Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt | Diane Ravitch's blog

Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt | Diane Ravitch's blog

Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt

Kuttner on TAP

New Hope for Student Debt Relief

With the appointment of Richard Cordray as chief of federal student loan programs, we will now see the potential of executive power to bring relief and end abuses. Cordray is a close ally of Elizabeth Warren and former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The first best policy, of course, would be outright cancellation of up to $50,000 per student, as proposed by Sens. Warren and Schumer. Cordray can’t make that call. President Biden needs to. But there are several other things he can do.

For starters, there is the appalling story of management of cancellation of debt for people who do ten years of public service. This is authorized under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But under Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, the Education Department did everything possible to deny this relief.

To date, just 1.26 percent of applicants have received debt relief. In fact, in a lawsuit brought by the CONTINUE READING: Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Tom: What the White House Should Know About Preschool

Teacher Tom: What the White House Should Know About Preschool

What the White House Should Know About Preschool

The current administration is proposing universal free preschool in the US. People keep asking me what I think about it. I support publicly funded early childhood education, but frankly, I'm worried. In my lifetime, policymakers and elected representatives, no matter where they stand on the political spectrum, have always been wrong about education. Sadly, it appears to be one of our only true bipartisan issues: to be wrong about what our children need. I'm worried because history tells us that they will not listen to educators. I'm worried because they will say they want children to grow up to be successful, without having any idea what that means. I'm worried because they will listen to deep-pocket corporate education "reformers" who are more interested in a greasy buck than the future of young children. I'm worried that the current regime of academic testing and grading and ranking and judging will be foisted upon our youngest citizens. 

Back in the 80's I held the position of communications manager at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce where I kept my hair short (even sporting a flat top for a time) and wore suits with large shoulders and lots of extra fabric. About a year or so into the job, my assistant manager found a CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: What the White House Should Know About Preschool

CURMUDGUCATION: Dammit, Joe

CURMUDGUCATION: Dammit, Joe

Dammit, Joe

So up on my screen pops the headline "Biden says K-12 education isn't working--calls for fgre pre-K to 'grade 14'"

The good news is that the headlines is, as headlines will be, a bit inaccurate. The bad news is everything else. Starting with this lede:

President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the nation's K-12 education system for fueling America's economic growth for almost a century. But, he stressed, that system may no longer be sufficient as the foundation for future prosperity.

We've been here before, starting with this fundamental misunderstanding of the problem:

Mr. Biden's American Families Plan is taking aim at an issue that has bedeviled economists as well as millions of families struggling to stay afloat financially: A high school diploma is no longer enough to secure a middle-class life.

If the situation has changed, if all the good stuff has been moved to a shelf that is too high for regular folks to reach, is the problem that regular folks are too short, or that somebody moved the good stuff to a too-high shelf? The democratic/neo-lib theory is based on the too-short-humans theory, in part because the MarketWorld thinking of neo-libs is that the economic CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Dammit, Joe

NANCY BAILEY: We Need Clarity and Consistency From the President When it Comes to Democratic Public Schools

We Need Clarity and Consistency From the President When it Comes to Democratic Public Schools

We Need Clarity and Consistency From the President When it Comes to Democratic Public Schools

President Biden has accomplished much in his first 100 days. He’s a caring President when this is especially needed. There’s much to like about the President’s ideas and, here, for education, but his speech did not highlight some major concerns. He talked strongly about democracy, but he missed the chance to make important points about democratic public schools and teachers.

Here is the transcript of the President’s speech.

Why are clarity and consistency about schools so important?

The President once told educators and parents that he would end high-stakes testing, teaching to the test. However, earlier this year, the Biden administration said states must still test even after a year of disruption due to the pandemic.

Also, preschool is important, but in his speech, President Biden emphasized competition and the workforce. Most teachers and parents dislike connecting the economy, the workforce to children, especially using preschool.

This is the same old talk of previous Presidents, pandering to business. It doesn’t solve the nitty-gritty problems facing schools and teachers, difficulties that need to be fixed if CONTINUE READING: We Need Clarity and Consistency From the President When it Comes to Democratic Public Schools

Biden Extends Moratorium on Student Debt Collection; Dept. of Ed. Staff Expose DeVos Policies that Favor For-Profit College Sector | janresseger

Biden Extends Moratorium on Student Debt Collection; Dept. of Ed. Staff Expose DeVos Policies that Favor For-Profit College Sector | janresseger

Biden Extends Moratorium on Student Debt Collection; Dept. of Ed. Staff Expose DeVos Policies that Favor For-Profit College Sector

The Biden Department of Education has already begun taking action on higher education policy.

On Student Loan Debt Collection

First, there is positive news for student loan borrowers. As one of his first-day—January 20, 2021—executive orders, President Joseph Biden extended former President Trump’s moratorium on demanding federal student loan repayments through September 30, 2021.

The Washington Post‘s Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports: “Following a request from President Biden, the Education Department said Wednesday it would extend the suspension of federal student loan payments through Sept. 30. The move arrives days before the moratorium is set to expire at the end of this month.  It makes good on Biden’s pledge to give borrowers some breathing room as the economy struggles to find its footing…  (T)he acting secretary of education said the agency would extend the pause on federal student loan payments and collections and keep the interest rate at 0 percent… With the extension, all borrowers with student loans from the Education Department will see their payments automatically suspended until Sept. 30 without penalty or accrual of interest. Each month until then will still count toward loan forgiveness for borrowers in public-service jobs. It will also count toward student loan rehabilitation, a federal program that erases a default from a person’s credit report after nine consecutive payments.”

Biden’s executive action extending the moratorium on student loan debt collection applies CONTINUE READING: Biden Extends Moratorium on Student Debt Collection; Dept. of Ed. Staff Expose DeVos Policies that Favor For-Profit College Sector | janresseger

8 Concerns and What’s Positive About The President’s Plan for Schooling During Covid-19

8 Concerns and What’s Positive About The President’s Plan for Schooling During Covid-19

8 Concerns and What’s Positive About The President’s Plan for Schooling During Covid-19

The Biden-Harris administration faces huge challenges. Addressing school safety during Covid-19 is at the top of their list. This is welcome news. Goals are important for clarity and to give us hope.

President Biden wasted no time getting out his National Strategy for the Covid-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. Schools are specifically addressed starting on page 77.

Here are concerns and what looks good.

1.  We can teach our children in safe schools.

In his Inaugural Address, the only time the President mentioned schools was when he said We can teach our children in safe schools.

He used the word We which collectively implies all of us, and it’s comforting to know he cares about teachers, students, parents, and schools and is working on this serious issue with experts.

I’m sure the President understands, that when it comes to We, it’s the teacher along CONTINUE READING: 8 Concerns and What’s Positive About The President’s Plan for Schooling During Covid-19

7 changes to expect from Biden’s Department of Education led by Miguel Cardona - Education Votes

7 changes to expect from Biden’s Department of Education led by Miguel Cardona - Education Votes

7 changes to expect from Biden’s Department of Education led by Miguel Cardona

By Amanda Menas and Amanda Litvinov

During the Biden-Harris administration educators will have new opportunities to advocate for policies at the federal level that will benefit the lives of students, families, and school communities. Issues such as decaying school infrastructure, the digital divide, and lack of access to school nurses and counselors—the results of unjust funding and policies born of white supremacy—will begin to be corrected.

President Biden’s nomination of Dr. Miguel Cardona as his education secretary shows he is serious about investing in public schools and listening to educators on what students need to succeed.

Lauren Mancini-Averitt is a high school social studies teacher in the Meriden School District, the same district where Miguel Cardona taught 4th grade, served as an elementary school principal, and later was named Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning. 

She sees Cardona as the right person to fill the role of secretary of education, because “he is truly an educator. He’s inquisitive, he listens, and he knows how to work collaboratively,” says Mancini-Averitt, who is in her second year as a local president and her 31st year of teaching.

She says Cardona didn’t “turn all of that off” when he left the classroom to become a principal, or when he was tapped to write a new teacher evaluation plan required by then-Gov. Dan Malloy. Cardona, who is committed to union-management collaboration, worked closely with educator unions to craft that plan.

“He doesn’t walk in the room to be an official,” Mancini-Averitt says. “He walks in to learn CONTINUE READING: 7 changes to expect from Biden’s Department of Education led by Miguel Cardona - Education Votes

Biden / Harris administration charts new course - Education Votes - https://educationvotes.nea.org/2021/01/22/biden-harris-administration-charts-new-course/

Linda Darling-Hammond and Ted Mitchell on President Biden’s plans for education | EdSource

Linda Darling-Hammond and Ted Mitchell on President Biden’s plans for education | EdSource

Linda Darling-Hammond and Ted Mitchell on President Biden's plans for education

EdSource · Linda Daring-Hammond and Ted Mitchell on what Joe Biden will do for education

January 22, 2021

President Joe Biden wasted no time: Inaugurated at noon Wednesday, by the end of the day he had, among other things, extended a moratorium on student loan repayment and affirmed the existence of the DACA program, and by Thursday, he had issued a sweeping plan for reopening schools during the pandemic.  He called on Congress to approve $130 billion for K-12 and $35 billion for higher ed in immediate Covid relief.

This week, we turn to two nationally known education leaders, Linda Darling-Hammond and Ted Mitchell, to give their views on President Biden’s immediate and post-pandemic priorities for schools and colleges and the potential impact for California. Darling-Hammond, president of the Learning Policy Institute, is also president of the California State Board of Education.  She headed up President-elect education  transition team.  Mitchell, who was  undersecretary of education during the Obama administration as well as a former president of the State Board of Education, is president of the American Council on Education.

For background on these issues, check out the following:

• Immigration reform proposed by Biden could alleviate anxiety, fear for thousands of California children
• Inconsistent vaccine supply, lack of state coordination complicate teacher vaccinations
• In inaugural address, Biden says it is possible to teach children ‘in safe schools’

Also:

• Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers
• National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness

Linda Darling-Hammond and Ted Mitchell on President Biden’s plans for education | EdSource

Education with the Biden Team | tultican

Education with the Biden Team | tultican

Education with the Biden Team

By Thomas Ultican 1/16/2021

Joe Biden has garnered wide spread praise for his choice of Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education; maybe too wide. The co-founder of Bellwether Education, Andrew Rotherham says Cardona is “a Goldilocks on charter schools.”  However, Goldilocks was a fairy tale and Rotherham is a well known neoliberal who campaigns for “school choice.”

At the Democratic convention in 2008, the largest groups of delegates cheering the loudest for their new standard bearers were teachers. They saw in Barack Obama and Joe Biden leaders who would end the destructive nightmare, No Child Left Behind. Linda Darling-Hammond the progressive education scholar advising Obama was viewed as someone who would bring professional sanity to national education policy and end the unjustifiable attacks on public schools and their teachers.

They were not aware of a pre-convention seminar billed “Ed Challenge for Change.” This seminar sponsored by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and real estate mogul Eli Broad included a new group of young wealthy hedge fund managers named Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). They had previously established a relationship with Senator Barak Obama. He seemed to share their ideas on education issues like charter schools, performance pay, and accountability. DFER, Gates and Broad viewed Darling-Hammond as a touchy-feely anti-accountability figure and believed she would destroy any chance that Obama would follow through on any of their education reform initiatives.

The seminar group began subjecting Darling-Hammond to withering criticism. They championed the non-traditional (meaning no education background) leader of the Chicago school system, Arne Duncan, to be the next Secretary of Education. Darling-Hammond was berated as favoring the status quo in CONTINUE READING: Education with the Biden Team | tultican

Biden to ask for tens of billions of dollars to help open schools - The Washington Post

Biden to ask for tens of billions of dollars to help open schools - The Washington Post

Biden, aiming to reopen schools, set to request infusion of cash

President-elect Joe Biden will ask Congress for $130 billion to help K-12 schools reopen, plus billions more to implement rapid coronavirus testing in schools, a far more aggressive response than anything lawmakers have approved to date.

Another plank of Biden’s proposal, announced Thursday, aims to mount a national vaccination plan that could facilitate school reopening as well, with vaccinated teachers more willing to return to classrooms.

The proposals are part of a $1.9 trillion “rescue plan” that also includes $1,400 stimulus checks to most households and other aid to state and local governments, transition officials said. A senior official called it a “bold and historic emergency package to change the course of the pandemic.”

For schools, Biden says his goal is to have a majority open for in-person classes within 100 days of his inauguration. It’s unclear how he will measure success, and some research suggests the nation may have achieved his goal.

The Trump administration has not kept track of how many schools or school districts are open for in-person classes, and a transition spokesman said the new administration will work to improve data collection.

Biden reiterated Thursday that he would do everything he could to safely reopen “a majority of our K through 8 schools” by the end of his first 100 days.

“We can do this if we give the school districts — the schools themselves, the communities, the states — the clear guidance they need as well as the resources they need that they can’t afford right now,” he said.

Biden hopes to achieve his goal with the help of a hefty federal aid package. At $130 billion, the K-12 schools piece of his proposal is more than twice the $64 billion provided to date over two previous relief CONTINUE READING: Biden to ask for tens of billions of dollars to help open schools - The Washington Post

Biden’s Education Plan Addressed Lagging School Funding: Now with a Democratic Senate Majority, He Needs to Act | janresseger

Biden’s Education Plan Addressed Lagging School Funding: Now with a Democratic Senate Majority, He Needs to Act | janresseger

Biden’s Education Plan Addressed Lagging School Funding: Now with a Democratic Senate Majority, He Needs to Act

President Elect Joe Biden prioritized public school funding as the center of his education plan during his campaign to be the Democratic nominee for President.  Why did he prioritize public school finance and why is it so urgently important in 2021?

Here are Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire, in their new book, The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, explaining the problem: “Almost every state reduced spending on public education during the Great Recession, but some states went much further, making deep cuts to schools, while taking aim at teachers and their unions… Moreover, states including Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, and North Carolina also moved to permanently reduce the funds available for education by cutting the taxes that pay for schools and other public services.  In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker took aim at education through Act 10—what was first called the ‘budget repair bill.’  Act 10 is remembered for stripping teachers and other public employees of their collective bargaining rights.  But it also made $2 billion in cuts to the state’s public schools.” (The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, pp. 35-36)

In August of 2018, the late Jim Siegel at the Columbus Dispatch summarized an important report by Ohio’s school finance expert, Howard Fleeter: “Nearly 77 percent of the total revenue increase from state funding and local taxes in the past 20 years occurred before 2009, according to a new analysis by the Ohio Education Policy Institute… State funding increased 35 percent from 1999 to 2009, but in the past 10 years it has actually fallen nearly 2 percent CONTINUE READING: Biden’s Education Plan Addressed Lagging School Funding: Now with a Democratic Senate Majority, He Needs to Act | janresseger