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Sunday, February 2, 2020

EdAction in Congress February 2, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress February 2, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress February 2, 2020


Infrastructure package needs to do more for schools

House Democrats unveiled a $760 billion infrastructure package that would improve roads, bridges, and transit systems, among other things. When asked, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said school modernization also needed to happen this year. But timing is unclear, so we need to make sure Congress knows schools need to be part of any infrastructure package that moves forward. The overall condition of public school facilities gets a D+ on the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2017 infrastructure report card. To build support for school modernization, we need personal stories—your stories. Tell us about your leaky roofs, crowded classrooms, broken heating and air conditioning, lack of wiring for high-speed broadband, contaminated drinking water, insects and vermin—whatever needs fixing in your school.  Share your story

Tell Congress to repeal unfair Social Security penalties

Nearly 2 million people dedicated to public service, including many educators, have their Social Security benefits reduced—or lose them entirely—due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). The Social Security Fairness Act (S. 521/H.R. 141) would fully repeal both the GPO and WEP while the Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act (H.R. 4540) starts to fix problems caused by the WEP, but not does address the GPO. Email your representatives and tell them to support both of these pieces of important legislation. Read more.

Cheers and Jeers

By a vote of 221-189, the House passed the Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020 (H.R. 3621) by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to protect student loan borrowers from unfair credit reporting practices.

NEA urged the House Ways and Means Committee to support the FAMILY Act (H.R. 1185) by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT); the bill would provide 12 weeks of paid leave per year for the birth or adoption of a child, the serious illness of an immediate family member, or a worker’s own medical condition.
By a vote of 393-5, the House passed the Never Again Act of 2020 (H.R. 943) by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to provide funding for educational programs about the Holocaust and other human rights atrocities.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Reps. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Greg Murphy (R-NC), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Anthony Brown (D-MD), Deb Haaland (D-NM), Jason Crow (D-CO), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Joe Courtney (D-CT), John Garamendi (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), and George Holding (R-NC) signed a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressing serious concerns about “turmoil within the Department of Defense Education Authority (DODEA),” including imposing 24 additional hours of unpaid time per quarter on our Federal Employee Association members.
EdAction in Congress February 2, 2020 - Education Votes
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Progressives Have All the Answers, Except for How to Provide Educational Justice - Philly's 7th Ward

Progressives Have All the Answers, Except for How to Provide Educational Justice - Philly's 7th Ward

PROGRESSIVES HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS, EXCEPT FOR HOW TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE
I’ve had the chance to travel a lot in my work as an educator and activist, and frequently I find myself in what I call the “too-expensive-for-Black folks” cities.
You know, those cities that present themselves as magnets for change and opportunity, but when you look past the facade (my friend and colleague Chris Stewart likes to call out all the hot yoga, tofu, paper straws, miles of bike lanes, and green this and green that), you uncover something deeper and more troubling.
After they’ve told you how healthy the soybeans are for like the millionth time, and you finally get to ask the seemingly simple question, How are the children?—it is met with devastating disappointment.
Everyone progresses with a progressive platform, apparently, except for Black and Brown children.
I wish I could claim disappointment, but sadly I’m not surprised at all by the CONTINUE READING: Progressives Have All the Answers, Except for How to Provide Educational Justice - Philly's 7th Ward
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Those Christian Textbooks Adopted in Schools That Receive Taxpayer Funding | Diane Ravitch's blog

Those Christian Textbooks Adopted in Schools That Receive Taxpayer Funding | Diane Ravitch's blog

Those Christian Textbooks Adopted in Schools That Receive Taxpayer Funding


In 2017, the Orlando Sentinel published a powerful three-part series about unregulated and unaccountable voucher schools in Florida, called “Schools Without Rules.” In Florida, voucher schools receive $1 billion each year of taxpayer funding.
In 2018, the Orlando Sentinel published an article about the textbook companies that supply teaching materials to voucher schools and homeschoolers. Their books incorporate religious values into their content.
Prominent among them is the ABeka company in Florida.
Their textbooks reflect a religious approach to science, history, and other subjects.
One of the largest suppliers of materials for private schools and home-school students across the United States is affiliated with a small Christian college in the Florida Panhandle.
Abeka, formerly known as A Beka Book, is named for Beka Horton, who along with her husband, Arlin, founded a small Christian school in 1954 and Pensacola Christian College in 1974…
Today, Abeka Academy Inc. takes in $45.6 million in revenue — $6 million less than its reported expenses of CONTINUE READING: Those Christian Textbooks Adopted in Schools That Receive Taxpayer Funding | Diane Ravitch's blog
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More students are learning on laptops and tablets in class. Some parents want to hit the off switch. - The Washington Post

More students are learning on laptops and tablets in class. Some parents want to hit the off switch. - The Washington Post

More students are learning on laptops and tablets in class. Some parents want to hit the off switch.

Meaghan Edwards had just finished reading children’s books to her son’s third-grade class when the teacher announced that students could have free time before lunch. Instead of playing cards, talking with friends or reading more, the students pulled out their iPads.
“They were zoned out like little zombies,” recalled Edwards, whose children attended school in the Eanes Independent School District in Austin.

The school system is one of many coast to coast that have spent millions of dollars on initiatives aimed at putting computers or tablets in the hands of every student, sometimes as early as kindergarten.
The largest school district in Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools, announced last year plans to provide Dell laptops to students starting in third grade. Less wealthy school systems have issued bonds to purchase devices, borrowing millions of dollars for laptops, iPads and Chromebooks.
But some parents in parts of the country where the programs are in place want to scale back, saying the devices are harming the way young children learn.
From Northern Virginia to Shawnee, Kan., to Norman, Okla., parents have demanded schools reduce or eliminate use of digital devices, provide alternative “low-screen” classwork and allow parents to say they do not want their children glued to glowing screens. Some families have even transferred their children to schools that are not so smitten with technology.
Maryland health and education officials released guidelines on using digital devices in school that include reminding students to take eye and stretch breaks and that encourage educators to offer collaborative learning assignments on and off the devices.
Virginia lawmakers are considering a similar proposal that would require the state to seek advice from CONTINUE READING: More students are learning on laptops and tablets in class. Some parents want to hit the off switch. - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape: Support for best practices for digital device use in schools grows | Parents Across America - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/01/support-for-best-practices-for-digital.html

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Why Does Ohio Award Bonuses to Failing Charter Schools? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Does Ohio Award Bonuses to Failing Charter Schools? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Does Ohio Award Bonuses to Failing Charter Schools?

Ohio is extraordinarily generous to religious schools and charter schools. It even awards bonuses to failing charters schools! 
Under current state law, millions of dollars will flow to failing charters. Ohio’s charter industry is drawing money away from real public schools, and most charters perform worse than real public schools. So now the state hopes to attract out-of-state charter chains and farm their taxpayer dollars out to corporations.
The charter-school bonus program was urged by Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration to reward the state’s good charters and encourage quality charter chains elsewhere to expand to Ohio. It earmarked $30 million per fiscal year in Ohio Lottery profits – $60 million overall – for the charter school bonuses.
For Ohio charter schools that qualify, the budget allots a bonus of up to $1,750 for each pupil classified as economically disadvantaged and up to $1,000 per pupil for all others.
The money was supposed to go only to “quality” charters. Unfortunately, language intended to attract strong out-of-state charter chains to open in Ohio — by offering the same bonuses to Ohio schools run by operators with CONTINUE READING: Why Does Ohio Award Bonuses to Failing Charter Schools? | Diane Ravitch's blog
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NYC Educator: Limiting Suspensions Is a Slippery Slope

NYC Educator: Limiting Suspensions Is a Slippery Slope

Limiting Suspensions Is a Slippery Slope


I like State Senator Jessica Ramos. I'm glad she's working for us. This notwithstanding, I wonder about the bill she's pushing to limit school suspensions. According to the article, suspensions can be up to 180 days. I know this is true, and I know of a few students who committed outright atrocities who received yearlong suspensions. I won't go into what they did, but I assure you neither you, Jessica Ramos, or anyone I can think of would oppose them.

When I read about what upsets Ramos, I can't really disagree.

School suspensions have been linked to students dropping out and ending up in the criminal justice system — and Black and Hispanic students are suspended at much higher rates than their peers, statistics show.

That's not right. No one should face suspension, or any consequence whatsoever, simply because of who they are. And then there's this:

Students who miss classroom time through suspension are less likely to succeed and are more likely to wind up in the prison system.

There is certainly a connection there, but what's the cause and what's the effect? Does suspension itself cause this? Isn't it possible that the behavior that resulted in suspension is what makes students "less likely to succeed and more likely to wind up in the prison system?"

Let's take a look at the behaviors that, under this bill, would no longer result in suspension:

The bill would also prohibit suspending students for tardiness, unexcused absences, leaving school without permission, dress code violations, lack of school ID and “willful disobedience” — which it defines as disruptive, insubordinate or rowdy behavior.

There's some sense here. It's absurd to suspend students for being late or absent. Likely as not, being suspended would mean extra opportunity to be late or absent, and cause CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Limiting Suspensions Is a Slippery Slope
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It’s The Thirteenth Anniversary Of This Blog – Here Are The Forty All-Time Most Popular Posts | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

It’s The Thirteenth Anniversary Of This Blog – Here Are The Forty All-Time Most Popular Posts | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

IT’S THE THIRTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG – HERE ARE THE FORTY ALL-TIME MOST POPULAR POSTS
Yes, this blog has been around for thirteen years!
Lots of numbers – fourteen million visitors, twenty-three thousand daily readers, thirteen books.
But the real celebration for me is what I have learned through the process and how it has made me a better teacher.
It has been a great experience, and I hope that feeling will continue…
You might also be interested in My All-Time Favorite Posts! (these are the best of the best)
Here are the most popular posts from the past twelve years:

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The Ongoing Study of How and When Teachers Should Praise Students | gadflyonthewallblog

The Ongoing Study of How and When Teachers Should Praise Students | gadflyonthewallblog

The Ongoing Study of How and When Teachers Should Praise Students


Should teachers praise their students?
It’s a simple question with a multiplicity of answers.
A 2020 study published in the journal Educational Psychology concludes that teachers who use praise see a 30% increase in good behavior from their classes.
Meanwhile, reprimands actually increase misbehavior and unwillingness to comply with instruction.
Researches suggest a 3:1 or 4:1 praise-to-reprimand ratio. So for every one reprimand, a teacher should provide three or four positive reinforcements.
Unfortunately, this study flies in the face of previous research.
According to a 2014 study by the Sutton Trust, teachers who give struggling pupils “lavish praise” can make them even less likely to succeed.
Too much praise can “convey a message of low expectations.”
Researchers warned that if failure brings students CONTINUE READING: The Ongoing Study of How and When Teachers Should Praise Students | gadflyonthewallblog

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Feb 13: School Facilities, Enrollment, and Equity – Education Town Hall Forum

Feb 13: School Facilities, Enrollment, and Equity – Education Town Hall Forum

FEB 13: SCHOOL FACILITIES, ENROLLMENT, AND EQUITY


The next Education Town Hall focuses on facilities and neighborhood issues around a Ward 8 charter school and the citywide auditor’s report on enrollment and equity in DC schools. Listen at 11 a.m. EASTERN on Thursday, February 13, via TuneIn or by visiting We Act Radio and clicking on arrow at upper left (NOTE: Not all “listen” buttons are working at present).
From 11-11:30 am, Ward 8 residents Tina Batchelor and Camille Joyner will discuss their experience of how a charter school, Eagle Academy, located in their neighborhood and how the ensuing construction and neighborhood opposition has resulted in their advocacy and activism around issues that in DC are common concerning school siting and construction—and illuminate what the public can do.
For our second segment, from 11:30 am until noon, Kathy Patterson, the DC auditor, and Johns Hopkins education researcher Betsy Wolf discuss the latest auditor’s report on enrollment and equity, commissioned by the auditor and authored by Wolf. The report shows that school choice in DC results in families choosing schools with fewer at risk students than they would otherwise attend. One result is that high-poverty schools often face both declining enrollment as well as reduced resources. In addition, those schools often have highly mobile students, which affects achievement. The report recommends more accurate enrollment projections; aligning funding with enrollment, especially taking into account mobility; and targeting funding to schools with higher percentages of at risk students.
The Education Town Hall with Thomas Byrd
broadcasts from Historic Anacostia
in Washington, DC, on We Act Radio,
Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern
New programming 2nd and 4th Thursdays, alternating with classic shows.
Listen live via TuneIn.
Shows are archived for convenient listening shortly after broadcast.
After years of weekly broadcasts, the program now offers one new show each month on local issues and one on national issues.
Feb 13: School Facilities, Enrollment, and Equity – Education Town Hall Forum
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