KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all

 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG 

A site to discuss better education for all

Fred Klonsky: Retired Teachers in Illinois Don’t Collect Social Security, Does It Matter if the GOP Kills It?

by dianeravitch / 7min

Fred Klonsky is a retired teacher in Illinois. Retired teachers in that state, like many others, don’t collect Social Security. Politicians of both parties have tried to cut teachers’ retirement benefits. Should he care that Trump wants to defund Social Security? He concludes that teachers in Illinois are in the same fight with those who face Trump’s stealth effort to defund Social Security. Trum

YESTERDAY

Delightful Song about Our Current Situation

57by dianeravitch / 21h

The Phoenix Chamber Choir of Vancouver recorded this wonderful parody of a song written by Billy Joel about the rigors and tedium of quarantine. Enjoy!

Attention, Parents! A Statement on EdTech from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

28by dianeravitch / 22h

The arrival of COVID-19 has made children and educators across the nation dependent on distance learning for since March. Many parents recognize the defects of distance learning and eagerly await the opportunity to send their child back to real school when it is safe. They understand that an iPad or computer can’t take the place of a real teacher. Meanwhile the for-profit edtrch industry sees the

Republicans Launch Racist, Sexist Attacks on Kamala

42by dianeravitch / 23h

Get ready for a vicious campaign. It has already started. Trump, a man with no discernible religion, recently said that Biden, a faithful Catholic, will: “Take away your guns, take away your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything. Hurt the Bible. Hurt God. He’s against God. He’s against guns. He’s against energy, our kind of energy.” Now that Biden has chosen Kamala Harris as his vice-preside

David Berliner and Gene Glass: Why Bother Testing in 2021?

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

David Berliner and Gene Glass are leaders of the American education research community. Their books are required reading in the field. They shared with me their thoughts about the value of annual testing in 2021. I would add only one point: if Trump is voted out in November, Jim Blew and Betsy DeVos will have no role in deciding whether to demand or require the annual standardized testing regime

AUG 13

Happy Birthday, Annie Oakley!

by dianeravitch / 1d

I’ve seen the Broadway play “Annie, Get Your Gun” twice, and I saw the movie as well. I never knew how much was truth, how much was fiction. I was happy to read the following in today’s edition of Garrison Keillor’s “The Writers’ Almanac.” It’s the birthday of American sharpshooter Annie Oakley (1860), born Phoebe Ann Mosey in a log cabin just north of what is now Willowdell, in Darke County, Ohi

The Anniversary of the First Cooperative Hospital

by dianeravitch / 1d

This story was posted in Garrison Keillor’s “The Writers’ Almanac.” Dr. Michael Shadid established the first cooperatively owned and operated hospital in the United States on this date in 1931. Shadid had been born in a mountain village in Lebanon, and knew firsthand how hard it was for the poor to get good health care. He was one of 12 kids, and only three of them survived infancy. The only medi

“Hamilton” on Television!

by dianeravitch / 1d

Ty Burr, reviewer for the Boston Globe,loved the TV “Hamilton.” I’m happy to learn that it was not “adapted” for the screen. It’s the Broadway show in full, gloriously produced. It was filmed in July 2016, a hopeful time. It was impossible to buy tickets. They were being scalped for hundreds of dollars a seat. Lin-Manuel Miranda set aside multiple free performances for high school students. Ordin

Oklahoma: Judge Fines Virtual Charter School $500,000

31by dianeravitch / 1d

A judge in Oklahoma Fined the company that manages EPIC virtual charter school $500,000 for trying to suppress the fre speech of a critic, plus his legal fees. Unfortunately, despite poor results and ongoing legal controversies, enrollment at EPIC and other virtual charter schools is soaring due to the pandemic. An Oklahoma County district judge leveled a $500,000 fine against the nonprofit overs

Reading Emily Dickinson During the Pandemic

by dianeravitch / 1d

Catherine O’Neill Grace is a senior associate editor at the Wellesley College alumnae magazine, where this article was published . The article reminded me of why I loved college, lo those many years ago. My freshman poetry professor was Philip Booth, who was a poet. He was also very handsome, and I think that every young woman in his class had a crush on him. I know I did. Ms. Grace writes: Back

Teacher: A Day in the Life of a Hybrid Classroom

500+by dianeravitch / 2d

This post was sent by a teacher in Westchester County, New York, who prefers to remain anonymous: Based on the hybrid/blended learning model described in the re-entry plan, this is what an average class period would look like in a typical 40-minute class. While an 80-minute class has more flexibility, the protocols are the same. This is a SMALL sampling of what life will be like for teachers and

Chalkbeat: Trump, DeVos Demand Reopening Despite Risks

34by dianeravitch / 2d

Matt Barnum reports that Trump and DeVos renewed their pressure to reopen schools despite the fact that most large districts have ignored their previous threats to cut funding. They and their Senate allies have refused to provide the funding necessary to enable schools to open safely, in accordance with CDC guidelines. Please open the article and read it in full, both for the links and the conten

NYC: Principals, Teachers, Nurses Seek Delay in Opening

21by dianeravitch / 2d

Spokespersons for principals, teachers, and nurses have called on Mayor De Blasio to delay reopening and provide more time to prepare schools, reports Gotham Gazette, a publication of the Citizens Union Foundation. ​ The principals union, the teachers union, and the nurses union have come out against the ​city’s plan to reopen classrooms on September 10 with a mix of remote and in-person learning

AUG 12

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman: Doing the Right Thing Ended My Career in This Administration

by dianeravitch / 2d

You may recall that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified in the impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives. He did so at risk of his career. He lost his career. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (Ret.), a career U.S. Army officer, served on the National Security Council as the director for Eastern European, Caucasus and Russian affairs, as the Russia political-military affairs officer for the

Texas: Former CFO of IDEA Charter Chain Sues for $1 Million in Back Pay

35by dianeravitch / 2d

Hey, Big Spender! The Texas-based IDEA charter chain is best known for lavish spending—on the taxpayers’s dimes and dollars. IDEA is the corporate charter chain that wanted to lease a private jet for its executives and their families, that bought a private box at pro basketball games, that lavished perks on its top employees. And now it’s former Chief Financial Officer says IDEA owes him $1 milli

Thomas Ultican: “School Choice” Was Created by White Supremacists

200+by dianeravitch / 2d

In this post, Thomas Ultican reviews Steve Suitts’ devastating new book about the origins of school choice. Advocates of school choice like to claim economist Milton Friedman as their godfather but Suitts, who has spent his career working in civil rights activism, shows that the true originators of “freedom of choice” were Southern governors and legislatures who were determined to thwart the Brow

Kamala Harris at Ease

by dianeravitch / 2d

A friend shared this article about Kamala Harris that shows her at ease. The first video is hilarious. She is at the 92nd Street Y, an institution of Jewish culture in Manhattan, which has a great lecture series. She tells a story about her first meeting with her Jewish mother-in-law that is priceless. Another video in the article shows her cooking at home with her husband. She has a great laugh.

Michael Hiltzik: Trump Wants to Kill Social Security

26by dianeravitch / 3d

Trump vowed, if re-elected, to kill the payroll tax, which funds Social Security and Medicare. Do most Americans understand what that means to them? Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times explains the dangers of Trump’s executive orders. With his four executive orders purportedly aimed at relieving Americans of the burdens of the coronavirus, President Trump spun the theme of his administration

AUG 11

What Trump’s Executive Orders Really Do

by dianeravitch / 3d

David Dayen writes the blog “Unsanitized” for the American Prospect. In this post, he explains what Trump’s executive orders really do. Please open the links to see the many embedded links. After weeks of unproductive talks with Democrats bending but the White House unyielding, over the weekend Donald Trump issued three memoranda and an executive order that, at this moment, reflect the only addit

Leonie Haimson: The Risks and Benefits of Opening New York City Schools

25by dianeravitch / 3d

Leonie Haimson summarizes the pluses and minuses of reopening schools in New York City. She points out: Many public health experts and epidemiologists agree that NYC schools seem to be in the best position of any large district in the country to offer face-to-face learning, with an COVID positivity rate of only about one percent. Our positivity rate is very low and the lowest we are likely to see

A Face Mask That Teachers Should Consider

by dianeravitch / 3d

NPR had a story recently about a face mask designed to help those who are deaf and hard of hearing . It has a large plastic panel that reveals the mouth and aids those who read lips. It’s not just those with hearing loss who are clamoring for cloth face masks that have a see-through panel. They are a hot item among teachers, for example, and others who work with children or the elderly. Vendors o

Bob Shepherd: How to Use Remote Learning Wisely

100+by dianeravitch / 3d

Bob Shepherd. Is a former teacher, editor, curriculum designer, and assessment developer. He believes that a return to in-person instruction would be “an unprecedented catastrophe.” But he defines remote learning as a guarantee that any real learning will be remote. How to find a path forward give the dangers of reopening and the tedium of remote learning? He writes: Clearly, if we are to depend

Jack Hassard: Georgia Is Not Ready to Open Schools

21by dianeravitch / 4d

Jack Hassard has spent his career teaching science and training science teachers. He lives in Georgia, where Governor Brian Kemp is determined to open schools without regard to the state of the virus. Hassard says, based on the science, that Georgia is not ready to open its schools . The infection rate in Georgia is unacceptably high at 13-16%. It is important for us to use the science to make de

Is Brian Kemp of Georgia the Dumbest Governor?

by dianeravitch / 4d

That’s a trick question because a Governor Kemp has stiff competition from several other governors, such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis. Politico interviewed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He said his early reopening of schools for full-time in-person instruction was going really well, except for the photo that went viral of high school students packed together in a hall while changing classes. Under Ke

AUG 10

Today is the Anniversary of Magellan’s Voyage

by dianeravitch / 4d

This account was posted on Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac.” It was on this date in 1519 that the explorer Ferdinand Magellan set off to sail around the world. Although he was Portuguese, Magellan had sworn allegiance to Spain, and he began the journey with a fleet of five ships and 270 men to see if he could accomplish what Columbus had failed to: find a navigable route to Asia that did

Trump Wants His Face on Mount Rushmore

by dianeravitch / 4d

Trump believes he is one of the greatest presidents ever. He is surrounded by enablers who encourage his fantasies. Those who speak truth to Trump are soon fired. Think Mattis, Kelly, Tillerson. James Hohmann writes today in the Washington Post: President Trump said Sunday night that etching his likeness in granite on Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln a

New Orleans: Why Some Charter Teachers Want to Join a Union

54by dianeravitch / 4d

The Education Research Alliance of New Orleans just released a study of why some charter teachers in the nation’s only all-charter district want to join a union. Their reasons sound very much like the reasons that teachers in public schools want a union. No one told them that the Waltons, charter lobbyists, and other supporters of the charter movement don’t like unions. Immediately after Hurrican

Gary Rubinstein Reviews Thomas Sowell’s Book About Charter Schools

by dianeravitch / 4d

Gary Rubinstein reviews Thomas Sowell’s recent book about charter schools and their enemies. Thomas Sowell is an economist and a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution. He is African American and has long been highly critical of affirmative action and anything that smacks of lowered standards for black students. He is a hard-right libertarian. Many years ago, we were friends, and I

Mercedes Schneider: My Pandemic Classroom

20by dianeravitch / 4d

Mercedes Schneider teaches high school in Louisiana. She is supposed to resume full-time, in person instruction in a few weeks, although her state has a 14% positivity rate for COVID. She describes how she will rearrange her classroom and how she will teach, in detail. I am the teacher, and I am supposed to limit my movement in my own classroom. Is every conversation with a student to be said lou

Teacher: The Hidden Scandal in U.S. Education

100+by dianeravitch / 5d

A teacher in the District of Columbia wrote about the hidden scandal in public education: crumbling buildings. She writes: For all the debate about why schools should not open … the most obvious elephant in the room is invisible or just a footnote in most discussions. Yes… schools are crowded, yes… the government is not giving timely funding for the necessary PPE and such… and there are SO MANY r

AUG 09

Jack Schneider: Is Homeschooling The Next Big Thing?

51by dianeravitch / 5d

Jack Schneider is a historian of education. In this post, which he wrote at my request, he analyzes the new push for homeschooling. In the midst of the global pandemic, with millions of children quarantined at home, its not surprising that parents are compelled to be teachers. But how many parents will want to homeschool when real schools are one day available again? Schneider writes: Never let a

Arizona Superintendent: Reopening School Now is a “Fantasy”

300+by dianeravitch / 5d

Eli Saslow of the Washington Post interviewed Arizona Superintendent Jeff Gregorich about the prospect of opening schools in his district with the coronavirus still active in the region. The article causes me to wonder why decisions about when to open schools are made by politicians, not scientists, medical experts, and educators. Gregorich was candid, blunt, worried. This is my choice, but I’m s

Tom Ultican: John Deasy Resigns Again, Under a Cloud

by dianeravitch / 5d

Thomas Ultican continues his investigation of the tentacles of billionaire reformers, this time focusing on the tumultuous career of John Deasy, who resigned as superintendent of the Stockton, California, school district. Ultican shows how Deasy rose to become superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, how Justin tenure there was marked by controversy as he walked in lockstep with

Andy Hargreaves: The Education Technology We Will and Won’t Need After the Pandemic

60by dianeravitch / 6d

Andy Hargreaves is an internationally renowned scholar and author who taught for many years at Boston College. He wrote this article about education technology for Valerie Strauss’s blog “The Answer Sheet.” I previously posted a presentation that Andy delivered at an international conference in South Korea, where he described his vision of the future post-pandemic. It was brilliant and points in

AUG 08

Nancy Flanagan: Is Facebook the Fount of All Wisdom or the Essence of Stupid?

by dianeravitch / 6d

Nancy Flanagan writes here about why she is sticking with Facebook, despite it multiple flaws. I was on Facebook for a brief time, then quit. Then resumed, then quit again. What I discovered was that when I quit Facebook, my identity remained there, waiting for me to return. I was reminded of King George III in “Hamilton” singing “You’ll Be Back.” No, I won’t. It’s addictive, true. But anyone who

Glenn Brown: An Addendum to “The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump”

by dianeravitch / 6d

Retired teacher Glen Brown has written his own poetic addendum to a book by Robert Sears called “The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump.” I was not aware of Sears’ collection and organizing of Trumpian verbiage into blank verse. Searching for the poetry of Trump by Sears on Amazon, I discovered that he also wrote a book titled: “Vladimir Putin: Life Coach.” Here are one of Glen Brown’s Trump poems:

Carl J. Petersen: LAUSD Stood by While Charter Executive Embezzled $3.1 Million

73by dianeravitch / 6d

Carl J. Petersen, a parent advocate for students with special needs in the public schools of Los Angeles, wrote here about the failure of the LAUSD school board to monitor graft in the charter sector. He writes about the deliberate negligence of board members supported by the charter industry: As Community Preparatory Academy (CPA) approached the end of its charter, it was $820,303 in debt. The L

Peter Greene: The Risk That Families Take When They Choose a Charter School

33by dianeravitch / 7d

In this article that appeared in Forbes , Peter Greene reviews the implications of the Network for Public Education’s report of charter school closures. When parents choose a charter school for their child, they are gambling that the 

 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

The Fight For Police-Free Schools: Lessons from the Past, New Directions for the Future | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Fight For Police-Free Schools: Lessons from the Past, New Directions for the Future | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Fight For Police-Free Schools: Lessons from the Past, New Directions for the Future

Leading organizers in the educational justice movement discuss how the last ten years of parent and youth organizing helped lay the foundation for the emergence of mass protests and the campaign for police free schools and where the movement is going. 

Panelists:

• Jonathan Stith, Alliance for Educational Justice and National Campaign for Police Free Schools
• Elsa Bañuelos, Padres & Jóvenes Unidos, Denver, one of first city schools to defund police
• Mónica García, LAUSD board member and sponsor of the motion to defund school police in LA
• Veronica Rodriguez, youth organizer
• Tania Trejo, youth organizer

Moderated by:

Mark R. Warren, UMass Boston and lead author, Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out!

Many of the panelists have also written about their experiences on the front lines of the battle for educational justice in America in "Lift Us Up, Don't Push Us Out!": Voices from the Front Lines of the Educational Justice Movement. The webinar was sponsored by Beacon Press.

The Fight For Police-Free Schools: Lessons from the Past, New Directions for the Future | Schott Foundation for Public Education

With A Brooklyn Accent: Teaching in an Age of Corona

With A Brooklyn Accent: Teaching in an Age of Corona

Teaching in an Age of Corona

During the Spring Semester of 2020, I was teaching two of my favorite classes- From Rock and Roll to Hip Hop, which had nearly 40 students, and my research seminar in African American and Urban Studies, where I was supervising 10 students writing their Senior theses. When the Pandemic hit, classes moved online, and everyone had to leave campus, my students and I were fearful and in some cases traumatized by the COVID-19's impact on their families and their futures, A few had family members who were essential workers and feared catching the virus; some faced sudden impoverishment because their parents lost jobs; many mourned the loss of an opportunity to experience a live graduation, and two students, both Bronx residents, had parents who had caught the virus and were deathly ill. Given the emotional distress my students were in, I decided that my primary goal was to lift my student's spirits and give them an opportunity to express how they felt.about what was happening to them, I did this in several ways; first I tried to cheer them up with humorous short rap videos I made for them, secondly I changed course requirements so all exams were take home and students had ample time to complete their work, third, I gave my thesis students the opportunity of writing Coronavirus diaries if it was impossible to complete the research they had initially

CONTINUE READING: With A Brooklyn Accent: Teaching in an Age of Corona

How schools reopening use AI and other tech for surveillance - Vox

How schools reopening use AI and other tech for surveillance - Vox

The dystopian tech that companies are selling to help schools reopen sooner

This fall, AI could be watching students social distance and checking their masks

Thousands of schools nationwide will not be reopening this fall. But in Las Vegas, the private K-12 Meadows School plans to use an artificial intelligence-powered thermal screening system to keep students safe as they return to classes.

The system will scan for signs that students have elevated temperatures — an indication they might have Covid-19 — as they enter buildings for their classes. If they’re flagged, the students will be asked to wait separately for about 10 minutes, and then get their temperature taken again. If the result is within a normal range, they’re cleared to start their day. If not, they’ll be sent home.

“Things are strange enough. Kids are going to be coming to school with masks. They’re going to be meeting friends with masks,” Jeremy Gregersen, the head of school at Meadows, told Recode. “They’re going to be meeting their teachers for the first time in person in strange new ways, and what we want is for kids to feel welcome and to normalize their arrival at school as early as possible.”

Supplying the technology is an artificial intelligence company called Remark Holdings. The company, which also sells facial recognition systems, has been providing a thermal scanning system — which also takes attendance — to more than 100 schools in China for over a year and is now repurposing its tech to assist semi-public places reopening amid the pandemic.

Remark Holdings is not the only company doing so. A slew of firms, many of which already sold surveillance products, are adjusting their technology to the pandemic. The suite of CONTINUE READING: How schools reopening use AI and other tech for surveillance - Vox

NYC Educator: DOE Death Panels

NYC Educator: DOE Death Panels

DOE Death Panels

I'm getting a lot of email about reasonable accommodations this week. The DOE is finally responding to requests they got a month ago, and what people are really surprised about is that they're getting answers out before school starts.


There's so little reason in the world to begin with. Just for starters, I see young women everywhere wearing thinks that say PINK in big letters. Almost none of them are pink. I'm befuddled, of course. And it's not only young women. My principal, for example, is not a young woman at all, and he's always wearing a hat that says BROWN on it. The hat is black, though. 

With that sort of thing going on in the world, it's hard to expect the DOE to be reasonable. It's not, after all, what they're known for. How many times have you gone to Court St. only to find your transcripts are on the fourth floor, not the sixth, and you therefore have to resubmit them?

Reasonable at the DOE? Mayor de Blasio is jumping up and down, after having wasted April through July, and saying he's got a whole month to figure out how to open the schools safely. I'd argue, especially lately. that the DOE is known for precisely the opposite of being reasonable. I mean, who thinks it's a good idea for students to eat lunch together in a classroom during a pandemic when even talking is restricted? Not me. Not you. But DOE thinks it's the bestest thing ever. 

Then we come to the concept of reasonable accommodations. This is the notion that, if you have certain conditions, you may not wish to get sick and die from COVID. Over 65? Don't get it. Type 2 diabetes? Smoking? High blood pressure? Don't get COVID. Asthma? Also a bad idea, but I hear it depends upon how bad your asthma really is. The genius doctors at DOE, or whoever they have deciding these things, will say, oh, your asthma only comes up to HERE, but her asthma goes up to THERE. YOU smoke one CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: DOE Death Panels

Fact Checking the “Science of Reading”: A Quick Guide for Teachers – radical eyes for equity

Fact Checking the “Science of Reading”: A Quick Guide for Teachers – radical eyes for equity

Fact Checking the “Science of Reading”: A Quick Guide for Teachers

Fact Checking the “Science of Reading”: A Quick Guide for Teachers – radical eyes for equity

David Berliner and Gene Glass: Why Bother Testing in 2021? | Diane Ravitch's blog

David Berliner and Gene Glass: Why Bother Testing in 2021? | Diane Ravitch's blog

David Berliner and Gene Glass: Why Bother Testing in 2021?

David Berliner and Gene Glass are leaders of the American education research community. Their books are required reading in the field. They shared with me their thoughts about the value of annual testing in 2021. I would add only one point: if Trump is voted out in November, Jim Blew and Betsy DeVos will have no role in deciding whether to demand or require the annual standardized testing regime in the spring of 2021. New people who are, hopefully, wiser and more attuned to the failure of standardized testing over 20 years, will take their place.

Glass and Berliner write:

Why Bother Testing in 2021?

Gene V Glass
David C. Berliner

At a recent Education Writers Association seminar, Jim Blew, an assistant to Betsy DeVos at the Department of Education, opined that the Department is inclined not to grant waivers to states seeking exemptions from the federally mandated annual standardized achievement testing. States like Michigan, Georgia, and South Carolina were seeking a one year moratorium. Blew insisted that “even during a pandemic [tests] serve as an CONTINUE READING: David Berliner and Gene Glass: Why Bother Testing in 2021? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Safety Concerns Driving Some Educators Out the Profession - NEA Today

Safety Concerns Driving Some Educators Out the Profession - NEA Today

Safety Concerns Over COVID-19 Driving Some Educators Out the Profession

When school starts in Rutherford County, Tennessee, this month, and hundreds of teachers return to their physical classrooms, armed with surgical face coverings, Plexiglas shields, and stores of sanitizing supplies, AP English teacher Cassie Piggott will not be among them.

Forced to choose between the career she loves and the health of the child she loves even more, Piggott resigned. She hopes to teach again in the district, after the pandemic ends. For now, she says, she just can’t risk the life of her 9-year-old son, who five years ago received a bone marrow transplant because of a rare immune disorder he still has.

And Piggott isn’t the only one. Across the U.S., in school districts where educators and students are required to return to their physical classrooms, hundreds of educators are reluctantly opting out. When eligible, they’re taking early retirements, or using new options for extended leaves that some local NEA-affiliated unions have negotiated for their members. Others are simply walking away.

In a nationwide poll of educators, NEA found that 28 percent said the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more likely to retire early or leave the profession, a rate that could far worsen the U.S.’s shortage of qualified teachers. That number includes a significant number of new or young teachers—one in five teachers with less than 10 years’ experience. It also includes 40 percent of teachers with 21 to 30 years’ experience, who are presumably leaders and mentors on their school campuses, and 55 percent of those with more than 30 years.

Cassie Piggott (left) hopes to teach again, after the pandemic ends. Until then, the risk of returning to in-person school is too great a risk to her and her family. (photo courtesy Cassie Piggott)

Even more significantly, as the U.S. continues to struggle to diversify its teaching workforce for the benefit of all students, 43 percent of Black teachers say they’re now more likely to retire to leave early. Since the pandemic began, Black and Hispanic people have died at disproportionate rates of COVID-19.

This is why NEA leaders have been pushing—since the beginning of the pandemic—to reopen schools and

CONTINUE READING: Safety Concerns Driving Some Educators Out the Profession - NEA Today

Congress Neglects Children: No Relief for Public Schools or State Budgets | janresseger

Congress Neglects Children: No Relief for Public Schools or State Budgets | janresseger

Congress Neglects Children: No Relief for Public Schools or State Budgets

Public schools are the linchpin holding together our society’s supports for 50 million children.  Public schools are where our children practice learning, computing, critical thinking, imagining; where they develop skills in writing, reading, musicianship, art, and all kinds of sports; and where they learn to respect one another. For children whose economic needs are greatest, public schools provide breakfast and lunch. Many wraparound schools now serve as sites for health and dental care, house after-school and childcare programs, and connect parents with broader social service providers.

After a wait of over two months following the U.S. House of Representatives’ May 15, passage of a second COVID-19 relief HEROES Act—which included money to help public schools make safety adjustments to classrooms, buses, and ventilation systems before the fall term and money to shore up the state budgets which provide 47 percent of K-12 public school funding—the Senate refused to compromise.  Last week Congress gave up without agreeing on a relief package including needed help for public education.  And during the negotiations, President Donald Trump tried to make assistance for public schools contingent upon their immediate reopening despite the explosive spread of COVID-19 across many communities. Trump and members of his administration claim there is plenty of funding unspent from the first COVID-19 relief bill, the CARES Act, if public schools need more money to help them prepare for safely reopening.  In fact, however, states have already committed 75 percent of the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. The money available for public schools has been spent or has been promised for costs school districts have already planned.

Much of the discussion during the recent negotiations did center on an issue of importance toCONTINUE READING: Congress Neglects Children: No Relief for Public Schools or State Budgets | janresseger

Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: Why is it so hard for DCPS just to do the right thing. (draft)

Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: Why is it so hard for DCPS just to do the right thing. (draft)

Why is it so hard for DCPS just to do the right thing. (draft)

I tried to come up with something where I talked about the Premack principle and how if you are in a hole stop digging, but I couldn't because the bottom line is DCPS is making a conscious choice to treat it's employees poorly. Every time they are given an opportunity to do something right, they choose wrong.

First, the district has had it backward from day one. They should have put everyone in Duval homeroom, and people should have opted into danger. Those 12 percent of teachers who want to be back could have gone in. Who wants to bet things would have run a lot smoother and schools would be a lot emptier and thus safer?

We didn't, and the district told teachers to sign up for Duval Homeroom but, at the same time, announced that those teachers would still have to come in. Why? No good reason was given. Friends that is just mean and petty, but it gets even worse.

So the school board passes a work from home resolution, to get as many people out of the building as possible, and for weeks the district ignores it. Then when staff asks about it, district supervisors don't seem to know what they are talking about.

How does that happen without a wink and a nod from Greene? I am not saying she ignored the school board, wink, nod, but that seems to be what has happened.

Okay, let's get back to Duval Homeroom, people spent weeks trying to figure it out. Will you lose your CONTINUE READING: Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: Why is it so hard for DCPS just to do the right thing. (draft)

SSPI Thurmond ANNOUNCE: Recommendations Proposed for Ethnic Studies - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Recommendations Proposed for Ethnic Studies - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and Civil Rights Leaders Propose Recommendations to Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum

Student, lawmakers, and ethnic studies leader call for model that promotes racial justice

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond presented Thursday—alongside a coalition of civil rights icons, lawmakers, and student and ethnic studies leaders—the California Department of Education’s (CDE) recommendations to the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, a guide that will give educators the tools they need to advance racial and social justice in the classroom and beyond.

Thursday’s presentation before the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) was the first in a series of opportunities for public input on the CDE’s recommendations before final adoption next year.

“Ethnic studies has the power to provide a path to healing and justice in a state and nation reeling from racial unrest. Today we are proud to put forward recommendations that our educators and our students say they need in order to move us closer to a more just society,” said Thurmond. “We believe these recommendations lift up the voices of those whose contributions have for too long been overshadowed in education. We look forward to continued dialogue as we collaborate to finish this critical resource at this critical time.”

The CDE recommends that the model curriculum remain rooted in four foundational disciplines of ethnic studies—African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicano Latino Studies, and Native American Studies. The CDE also recommends the draft include educator resources for engaging in expanded, critical conversations that can be customized to reflect a school community’s diversity and engage in broader social justice issues.

The CDE’s recommendations and proposed edits were informed after reviewing tens of thousands of public comments, learning from ethnic studies subject matter experts and thought leaders, listening to educators, and engaging with students across the state.

Based on stakeholder feedback, the CDE has recommended removing all language or content that can be perceived as anti-Semitic—a commitment the State Superintendent said should not be broken as recommendations continue to be revised.

Based on continued and robust dialogue with ethnic studies experts, advocates and other stakeholders, the State Superintendent also announced the CDE’s intent to provide additional recommendations for consideration in November, including:

• Adding a sample lesson on the Pacific Islander experience
• Developing a sample lesson on Arab American Studies that focuses on the Arab American experience in the United States.

Both recommendations fall under the Asian American Studies discipline within ethnic studies. CDE announced its intent to add these sample lessons to its recommendations in an effort to provide frequent, transparent, and real-time updates to all stakeholders. Thurmond said the CDE will need more time to work with ethnic studies experts and instructors to finalize a sample Arab American Studies lesson before it can be submitted for public review.

Joining State Superintendent Thurmond who spoke in support of CDE’s recommendations Thursday were:

• Former Assemblymember Luis Alejo, a former high school ethnic studies teacher who authored the bill to establish a model curriculum
• Dr. Shawn Ginwright, a professor of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University, where the ethnic studies movement launched decades ago
• Dolores Huerta, the labor leader and civil rights activist who, along with Cesar Chavez, co-founded the National Farmworkers Association
• Dr. Karen Korematsu, daughter of the late civil rights activist Fred Korematsu, whose fight against imprisonment during World War II would in part lead to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which included a formal apology as well as reparations to Japanese Americans imprisoned during the war
• Assemblymember James C. Ramos, co-founder of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians’ Cultural Awareness Program and director of the California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference at California State University, San Bernardino
• Student Alvin Lee, a member of Thurmond’s Youth Advisory Commission who participated in the State Superintendent’s virtual classroom series on ethnic studies last month

California is required by law to develop a model curriculum in ethnic studies to be utilized as a guide and outline for schools as they consider implementing ethnic studies courses. This guide will help districts and schools as they begin to develop their own ethnic studies curriculum reflecting their student demographics and community.

More information on the CDE recommendations and the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum can be found on the IQC Agenda for August 13. CDE’s recommendations to the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum are in alignment with state law and the State Board of Education-adopted (SBE) guidelines, which can be found on the CDE Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Guidelines web page.

The IQC is currently reviewing the CDE recommendations at its August 13 meeting and will take action to post a revised draft of the model curriculum for a 30-day period of public review prior to taking action later this year to recommend the model curriculum to the SBE. State law requires the SBE to take final action on the model curriculum by March 31, 2021.

More information on the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum can be found on the CDE Model Curriculum Projects web page. Individuals and groups will have the opportunity to submit public comment on the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum during the 30-day review period. The IQC will review and consider those public comments at its November meeting. Comments can also be submitted at any time to ethnicstudies@cde.ca.gov.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Recommendations Proposed for Ethnic Studies - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

At War with Myself – radical eyes for equity

At War with Myself – radical eyes for equity

At War with Myself

There is a refrain I say to myself, something I likely have never admitted to anyone: “I hate my body.”

I say this to myself quite often and without the gravity the word “hate” should imply because this simply is a fact of my existence.

A good friend texted recently, sharing very dark morning thoughts and ending with #upliftingthoughts. I wasn’t being flippant but empathetic when I replied: “Well … uh … yep … done that, do that … it is called existentialism.”

Discovering and working through existential philosophy and literature throughout my undergraduate years and into the first decade or so of my career as a teacher was incredibly important for me.

Liberating.

As I followed up with my friend, I explained that existentialism, in my opinion, gets a bad rap as a negative philosophy—confused with nihilism (in the same way “communism” is conflated with “totalitarianism” in the U.S.). My reading of existentialism, I explained, was that humans had to acknowledge that our passions are our sufferings in order to move past that fact of human CONTINUE READING: At War with Myself – radical eyes for equity

Principals and Teachers Demand a Delayed Reopening, a Phasing in of the Hybrid Model: Are We Heading Towards a Confrontation? Principals/Teachers versus the Mayor/Chancellor? | Ed In The Apple

Principals and Teachers Demand a Delayed Reopening, a Phasing in of the Hybrid Model: Are We Heading Towards a Confrontation? Principals/Teachers versus the Mayor/Chancellor? | Ed In The Apple

Principals and Teachers Demand a Delayed Reopening, a Phasing in of the Hybrid Model: Are We Heading Towards a Confrontation? Principals/Teachers versus the Mayor/Chancellor?

“In order for schools to reopen and stay open, the percentage of positive tests in New York City must be less than 3% using a 7-day rolling average. Schools will need to close if the percentage of positive tests in New York City are equal to or more than 3% using a 7-day rolling average. It is important to note that the above threshold is just one trigger for closing schools, but may not be the only trigger. For example, a decision to close schools would be made where there were recurrent, uncontrolled outbreaks of COVI D-19 in schools, even if the overall case rates across New York City were to remain low.”

 (From the New York City Department of Education’s School Reopening Plan Submission to the New York State Department of Education (Read entire plan here)

What does “recurrent, uncontrolled outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools” mean? How many “outbreaks” in a single school? One? Two?  In how many schools?

A scenario:

A few days after school opens a student tells a teacher that an uncle who lives with her family is sick, the teacher tells her principal, who reports to the superintendent, who reports to the executive superintendent who reports to the CONTINUE READING: Principals and Teachers Demand a Delayed Reopening, a Phasing in of the Hybrid Model: Are We Heading Towards a Confrontation? Principals/Teachers versus the Mayor/Chancellor? | Ed In The Apple

Shanker Blog: State Budget Cuts and School Districts with Pre-Existing Conditions | National Education Policy Center

Shanker Blog: State Budget Cuts and School Districts with Pre-Existing Conditions | National Education Policy Center

Shanker Blog: State Budget Cuts and School Districts with Pre-Existing Conditions

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published projections of state budget shortfalls due to the pandemic. The total estimated shortfall for fiscal years 2020-2022 is $555 billion. This includes $290 billion in FY2021 alone, a deficit over 25 percent larger than that in the worst year of the Great Recession (2009). 

Compared with the sickness and death caused by Covid-19, state budget shortfalls are just collateral damage (though remember that states spend a lot on healthcare). But it could be a lot of damage. Unlike the federal government, virtually all states are required to balance their budgets every year. They cannot spend more than they raise in revenue, which means any deficits must be balanced out by cuts. Suppose we take these CBPP projections at face value, and subtract from them existing federal aid forthcoming and total state budget reserves. That, according to CBPP, still leaves states about $400 billion short for this past fiscal year and the next two (and there could easily be shortfalls in subsequent years).

Virtually all public school districts will feel this pain, but it will not be felt equally. Higher poverty districts are more dependent on state revenue, since more affluent districts generate more revenue from local sources (mostly property taxes). But the situation is even worse: higher poverty districts are already spending far less than they need to be. In a sense, the pandemic is going to be particularly harsh on districts with pre-existing conditions.

The graph below presents estimates of spending adequacy for the U.S. as a whole, by poverty quintile, with adequacy defined as the amount that would be required to achieve national average test scores. This measure is part of the School Finance Indicators Database, and you can CONTINUE READING: Shanker Blog: State Budget Cuts and School Districts with Pre-Existing Conditions | National Education Policy Center