NANCY BAILEY: Where’s the Biden Administration on School Problems Facing Students, Teachers, and Parents?

Where’s the Biden Administration on School Problems Facing Students, Teachers, and Parents?

Where’s the Biden Administration on School Problems Facing Students, Teachers, and Parents?

The pandemic showed us that public schools are critical. Understandably, Covid-19 has been front and center. But the Biden administration glosses over or is silent on critical school issues. Sometimes these topics are front and center not in a good way in State legislatures or ignored altogether.

Frustrated parents will seek alternatives, and there’s a real risk that public education will be no more.

Where’s the discussion? Here’s a list in alphabetical order. Your suggestions, ideas, or criticisms are welcome.

The Arts

How many children get access to art, music, drama, even dance in their public schools? We know that when students get the arts, they thrive.

Students artistically inclined who don’t get the arts in their schools will go elsewhere if their parents can afford private school. All students should have a quality arts program.

Why is this still an issue?

Charter Schools

The Biden administration mentions the importance of regulating charter schools, but CONTINUE READING: Where’s the Biden Administration on School Problems Facing Students, Teachers, and Parents?

Joe Biden, the Republicans, and Kids’ Stuff | The New Yorker

Joe Biden, the Republicans, and Kids’ Stuff  | The New Yorker

Joe Biden, the Republicans, and Kids’ Stuff

As the new Administration enters its next hundred days, the child wars are likely to grow more intense and, in some quarters, more detached from reality.

“Superheroes Are Everywhere,” a children’s book celebrating ordinary people, by Vice-President Kamala Harris, has landed, like so many things in American politics today, in the middle of a very childish controversy. It began when residents of Long Beach, California, organized a toy-and-book drive for unaccompanied child immigrants being housed in a convention center there. Someone donated a copy of Harris’s book, and a journalist touring the facility saw it on a cot and took a picture of it. Partisan mayhem ensued, with headlines in the New York Post and on Fox News and complaints from sundry Republicans about an imaginary scheme to put a copy in a “welcome kit” for every immigrant, as if it were the Little Red Book, or an enrollment brochure for the Democratic Party. “Was Harris paid for these books? Is she profiting from Biden’s border crisis?” Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, asked on Twitter.

Such fantastical pettiness is not confined to the immigration debate. As the new Administration enters its next hundred days, children are poised to be at the forefront of President Joe Biden’s agenda. The address that he delivered to a joint session of Congress last Wednesday night included the American Families Plan, a set of transformative programs, amounting to almost two trillion dollars, largely directed at children. With that move, Biden launched his next major legislative fight. In the months to come, the child wars are likely to grow more intense and, in some quarters, more detached from reality.

Biden’s proposals include one that would make pre-kindergarten programs for three- and four-year-olds universally available. “You know who else liked universal day care,” Senator Marsha Blackburn tweeted, before the speech was over. She linked to a Times story from 1974 about state-run nurseries in what was then the Soviet Union. Of CONTINUE READING: Joe Biden, the Republicans, and Kids’ Stuff  | The New Yorker

Biden’s Message: Government Must Work for the Common Good | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden’s Message: Government Must Work for the Common Good | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden’s Message: Government Must Work for the Common Good

Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter expressed my reaction to President Joe Biden’s speech to Congress. No boasting. No narcissism. A strong assertion that government must work for the people and use its resources to improve the lives of the people.

The most abnormal thing about Biden’s speech, however, was how normal it was. After four years of Donald Trump spewing his particular brand of dyspeptic, self-absorbed oratory, it felt a bit unfamiliar, and a bit exhilarating, watching Biden calmly discuss the challenges and the opportunities facing the nation, and discuss how he proposed to confront the one and exploit the other. A sense of déjà vu does not usually mix with the emotions kindled by promise, but when they do, the experience is centering. The speech felt like the country was getting back to normal. 

The United States, in normal, pre-Trump times, believed CONTINUE READING: Biden’s Message: Government Must Work for the Common Good | Diane Ravitch's blog

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

The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever | by Bruce Lesley | Voices4Kids | Apr, 2021 | Medium

The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever | by Bruce Lesley | Voices4Kids | Apr, 2021 | Medium

The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever

There are moments in time when historic or transformational changes are made by our nation’s leaders to really make a difference for children and families in this country. If President Biden’s just released American Families Plan becomes law, today would be one of those moments.

Unfortunately, the reality we face is that children are often merely an afterthought of election officials, as kids do not vote, do not make campaign contributions or operate a Political Action Committee (PAC), and do not employ a team of lobbyists to demand that lawmakers hear their concerns and address their needs.

To overcome these barriers for children, we at First Focus Campaign for Children established a Legislative Scorecard to identify Champions for Children in the U.S. House and Senate who do positive things for children and families because it is the right thing to do and not because a special interest gave them a campaign contribution. We also created a Children’s Budget to identify and analyze all investments in the federal budget and to hold the White House and Congress accountable for whether they are succeeding or failing our children. In that endeavor, we have often quoted then Sen. Joe Biden and his words:

Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.

When candidate Biden was running for president, other candidates had a CONTINUE READING: The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever | by Bruce Lesley | Voices4Kids | Apr, 2021 | Medium

Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Universal Pre-K Should Be Part of Public Schools, Nor “Public-Private” Partnerships | Diane Ravitch's blog

Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Universal Pre-K Should Be Part of Public Schools, Nor “Public-Private” Partnerships | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden’s Universal Pre-K Should Be Part of Public Schools, Nor “Public-Private” Partnerships

Robert Kuttner applauds Biden’s proposal for universal pre-kindergarten, while warning of the danger of allowing the program to be partially privatized. The same could be written for K-12 education. In state after state, private corporations are using their political influence to privatize public money and si err it to charters and vouchers.

Kuttner on TAP

Universal Pre-K: Will Biden Do It Right?

There is a great deal in Biden’s American Families Plan to be thankful for. In a stroke, his administration has expanded the bounds of what is politically mainstream. Assuming it can get through Congress, which is by no means certain, the devil will be in the details.

For instance, Biden proposes to spend $200 billion over a decade, or $20 billion a year, for what the White House fact sheet describes as free, universal pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds, through “partnerships” with the states.

Ideally, these should be true public institutions—an expansion of public school kindergartens downward to younger kids, with teachers compensated CONTINUE READING: Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Universal Pre-K Should Be Part of Public Schools, Nor “Public-Private” Partnerships | Diane Ravitch's blog

Biden’s Plan: Raise Taxes On The Rich, Spend It On Education | HuffPost

Biden’s Plan: Raise Taxes On The Rich, Spend It On Education | HuffPost

Biden’s Plan: Raise Taxes On The Rich, Spend It On Education

The president’s speech to Congress will include proposed tax hikes on wealthy Americans along with free community college and pre-K education.

President Joe Biden will propose spending $1.8 trillion over the next decade to make massive investments in the nation’s education system, and to expand and protect tax credits aimed at the middle class, administration officials said Tuesday night, adding that he would pay for the ambitious agenda with a number of tax hikes aimed at the wealthiest Americans.

Biden is expected to lay out his proposal, dubbed the American Families Plan, in a prime-time speech to Congress on Wednesday.

It faces an uncertain political path forward. While an earlier legislative package from the administration, which focused heavily on infrastructure projects, could attract some support from Republicans, it’s likely this plan ― which is targeted at traditional Democratic priorities such as education and the social safety net ― will rely on the party’s narrow majorities in Congress to stay united. 

The centerpiece of the plan is a massive investment in the nation’s education system, including universal, free pre-kindergarten education for all 3- and 4-year-olds and free  CONTINUE READING: Biden’s Plan: Raise Taxes On The Rich, Spend It On Education | HuffPost

What Is President Biden’s American Families Plan? | janresseger

What Is President Biden’s American Families Plan? | janresseger

What Is President Biden’s American Families Plan?

Tonight, when President Biden marks 100 days in office with a major speech to a joint session of Congress, he is expected to announce the second part of his Infrastructure Plan—the American Families Plan.  This part of Biden’s agenda does not directly support the public schools, but it will continue to ameliorate child poverty and reduce stress on families and thereby help public school students in myriad ways.

The Washington Post‘s Jeff Stein explains what is known about the plan, despite that negotiations have been fluid even in recent days: “The ‘American Families Plan,’ set to be released ahead of the president’s joint address to Congress on Wednesday, calls for devoting hundreds of billions of dollars to national child care, prekindergarten, paid family leave and tuition-free community college, among other domestic priorities… The key components of the plan consist of roughly $300 billion in education funding, the biggest pot of which includes funding to make two-year community colleges tuition-free; $225 billion in child-care funding; $225 billion for paid family and medical leave; $200 billion for prekindergarten instruction; and $200 billion to extend more enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies….  The plan would also extend a more robust child tax credit until 2025… a measure that could cost as much as $400 billion, as well as extend a more robust tax credit for workers. Aides repeatedly stressed that the details of the plan were subject to change and that final decisions had not yet been made.”

Fiscally austere federal policy to address economic inequality dates back to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the law that ended welfare. Policy designed to stigmatize instead of helping low income families has been around for so CONTINUE READING: What Is President Biden’s American Families Plan? | janresseger

JEFF BRYANT: Yes, Biden Promised to End Standardized Testing in Schools - LA Progressive

Yes, Biden Promised to End Standardized Testing in Schools - LA Progressive

Yes, Biden Promised to End Standardized Testing in Schools

But It Was Never Going to Be Easy

Barely a month after President Biden was inaugurated, educators and public school advocates reeled in dismay when his administration announced it would enforce the federal government’s mandate for annual standardized testing in public schools. During the Democratic Party’s presidential primary, Biden had expressed strong opposition to the tests. In a video taken at a December 2019 forum for public school teachers, Biden, when asked, “Will you commit to ending the use of standardized testing in public schools,” replied, “Yes… You’re preaching to the choir.”

Although the decision was made before he took office, Miguel Cardona, Biden’s secretary of education, confirmed the Biden administration would not allow states to skip the exams.

So what happened to “the choir”?

It’s not like there was a groundswell from across the country to resume the tests.

Prior to the Biden administration’s announcement, Chalkbeat’s national correspondent Matt Barnum reported, “Several states, including California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York, [had] already asked for or said they planned to request a waiver from this year’s testing requirements entirely.” As of March 29, three states—Georgia, Oregon, and South Carolina—that had requested to offer alternatives to a statewide standardized test were denied, according to a later report by Barnum, but Colorado will be allowed to cut the number of tests it administers CONTINUE READING: Yes, Biden Promised to End Standardized Testing in Schools - LA Progressive

Biden needs to pursue student loan forgiveness - USA TODAY

Biden needs to pursue student loan forgiveness

Student loan forgiveness: Biden can restore a broken promise

We found a minefield of deceptions by student loan companies and negligent indifference by government officials.

Kelly Finlaw is a middle school art teacher in New York City. Over the last year, she has also been called an “essential employee,” a “frontline worker” and — a term she has certainly never attributed to herself — a “hero.” During this time, she has done everything she could to meet the needs of her students and make remote learning work as well as possible, all the while knowing it is no substitute for being in the classroom with her students.

Yet despite delivering on her promise to educate the next generation of Americans — even in the midst of a pandemic — the federal government has broken its promise to her. Finlaw remains stuck with nearly $90,000 in student debt that should have been canceled years ago.

Finlaw, along with millions of others, was made a simple pledge: If she worked for a decade as an educator, as a nurse or in another public service profession, her student debt would be wiped away. 

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program 

That was the intent of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program — a bipartisan law that recognized that spiraling student debt burdens are particularly punishing for workers in public service, and that our communities and our country are worse off if this burden drives a generation of students away from careers as educators, healthcare workers, first responders, and other public service workers. CONTINUE READING: Biden needs to pursue student loan forgiveness

Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it - POLITICO

Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it - POLITICO

Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it

A battle is brewing between teachers’ unions and Republicans. And so far, the White House is siding with the former.

President Joe Biden’s vow to reopen most schools during his first 100 days is crashing into demands of one of his party’s most powerful constituencies: teachers’ unions. And the friction is creating an early test for the Democratic Party’s commitment to following the advice of scientists when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tensions began bubbling up this week as Chicago teachers and city officials clashed over a plan to reopen. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot insists that classrooms are safe, but teachers in the city are pushing for an expansion in vaccinations first. Now, a version of that fight is playing out nationally, as the White House tries to navigate between a growing body of science indicating that long-held fears of reopening schools may be overblown with demands from teachers for more funding and health supplies before returning to the classroom.

Teachers’ unions, which played a crucial role in Biden’s electoral victory last fall, say they share the goal of reopening schools for in-person learning, but that this can only be done if schools have the resources to safely proceed. White House officials, too, said Biden’s 100-day goal depends on Congress following through with more funding for schools to pay for improved ventilation, reduced class sizes and other Covid mitigation strategies.

But the stalemates in Chicago and recent findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which wrote that in-person learning leads to little spread of the coronavirus so long as schools closely follow safety measures — are creating an immediate flash point for the president, along with potential political vulnerabilities.

“This is one of several issues that is going to have some starts and stops—and [it’s] a big challenge for [the White House],” conceded Steve Barr, a longtime Democratic political activist and operative and the founder of a charter school organization in Los Angeles. Barr said he agrees with the White House push for a big financial package, but stressed that the new administration needs to CONTINUE READING: Biden's first big Covid test: Keeping parents of school kids from losing it - POLITICO

Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour | janresseger

Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour | janresseger

Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour

Last summer and through the autumn, Jason DeParle—a NY Times reporter and long chronicler of the devastation wrought when, in 1996, welfare reform eliminated Aid to Families with Dependent Children—made the case (here and here) for augmenting the Child Tax Credit as the best way to reduce child poverty in the United States.  In a long piece in July for the NY Review of Books, DeParle explained why reforming the Child Tax Credit is the key to reducing the alarming incidence of child poverty in the United States:

“In talking with scholars over the past year, I’ve been struck by how many substantive reasons there are for focusing on poor kids—even more now than three decades ago. Neuroscientists have shown that much of a child’s developmental trajectory is set during the first few years of life, before children even start school. Economists have shown that even a brief episode of poverty, especially in early childhood, can have life-long consequences—leading to fewer years of education, lower earnings, and worse health in adulthood. It’s also become harder to excuse America’s exceptional child poverty by arguing that the U.S. enjoys exceptional mobility compared to CONTINUE READING: Suddenly President Biden Has Made Ameliorating Child Poverty a Topic of the Hour | janresseger

President Biden’s Proposed Economic Stimulus Plan Would Help Public Schools and Begin to Alleviate Child Poverty | janresseger

President Biden’s Proposed Economic Stimulus Plan Would Help Public Schools and Begin to Alleviate Child Poverty | janresseger

President Biden’s Proposed Economic Stimulus Plan Would Help Public Schools and Begin to Alleviate Child Poverty

President Joe Biden has proposed a new pandemic relief package, his “American Rescue Plan,” which includes essential support for public education.

For the clearest overall summary of Biden’s new COVID-19 relief plan, please read the two page statement from Sharon Parrott, the new president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Parrott explains that Biden’s relief proposal addresses the needs of individual workers and families and finally begins to relieve the budget pressures on states, tribal governments and cities resulting from the pandemic-caused economic recession.  You will notice that Parrott pays particular attention to the ways Biden’s plan addresses the needs of America’s poorest children. Here is a very quick extract:

“President… Biden’s emergency relief proposal is a substantial, responsible plan that would significantly reduce the hardship that millions of people across the country are now facing… The President’s proposal would extend a series of important relief measures…. expanded unemployment benefits for millions… the federal moratorium on evictions….  additional funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program…. (and) the recently enacted increase in SNAP benefits…. Rates of food hardship are particularly high among children.”  President Biden’s plan also temporarily expands the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which would help millions of low-income families with children and workers without minor children at home make ends meet…. The proposal would increase the amount of the Child Tax Credit and make the full credit available to the 27 million children who currently don’t get the full credit (or in some cases, any credit at all) because their incomes are too low… The plan calls for substantial additional child care funding, to supplement the funds provided in the year-end relief package. This funding could help child care providers cope with reduced enrollment due to the pandemic and with increased costs to keep children and staff safe.  It also could provide needed help to families to afford child care as more people are able to return to work.” “The proposal includes much-needed state and local government CONTINUE READING: President Biden’s Proposed Economic Stimulus Plan Would Help Public Schools and Begin to Alleviate Child Poverty | janresseger

CURMUDGUCATION: Oh, That Poem

CURMUDGUCATION: Oh, That Poem

Oh, That Poem

Oh, That Poem

I am not a huge fan of pomp; I recognize the need to mark occasions, especially occasions of great change. There's really only one thing I want to carry away from today, and I'm embedding it here so that I can always find it. Amanda Gorman's presentation of her own poem was simply perfect. 

 

 "There's always light, if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it."

 Yeah, I'll take that.

Here's one good profile of the youngest poet to ever speak at an inauguration. There will be plenty, I'm sure. There will also be plenty of folks telling you what she said, but it's the 21st century, and if there was ever a moment that you should simply see and feel and absorb for yourself, this is it.

CURMUDGUCATION: Oh, That Poem

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, January 20, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE #Inauguration #BIDEN #HARRIS #46

 Big Education Ape

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 

Biden will extend student loan relief through September https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/20/biden-student-loan-relief-september-460664

On Biden’s To-Do List Today Is Rescinding the Racist 1776 Commission https://www.theroot.com/on-biden-s-to-do-list-today-is-rescinding-the-racist-17-1846092086

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Launches Scholarship for 50 Future Civil Rights Attorneys After Receiving $40 Million Anonymous Donation https://www.theroot.com/naacp-legal-defense-and-education-fund-launches-scholar-1846087628?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=theroot_twitter via @TheRoot

K-12 enrollment down statewide, in Orleans Parish https://thelensnola.org/2021/01/19/k-12-enrollment-down-statewide-in-orleans-parish/

NOLA Public Schools COVID-19 cases decline; announcement on reopening could come this week https://thelensnola.org/2021/01/19/nola-public-schools-covid-19-cases-decline-announcement-on-reopening-could-come-this-week/

Trump's right-wing 1776 history report appears to plagiarize authors: report http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/CNhYRByWRtI/

40 Funny Tweets That Sum Up Kid Logic https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kid-logic-funny-tweets_l_5fb16b14c5b6b956698c38e1

New blow to SAT empire shows California's key role in diminishing college admissions tests http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/P30R7QTf4IM/sat-test-diminish-california-key-role

Another blow to the SAT: Essays and subject tests to be scrapped amid pandemic fallout http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/8ny9vrewWh8/college-board-to-scrap-sat-subject-tests-and-optional-essay-citing-pandemic-fallout

The SAT Announces Dropping Essay and Subject Tests https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/sat-essay-subject-tests.html

OPINION: Will the Biden administration boost early childhood education? https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-the-biden-administration-has-a-real-chance-to-boost-early-childhood-education/

COLUMN: History textbooks must not ignore white supremacist violence - https://hechingerreport.org/?p=76681 via @hechingerreport

Sarah Lahm: Charter Schools Movement Sees a Growth Opportunity in Public School Funding Cuts | Ed Politics - https://edpolitics.org/?p=312

January 2021 IQC Meeting Agenda - Instructional Quality Commission (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/cc/cd/jan2021iqcagenda.asp

Big Changes to the SAT https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/us/big-changes-to-the-sat.html

With possible teacher strike vote looming, CPS chief says union talks need to focus on how, not whether, to reopen schools - Chicago Tribune - https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-chicago-public-schools-covid-19-reopening-teachers-union-20210119-skqq4vjipndtrmgbbq3oehivne-story.html#new_tab via @chicagotribune

100-plus Broward schoolteachers, staff won’t return amid COVID | Miami Herald - https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article248613495.html#new_tab on miamiherald

SC public school enrollment dips amid pandemic, private schools get unexpected boost | News | postandcourier.com - https://www.postandcourier.com/news/sc-public-school-enrollment-dips-amid-pandemic-private-schools-get-unexpected-boost/article_90988374-5425-11eb-835b-1bdab215f181.html#new_tab on @postandcourier

For schoolchildren struggling to read, COVID-19 has been a wrecking ball - The Boston Globe - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/19/magazine/schoolchildren-struggling-read-covid-19-has-been-wrecking-ball/#new_tab on @BostonGlobe

School choice proponents galvanized by remote learning struggles speak out at committee hearing | Education | stltoday.com - https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/school-choice-proponents-galvanized-by-remote-learning-struggles-speak-out-at-committee-hearing/article_8ae0d778-d956-50fb-b77b-8f374ec8cb8c.html#new_tab on @stltoday

Newark’s new high schools will handpick students, raising equity concerns https://newark.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/19/22239693/newark-specialized-high-schools via @ChalkbeatNWK

College Board drops SAT's optional essay and subject tests to 'reduce demands on students' - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/college-board-drops-sat-s-optional-essay-subject-tests-reduce-n1254694#new_tab by NBCNews on @NBCNews

How much learning have Washington students missed? The state doesn’t know | The Seattle Times - https://www.seattletimes.com/?p=13366505 by @joy_resmovits on @seattletimes

Proposed school reopening fund could cost districts money | CalMatters https://calmatters.org/education/2021/01/newsom-school-reopening-fund-proposal-problems/

Some schools won't show inauguration in classrooms over concerns of potential violence https://www.foxnews.com/us/schools-inauguration-violence #FoxNews

Why public school enrollment in Louisiana is down nearly 17,000 students | Education | theadvocate.com - https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/education/article_5cee1a84-5a83-11eb-b062-23c04a5a70a0.html#new_tab

Biden to Revoke Trump's 'Patriotic Education' Order, Shield DACA on First Day as President - https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/biden-to-revoke-trumps-patriotic-education-order-shield-daca-on-first-day-as-president/2021/01#new_tab by @andrewujifusa on @educationweek

Biden to Rescind the Racist 1776 Commission - https://www.theroot.com/on-biden-s-to-do-list-today-is-rescinding-the-racist-17-1846092086#new_tab on TheRoot

Full text: Joe Biden inauguration speech transcript - POLITICO - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/20/joe-biden-inauguration-speech-transcript-full-text-460813

Biden’s Covid-19 stimulus plan includes $40 billion for child care https://www.vox.com/2021/1/20/22238757/joe-biden-covid-19-stimulus-child-care

Tennessee bill threatens to withhold funds as school reopening debate heats up https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/19/22240042/bill-state-funding-dependent-on-reopening-classrooms-bill-lee-condemns-virtual-learning via @ChalkbeatTN

Big Education Ape: NYC Public School Parents: The impact of Covid on NYC schools and class size & critique of DOE's plans for next year - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/nyc-public-school-parents-impact-of.html

Big Education Ape: Before You Must Go (The Whole Trump of You) | The Jose Vilson - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/before-you-must-go-whole-trump-of-you.html

Big Education Ape: Joe Biden Has a Golden Opportunity to Strengthen Public Education | Ed Politics - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/joe-biden-has-golden-opportunity-to.html

Big Education Ape: Educators, Social Justice Is About Consistent Action, Not Simply When It's Trending On Social Media - Philly's 7th Ward - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/educators-social-justice-is-about.html

Big Education Ape: Locals – Including NAACP – Oppose Biden’s Pick of Cindy Marten - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/locals-including-naacp-oppose-bidens.html

Big Education Ape: Educators welcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and their support for public schools - Education Votes - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/educators-welcome-joe-biden-and-kamala.html

Big Education Ape: Think of a Leader. Who did you picture? | Teacher in a strange land - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/think-of-leader-who-did-you-picture.html

Big Education Ape: Take the Money and Run – Tennessee Education Report - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/take-money-and-run-tennessee-education.html

Big Education Ape: NYC Educator: No, It's NOT Time To Fully Open School Buildings - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/nyc-educator-no-its-not-time-to-fully.html

Teacher Tom: Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful"

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Ideas for What to Say Instead of "Be Careful" The Technology of Speaking With Children So They Can Think , To learn more and to register, click right here. Awhile back , I riffed on what is popularly called "risky play," what author and consultant Arthur Battram argues we should call "challenging play," what I want to re-label "safety play," and what one reader pointed out used to just be called

CURMUDGUCATION: What Donald Trump Means To Me

by Mike Simpson / 3h

What Donald Trump Means To Me I have followed Trump's career for decades. As anyone who has been paying attention knows, and as some folks insist on being shocked and surprised to discover on a regular basis, he really is that bad, and has always been that bad. I cannot think of a single human virtue that the man has ever displayed, and he is not even particularly good at many of the human vices

Biden must build a more equitable US education system: To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson

by Mike Simpson / 3h

To A Greater Glory [National Catholic Reporter] | The Jose Vilson TO A GREATER GLORY [NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER] In my latest op-ed, I wrote an article as an open letter to the Biden administration that harkened back to my Jesuit education (Nativity Mission, Xavier High). Here’s a little bit: In this way, I’m asking us to live out our stated values politically and spiritually. If God truly lives

Miguel Cardona, Who Are You? | Real Learning CT

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Miguel Cardona, Who Are You? President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Miguel Cardona, the current Connecticut Commissioner of Education, to be the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Anyone he nominated would be better than Trump’s Secretary of Education. But who is Miguel Cardona and what is the vision that he brings to the U.S. Department of Education and to the teaching and learning in all of th

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, January 19, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE #Inauguration #BIDEN #HARRIS #46

by Mike Simpson / 21h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Free Market Facts And School Choice - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/01/19/free-market-facts-and-school-choice/?sh=45f219496a9b by @palan57 on @forbes Why Must 

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