Thursday, February 18, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, February 18, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Teacher union leadership response to JB’s flat education funding? Too much understanding. – Fred Klonsky - https://wp.me/p4C3g-q9J via @fklonsky

Teacher bridges global divide for Philadelphia students with African-centered curriculum https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/17/22288530/teacher-bridges-global-divide-for-philadelphia-students-with-african-centered-curriculum via @ChalkbeatPHL

5 Things Every Family Should Know About Paying For College https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/02/17/96693/5-things-every-family-should-know-about-paying-for/ via @kpcc

Bay Area advocates applaud dropping 'illegal alien' in reference to undocumented immigrants - https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Area-advocates-applaud-dropping-illegal-15955514.php on @sfchronicle

Biden Balks At $50,000 Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Proposal https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-50000_n_602d49c6c5b67c32961aab8b

School closings and changes in the D.C. region for Thursday, Feb. 18 https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/school-closings-snow-dc-virginia-maryland/2021/02/17/6732a61e-7198-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html

PRINCIPAL VOICE: Returning students to school safely is top priority, but let’s not forget to treat them fairly https://hechingerreport.org/principal-voice-returning-students-to-school-safely-is-top-priority-but-lets-not-forget-to-treat-them-fairly/

L.A. Unified gets 100 doses but needs thousands to reopen schools http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/QIgiSg7rHK4/los-angeles-long-beach-schools-teacher-vaccine-reopenings

In-Person School Reopening Becomes Key Issue For Biden Administration https://www.npr.org/2021/02/17/968760624/in-person-school-reopening-becomes-key-issue-for-biden-administration

NYC Gifted and Talented admissions will be decided by teacher recommendations and random lottery this year https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-gifted-and-talented-admission-change-20210217-3pyj25f6dffnjngcftgpfdkvzy-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

Cold Interrupts Classes, in an Interrupted Year https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/us/cold-weather-snow-school-class-teachers.html

Curmudgucation: FL: Voucher and Privatization Endgame in Sight | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10773 on @NEPCtweet

Wisconsin Superintendent Candidate Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Tweet - https://www.theroot.com/white-af-wisconsin-superintendant-candidate-says-she-wa-1846291729 on TheRoot

Los Angeles School Board Votes to Redirect Money From Policing to Programs for Black Students - https://www.theroot.com/los-angeles-school-board-cuts-25-million-from-school-p-1846289363 on TheRoot

Most Teachers Say They're Comfortable Going Back To School, But Only With Strict Safety Measures - Report Door - https://www.reportdoor.com/?p=263782

KUOW - What The Science Says About How To Reopen Schools - https://www.kuow.org/stories/what-the-science-says-about-how-to-reopen-schools

School update: As teachers get second vaccine round, concerns about classroom safety remain; State Board of Ed rep calls on DCPS to fund outdoor classrooms | Forest Hills Connection || News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood - https://wp.me/p6vVwz-9Rg

Fauci encourages vaccinations for personal health and to diminish 'dynamics of the outbreak' - https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/fauci-encourages-vaccinations-for-personal-health-and-to-diminish-dynamics-of-the-outbreak-101189189753 by MSNBC on @MSNBC

Randi Weingarten: ‘teachers understand the importance of in-school learning’ - https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/randi-weingarten-teachers-understand-the-importance-of-in-school-learning-101195333949 by MSNBC on @MSNBC

New Massachusetts Law Paves Way For Police-Free Schools - PopularResistance.Org - https://popularresistance.org/?p=182429

‘Trying our best’: Oklahoma students talk school during the pandemic https://nondoc.com/2021/02/18/oklahoma-students-talk-about-pandemic/ via @nondocmedia

Reopening NJ schools: The CDC’s key guidance | NJ Spotlight News - https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/02/cdc-guidance-guidelines-school-reopening-nj-strategies-mask-wearing-physical-distancing-hand-washing-ventilation-how-school-districts-react/ via @njspotlight

Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness Hinges On 2 Numbers: $10,000 Vs. $50,000 https://www.npr.org/2021/02/18/968324101/debate-over-student-loan-forgiveness-hinges-on-2-numbers-10-000-vs-50-000

Montgomery County teachers vote no confidence on reopening plan - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-county-teachers-no-confidence/2021/02/18/b8f2dd66-7143-11eb-93be-c10813e358a2_story.html

State officials reverse policy, giving NYC schools green light to mandate COVID testing for in-person learning https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-covid-testing-schools-new-state-rules-20210218-x7ejae3qcjdxxm6uoyo6zluhma-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

Education Research Report: The National Summer School Initiative implementation study - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/

Philadelphia School District reopening postponed to March 1 - https://www.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-reopen-covid-hite-council-20210217.html#new_tab via @PhillyInquirer

Senate Republicans target Democrats over school reopenings in new campaign https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/539199-senate-republicans-target-democrats-over-school-reopening-in-new-campaign#.YC66_HAQhXw.twitter

House Republicans add income caps to ‘school voucher’ bill; Dems push back - https://www.concordmonitor.com/New-Hampshire-House-Republicans-add-income-caps-to-school-voucher-style-bill-education-savings-accounts-38928512#new_tab on @conmonitornews

UNH Profs Say Ed Freedom Accounts Will Bring More “QAnon” to NH https://nhjournal.com/unh-profs-say-efas-will-bring-more-qanon-to-nh/

The $1 billion plan to close the gap between growing and shrinking Pa. school districts · Spotlight PA - https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2021/02/pennsylvania-education-tom-wolf-budget-funding-formula-hold-harmless/#new_tab

Poll: Teachers who are back in the classroom are comfortable with it - Axios - https://www.axios.com/poll-aft-school-reopening-debate-teachers-covid-3da59023-43e8-4187-825b-32b39203e5d8.html#new_tab on @axios

Washington state’s for-profit online schools are expanding enrollment during the pandemic | The Seattle Times - https://www.seattletimes.com/?p=13366640 by @HannahFurfaro on @seattletimes

NYC to pick gifted kids via teacher suggestions, lottery - New York Daily News - https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-gifted-and-talented-admission-change-20210217-3pyj25f6dffnjngcftgpfdkvzy-story.html#new_tab via @nydailynews

NH Primary Source: House Education Committee parses amendment to controversial school voucher bill - https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-primary-source-house-education-committee-parses-amendment-to-controversial-school-voucher-bill/35544774# on @WMUR9

West Virginia Supreme Court to hear arguments in case involving transgender student at Liberty High School | WV News | wvnews.com - https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/west-virginia-supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-in-case-involving-transgender-student-at-liberty-high/article_d28b674f-0996-5bec-889c-dcdf76fa6800.html#new_tab on @WVNews247

Our Turn: Voucher bill does not serve the public good - https://www.concordmonitor.com/Voucher-bill-38895728?fbclid=IwAR02wflgPX00dMitPFqm5Q11IMZzfCj_mkJdwYyZcywtZUi_0bJ4IvPQ6LQ#new_tab on @conmonitornews

Tensions mount as 3 Michigan school districts hesitate to open classrooms | Bridge Michigan - https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/tensions-mount-3-michigan-school-districts-hesitate-open-classrooms#new_tab on @BridgeMichigan

Big Education Ape: Anne Spencer, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/anne-spencer-black-educator-hall-of.html

Education Law Center: Minnesota Considers Constitutional Amendment That Threatens Student Rights | Diane Ravitch's blog

Big Education Ape / 13min

Education Law Center: Minnesota Considers Constitutional Amendment That Threatens Student Rights Imagine a state that adopts a state constitutional amendment that ties student rights to an education to their test scores. Would anyone be so dumb as to imagine that the test scores of students of different races would change because of a constitutional amendment? Remember that Minnesota was the fir

Open Letter Regarding Continued Hybrid Reopening Plan Failures – Parents United for Public Education

Big Education Ape / 13min

Open Letter Regarding Continued Hybrid Reopening Plan Failures Dr. William Hite, Superintendent, School District of Philadelphia Philadelphia Board of Education Philadelphia City Council 2/18/2021 Dr. Hite, Board of Education members, and Council members: We are glad to hear that the School District of Philadelphia has pushed back the date for return to school buildings. Like the majority of par

Give Me a Poke | Teacher in a strange land

Big Education Ape / 13min

Give Me a Poke Sign-of-the-times screen on my kitchen Alexa: Alexa, give me mental health tips. Indeed. So, it’s the end of January and I am finally getting a haircut, double-masked and trying out a new stylist because my regular haircutter has three children at home, due to the pandemic, and hasn’t worked for six months. You know, just another disrupted-life story, one of millions. I already kn

Teacher Tom: A "Big, Big Poop" and Speaking the Names of the Gods

Big Education Ape / 13min

A "Big, Big Poop" and Speaking the Names of the Gods Preschoolers tell stories long before they read or write them. I often grab a stack of paper and a pen and serve as a transcriber of their words, striving, often through cramping fingers, to keep up and honor, not my interpretation of their intent, but the exact words they evoke. She said: "Once upon a time there was a big monster who pooped e

2021 Medley #3 – that Pesky State Constitution | Live Long and Prosper

Big Education Ape / 13min

2021 Medley #3 – that Pesky State Constitution HB 1005, Publicly Funded Discrimination The Indiana House of Representatives passed HB 1005 which calls for increases in funding for voucher accepting parochial and private schools. Public schools get the leftovers. THE INDIANA CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS Article 8 Section 1 Public schools are a Constitutional mandate in Indiana. Sendi

Arizona: Legislature Passes Huge Voucher Expansion, Despite Will of Voters | Diane Ravitch's blog

Big Education Ape / 13min

Arizona: Legislature Passes Huge Voucher Expansion, Despite Will of Voters Two years ago, the voters of Arizona overwhelmingly rejected an expansion of vouchers, by 65% to 35%. The pro-voucher side was funded by Charles Koch, Betsy DeVos, and other enemies of public schools. The voters said a resounding NO to voucher expansion! Yet, this week the Arizona Legislature passed legislation to expand

Karen Lewis Taught Me | The Jose Vilson

Big Education Ape / 13min

KAREN LEWIS TAUGHT ME “José Luis, I’m writing your foreword.” That’s how it went. My publisher and I were brainstorming names for who would best introduce my first solo project This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education to the world. For what it’s worth, Haymarket Books let me have my vision for the book, but they nudged me in ways I didn’t know I needed. As we approached

Thoughts on Teaching | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Big Education Ape / 13min

Thoughts on Teaching I n 2001, I retired from fulltime teaching and research at Stanford. The Dean invited me to give a talk to the graduates and their families that June. Here is an abridged version of what I said. “I have thought a lot about the past 46 years I have spent in education. I have taught in urban high schools and Stanford for many years [in addition to being an administrator]. It i

Education Matters: Greene just can't be honest about the pandemic.

Big Education Ape / 13min

Greene just can't be honest about the pandemic. In a community meeting, Greene said cases of COVID exploded in January because we had just returned from Winter Break. She showed a graph backing this up too. The thing is cases exploded because the district changed the way it revealed cases. Basically, up to that point, we had been lowballing the numbers, and it was a Christmas miracle that they f

IT IS NOT THE WORDS, IT IS HOW YOU SAY THEM – Dad Gone Wild

Big Education Ape / 13min

IT IS NOT THE WORDS, IT IS HOW YOU SAY THEM “Sex and excretion are reminders that anyone’s claim to round-the-clock dignity is tenuous. The so-called rational animal has a desperate drive to pair up and moan and writhe.” ― Steven Pinker I’ve just returned from taking the dog on her morning walk. Every morning about this time, we traverse through the neighborhood out to the main road and back. Th

A Vision of Being Human: “Am I normal?” – radical eyes for equity

Big Education Ape / 13min

A Vision of Being Human: “Am I normal?” “Am I normal?” Vin asks his sister Viv as they lift off the ground to leave school for home. Vin and Viv are the synthezoid teenagers of Virginia and Vision, the superhero associated with Marvel’s Avengers. This question comes after Vin is confronted during class in the first issue of Vision : Vision:The Complete Collection This rendition of Vision ( vol.

WHAT'S NEW AT THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - California Department of Education

Big Education Ape / 13min

California Department of Education WHAT'S NEW AT THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Mandatory SFSP Training Coming in March 16h California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division (NSD) Community Nutrition Programs Unit (CNPU) is pleased to announce that the 2021 Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) annual online Mandatory Training will be available in March 2021. CNP Monitoring Waiv

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

Big Education Ape / 13min

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_13.html The Mothers Who Raised Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin by Mark Anthony Neal / 16h '"I decided to focus on mothers because of this further erasure that happens to mothers. Mothe

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

Big Education Ape / 13min

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/this-week-i

CHECK IT OUT: DIANE ON A ROLL TODAY - Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #VACCINATETEACHERS

Big Education Ape / 13min

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all CHECK IT OUT: DIANE ON A ROLL TODAY Big Education Ape: KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/02/keep-up-catch-up-with-diane-ravitchs_13.html Education Law Center: Minnesota Considers Constitutional Amendment That Threatens Student Rights by

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, February 17, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

Big Education Ape / 23h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Edgenuity's software wasn't meant for a pandemic. That didn't stop some school districts. - https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/edgenuity-s-

Big Education Ape

Anne Spencer, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

ANNE SPENCER, 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 Annie Bethel Scales Bannister.

Anne Spencer was born in 1882 in Virginia. At the age of 11, her mother enrolled her in the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (now Virginia University of Lynchburg). At age 17, she graduated at the top of her class. Two year later, she’d marry Edward Spencer, a fellow from school in Lynchburg who tutored her in math and science, and she tutored him in languages.

At the seminary, Anne majored in teaching at the Normal School. During the summers, she’d return to her hometown, Bramwell, WV, in the summers and teach. Spencer is also known for her literary career as a renowned poet. But, before her prolific writing career, she was a dope educator. Upon graduation, she returned to Bramwell and taught in Elkhorn and Mayberry, West Virginia. CONTINUE READING: Anne Spencer, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

Education Law Center: Minnesota Considers Constitutional Amendment That Threatens Student Rights | Diane Ravitch's blog

Education Law Center: Minnesota Considers Constitutional Amendment That Threatens Student Rights

Imagine a state that adopts a state constitutional amendment that ties student rights to an education to their test scores. Would anyone be so dumb as to imagine that the test scores of students of different races would change because of a constitutional amendment? Remember that Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter law, promising to close the academic gaps. That was in 1992. Thirty years later, the state’s Big Thinkers are still grasping at straws.

EDUCATION EXPERTS AND SCHOLARS: PROPOSED MINNESOTA CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THREATENS STUDENTS’ RIGHTSFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, prominent experts on constitutional law and education sent a letter to Minnesota legislators voicing significant concerns that a proposal to amend the Minnesota Constitution would undermine and weaken students’ right to public education.
In January 2020, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve proposed to eliminate the current guarantee of a free public education in the Minnesota State Constitution and replace it with language to make education “a fundamental right” to “quality schools” to be “measured against uniform achievement standards set forth by the state.”

Proponents of the change contend that this new language would reduce gaps in achievement between Minnesota’s white students and students of color. A proposed bill to amend the constitution, H.F. 874, was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives on February 8.

In their letter, nationally known constitutional scholars and education law experts outline the negative effects the proposed amendment would have on Minnesota students’ right to public education. CONTINUE READING: Education Law Center: Minnesota Considers Constitutional Amendment That Threatens Student Rights | Diane Ravitch's blog

Open Letter Regarding Continued Hybrid Reopening Plan Failures – Parents United for Public Education

Open Letter Regarding Continued Hybrid Reopening Plan Failures

Dr. William Hite, Superintendent, School District of Philadelphia
Philadelphia Board of Education
Philadelphia City Council

2/18/2021

Dr. Hite, Board of Education members, and Council members:

We are glad to hear that the School District of Philadelphia has pushed back the date for return to school buildings. Like the majority of parents across the district, we were never excited about sending our children back into toxic, poorly ventilated buildings without a solid plan in place. We are very concerned about putting staff members who have not had the opportunity to get fully vaccinated at risk of illness and death, as well as the potential for children to get sick themselves and/or to spread the virus to their own family members at home.

We believe that delaying the reopening of buildings to ensure safety is the right choice, however we are disturbed with the district’s leadership’s insistence in saying that the delay is due to the ongoing mediation with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

In seeking to unfairly shift the blame to teachers via the union, the district continues to minimize the role and the voice of parents and caregivers across the district who have said “no” to this reopening plan. District leadership has also refused to take any responsibility for their failures in planning, collaboration, and CONTINUE READING: Open Letter Regarding Continued Hybrid Reopening Plan Failures – Parents United for Public Education

Give Me a Poke | Teacher in a strange land

Give Me a Poke

Sign-of-the-times screen on my kitchen Alexa: Alexa, give me mental health tips. Indeed.

So, it’s the end of January and I am finally getting a haircut, double-masked and trying out a new stylist because my regular haircutter has three children at home, due to the pandemic, and hasn’t worked for six months. You know, just another disrupted-life story, one of millions.

I already know what my regular haircutter thinks about politics, but New Stylist—a talker—is rambling on about Our Governor and how she’s destroying businesses, yada yada. Keeping in mind that the woman is holding scissors, I gently mention the declining rates of infection, hospitalization and, you know, death in Michigan, a direct result of the gov’s policies.

There’s a pause and then she notes that Governor Whitmer was in D.C. for the Inaugural—not surprising, as she is Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Party—after she told ordinary people in the state not to travel over the holidays. Do as I say, not as I CONTINUE READING: Give Me a Poke | Teacher in a strange land

Teacher Tom: A "Big, Big Poop" and Speaking the Names of the Gods

A "Big, Big Poop" and Speaking the Names of the Gods

Preschoolers tell stories long before they read or write them. I often grab a stack of paper and a pen and serve as a transcriber of their words, striving, often through cramping fingers, to keep up and honor, not my interpretation of their intent, but the exact words they evoke.

She said:
"Once upon a time there was a
big monster who pooped
everywhere. And he was
called POOP MONSTER!
But he just kept on
pooping. Poop, poop, poop
Poop, poop, poop, poop
Poop, poop, poop, poop.
Poop.
Poop.
Poop."

And that is exactly what I wrote. But, of course, the act of converting her spoken words into the phonetic alphabet is not an exact translation. She was performing this story orally, evoking words, and particularly one word, more in the manner of an incantation than literature.

"Poop," she said, over and over. She knew from experience that the destiny of this story was to be read in front of her CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: A "Big, Big Poop" and Speaking the Names of the Gods

2021 Medley #3 – that Pesky State Constitution | Live Long and Prosper

2021 Medley #3 – that Pesky State Constitution

HB 1005, Publicly Funded Discrimination

The Indiana House of Representatives passed HB 1005 which calls for increases in funding for voucher accepting parochial and private schools. Public schools get the leftovers.

THE INDIANA CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Article 8 Section 1

Public schools are a Constitutional mandate in Indiana. Sending tax money to private schools is not, even if the money is laundered through the parents (parents designate a school and the state sends the school the money). The Indiana Constitution says…

Knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; and to provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.

2021 VOUCHER EXPANSION PASSES THE HOUSE CONTINUE READING : 2021 Medley #3 – that Pesky State Constitution | Live Long and Prosper

Arizona: Legislature Passes Huge Voucher Expansion, Despite Will of Voters | Diane Ravitch's blog

Arizona: Legislature Passes Huge Voucher Expansion, Despite Will of Voters

Two years ago, the voters of Arizona overwhelmingly rejected an expansion of vouchers, by 65% to 35%. The pro-voucher side was funded by Charles Koch, Betsy DeVos, and other enemies of public schools. The voters said a resounding NO to voucher expansion!

Yet, this week the Arizona Legislature passed legislation to expand vouchers, approving what the voters rejected. Apparently, the word “democracy” is not in the Republican legislators’ dictionary. The voters expressed their will in no uncertain terms. The legislators ignored them.

The Arizona Senate approved a massive expansion of Arizona’s school voucher program Monday, just two years after voters decisively repealed a similar expansion of school vouchers to all students.

The Senate passed the bill on a 16-14 party-line vote, with all 16 Republicans voting for the measure. It will now be sent to the House of Representatives.

Empowerment Scholarship Accounts allow parents eligible to take funds from public schools and CONTINUE READING: Arizona: Legislature Passes Huge Voucher Expansion, Despite Will of Voters | Diane Ravitch's blog

Karen Lewis Taught Me | The Jose Vilson

KAREN LEWIS TAUGHT ME

“José Luis, I’m writing your foreword.”

That’s how it went. My publisher and I were brainstorming names for who would best introduce my first solo project This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education to the world. For what it’s worth, Haymarket Books let me have my vision for the book, but they nudged me in ways I didn’t know I needed. As we approached the editing phase of the book, the publisher saw how the book needed to meet the moment. So one thing lead to another and President Lewis and “Coach” John Lewis sat in [an undisclosed location] with my family (Luz and Alejandro). We made the usual introductions between family, then she stated matter-of-factly that she would have the first word in my book. I looked at Luz, then Alejandro, then Coach, then back to Karen.

I must have giggled a bit and said “Sounds like a done deal.”

By then, I had gotten used to her directness, the warm demander so lauded by Black women education scholars past and present. There I was, an up-and-coming national voice in the movement against the corporatization of public schools facing the local legend turned national hero. Our main order of business took about 30 seconds without much fanfare. Because she said so.

Of course, she also pushed me to do the work of making the book meet her expectations for greatness. I didn’t have plans to let her down even before her provocation, but now I felt the duty not just of the movement at the time, but of ancestors from centuries CONTINUE READING: Karen Lewis Taught Me | The Jose Vilson

Thursday, February 18, 2021