Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcĂ­a: "We are fighting for who we are supposed to be..." #CTA #redfored #utla #scusd #oea #nea

NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcĂ­a:

"We are fighting for who we are supposed to be..." 






NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcĂ­a speaks at the October 2019 CTA State Council of Education.

California Teachers Association - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuzRE7HXMcMmhskSwOLeN7Q

CURMUDGUCATION: CAP Wants The Feds To Boost Charters

CURMUDGUCATION: CAP Wants The Feds To Boost Charters

CAP Wants The Feds To Boost Charters

The Center for American Progress is supposedly a left-tilted thinky tank, but when it comes to education, they really love corporate reform. Here on this blog, I literally ran out of ways to title sa post "CAP is still working hard to push common core" (seriously-- just use the search bar in that upper left corner).

CAP became a little rudderless when Hillary Clinton's candidacy failed; till then it had served as a holding tank for Clinton staffers. But they're still plugging away to throw their weight behind neoliberal corporate education reform disruption.


Take this recent piece from Neil Campbell. He's a "Director, Innovation" whose expertise is K-12 education. His focus is personalized [sic] learning, charter schools and "effective use of student data." Campbell came from Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education (2years) because A) all the best progressives come from the Bush camp and B) in the last decade, roughly three people have become new figures in the corporate reformster movement--everyone else just keeps cycling between the various groups. Campbell also worked at USED under Arne Duncan (3 years), did some consulting free lancing, and further back we find him as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. He studied economics, political science, and business administration--oh, and he interned at Lowes. So the basis for his "expertise" in K-12 is... a mystery. Actually, the big mystery is how Duncan hired him with nothing but the BCG gig, the Lowe's internship, and two years as manager at something call (r)evolution under his belt. I'm betting there's a story there.

His role at CAP involves some fancy juggling. On the one hand, he has written some pieces with strong opposition to the Trump/DeVos administration. On the other hand, he's been pushing charters since he arrived at CAP, mostly claiming they'll be the great equalizer.

So here he is last week, sticking up for the federal Charter Schools Program. You may remember the CSP as a long-standing federal program used to give entrepreneurs start-up money to get into CONTINUE READING: 
CURMUDGUCATION: CAP Wants The Feds To Boost Charters


Sweet Child of Mine | Teacher in a strange land

Sweet Child of Mine | Teacher in a strange land

Sweet Child of Mine

Like—one hopes—most Americans, I watch the ongoing story of children separated from their parents at our southern border with horror and sorrow. There will never be anything even approaching reconciliation or forgiveness for the despicable and shameful behavior of those who hatred and fear of ‘the other’ drives policy enactment like this. My biggest worry is that, with all the other shocks and distractions we’re juggling in 2019, these children will fade into the background.
Last week, we learned that the number of separated and ‘lost’ children is higher than has been reported:  U.S. immigration authorities separated more than 1,500 children from their parents at the Mexico border early in the Trump administration, the ACLU said, bringing the total number of children separated since July 2017 to more than 5,400. Children from that period can be difficult to find because the government had inadequate tracking systems. Volunteers working with the ACLU are searching for some of them and their parents by going door-to-door in Guatemala and Honduras.
One facet of the story I follow even more closely: the very young children who have been recklessly and deliberately removed from their parents, resulting in ‘lost’ identification information, and are put in foster care here, and eventually even deemed eligible for adoption by American parents.
There have been any number of stories about children too young to speak for CONTINUE READING: Sweet Child of Mine | Teacher in a strange land

Study: Poor teens and tweens spend more time on screens than rich ones - Vox

Study: Poor teens and tweens spend more time on screens than rich ones - Vox

Poor kids spend nearly 2 hours more on screens each day than rich kids
Kids from more affluent families have more access to tech but use it less.

Tweens and teens from families that make less than $35,000 per year spent nearly two hours more with screen media each day than their peers with incomes over $100,000, according to new data from media nonprofit Common Sense.
Lower-income teens (13- to 18-year-olds) spent more than 8.5 hours each day on smartphones, tablets, video games, and other screen media, compared with six hours and 49 minutes for their higher-income peers. Lower-income tweens (8- to 12-year-olds) used screen media for nearly six hours a day, compared with four hours for higher-income tweens.
That’s despite higher-income kids having universally greater ownership of all matter of screens, from smartphones to computers to TVs, according to the study.
This data reflects a number of socio-economic differences, including access to child care and extracurricular activities as well as how technology is perceived. It also marks a reversal in how we understand the so-called digital divide: it’s no longer just access to technology but also the ability to restrain that access.
These findings have been pretty consistent over the last few years, said Vicky Rideout, the report’s lead researcher. But more research needs to be done to explain and understand the reasons for the disparity and what repercussions it has.
“We’re not really saying this is a bad thing or a good thing, but that this is a difference,” CONTINUE READING: Study: Poor teens and tweens spend more time on screens than rich ones - Vox

Warren's education policy proposals links housing and education

Warren's education policy proposals links housing and education

Elizabeth Warren shows she understands education in ways charter advocates did not
Linking housing and education gets at the root of the problem in our education system

Wast week, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a federal education policy proposal that recognizes a fundamental truth about students: Kids don’t live in schools, they live in communities. In addition to matters of curriculum and instruction, factors outside the school — food, housing, transportation, safety, recreation — also affect the degree to which students learn. It’s hard to do homework when you don’t have a home to go to. Education policy that ignores neighborhood conditions misses the point of why we ultimately go to school — to improve our community.
Warren’s plan, A Great Public School Education for Every Student, is one of the most comprehensive education policy proposals by a presidential candidate I’ve ever seen. The cornerstone of the plan is a massive increase in the roughly $16 billion in federal funding allocated to the Title I program, targeted at schools with high concentrations of low-income students. The plan would quadruple the current yearly funding, adding $450 billion over the next 10 years.
Warren’s proposal also calls for an additional $20 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides fiscal resources and legal protections for students with special needs. Her education plan works in tandem with her equally robust housing proposal to get at the heart of racial disparities in education. CONTINUE READING: Warren's education policy proposals links housing and education

EdAction in Congress October 27, 2019 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress October 27, 2019 - Education Votes
EdAction in Congress October 27, 2019

Push for census funding for our students’ sake

Funding for next year’s census is among the key issues still to be decided as Congress struggles to finalize spending bills for FY2020, which began Oct. 1. The census is vitally important to America’s students because it determines the allocation of billions of dollars in federal funding for public education, including Title I schools serving more than 24 million students from low-income families, special education grants to the states, and school breakfast and lunch programs. The census also governs distribution of funds to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that keeps millions of families out of poverty and has lasting benefits for children’s health and academic success.
To ensure the correct amounts are allocated for these programs, everyone must be counted. The Census Bureau needs to hire enough staff to conduct outreach everywhere, especially with communities of color, immigrants, and low-income people where undercounting tends to be a problem. Tell your representatives to push for properly funding the 2020 Census. TAKE ACTION

Support the Voting Rights Advancement Act

The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 (H.R. 4), passed by the House Judiciary Committee last week, would once again require states and localities with histories of voter discrimination to seek approval from the U.S. Department of Justice before making any changes in their election laws. The measure is a direct response to the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby v. Holder, which invalidated key provisions of the Voting Rights Act first passed in 1965 to address persistent and purposeful discrimination—through literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation, threats, and violence—that curtailed political participation for millions of Americans. In the absence of critical federal oversight, many states implemented laws that restricted voting in the 2016 and 2018 elections. Urge your representatives to support the Voting Rights Advancement Act. TAKE ACTION

NEA members discuss homework gap and immigration with Congress

Members of Congress featured NEA members’ views on two key issues: access to digital resources in rural areas and the harmful impact of immigration raids. Anthony Angelini, a teacher at New Oxford Middle School in Pennsylvania, stressed the importance of high-speed internet and the role of E-Rate in bringing it to rural areas at an Oct. 21 congressional field hearing in Gettysburg, “Harvesting the Digital Age: Connecting our Communities for a Better Future,” hosted by Reps. Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) and John Joyce (R-PA), chairwoman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship. Angela Wolf, a teacher at Briggs Chaney Middle School in Maryland, was a panelist at an Oct. 25 event on Capitol Hill, “A Briefing on How Immigration and Customs Enforcement Actions Harm Communities,” hosted by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Cheers and Jeers

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) is leading the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 2694), which would help prevent employers from forcing pregnant women out of the workplace and help ensure that employers provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant women who want to keep working.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) is leading the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 3), which passed out of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees last week. The bill would end the ban on Medicare negotiating directly with drug companies, which would in turn help lower drug prices for all Americans.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) for making the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act (H.R. 3463) bipartisan by becoming cosponsors. The bill would set a minimum nationwide standard for collective bargaining rights provided by the states.
Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) led a bipartisan sign-on letter urging House leadership to include at least a two-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program in any end-of-year legislation.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced that she opposes Steven Menashi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which NEA strongly opposes as well.
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairwoman Karen Bass (D-CA) led a letter to Senate leadership opposing Steven Menashi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. All CBC members representing districts covered by the Second Circuit also signed the letter: Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Antonio Delgado (D-NY).
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was held in contempt for violating a court order to cease collecting loan payments after May 2018 from former Corinthian College students. More than 16,000 students were told they had payments due when that was not the case and nearly 2,000 lost wages or tax refunds as a result, the Washington Post reported.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), along with Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Mike Braun (R-IN), introduced S. 2682, which would permanently reauthorize SOAR, the District of Columbia’s voucher program.
EdAction in Congress October 27, 2019 - Education Votes

CHECK IT OUT: NewBlackMan (in Exile) The Digital Home for Mark Anthony Neal

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

CHECK IT OUT: 
NewBlackMan (in Exile) 
The Digital Home for Mark Anthony Neal

YESTERDAY

Forest Whitaker Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters

' Forest Whitaker breaks down his most iconic characters, including his roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High , The Last King of Scotland , Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , Arrival , The Color of Money , Bird , Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai , Lee Daniels’ The Butler , Platoon , The Crying Game and Godfather of Harlem .' -- GQ
Tarana Burke on The Two-Year Anniversary Of #MeToo

'Following the second anniversary of #MeToo , Tarana Burke gets real about the movement and its future.' -- ESSENCE
Tracy Sharpley-Whiting on The Other Americans

'Drawn from Bricktop’s Paris and its exploration of Black women expats in Paris, this talk explores the centrality of black women in our cultural imagination, despite their erasure, and Dr. Tracy Sharpley-Whiting ’s own attempts to recover them, beginning with the volume, Black Venus . Dr. Tracy Sharpley-Whiting is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of African American and Di
Why Are We Still Struggling with Diversity Today? Pamela Newkirk Discusses Her Book 'Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business'

'Author and Journalist, Pamela Newkirk joins Black America with Carol Jenkins to discuss her latest book, Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business and takes a look at this issue in corporate America, academia and Hollywood.'
Pages from Prince's Life

'Begun just months before his death in 2016, a memoir by the legendary singer-songwriter Prince is now being published as The Beautiful Ones . Jamie Yuccas reports on how the manuscript by Prince Rogers Nelson came to light, and talks with editor Dan Piepenbring , who helped Prince tell his story, including how the people in Prince's life made him the artist he was. Yuccas also talks with represe
Jazz Bassist Esperanza Spalding Talks About Her Album, '12 Little Spells'

' Esperanza Spalding has always resolutely, intuitively, deftly expanded upon both her art and herself as a world-renowned genre-bending composer, bassist and vocalist. Her latest album, 12 Little Spells , explores the healing power of art and how music and the body interact, with each song-spell inspired by a different part of the body. Spalding took the BUILD Series stage to tell us about the L
"Step Aboard" Performed by Harriet Star Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo , star of the film Harriet , performs "Step Aboard"
Discrimination in Housing Laws & What Needs to Change

'How does your identity and community impact your ability to find housing? What needs to change to make housing more accessible and limit discrimination in the housing market? Andre Perry , from the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution; Melvina Ford , Executive Director of The Equal Rights Center; Lisa Rice , CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance; and Sarah Mickelson , Sen
What's in My Bag: KAYTRANADA

'Hip-hop DJ & Producer KAYTRANADA goes shopping at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles. His latest single 'DYSFUNCTIONAL' is available from XL Recordings.'
After Windrush – Paulette Wilson's Visit to Jamaica, 50 years On

"A letter from the British government classifying Paulette Wilson as an illegal immigrant shook her sense of identity and belonging. ‘Hostile environment’ policies years in the making meant that Wilson and other victims of the Windrush scandal had their right to residency in the UK called into question. She had been detained for a week pending imminent deportation though she had done nothing wron

OCT 26

Dick Gregory and the History of Black Comedy: A Conversation with Bassey Ikpi author 'I’m Telling the Truth but I’m Lying'

Bassey Ikpi , the author of the New York Times bestseller, I’m Telling the Truth but I’m Lying joins Duke Professor Mark Anthony Neal at the North Star Church of The Arts in Durham, NC as part of the course Dick Gregory and the History of Black Comedy . The course is offered with the support of Dr. Christian C. Gregory , executor of the Estate of Dick Gregory and the Estate of Jenny Lillian Seman
What Naomie Harris Had To Do To Be So 'Black And Blue'

'The new movie Black and Blue is a thriller about a woman who tries to straddle a divide between two groups of people: African Americans and the police. This is a very American story — and yet Naomie Harris , who carries it, is British. In an interview, she described her preparation for the part, playing her first leading role and how she relates to the themes of police violence and mistrust.' --


Left of Black S10:E5: Historian Jakobi Williams on The Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and Racial Coalition Politics in Chicago

Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined in the studio by Dr. Jakobi Williams ( @jakobiwill ), an associate professor at Indiana University Bloomington in the Department of History and Department of African 
NewBlackMan (in Exile)