet http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/x-0fwlbTRZg/

'Death to the Jew': Pennsylvania school board members bombarded with anti-Semitic threats over mask rules http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/y0Gb-Q2eIkU/

ACLU of Texas sues Houston-area school district over gender-based dress code’s long-hair policy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/ajYbLtXtxlY/

The Shadow Pandemic: Covid Creates Population of Orphaned Children | NewBlackMan (in Exile) - https://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2021/10/the-shadow-pandemic-covid-creates.html via @NewBlackMan

Big Education Ape: THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Saturday, October 23, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform #TEACHtheTRUTH #CRT - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-top-banana-todays-education_23.html

Big Education Ape: Big Education Ape: TOP POSTS THIS WEEK Saturday, October 23, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #TEACHtheTRUTH #CRT - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/big-education-ape-top-posts-this-week_23.html

Big Education Ape: THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Friday, October 22, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform #TEACHtheTRUTH #CRT - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-top-banana-todays-education_22.html

Big Education Ape: KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/keep-up-catch-up-with-diane-ravitchs_23.html

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos_23.html

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK Education Research Report - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-week-education-research-report_23.html

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_23.html

Big Education Ape: SSPI TONY THURMOND: STUFF THIS WEEK FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Angst: Building Resilience Statewide Initiative - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/sspi-tony-thurmond-stuff-this-week-from_23.html

Big Education Ape: TEACHER TOM THIS WEEK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/teacher-tom-this-week-in-early_23.html

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK'S WILDNESS Dad Gone Wild Nobody reads it, everybody quotes it - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-weeks-wildness-dad-gone-wild_23.html

Big Education Ape: Network for Public Education Blog Post of the Day This Week #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/network-for-public-education-blog-post_23.html

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK'S TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-weeks-tennessee-education-report.html

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK NEWS FROM DR. MIGUEL CARDONA AND THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-week-news-from-dr-miguel-cardona_23.html

Big Education Ape: Big Education Ape: TOP POSTS THIS WEEK Saturday, October 16 , 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform #TEACHtheTRUTH #CRT - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/big-education-ape-top-posts-this-week_16.html

Big Education Ape: THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Saturday, October 16, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #edchat #K12 #learning #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform #TEACHtheTRUTH #CRT - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-top-banana-todays-education_16.html

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