CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: I'm Pretty Sure It's Palm Sunday Edition (4/5)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: I'm Pretty Sure It's Palm Sunday Edition (4/5)

I'm Pretty Sure It's Palm Sunday Edition (4/5)

So here we all are, sitting at home and nervously watching the numbers, while a whole lot of folks pretend that all they have to do is wave their hands and teachers will somehow fix the school part of this. Here's the reading. I've tried to include some things to brighten your day a bit.

Remote Learning Is Turning Out To Be A Burden for Parents
Yeah, a zillion folks have figured this out, but this is the New York Post, the newspaper that is pretty sure any dope can be a teacher.

This is not an experiment
John Warner reminds us that while there is data to be gathered, this is not any kind of experiment.

Can my son get more worksheets before the world ends
McSweeney's is on a roll right now. This is just one of the posts I'll include this week.

Another charter school attempts a hostile takeover
In Los Angeles, a reminder that some parts of business as usual are still going on, like charters trying to push public schools out of public school buildings.

Astrophysicist gets magnets stuck up nose
From Australia. This has nothing to do with education; it's just funny. "My partner took me to the hospital that she works in because she wanted all her colleagues to laugh at me."

Five concerns about the rush to online learning
From Valerie Strauss. A worthwhile list.

We, the Hard-Working, Newly Homeschooling Parents of America, Have Rewritten the Common Core Standards
McSweeney's again. If you're staying in place with children, you will recognize these goals.

The Homeschooling movement sees an opportunity  
Jeff Bryant at Citizen Truth (though, weirdly, someone else's name is on the byline). A good thorough look at some of the forces being marshalled during the pandemic.

Learning from home is hard enough. Try doing it where wifi is illegal.
Really interesting piece from Mother Jones. Turns out that in West Virginia where the big radio telescope is aimed at the universe, there's a whole area where wifi and cell phones are banned. If you think your school is having trouble transitioning...

15,000 high school students are AWOL
How's distance learning going in LAUSD? Well, could be a little better. From the LA Times.

Day 12: We should not be requiring parents to teach their children from home
Susie Johnson, Not Your Average Mom, offers a solid articulation of one point of view about the whole home school-ish thing.

DeVos weighs waivers for special ed. 
It's the big fear. The New York Times looks at the possibility that DeVos will just scrap special ed requirements.

North Lenoir student treks three miles to school for wifi.
You know there are stories like this all over the country. A reminder, once again, that not every home is internet-ready.

Hula Dancing, Singing and a Teacher's Impact  
I've missed Russ Walsh in the blogosphere, but he has returned recently, and here's a nice little piece to remind us about the long term impact of a teacher's work.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: I'm Pretty Sure It's Palm Sunday Edition (4/5)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

As Schools Tackle Coronavirus Pause, Don’t Forget Career And Technical Education Students. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2020/04/01/as-schools-take-coronavirus-pause-dont-forget-career-and-technical-education-students/#1c79c3de3fb7 by @palan57 on @forbes

As Schools Tackle Coronavirus Pause, Don’t Forget Career And Technical Education Students. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2020/04/01/as-schools-take-coronavirus-pause-dont-forget-career-and-technical-education-students/#1c79c3de3fb7 by @palan57 on @forbes

DeVos: Leaving Students Behind And Launching National School Vouchers - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2020/03/29/devos-leaving-students-behind-and-launching-national-school-vouchers/#2b89ce4c6b4a by @palan57 on @forbes

Get Your Shift Together

52by Peter Greene / 16h

The interwebs have been drowning in hot takes, thinky pieces and unsolicited teacher advice for the business of shifting education from the classroom to the web. This is hands down the smartest, best quick advice on the subject I've seen. If I was designing my class to be an online course, it would look nothing like I'm doing now. You don't just "shift" a class to online instruction, it needs to b

Privilege and the Pandemic

100+by Peter Greene / 19h

The pandemic-powered slide into crisis schooling is highlighting many aspects of how our public education system works (or doesn't). In particular, the push for some version of distance learning is underlining the huge gap between haves and have-nots. We see the gap on the district level, between districts that can quickly muster the hardware and resources to maintain "continuity of instruction" (

APR 02

Of Pandemics And Teacher Motivation

1Kby Peter Greene / 2d

Remember that time that schools were shut down because of a pandemic, and all the teachers said, "Yippee! Extra vacation! I am out of here" and all jumped in their Porches and drove to their beach homes? Yeah, neither do I. Here's what I'll remember. Teacher after teacher, from the ones in my Twitter feeds to the ones in my email to the ones that I know personally, sharing how miserable and worrie

FL: Path Opens To Killing Public Schools

400+by Peter Greene / 2d

If there was a state most likely to grab the coronaviral opportunity to gut its public school system, it would have to be Florida, some those ducks appear to be lining up. Florida Virtual School (FLVS ) has had its share of rough times . Started by the state in the 90s, spun into a private business (a " publicly-funded non-profit, " so a charter school), and then mired in a mess of incompetence an

MAR 31

Why Teach Literature Stuff: #5 Language Is Power

35by Peter Greene / 4d

When I was teaching, and I had extra time on my hands, I would reflect on the work--the whys and hows and whats. So in solidarity with my former colleagues, I'm going to write a series about every English teacher's favorite thing-- teaching literature, and why we do it. There will be some number of posts (I don't have a plan here). Also, it would be nice to write and read about something positive

MAR 30

Career And Technical Education Deserves A Resurgence. Let’s Not Mess-- Oh, Hell

43by Peter Greene / 5d

Amidst all his slashing of the education budget, Donald Trump has proposed an e normous spending increase for one area —career and technical education. The Trump budget includes an increase of $900 million in spending on CTE. Of that, $680 million would be directed through the Carl D. Perkins program , the main conduit for moving federal money into high school and post-high school CTE programs, t

Please Hold Your Applause

300+by Peter Greene / 5d

Yeah, you. The one posting the memes about heroic grocery store workers and medical personnel. The one posting all the heartwarming stories about our collective outpourings of love and appreciation for the people doing the hard work right now, out in the world where viruses can find them. The one sharing articles about how we should all help keep these front line workers healthy . The one sharing

MAR 29

ICYMI: What Day Is This Edition (3/29)

by Peter Greene / 6d

I feel like retirement gave me a head start, but yes-- after a while, the days kind of blend together. Still, we have some reading from the week. Remember, share safely. The Biggest Obstacle To Moving America's Public Schools Online Susan Adams, my editor at Forbes, takes a look at some of the problems with just tossing school onto the interwebz. Baghian and Vallas candidates for LA state ed chief

MAR 28

Why Teach Literature Stuff: #4 Books Versus Video

by Peter Greene / 7d

When I was teaching, and I had extra time on my hands, I would reflect on the work--the whys and hows and whats. So in solidarity with my former colleagues, I'm going to write a series about every English teacher's favorite thing-- teaching literature, and why we do it. There will be some number of posts (I don't have a plan here). Also, it would be nice to write and read about something positive

When Tech Makes Educational Decisions

29by Peter Greene / 7d

"The internet is a bad place. Young people really shouldn't use it at all." The speaker was not some cranky parent or enraged luddite. It was the guy in charge of maintaining the network in my high school. In other words, the guy responsible for making sure it was possible for our students to access the internet. This was many years ago, but it slapped me upside the head with the realization that

MAR 27

Business and Humanity (When People Tell You Who They Are)

40by Peter Greene / 8d

It has been a central conflict in education for decades now. Should education be organized around the needs of the business world, guided by the invisible hand in service to The Economy. We've heard it over and over again. Business 

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

"Have To" History: Stone v. Graham (1980) | Blue Cereal Education

"Have To" History: Stone v. Graham (1980) | Blue Cereal Education

"Have To" History: Stone v. Graham (1980)

The following is a first draft for what I hope will become the follow-up to "Have To" History: Landmark Supreme Court Cases. I'm sharing some of the chapters as they're written, partly to share with you, my Eleven Faithful Followers, and partly because nothing brings out the typos, grammar errors, and other shortcomings like publishing something online. Enjoy.

Thou Shalt Post These In Every Classroom

Three Big Things:

1. Kentucky required that the Ten Commandments be posted in all public school classrooms without comment, but with a little disclaimer underneath about them being the “fundamental legal code of Western civilization.” 

2. The Court applied the “Lemon Test” and determined that the legislation had no clear secular purpose; it was thus a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

3. Whereas recent cases had dealt with efforts to support the secular education of students in religious schools without running afoul of the “wall of separation,” Stone marked a new generation of cases focused on the reverse – seeing just how far religion could be brought back into public schooling.

Background

The Supreme Court’s decision in Stone v. Graham was announced on November 17th, 1980. Less than two weeks earlier, Ronald Reagan had been elected President of the United States, initiating what would later be called the “Reagan Revolution” – a resurgence of conservative values and policies anchored in an idealized past. The events leading to Stone began years earlier, but its outcome sent a message to the faithful in the 1980s similar to that of Engel v. Vitale and Abington v. Schempp two decades before: American’s fundamental values (meaning public promotion of CONTINUE READING: "Have To" History: Stone v. Graham (1980) | Blue Cereal Education

EdAction in Congress April 5, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress April 5, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress April 5, 2020

DeVos revives failed push to privatize education

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the coronavirus crisis to revive her failed push to privatize education. This time, she’s calling for “microgrants” instead of vouchers. But the impact would be the same: robbing the public schools that educate 9 out of 10 students of funding, robbing the public of accountability, and diverting taxpayer dollars from public to private systems.

DeVos admits her latest scheme is just vouchers by another name. “I’ve always believed education funding should be tied to students, not systems,” she said at a March 27 press conference at the White House. “It is shameful that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would use a pandemic like the coronavirus to, once again, push her failed privatization agenda to defund public schools,” responded NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. Congress has rejected DeVos’ voucher schemes for three years and must do it again. TAKE ACTION

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Congress contemplates fourth coronavirus package

The coronavirus legislation enacted thus far is a good start, but doesn’t do nearly enough for students and educators—especially in light of school closures, the switch to online instruction, and the intense strain on state budgets we know is coming. Now is the time to begin pushing for more funding where we know it is needed: the Education Stabilization Fund to help fill state budget gaps and prevent educator layoffs, closing the “homework gap” experienced by students who don’t have internet devices or access at home, and expanding student loan forgiveness.

All Americans need paid sick leave not just when they are sick, but when they need to care for incapacitated family members. With state budget shortfalls looming ever larger, the federal government needs to pay a bigger share of Medicaid costs to stave off cuts in education and other essential public services. The federal government also needs to protect voting rights—the money provided thus far is not nearly enough to ensure every citizen actually has the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot or other means in November’s nationwide elections. TAKE ACTION

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Cheers and Jeers

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to waive the requirement that children must be physically present when school meals are picked up—and it agreed. For details, please see the Washington Post. 

EdAction in Congress April 5, 2020 - Education Votes

Better Call Saul: On the High Art of Centering Whiteness – radical eyes for equity

Better Call Saul: On the High Art of Centering Whiteness – radical eyes for equity

Better Call Saul: On the High Art of Centering Whiteness

Among the pantheon of white-man art, including the Coen brothers and David Lynch for me, the creators of Better Call Saul offer a finely crafted and deeply flawed series that is really hard not to look at and enjoy.

This prequel to Breaking Bad shares many of the strengths (beautifully and finely filmed, nuanced and morally ambiguous characters) and most of the flaws (centering whiteness, ignoring or running roughshod over brown and black characters) with its source. As I am nearing the end of the series on Netflix (with the newest season on AMC), I often find Saul better than the original, in part because I think it unpacks extremely well being a lawyer against the moral ambiguity of many compelling characters (even as I have no real expertise in whether or not the series captures the law in any sort of valid way).

Saul fits into my fascination with moral ambiguity, notably Andy Sipowicz in NYPD Blue as one example. But I have to admit that I am primarily drawn to how well made the series is; as TV, it is just damned compelling to look at. (I often find myself seeing comic book panels, still camera shots that do as much as the acting or dialogue.)

As I noted above, I have this affection for Lynch and the Coen brothers, although I would put the creators of Saul closer to the latter.

Well into my 20s and my young teaching and writing career, I was an uncritical CONTINUE READING: Better Call Saul: On the High Art of Centering Whiteness – radical eyes for equity

Jersey Jazzman: Can NJ Afford To Continue Subsidizing Private Schools?

Jersey Jazzman: Can NJ Afford To Continue Subsidizing Private Schools?

Can NJ Afford To Continue Subsidizing Private Schools?

Regardless of what happens next with Covid-19, it's clear that the budgets of states like New Jersey are in for a very, very tough time over the next few years. Governors and legislatures are going to have to make some hard choices about what states can and cannot afford in the days ahead.

Given this reality, New Jersey has to ask itself: Can we afford to continue to give large sums of money to private K-12 schools?

"Wait," some of you are saying: "I thought New Jersey didn't have a school voucher program." You're correct, we don't -- but the state still gives a lot of money to private schools.

According to New Jersey law, nonpublic schools are eligible for all kinds of services that must be paid for by resident public school districts. In 2017-18, the payments to New Jersey's nonpublic schools for these services, excluding transportation, added up to more than $115 million. 

New Jersey is actually the nation's historical leader in subsidizing nonpublic schools. Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing is the landmark 1947 CONTINUE READING: Jersey Jazzman: Can NJ Afford To Continue Subsidizing Private Schools?

School at home is the coronavirus reality. What's next? - Los Angeles Times

School at home is the coronavirus reality. What's next? - Los Angeles Times

School from home is the new coronavirus reality. What will the next three months look like?

A senior at John C. Fremont High School in South L.A., Emilio Hernandez’s class load is about as rigorous as it gets: AP calculus, physics, design, English, engineering and government. He loves talking to his peers in English class, who make all the readings thought-provoking. He often turns to his math teacher, who has a way of drawing the graphs and walking him through derivatives and complex formulas.

Now, with a borrowed laptop from school and family crowded in the living room, he’s struggling to make school feel like, well, school. He has trouble falling asleep and finds himself going to bed later and later — sometimes as late as 3 a.m.

“Assignments that would normally take me two hours or thirty minutes are now taking me days to complete. I just … can’t focus,” he said. “I don’t have anyone giving me direction. It’s just me reading and having to give myself the incentive to do the work.”

It’s been three weeks since school districts across the state have closed their campuses as coronavirus continues to sweep its way across California — sending more than 6 million students home to navigate online or distance learning. What started as an emergency scramble to provide laptops and meals for a few weeks has dramatically shifted to a longer-haul transformation of public education.

“The kids are not going back to their classrooms” this academic year, said Gov. Gavin Newsom, who acknowledged the burden on households with the entire state under his stay-at-home order.

For those who look to school for learning and social structure, the new reality is sinking in: There will be no school as we know it after spring break. No prom. No year-end field trips. No projects to present inside a familiar classroom. Navigating the next three months left in the school year, leaders said, calls for patience and dedication from educators, self-motivation from already stressed-out students and swift actions from school districts typically mired in bureaucratic obstacles.

“These aren’t normal circumstances. It’s the most uncharted territory that we’ve been in,” said State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “We’re stronger together and we can help all of our kids as we work together.”

Many are already rising to the challenge. Yet each step forward means moving past CONTINUE READING: School at home is the coronavirus reality. What's next? - Los Angeles Times

Jeanette Deutermann: A Message to Parents and Teachers: EMPATHY! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jeanette Deutermann: A Message to Parents and Teachers: EMPATHY! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jeanette Deutermann: A Message to Parents and Teachers: EMPATHY!

Jeanette Deutermann is the parent on Long Island in New York who launched “Long Island Opt Out.” It is now part of NYSAPE, New York State Parents and Educators, which has led the successful opt out movement. She read some angry posts on Facebook, with blame as the common factor. And she wrote this plea on her Facebook page, which has been widely shared:

All of our Facebook feeds are filled with posts of parents furious with teachers giving too much work, too little work, teachers furious about kids not logging on, kids sleeping in, and kids not completing the work. I want to implore everyone to keep one word in the front of their brains right now: EMPATHY. We all like to think we have empathy for others, but now is the time to prove it.

For parents: if you think a teacher is assigning too much work, just realize – some teachers are untenured with chairpeople scrutinizing each and every assignment. Some are getting nasty emails from parents demanding more work. Some just are unaware of how long it is taking students to complete their work. Communicate with them. Most teachers will respond “no problem! Just CONTINUE READING: Jeanette Deutermann: A Message to Parents and Teachers: EMPATHY! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Marie Corfield: Strange Days Indeed Pt. 1

Marie Corfield: Strange Days Indeed Pt. 1

Strange Days Indeed Pt. 1

Some reflections on life in these strange new times from someone who's lived through a few of her own

Note: These are my thoughts and feelings; this is my experience. Take what you like and leave the rest. I mean no judgment on you or your religious or spiritual beliefs. This is just what works for me.

Everything old is new again.

In 1929, my grandmother was a 25-year-old single mother of a two-year-old boy. She already had eleven years experience under her belt working for what was then Bell Telephone, having graduated 8th grade and lied about her age to get the job. She was also the sole breadwinner in a house that included both her parents, her sister and brother-in-law.

Welcome to the Great Depression.

Between that and the two World Wars, life took a devastating toll on people physically, mentally and spiritually. But, through sheer grit, determination and belief that things would get better, they survived and thrived. But not without tremendous loss.

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" was the mantra of the era. Although my family fared better than most (relatively speaking), like all Baby Boomers, I was raised on their stories, practices and stoicism: patch clothes and hand them down, darn socks, CONTINUE READING: Marie Corfield: Strange Days Indeed Pt. 1

With A Brooklyn Accent: My 10 Strategies for Getting Through This Pandemic

With A Brooklyn Accent: My 10 Strategies for Getting Through This Pandemic

My 10 Strategies for Getting Through This Pandemic

1. Get plenty of sleep every night and nap during the day

2. Take vitamins and supplements every morning to build up my immune system

3. Exercise every day, but never to the point of exhaustion

4. Never leave the house except to sit on the stoop or go for a walk in the park, and wear a mask whenever I am outside

5. Respond to every request for help from students and friends in a timely manner

6. Eat lots of comfort food as well as food that builds up my immune system

7 Since there are no sports to provide escape, read great mystery authors on Kindle and watch episodes of compelling series on TV with Liz every evening.

8. Wash my hands 20-40 times a day.

9. Enjoy bourbon, scotch, rum, vodka and wine whenever the spirit moves me

10 Put my heart and soul into providing my students with the best possible on line classes, and do so in a manner that reduces rather than adds to their stress

With A Brooklyn Accent: My 10 Strategies for Getting Through This Pandemic

CURMUDGUCATION: Privilege and the Pandemic

CURMUDGUCATION: Privilege and the Pandemic
Privilege and the Pandemic

The pandemic-powered slide into crisis schooling is highlighting many aspects of how our public education system works (or doesn't). In particular, the push for some version of distance learning is underlining the huge gap between haves and have-nots.

We see the gap on the district level, between districts that can quickly muster the hardware and resources to maintain "continuity of instruction" (which sounds so much fancier than just "keep doing the work") and districts that have to really struggle for solutions. Various businesses are hoping to "help meet the needs" of districts and make some bucks doing it, presumably focusing on those districts that offer the best promise of long-term ROI.

In homes, the gap is even more severe. It seems particularly stark when one looks at all the perky advice about organizing your home school experience, laying out ideas that I'm sure are super-great if you are in a household where parents aren't trying to work from home, or aren't suddenly unemployed and uninsured, or aren't single parents trying to meet all the schooling obligations just laid on your multiple kids, aren't spending most of your days wracked with fear and uncertainty about how you're going to make it through all of this, or aren't still going out to work every day so that everyone else can have health care or food or some other essential service while you wonder how to get someone to watch your kids during the day as you also wonder if this is the day someone sneezes on you and kills you.

Social media is loaded with parent shaming, often parent on parent, about how "COVID is not a vacation from education" and you should be getting those kids logged on and distance learning away. Does that prospect strike you as somewhere between "stressful" and "nearly impossible" (imagine one parent and three students who all have to work from home on one computer with a lousy wifi CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Privilege and the Pandemic

Russ on Reading: Hula Dancing, Singing and a Teacher's Impact

Russ on Reading: Hula Dancing, Singing and a Teacher's Impact

Hula Dancing, Singing and a Teacher's Impact

Recently, I had a former student reach out to me recently on Facebook Messenger. Back in the early 1980s, all middle school students were required to take a developmental reading course. This former student had been wracking his brain to come up with the title of a book he had read in my class 40 years ago.  He described the basic plot, mentioned that it contained some “bad language” and I recalled a book entitled. Headman, by Kin Platt that was on my choice bookshelf back in those days. That was the one, he said.

This incident reminded me of the influence we have as teacher in ways that we may not even know or realize. I had not heard from this student in nearly 40 years and yet this book had resonated with him in a memorable way. I gave him a socially distanced fist bump and smiled a little to myself.

Over the years I have great memories of teachers who have influenced me. There was Mrs. Stout, in sixth grade, who taught me to believe in myself. There were Mr. Laidacker, Mr. Kautz, Mr. Turner and Mr. DiSangro, who fostered my love of history, which caused me to be a history major as an undergraduate.. The was Mr. Blough, the passionate music appreciation teacher, who fostered an eclectic love of music from Bach to Benny CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: Hula Dancing, Singing and a Teacher's Impact

NYC Educator: De Blasio Kills Multiple Birds With One Stone, Sabotaging Teachers, Students, and Organized Religion

NYC Educator: De Blasio Kills Multiple Birds With One Stone, Sabotaging Teachers, Students, and Organized Religion

De Blasio Kills Multiple Birds With One Stone, Sabotaging Teachers, Students, and Organized Religion

Let's be clear. Though we may have been a little rough on the mayor this week, the epidemic is not his fault. All he did was neglect it and allow it to spread like wildfire. And it's not his fault there are issues with Zoom. All he did was withdraw it with no notice whatsoever, leaving tens of thousands of teachers up the creek without even a virtual paddle.

Now you might think that the DOE just sat around and envisioned ways to exacerbate an already horrible situation. I was LAB-BESIS coordinator at my school for one very long year, and that was precisely the impression I got whenever I had to deal with DOE. I quit that job first chance I got.

This week it's like we're all playing a board game and Bill de Blasio not only sends us all back to square one, but also announces from now on we're all playing a new game altogether. You damn well better be able to start tomorrow AM. Also, the rules lay out only what you CANNOT do, which is use the tool most of us have depended on since this all began.

I shouldn't be surprised at acts of outright spite or gross incompetence anymore. I should simply sit in a lotus position, chant a mantra, and expect it to happen. After all, I work for the DOE, which was molded into a largely malignant force under Michael Bloomberg.

When de Blasio came in, I thought things would turn around. I expected a sea change, but he simply left the Bloomberg machine in place. If you're a chapter leader, you know that Bloomberg's "legal" department still advises principals to break the contract whenever they goshdarn feel like it. When the current chancellor took the baby step of firing a few people, he was accused of racism. Yet he should've fired a few hundred people, fumigated Tweed, and started over.

I've been doing online lessons for about two weeks, scrambling to keep up with myself, with little idea what, if anything, my students were getting from this. I still lack the confidence to give an assessment of any kind, be it a test, a project or a writing piece. I will get over that. Call me cynical, but I will not trust the results. I've long ago decided I could not stop cheating in homework, but with in-class assessments I could really see what was going on. No more of that.

Now that's not the fault of Bill de Blasio. As I said earlier, all he did was drag his feet and make a deadly epidemic much worse than it needed to be. Sure, thousands of people will die as a result of his gross negligence and ineptitude, but had he closed the schools when he should have, students would still be able to cheat when using remote learning. So CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: De Blasio Kills Multiple Birds With One Stone, Sabotaging Teachers, Students, and Organized Religion

Parents and Teachers Are Asking: Should We Be Grading Students? Regents Examinations? Graduation Requirements? | Ed In The Apple

Parents and Teachers Are Asking: Should We Be Grading Students? Regents Examinations? Graduation Requirements? | Ed In The Apple

Parents and Teachers Are Asking: Should We Be Grading Students? Regents Examinations? Graduation Requirements?

School leaders and teachers in New York City and across the state have been struggling to set up routines for remote learning; finding schedules that can be replicated and bring continuity to lessons, coordinating with teachers on their grade, conferencing with the school leader; it s been challenging and schools are slowly working out the kinks, until the decision to cancel the Spring recess and in New York City to cancel closing schools on Holy Thursday and Good Friday and move from Zoom to Microsoft Teams, a totally different platform  (See Chalkbeat article here  with the Department explanation).  The teacher union, the UFT sharply disagreed   with the decision to cancel the spring recess, to no avail, the Department did agree to add four days to each teachers’ cumulative absence reserve (“sick days”) and allow the days to be used for religious observance.

What exactly is supposed to happen instructionally next week is unclear. Principals and teachers are angry and frustrated, and, for good reason. Next week could have been used to clarify the many complexx questions as well as contunie upgrading teacher remote learning challenges.

UFT President Mulgrew’s letter,

 Dear XXXX

 The schools chancellor has informed me that Mayor Bill de Blasio has decided to keep New York City public schools open on Thursday, April 9, and Friday, April 10, even though those days are major religious holidays.

I told him flat out that I disagreed with that decision, but the city is going ahead with it anyway. Under the state of emergency he declared in New York City, the CONTINUE READING: Parents and Teachers Are Asking: Should We Be Grading Students? Regents Examinations? Graduation Requirements? | Ed In The Apple