Thursday, February 25, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, February 25, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

SBE Seeks Relief from Federal Testing Requirements - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr21/yr21rel11.asp

Millions Of Kids Learn English At School. Teaching Them Remotely Hasn't Been Easy https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/02/24/96783/millions-of-kids-learn-english-at-school-teaching/ via @kpcc

Student mental health: A dialogue among educators, the administration, state assemblyman https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/02/student-mental-health-a-dialogue-among-educators-the-administration-state-assemblyman/

NYC middle schools reopen Thursday for 60,000 students https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-middle-schools-reopen-in-person-learning-20210225-pkwwtbxdizc6nmabu6m2mrff5y-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

Philadelphia school board faces possible legal action over speaker limits https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/24/22300125/philadelphia-school-board-faces-possible-legal-action-over-speaker-limits via @ChalkbeatPHL

More than 100 advocacy groups urge NYC not to hire new School Safety Agents https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-letter-school-safety-agents-20210224-nht5w34barcyli4ufvdmm5v23u-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

Mayor de Blasio says update on reopening NYC high schools coming ‘in the next few weeks’ https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-high-school-reopening-de-blasio-20210224-5w6rgjlknvg3bcryzialfypspi-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

About 30,000 New York City public school staff have gotten COVID-19 vaccine: Mayor de Blasio https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-public-school-staff-vaccination-20210224-beqaap4fpvcf7paslwpq5cphfm-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

A College Admissions Rat Race https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/a-college-admissions-rat-race.html

Improved child care could boost US employment: Fed's Jerome Powell http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/pM2V1r0-Kq0/

Tuttle High School student looks to make history in girls wrestling https://nondoc.com/2021/02/25/tuttle-high-school-student-looks-to-make-history-in-girls-wrestling/ via @nondocmedia

Teacher COVID vaccines target LAUSD, needy areas - Los Angeles Times - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-25/teacher-covid-vaccines-target-lausd-needy-areas?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29 by @howardblume on @latimes

A civil rights hero lacked a historical marker. Then a class of Virginia fourth-graders spoke up. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/barbara-johns-historical-marker/2021/02/24/be0cf788-72b4-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html?tid=ss_tw

Standardized tests are a go, but Maryland scales them back amid pandemic https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/maryland-standardized-tests/2021/02/24/2be6b1de-7640-11eb-948d-19472e683521_story.html?tid=ss_tw

Nora De La Cour: Abolish High-Stakes Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tBL via @dianeravitch

More Americans now say academic concerns should be a top factor in deciding to reopen K-12 schools https://pewrsr.ch/2NrJlIB

Education bill earns mixed reviews in Missouri House, wins first-round approval anyway | Education | stltoday.com - https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/education-bill-earns-mixed-reviews-in-missouri-house-wins-first-round-approval-anyway/article_6b71b476-cc0d-5789-91ee-6a86ed735929.html#new_tab

'Forest kindergarten' kids learn outside in nature - https://www.today.com/parents/forest-kindergarten-kids-learn-outside-nature-t209862#new_tab by TodayShow on @TodayShow

Oklahoma House lawmakers vote to keep 'ghost students' at bay, expand school transfers - https://oklahoman.com/article/5683029/oklahoma-house-lawmakers-vote-to-keep-ghost-students-at-bay-expand-school-transfers#new_tab by @theoklahoman_ on @theoklahoman_

Standardized tests for virtual students? How will school funding fare? - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/02/25/standardized-tests-virtual-students-school-funding/4553471001/#new_tab via @usatoday

Mayor, schools chief to take ‘wait and see’ approach in Philadelphia reopening Monday https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/23/22298016/mayor-schools-chief-to-take-wait-and-see-approach-in-philadelphia-reopening-monday via @ChalkbeatPHL

Teachers union hits back at opening Massachusetts classrooms full-time by spring https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/02/23/riley-at-some-point-remote-hybrid-learning-needs-to-be-off-the-table/

Missouri looks to expand charter schools while SLPS asks for moratorium https://www.kmov.com/news/missouri-looks-to-expand-charter-schools-while-slps-asks-for-moratorium/article_35ed3e4a-7718-11eb-a21f-4b7811e6ff95.html

Teachers protest by wearing black | Local News | tribstar.com - https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/teachers-protest-by-wearing-black/article_5fddb775-fe6b-5f80-bed0-63146eb81954.html#new_tab by @https://www.twitter.com/tribstarsue on @tribstar

Big Education Ape: Testing During a Pandemic is a Crime – Tennessee Education Report - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/testing-during-pandemic-is-crime.html

Big Education Ape: Benjamin W. Arnett, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/benjamin-w-arnett-black-educator-hall.html

Big Education Ape: NANCY BAILEY: Is EdTrust Behind High-Stakes Testing During This Pandemic? - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/nancy-bailey-is-edtrust-behind-high.html

Big Education Ape: The Bipartisan Assault on Public Schools | The New Republic - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-bipartisan-assault-on-public.html

Big Education Ape: Shawgi Tell: Biden Swiftly Disappoints Educators and Students | Dissident Voice - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/shawgi-tell-biden-swiftly-disappoints.html

Big Education Ape: New York: A Sample Opt Out Letter | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/new-york-sample-opt-out-letter-diane.html

Big Education Ape: Police investigating alleged embezzlement at Warren Easton Charter High School | The Lens - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/police-investigating-alleged.html

Big Education Ape: NOONAN | Teachers between rock and a hard place | Opinion | coloradopolitics com - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/noonan-teachers-between-rock-and-hard.html

Big Education Ape: Teacher Tom: The Concept of "Learning Loss" is Complete BS - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/teacher-tom-concept-of-learning-loss-is.html

Big Education Ape: Educators cheer new push in Congress for more community schools - Education Votes - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/educators-cheer-new-push-in-congress.html

Big Education Ape: David Berliner: Why Religious Schools Should Never Receive a Dollar of Public Funding | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/david-berliner-why-religious-schools.html

Big Education Ape: Learning to Earn – Have You Heard - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/learning-to-earn-have-you-heard.html

Big Education Ape: Audio: Teaching Students A New Black History | 89.3 KPCC - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/audio-teaching-students-new-black.html

Big Education Ape: California: Nearly 50,000 Teachers and Parents Say NO to Biden Testing Demand | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/california-nearly-50000-teachers-and.html

Big Education Ape: Stories from School AZ: Platforms Vs. Foundations. Pre- and Post- Pandemic Metaphors | National Education Policy Center - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/stories-from-school-az-platforms-vs.html

Big Education Ape: A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/a-very-busy-day-larry-ferlazzos_25.html

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, February 24, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

by Mike Simpson / 17h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Joe Biden Made One Campaign Promise That Really Mattered To Teachers. He Just Broke It. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/02/23/joe-biden-made-one-campaign-promise-that-really-mattered-to-teachers-he-ju

Big Education Ape

Testing During a Pandemic is a Crime – Tennessee Education Report

TESTING DURING A PANDEMIC IS A CRIME

Former Nashville school board member Amy Frogge posts on Facebook about the disappointing decision by the Biden Administration to insist on federally-mandated state standardized tests as our schools continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s what Frogge has to say:

This is a huge disappointment. Standardized testing in general is pretty useless. It does not improve outcomes for students or help drive instruction for teachers. To require testing during a pandemic is a crime. I can tell you the results right now: Children will fail- if they even show up at all.

The decision to require testing this year was rolled out by acting Assistant Secretary of Education Ian Rosenblum, Executive Director of the Education Trust- New York. The Education Trust is a corporate reform nonprofit funded (likely in the hundreds of millions at this point) by Bill Gates. Gates and The Education Trust have pushed for more standardized testing, Common Core standards and No Child Left Behind, which was an abject failure. (Bill Gates did not subject his own children to all this nonsense. CONTINUE READING: Testing During a Pandemic is a Crime – Tennessee Education Report

Benjamin W. Arnett, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

Benjamin W. Arnett, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

BENJAMIN W. ARNETT, BLACK EDUCATOR HALL OF FAME

E’ry day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development, in partnership with Phillys7thWard.org, will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer.

But, don’t forget, e’ry month is Black History Month…February is just the Blackest.

Today, our featured Black Educator is Benjamin W. Arnett.

Benjamin Arnett was born free in Brownsville, Pennsylvania in 1838. As a child, he attended a one-room schoolhouse where he was taught by his uncle. While Arnett was working on a steamboat, he suffered an ankle injury that caused a tumor and later amputation in March of 1858. Despite that setback, Arnett persevered.

Arnett obtained his teaching certification later that year and would become the first, and only in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. In 1864, Arnett moved to Washington D.C. to serve as the principal before eventually returning to CONTINUE READING: Benjamin W. Arnett, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

NANCY BAILEY: Is EdTrust Behind High-Stakes Testing During This Pandemic?

Is EdTrust Behind High-Stakes Testing During This Pandemic?

Is EdTrust Behind High-Stakes Testing During This Pandemic?

High-stakes standardized testing. Why now? Why again? Why ever? Was The Education Trust (EdTrust) involved in the decision? Who is EdTrust, and why would President Biden listen to them?

EdTrust is a pro-school-reform group that carries clout, and they’ve been vocal about schools reopening during the pandemic.

John B. King, Jr., who was education secretary after Arne Duncan for a short time, is now the President and CEO of EdTrust. King was involved with charter schools and became the New York Education Commissioner before becoming education secretary in the Obama administration.

King has been on TV numerous times stating how schools should run during the pandemic. The EdTrust is often cited in the mainstream media, including during the pandemic, like this USA Today report. Reopening schools has been expensive. Making up for student learning losses may be worse.

It’s rare to find one of their headlines referring to public schools in a CONTINUE READING: Is EdTrust Behind High-Stakes Testing During This Pandemic?

The Bipartisan Assault on Public Schools | The New Republic

The Bipartisan Assault on Public Schools

Betsy Devos was no exception in education. She pushed an agenda that Republicans and Democrats have strangely united behind for years.

Two years ago, Margaret Spellings, George W. Bush’s secretary of education, and Arne Duncan, Barack Obama’s secretary of education, wrote an opinion article in The Washington Post lamenting the decline of public support for the bipartisan consensus about education policy that began under Ronald Reagan. Elected officials strongly supported a regime of testing, accountability, and school choice, they wrote, but public enthusiasm was waning due to a lack of “courage” and “political will.”

They were right. Elected officials, educators, and parents were rapidly losing faith in the bipartisan consensus. For a decade, it had failed to produce any improvement on national tests. Parents were opting their children out of the annual testing mandated by federal law; in New York, 20 percent of eligible students refused to take them. Teachers went to court to fight the test-based evaluation methods imposed by Duncan’s Race to the Top. Communities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia were complaining about the growth of charter schools, which diverted funds away from public schools. A year after Spellings and Duncan’s essay appeared, teachers across the nation, from West Virginia to California, went on strike to protest low wages, low funding, and large class sizes, issues that were ignored during the era of bipartisan consensus.

What went wrong? Why did the bipartisan consensus that Spellings and Duncan praised fall apart? In their new book, historian Jack Schneider and journalist Jennifer Berkshire provide a valuable guide to the history and the politics of the rise and fall of the bipartisan consensus. Theirs is indeed a cautionary tale, because they show how Republicans and Democrats joined to support failed policies whose ultimate goal was to eliminate public education and replace it with a free-market approach to schooling. Betsy DeVos was publicly reviled for her contemptuous attitudes toward public schools, but she was not an exception to the bipartisan consensus: She was its ultimate embodiment. She was the personification of the wolf at the schoolhouse door. CONTINUE READING: The Bipartisan Assault on Public Schools | The New Republic

Shawgi Tell: Biden Swiftly Disappoints Educators and Students | Dissident Voice

Biden Swiftly Disappoints Educators and Students | Dissident Voice

Biden Swiftly Disappoints Educators and Students

Months before he became president, many pointed out that harmful neoliberal policies would continue unabated in K-12 education under a Joe Biden administration. Indeed, there is a long record of both democrats and republicans supporting harmful education policies like high-stakes standardized testing, charter schools, performance-based pay schemes, NCLB, ESSA, and more.

But U.S. presidential elections always have a way of successfully enforcing amnesia and intensifying false hope in the context of a discredited political set-up that has long failed to affirm the interests of people. To be fair though, there has emerged in recent years a level of social consciousness that did in fact enable more people than usual to take a more measured conscious approach toward presidential candidates and political realities. More people are increasingly adopting a “we’ll believe it when we see it” attitude because they have come to learn, often the hard way, that politicians are usually unaccountable, break promises regularly, rarely respond to endless begging by the polity, and typically don’t do “the right thing.” It is hard to ignore cumulative experience.

It is no accident that Biden, who has previously claimed he is opposed to high-stakes standardized tests, chose a major promoter of charter schools and high-stakes standardized testing like the neoliberal Ian Rosenblum to make the recent antisocial announcement that punitive high-stakes standardized tests CONTINUE READING: Biden Swiftly Disappoints Educators and Students | Dissident Voice

New York: A Sample Opt Out Letter | Diane Ravitch's blog

New York: A Sample Opt Out Letter

New York State Allies for Public Education created sample opt out letters for parents to present to the school.

For both English and Spanish, visit the NYSAPE homepage.

Home

New York: A Sample Opt Out Letter | Diane Ravitch's blog

Police investigating alleged embezzlement at Warren Easton Charter High School | The Lens

Police investigating alleged embezzlement at Warren Easton Charter High School

Warren Easton Charter High School’s annual financial audit has revealed a $70,000 discrepancy in the school’s student activity funds, and the New Orleans Police Department is investigating the matter as a theft by a former employee.

The incident, reported to police in December, occurred between March 2019 and July 2020, according to the school’s annual financial audit released Monday. The audit does not reveal the name of the employee accused of stealing the money but says that the person is no longer employed by the school.

“The Business Manager of the School fraudulently absconded with $70,842 of Student Activity Funds,” the audit states.

Asked whether any arrests had been made, an NOPD spokesman wrote, “We have not been made aware of any arrests at this time in this investigation.” CONTINUE READING: Police investigating alleged embezzlement at Warren Easton Charter High School | The Lens

NOLA Public Schools warns Rooted School over grading scale

Rooted School, a charter high school located at Touro Synagogue on St. Charles Avenue, found itself in hot water with the NOLA Public Schools district earlier this month over a grading scale it has used for the last four years and that its founder and CEO says the district was well aware of.

But earlier this month, a top district official issued a warning letter to the school, saying the way it grades is a violation of NOLA Public Schools policy.

Since opening in 2017, Rooted founder and CEO Jonathan Johnson said the school has used an “ABCF” grading scale — notably absent is the just-passing D. At Rooted, anything that would have fallen into the district’s D on the grading scale is an F.

“Essentially our philosophy was — and still is — that D does not constitute passing,” Johnson said in an interview on Friday, explaining that grades are a strong indicator of how students perform in college.

Johnson said the district has known about the grading scale for several years CONTINUE READING: NOLA Public Schools warns Rooted School over grading scale

NOONAN | Teachers between rock and a hard place | Opinion | coloradopolitics com

NOONAN | Teachers between rock and a hard place | Opinion | coloradopolitics.com

Teachers between rock and a hard place

K-12 education in Colorado is a big fat mess. No question. Schools are caught in COVID limbo, with some schools returning to full time, others keeping to a hybrid schedule, and many students continuing online. Teachers are trying to get their vaccinations, which puts to rest complaints from some that they’re resisting returning to the classroom.

That claim about teachers is particularly pernicious. Talk about working between a rock and a hard place. Public school teachers catch derision for their caution, with the deriders accusing teacher unions of blocking classroom returns. But very recently, 1,500 Jeffco middle and high school students petitioned the school board to not resume full-time classes because of COVID insecurity.

Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers says that New York City offers a model for returning to classrooms. That’s a district with a strong union presence. How has the district moved forward? New York City schools benefit from a much larger budget than any Colorado schools. Elementary schools returned to full time in December upon receipt of parent consent forms for COVID testing.

For students to return to school full time in grades 6-8 starting Feb. 25, parents must agree to in-school COVID testing. The random testing occurs weekly for students and staff. The city has improved its CONTINUE READING: NOONAN | Teachers between rock and a hard place | Opinion | coloradopolitics.com

Teacher Tom: The Concept of "Learning Loss" is Complete BS

The Concept of "Learning Loss" is Complete BS

Just scanning the first page of my search engine's results for "learning loss" without clicking a single link I see that children have "suffered" learning loss during the pandemic, that the learning loss is "grim," that it is "unprecedented," and that schools are "racing" and "struggling" to correct it. It will, apparently, "take years to overcome" the damage that's been done to our poor children who we are counting on to fill the jobs of tomorrow.

Oh boy, we're on high seas alright. Just when we think we're seeing a light at the end of the pandemic storm, we see there are still choppy waters and dark clouds ahead, and this time it's all going to come crashing down on our children. The poor children. Think of the children!

But breathe easy. Fortunately, there are heroes here to save the day: for-profit corporations who just happen to sell exactly the lifesavers we need in the form of curricula, text books, and, most importantly, standardized tests. Of course, it will apparently mean tossing a few less important things overboard. Recess must, of course, be reduced. School hours can be extended. Summer break can be shortened or perhaps eliminated entirely. And perhaps we can put those extras like music, physical education, and art on hold for a few years. If these measures seem harsh, please consider the poor, wee, suffering children whose brains are being, as we speak, drained of learning; who have been traumatized by what is clearly a brain damaging event. But if we act fast, with the kind of tough love only institutions can administer, and with, CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: The Concept of "Learning Loss" is Complete BS

Educators cheer new push in Congress for more community schools - Education Votes

Educators cheer new push in Congress for more community schools

A new bill in Congress looks to increase federal support for a school model that reimagines how to help students learn—by first making sure their basic needs are met. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) introduced the Full-Service Community School Expansion Act on Tuesday.

Research supports what educators know from experience: Students living in poverty do not have the same opportunities because they face barriers that their wealthier peers do not.

Children who are hungry, experience homelessness, or bear other stresses of their family’s financial hardship can’t always focus, participate in class, or complete assignments—and that’s if they can make it to school at all. Students of color are more likely to experience these conditions—the result of inequities built into a system that protects white supremacy.

Some districts are working to counteract these factors by establishing community schools, in which educators, administrators, students, and families work together to achieve their vision for the schools and communities.

That collaboration results in schools that might provide medical, dental, and mental health care on-site; a food pantry or backpack nutrition program; clothing; after-school tutoring and mentoring, culturally relevant curriculum that reflects the diversity of the student body; and supported educators that have the resources and tools they need to educate their students. They might even serve entire families, with job placement assistance, English classes, referrals to social service agencies, and nutrition and health services.

“We have learned from decades of school improvement efforts that there isn’t one single powerful lever or magic bullet that will generate equitable outcomes in schools.,” said Kyle Serrette, a senior policy analyst in NEA’s Teacher Quality department. “Instead we’ve learned that education equity requires the identification of hundreds of specialized levers that, when CONTINUE READING: Educators cheer new push in Congress for more community schools - Education Votes

David Berliner: Why Religious Schools Should Never Receive a Dollar of Public Funding | Diane Ravitch's blog

David Berliner: Why Religious Schools Should Never Receive a Dollar of Public Funding

Since the 2020 election, when Republicans won many seats in state legislatures, there has been an explosion of proposed voucher laws, to allow people to get public money to pay for religious schools. David Berliner, one of our nation’s most distinguished researchers of education, explains why funding religious schools with public money is a terrible idea.

Why Religious Schools Should Never Receive a Dollar of Public Funding

David C. Berliner Regents’ Professor Emeritus

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Arizona State University

I believe in separation of church and state. I think it has done the United States a lot of good to honor Jefferson’s metaphoric and aspirational “wall” between the two. I also believe that money corrupts too many people and too many institutions. Holding those two beliefs simultaneously means 1.) I never want to see any local, state, or federal money used to aide any religious group, and 2.) I don’t want to see any religious group, or affiliated religious organizations, donating to the campaigns of public officials. The latter may be impossible to stop in an era of “dark money.” But the former—government support of religious institutions– is almost always done in public view and is worth stopping CONTINUE READING: David Berliner: Why Religious Schools Should Never Receive a Dollar of Public Funding | Diane Ravitch's blog

Learning to Earn – Have You Heard

Learning to Earn

The idea that more education is the way to help workers get ahead is a cherished American principle. In fact, this “human capital” view of education dates all the way back to another period of roaring inequality in the US: the Gilded Age. In episode #107, historian Cristina Groeger joins us to discuss the origins of the “education fix,” and why the idea of educating our way out of inequality has always been doomed to fail.

Episode transcript is here. The financial support of listeners like you keeps this podcast going. Subscribe on Patreon or donate on PayPal.

Have You Heard · #107 Learning to Earn

Learning to Earn – Have You Heard

Audio: Teaching Students A New Black History | 89.3 KPCC

Teaching Students A New Black History

When you think of the history of Black education in the United States, you might think of Brown vs. Board of Education and the fight to integrate public schools. But there's a parallel history too, of Black people pooling their resources to educate and empower themselves independently.

Enslaved people learned to read and write whenever and wherever they could, often in secret and against the law. "In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagems," like convincing white children to help him, wrote Frederick Douglass. "I had no regular teacher."

After the Civil War, says educator Kaya Henderson, Black people started "freedmen's schools" to teach former slaves literacy and the other skills they would need to participate as citizens. "In the 12-year period that is Reconstruction," she adds, "we started 5,000 community schools. We started 37 historically black colleges and universities."

A century later, during the civil rights movement, educators founded "freedom schools" combining basic literacy with civic skills, like how to register to vote.

And in 1969, the Black Panther Party started a free breakfast program for schoolchildren. Eventually it fed tens of thousands of hungry kids oranges, eggs and chocolate milk at 45 sites around the country. J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, reportedly got the Chicago police to try to sabotage the program, because he CONTINUE READING: Audio: Teaching Students A New Black History | 89.3 KPCC

Thursday, February 25, 2021