Big Education Ape

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Education board in California include richer content on ancient India and Hinduism for the first time | India Live Today

Education board in California include richer content on ancient India and Hinduism for the first time | India Live Today:

Education board in California include richer content on ancient India and Hinduism for the first time

Washington, July 16: Education board in California in the US has approved a new school curriculum framework which will include richer content on ancient India and Hinduism for the first time and remove text inaccurately depicting Islam.

The framework, which will update and upgrade history and social science instruction in California, was developed over a period of last two years went through several rounds of public hearings and saw many controversies including the push by a group of top academics to rename ancient India with South Asia.
Much to the disappointment of a section of academicians, theboard decided in favour of India.

“While much needs to be done to bring content on Hinduism and Indian civilisation on par with other religions and civilisations, we believe that great progress has been made in the last two years,” said Sandeep Dedage, director, Hindu Education Foundation USA, expressing satisfaction over the completion of the process.

The framework now has mention of Vedic sages, Hindu teachings and philosophy, bhakti saints, music, dance, art and scientific contributions of India.

Ahead of the final hearing, Congressman Tulsi Gabbard and California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom batted for their causes.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson in a separate statement said the new framework will improve the teaching and learning of history and social science.

“It will give our students access to the latest historical research and help them learn about the diversity of our state and the contributions of people and groups who may not have received the appropriate recognition in the past,” he said.

In addition, information was added about financial literacy; voter education; genocide; and the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans and people with disabilities to the history of California and the United States, the California Department of Education said.

Many topics in the Framework sparked spirited debates, including “comfort women” in World War II, the Bataan Death March and the Battle of Manila, the roles of LGBT Americans in US and California history, the Armenian Genocide and discrimination faced by Sikh Americans, it said.

The move by a group academician to replace India with South Asia generated heated discussion among various sections and was vehemently opposed by Hindu Americans.

“We have a long way to go. But we are on our way to a bright future for a more equitable representation of Hinduism in California textbooks,” Barbara McGraw, convener of the Social Sciences and Religion Faculty Group.

While Hindu-Americans can rightly claim victory on many fronts, Hindu American Foundation senior director Samir Kalra voiced disappointment that the board was not swayed to make even a few more changes requested by Hindus.

“The board showed much sensitivity to activists representing Islam and Muslims, by adjusting the frameworks slightly to show the religion in a more positive light.”

Kalra went on to note, however, “We only wish they had shown the same empathy when discussing further changes on the presentation of Hinduism.
On the other hand, the South Asian Histories for All

(SAHFA), a multi-faith and inter-caste coalition of 8 religions and 25 organisations across California and the US, celebrated significant improvements to California’s new history and social science textbook curriculum.

The group said that despite some opposition from Hindutva groups, it managed to convince the board on several key issues.

These include the word “Dalit” is used to describe communities formerly known as “Untouchable”, caste is depicted as both a religious and social/cultural practice, caste is described as being based on birth, rather than professional ability and the Indus Valley Civilization will not be renamed “Saraswati”.

“In retaining the term ancient India, the text now defines at the start that ancient India is shorthand for the full list of nations in modern South Asia,” SAHFA said.

Muslim community groups appreciated that the B]board corrected three of the five major errors.

For example, the board decided to remove text inaccurately depicting Islam as an inherently war-mongering religion.Education board in California include richer content on ancient India and Hinduism for the first time | India Live Today:

State lawmakers suspend charter school law reform - The Philadelphia Tribune

State lawmakers suspend charter school law reform - The Philadelphia Tribune: News:

State lawmakers suspend charter school law reform

Charter school advocates will wait out the summer before renewing efforts to add new layers of transparency and accountability for the privately run, publicly funded schools.

Charter school alliances across the commonwealth blamed hard-ball politics and stalling tactics for delays in reforming how charter schools operate, including new mechanisms for oversight, monitoring, appeals process and criteria for public education dollars. The charter school bill was intended as a part of an approved state budget before both sides agreed to postpone talks on charter school reform until after the summer recess.

Pennsylvania’s Republicans wanted more avenues for charter school expansions, especially in the Philadelphia public school system, which is slowly recovering from a major budget crisis. Legislation stalled when Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf and Democratic state Sen. Vincent Hughes, who represents Philadelphia County and part of Montgomery County, opposed it.

Robert Fayfich, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, believes there was strong push-back from the leadership in Philadelphia public schools, which serves in the role of authorizing quality charter schools.

“There was some language regarding enrollment caps,” Fayfich said. “The school district wanted unilateral control and charter schools say no, it’s inconsistent with state law.”

In a statement released by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers union, union President Jerry Jordan called the legislation, “a very problematic piece of pro-charter school legislation” because it would essentially compromise the school district’s authority to limit charter school growth and weaken its ability to manage its budget.”

“Passage of HB 530 would have given charter school companies even more freedom to expand,” Jordan said. “PFT members have first-hand knowledge of how charter school growth has resulted in fewer resources for their students. That’s why, when HB 530 was introduced, thousands of educators wrote or called their state legislators and urged them to vote no.”

The legislation includes auditing and accountability provisions advocates have wanted for years and it would clear the way for a 10-year charter school renewal and allow multiple campuses to merge under governance of a single board, according to PennCAN, which advocates for research-based reform and school choice.

A statement released last week by the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter School laid blame on politics in Harrisburg.

“The contentions that HB 530 would allow any charter to unilaterally expand or make changes to its charter or that the legislation would loosen enrollment cap limits are simply not true, and have been created as a distraction State lawmakers suspend charter school law reform - The Philadelphia Tribune: News:

Big Education Ape: 20 reasons to vote no on Pa. HB 530 charter school reform STOP #hb1606! #phled #pabudget #hb530 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/20-reasons-to-vote-no-on-pa-hb-530.html

Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup - The Washington Post

Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup - The Washington Post:

Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup

The man that Turkey’s leaders have blamed for a failed coup attempt by a group of army officers is an Islamic scholar named Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and who has inspired a network said to include more than 160 charter schools in the United States.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the coup attempt on Friday was the work of army officers who are followers of Gulen, who had once been an ally but whose movement has become critical of the increasingly authoritarian regime.

The Gulen movement denied involvement in the coup, but Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Saturday was quoted as saying the United States would support investigations to determine who instigated the attempted coup and where its support originates. He said he anticipates questions will be raised about Gulen.

[Turkey foils bloody coup attempt, closes in on remnants of renegade forces]

Although Gulen lives on a secluded compound in Pennsylvania, he has maintained influence in Turkey through followers in the judiciary and police. Turkish media reported Saturday that 2,745 judges had been removed because of suspicions they have links to the Gulen movement.

His followers have also opened many private schools around the globe, including more than 160 science, math and technology-focused public charter schools with different names in numerous states around this country.

The publicly funded charter schools — unofficially known as the Gulen charter — are believed to be operated by people, usually Turks, in or associated with the Gulen movement. Among the leading schools in the network are the Harmony schools in Texas, which have won millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. government and are among the highest-achieving in their communities. (There is also a Harmony charter school in Washington D.C.)

These schools deny any relationship to Gulen — who is said to adhere to a moderate form of Islam — and the movement denies any relationship to the schools. But Sharon Higgins, an independent researcher on the Gulen movement who has written extensively about it, has said that it is common for officials at the charter schools to deny any connection. She said there are more than 160 Gulen-inspired charters in the country now, making it one of the biggest U.S. charter school networks.

The charter schools have sparked controversy over the years, with accusations that the Turkish Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup - The Washington Post:

Big Education Ape: Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/coup-in-turkey-is-fetullah-gulen-behind.html

Big Education Ape: KILLING ED: 120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish Cleric -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/01/killing-ed-120-american-charter-schools.html

Big Education Ape: Update: Gulen Harmony charter school network accused of bias and self-dealing Dallas Morning News - http://go.shr.lc/1qV85Hm

Big Education Ape: Turkey Links Texas Charter Schools to Dissident - WSJ - http://go.shr.lc/1OW1ZfV

Big Education Ape: Magnolia Science Academy - A Gulen Charter School: Gulen Magnolia Science Academy links discussed at LAUSD board meeting -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/magnolia-science-academy-gulen-charter.html

Friday, July 15, 2016

Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It?

The news channels report that there is a military coup underway in Turkey.

The prime minister accuses Fetullah Gulen of staging the coup “from Pennsylvania.

Gulen sponsors one of the biggest charter chains in the U.S. and is one of the biggest recipients of HB-1 visas for Turkish teachers to staff his charter schools.

One report:

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday evening that an attempted military coup was underway. In Istanbul, bridges were immediately blocked and jets were flying low above the capital city of Ankara. Reports indicated that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube were shut down in the country. Turkish TV showed footage of military tanks at Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport, where suicide bombers killed more than 40 people last month. Additionally, gunfire was reportedly heard in Ankara.The Turkish Army said in a statement that it had taken over the government, however that does not mean the entire military participated in the coup attempt. “Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and general security that was damaged,” the army said. “All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with with all countries will continue.”The Turkish government denies those claims. Turkey’s justice minister says followers of a U.S. imam, Fethullah Gulen, are staging the coup. U.S. military officials seemed as surprised by the actions of their NATO partners as everyone else. A defense official told The Daily Beast: “We are watching events on television just like you are.”

Another.

Erdogan believes that the Gulenists are behind the coup.

Who knew that “public schools” would be backers of a coup in Turkey, a key ally?Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog:

How Gov. Mike Pence worked to undermine the will of Indiana’s voters - The Washington Post

How Gov. Mike Pence worked to undermine the will of Indiana’s voters - The Washington Post:

How Gov. Mike Pence worked to undermine the will of Indiana’s voters

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) points to Indiana Governor Mike Pence (L) during a campaign stop at the Grand Park Events Center in Westfield, Indiana, July 12, 2016. (REUTERS/John Sommers II)

In November 2012, the voters of Indiana chose Glenda Ritz, a veteran educator, to become the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. Ritz, a Democrat, upset the incumbent, a Republican named Tony Bennett who had become a darling of the corporate school reform. She had campaigned against many of Bennett’s key policies, including merit pay for teachers tied to student standardized test scores, vouchers and high-stakes standardized testing. She won more votes than the governor-elect, Mike Pence and wound up as the only Democrat holding statewide office in the conservative state.

Pence — who has just been chosen by the Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump to be on his ticket as vice president — was upset with the voters’ choice. Pence quickly declared that he supports “the policies and the progress we’ve made on education,” and, the Evansville Courier & Press reported back then, that he and and the outgoing governor, Mitch Daniels, “began to outline strategies to keep Ritz from reversing policies she campaigned against.”

And Pence, as governor, did just that.

[Republicans hate Obamacare. But Mike Pence expanded it in Indiana.]

In 2013, Pence created a new education agency in Indiana to help further his own education agenda. It was called the Center for Innovation and Career Education, and, by executive order signed by the governor, had its own dedicated funding from state agencies and could apply federal funds as well. Ritz said she found out about its creation from news reports, not from the governor himself.

In 2014, however, Pence decided to dissolve the new agency he had created even as he made a move to have Ritz removed as chair of the State Board of Education. He successfully pushed a 2015 change in state law to make the chair of the state board not the democratically elected How Gov. Mike Pence worked to undermine the will of Indiana’s voters - The Washington Post:

Big Education Ape: Koch Brothers’ Friends Funding Mike Pence | Hoosier School Heist Blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/07/koch-brothers-friends-funding-mike.html

Big Education Ape: Schools Matter: The Real Story Behind Mike Pence’s Charter School Speech - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/07/schools-matter-real-story-behind-mike.html

Big Education Ape: The bigot Mike Pence and his neighbor Bruce Rauner. | Fred Klonsky - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-bigot-mike-pence-and-his-neighbor.html

Big Education Ape: BREAKING NEWS - Trump goes with anti-public education running mate - Wait What? - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/breaking-news-trump-goes-with-anti.html

Big Education Ape: The big trouble in Indiana public schools, as explained by a troubled educator - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-big-trouble-in-indiana-public.html

Hoosier School Heist TV is Doug Martin's channel featuring videos of his book tour across Indiana speaking on the corporate takeover of public education. Order Hoosier School Heist at http://hoosierschoolheist.com/.

Follow Hoosier School Heist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoosierSchoolHeist

Tweet with Doug Martin at: https://twitter.com/DougMartinED

Destabilize & Replace - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Destabilize & Replace - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Destabilize & Replace - Teacher in a Strange Land

A tweet from Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten), after the DFER vs. actual progressives dust-up over the education plank of the Democratic platform:

#DemPlatform on charters: oppose 4 profits, accountable, transparent, teach all kids & they neither destabilize nor --not replace--pub schls

Lots of folks have written cogent and thoughtful analyses on the issue of how both parties should be re-thinking federal education in their platform documents, instead of offering up sanctimonious blah-blah around "fixes" that end up lining someone's pocket. Here, here, here and here, for example--all worth perusing as we consider what it means for a political party to resist "destabilizing and replacing" public schools. (And yes, I do realize that political platforms are not policy, and often have hope-and-change value equivalent to toilet paper: flimsy and disposable.)

But the phrase keeps coming back to me. The rest of the tweet and platform language consists of weasel words that have lost their original meanings in intra-party ed reform debates.

The education community is thoroughly--depressingly-- familiar with the term "accountable." It's about being constrained to account for easily measured outcomes. It's evaluation of teachers by student test scores. It's shutdowns and turnarounds and pick a bale of cotton, because taxpayers are unhappy about funding the distasteful results of deep and ugly poverty.

So--we're encouraged to hold educators accountable--a different descriptor entirely from the one teachers and school leaders prefer: responsible. All schoolteachers know, intimately, what accountability means, in practice. Plus--the media consistently bungles the reporting.

We also know how easy it is for non-profit organizations, even those with good intentions, to take what they need to self-perpetuate, all while wearing white hats as a nominal do-gooders. For-profit charters are just a bit more...transparent about their bottom-line goals.

And speaking of transparency--does that mean we'll be getting more information on how charters are formed, funded and held accountable themselves? In Michigan, charter authorizers get 3% off the top, from taxpayer dollars, simply for saying they'll authorize, then monitor charters. That's a huge disincentive for universities, community colleges, intermediate and local districts to bring the hammer down on an obviously failing charter.

Not having democratically elected school boards? The antithesis of transparency. Does this mean there will be a push to tighten and delineate tougher charter policy, a state-by-state proposition? Doubtful.

Still--the obvious, flashing bit of cognitive dissonance here is the phrase "destabilize and replace." The very heart and soul of opening charter schools is the word school marketeers build their fortunes on: Disruption.

Disruption is sexy and rebellious. Those old factory-model schools with their desks in rows and hidebound veteran teachers! Let's do something new! And digital! Something that will appeal to the Destabilize & Replace - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Big Education Ape: Stop celebrating disruption | The Australian - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2013/08/stop-celebrating-disruption-australian.html

Big Education Ape: The Danger of Creative Disruption as a School Reform Theory | janresseger - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-danger-of-creative-disruption-as.html

Big Education Ape: The D-List Reformer Does Disruption | EduShyster - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-d-list-reformer-does-disruption.html

Big Education Ape: Keep Your 'Disruption' Out of Our Schools | Diane Ravitch - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2013/08/keep-your-disruption-out-of-our-schools.html

Big Education Ape: The Disruption Machine: What the gospel of innovation gets wrong - The New Yorker - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-disruption-machine-what-gospel-of.html

Big Education Ape: The Trouble with “Disruption” and its Effect on Children - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-trouble-with-disruption-and-its.html

Big Education Ape: A Handbook for Creative Disruption of the Public Sector — Yikes! | janresseger - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-handbook-for-creative-disruption-of.html

Big Education Ape: Just Released: My 3rd Book, School Choice: The End of Public Education? | deutsch29 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/just-released-my-3rd-book-school-choice.html

Big Education Ape: The Disruption of America's (Broken) Education System - The Atlantic - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-disruption-of-americas-broken.html

How charter schools in Michigan have hurt traditional public schools, new research finds - The Washington Post

How charter schools in Michigan have hurt traditional public schools, new research finds - The Washington Post:

How charter schools in Michigan have hurt traditional public schools, new research finds

How do some charter schools affect the traditional school districts in which they are located? Disastrously in some cases, as a new study about Michigan schools shows.

The study, “Which Districts Get Into Financial Trouble and Why: Michigan’s Story,” finds that among Michigan districts, “80 percent of the explained variation in district fiscal stress is due to changes in districts’ state funding, to enrollment changes including those associated with school choice policies, and to the enrollment of high-cost special education students.” A working paper was released last November and the study will be published in the fall edition of the Journal of Education Finance.

In the following post, Jennifer Berkshire, author of the EduShyster website, interviews the lead author of the study, David Arsen, a professor in the Department of Educational Administration College of Education at Michigan State University about the research and its implications for charter school expansion in other places. He notes in the interview that “overwhelmingly, the biggest financial impact on school districts was the result of declining enrollment and revenue loss, especially where school choice and charters are How charter schools in Michigan have hurt traditional public schools, new research finds - The Washington Post:

School corporal punishment legislation gridlocked on Capitol Hill

School corporal punishment legislation gridlocked on Capitol Hill:

School corporal punishment legislation gridlocked on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) It’s a bill that remains held up in Congress, having a daily effect on children.

For almost a year, legislation that would end corporal punishment in schools remains on the back burner. Right now, only democratic lawmakers have signed onto a bill that would stop it.

Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA) is a cosponsor of H.R. 2268, a bill that would end corporal punishment in schools. It was sent to the House subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education last year, and hasn’t budged.

"To me it’s an absolute no-brainer,” said Loebsack. "We know that corporal punishment is not effective. It doesn’t do the job that they claim that it does.”

Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA) sits on that subcommittee.

"Certainly corporal punishment is something we need to look at and we need to weigh in on, and we will certainly do that as time goes on,” said Carter.

How much time will that take?

"That’s up to the subcommittee Chairman and whether they want to act on it or not,” said Carter. "It has not come before us yet, and whether it does or not will be up to the Chairman.”

Off Capitol Hill, there’s been support from education organizations like the American Federation of Teachers.

“Our students cannot learn unless they feel physically and emotionally safe,” said AFT in a statement. "Physical discipline does nothing to help students solve conflicts or address problems, and it teaches students that violence is acceptable.”

Loebsack says lawmakers need to act now.

"So long as that kind of activity is occurring in the schools, we’re seeing children harmed,” said Loebsack.

As of now, there’s still no timeline as to when the subcommittee will take up Loebsack’s bill.

School is out, but the fight to preserve public education continues - NPE Action

School is out, but the fight to preserve public education continues - NPE Action:

School is out, but the fight to preserve public education continues

RALLY TO STOP THE ALEC AGENDA

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has a clear agenda when it comes to public schools—it wants them privatized. ALEC is a Washington D.C. lobbying group funded by corporations and the super-rich, which writes model legislation that promotes private company takeovers of public schools, school vouchers, constriction of collective bargaining and due process for teachers, teacher evaluations based on test scores and other anti-public school bills.

The Center for Media and Democracy outlined the ALEC agenda here.

ALEC will hold its annual meeting July 27 – 29 in Indianapolis. The damage done by ALEC sponsored legislation in Indiana is nearly irreparable. Join the Indiana State Teachers Association and other public education advocates in Indianapolis to rally against ALEC.

Where: Indiana State Museum, 650 W Washington St. Indianapolis, Indiana

When: July 27: 3:30-5:30

You can find additional information here.

WE ARE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT WHEN WE ANGER

Last month NPE Action issued a petition to the Democratic Party that described, in detail, what the party’s platform should contain. You can read that petitionhere. Many of you, along with 47 pro-public education grassroots groups, signed on. Thanks to the efforts of Chuck Pascal, Troy LaRaviere and others, parts of our petition made it into the platform via amendments. You can find those amendments here. Search for the amendments proposed by Chuck and Troy.

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) were not pleased. You can read here about their dismay with the significant changes in the language. NPE Action sent a similar petition to the Republican Party, which you can find here.

WORKING WITH YOU TO STRENGTHEN OUR MOVEMENT

The Network for Public Education is launching the NPE Grassroots Education Network, an exciting service initiative to help local organizations fight back against corporate reform. NPE believes that it is our obligation to better serve allied groups in the struggle to preserve, promote, improve and strengthen our public schools. Your local or allied group’s participation in the NPE Grassroots Education Network will not only help your organization reach more people who care about your issues, but it will also serve to strengthen the national movement to save our public schools.

NPE wants to amplify your voice and forge alliances as we all fight together to strengthen and preserve our public schools. To learn more and sign up to be part of this exciting new initiative go here.

ESSA REGULATIONS

Network for Public Education began a campaign to fight the “test and punish” ESSA regulations proposed by John King. NPE’s careful analysis was cited by Lamar Alexander, and he placed the statement into the record during the July Senate hearing. Please continue to pressure your representatives using NPE’s letter writing campaign, which you can find here.

Every state education department is also giving feedback on the ESSA regulations. Share our analysis with your state education department as well as parent and teacher groups. The deadline to give input is August 1. There is still a small window of time.

Thanks for all you do,

Carol Burris

Executive Director, Network for Public Education ActionSchool is out, but the fight to preserve public education continues - NPE Action:

Network for Public Education Action is a 501 (c)(4) organization. You can make a non-tax deductible donation here.

You can follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook.School is out, but the fight to preserve public education continues - NPE Action:

After hours of testimony, state board adopts history guidelines | EdSource

After hours of testimony, state board adopts history guidelines | EdSource:

After hours of testimony, state board adopts history guidelines

After listening to five hours of charged disagreements by Hindus, Muslims and others on how their religions and culture should be depicted in California classrooms, the State Board of Education adopted new social science guidelines Thursday that will stress teaching critical thinking and objective inquiry so that students can determine historical truths for themselves.

“We are not the arbiter of historical debate,” State Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Adams, who oversaw the process of approving the guidelines, told the state board. “We will turn it over to students to make their own judgment.”

Seven years in the making and hundreds of pages in length, the new History-Social Science Framework was suspended in 2009 during the economic recession and revived two years ago. The framework is not a curriculum or a textbook; it’s an instruction guide for teachers on the state’s K-12 history and social science standards.

The standards haven’t been updated since 1996 but the new framework will serve as a historical update and the basis for publishers to rewrite K-8 textbooks, which they will start submitting for approval next year. High schools choose After hours of testimony, state board adopts history guidelines | EdSource:

Big Education Ape: History Social Science Framework - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/history-social-science-framework-year.html

John Thompson: We will all pay the price for Oklahoma's 'decency deficit' - NonDoc

We will all pay the price for Oklahoma's 'decency deficit' - NonDoc:

We will all pay the price for Oklahoma’s ‘decency deficit’

I‘ve got good news and bad news.

Perhaps the best news is that children’s health outcomes are improving, so now Oklahoma is ranked 34th nationally. Further, Oklahoma children’s well-being is improving — from 37th to 35th in the nation. We now only need to pass four states to become average in our children’s economic welfare. Last, the child-poverty rate dropped by a point to 22 percent, which is average for the nation.

The bad news is that the modestly improving metrics listed above must be considered along with other sad statistics. For example, more than 10 percent of Oklahoma children are in extreme poverty (which is half of the poverty level), and the New York Times’ Nick Kristof recently compared our state’s extreme poverty to that of Bangladesh.

In terms of economic opportunity, poor Oklahoma County children rank 19th nationally, or four points below their counterparts in Baltimore County.

Perhaps worst of all, Oklahoma is tied for first in the nation in the percentage of children who have endured three or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Also, the percentage of children whose parents don’t have secure employment has increased to 30 percent. Perhaps even more frightening, between 9 percent and 18 percent of Oklahoma teens are not in school and unemployed.

Oklahoma has seen minor improvements in student performance and high school graduation rates, but it remains 42nd in the nation in education, depending how you score the topic. Estimates of the Oklahoma City Public School System spending range as low as $8,118 per student. That is 40 percent below the national average, and is even before this year’s and next year’s budget cuts are counted. (Other estimates indicate that the OKCPS spends only 29 percent less.) The OKCPS is 86 percent low-income (as We will all pay the price for Oklahoma's 'decency deficit' - NonDoc:

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