The disaster California schools face, and a teacher's call to action
This was written by educator Anthony Cody, who taught science for 18 years in inner-city Oakland and who now works with a team of science teacher-coaches that supports novice teachers. He is a National Board-certified teacher and an active member of the Teacher Leaders Network. This post appeared on his Teachers Magazine blog, Living in Dialogue. By Anthony Cody California Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has a better understanding than most politicians of education issues, as we discovered last year when he sent some cogent advice to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. However, he can't seem to find a way to conjure $25 (or perhaps now $28) billion out of thin air, and is warning educators that the schools will suffer a 20-25 percent cut in funding next year. California already is in 49th place in the nation in terms of student/teacher ratio, and is dead last in the ratio of students
The carrot, the stick ... or something else?
My guest is Sean Slade, director of Healthy School Communities, part of the Whole Child Initiative at ASCD, an educational leadership organization. By Sean Slade A study on chronic student truancy that was generally ignored by the news media concluded that punishing parents when their children skip school -- an idea under discussion in some places -- is counterproductive. “Hauling parents into family court is not the best way to combat a rising tide of kids who chronically miss school," it says. Chronic truancy has been long hailed as a key indicator of other youth risk-taking behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse, and an indicator of a host of social, emotional, and mental health issues.
