As Trump Era Ends, “School Choice Movement” Must Confront Its Conservative Roots | Diane Ravitch's blog

As Trump Era Ends, “School Choice Movement” Must Confront Its Conservative Roots | Diane Ravitch's blog

As Trump Era Ends, “School Choice Movement” Must Confront Its Conservative Roots

Avi Wolfman-Arent writes at the Philadelphia PBS website WHYY about the uncomfortable dilemma of the “school choice movement.” At least some of the choice champions had not come to grips with the fact that their movement was funded by Trump supporters. Perhaps the reckoning might have caused them to wonder if they were being used. It’s easy to forget–or perhaps never realize–that the school choice movement was created by Southern segregationists, borrowing the rhetoric of libertarian economist Milton Friedman. It i worth pondering why and how the Democratic Party abandoned its longstanding belief in equitable, well-resourced public schools as a common good.

He begins:

When Philadelphia-area mega-donors Jeff and Janine Yass made headlines recently for their contributions to Republican politicians — some of whom tried to overturn the presidential election — it stirred up a familiar debate CONTINUE READING: As Trump Era Ends, “School Choice Movement” Must Confront Its Conservative Roots | Diane Ravitch's blog

Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” by Ben Jealous | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” by Ben Jealous | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” by Ben Jealous

Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” 

by Ben Jealous | @BenJealous | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)

 

February is Black History Month – and Black people just made a whole lot of history.

Joe Biden is our president and Donald Trump is not because Black organizers and voters decided that they would not be denied their right as American citizens to be heard at the ballot box.

 

Kamala Harris is our history-making vice president, a Black and Southeast Asian woman and the daughter of immigrants, thanks to the millions of Black people who encouraged family, friends, and neighbors to vote.

 

Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are senators because Black people and their allies in Georgia turned out in November, and again in January, to signal a new day in the heart of the Old South.

 

All this makes me grateful that Black History Month comes in February. It encourages us to think about those who made these historic moments possible.

 

I’m thinking about the freedom fighters and voting rights activists – and the courageous ordinary people whose names don’t show up in history books, but who showed up to fight against injustice. They often faced violence and brutality that was fueled by the racist power structure’s desire to maintain power at all costs.

 

Does that sound familiar? Just a few weeks ago, we saw our democracy challenged by that same kind of poison. We watched a president incite his supporters to violence by denying the legitimacy of Black people’s votes. The rage among Trump’s followers was stoked by endless repetitions of the lie that so-called real Americans had CONTINUE READING: Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” by Ben Jealous | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Teacher Tom: "For Your Own Good"

Teacher Tom: "For Your Own Good"

"For Your Own Good"

When someone says, "I'm doing this for your own good," rest assured it is likely not for your own good. Or at least it's not in your best interest, according to your own judgement, in this particular moment, and usually it is decidedly against your best interest by any measure. It's the end argument for those who would compel, deceive, or censor, not always perhaps, but often enough that no one should be expected to accept it at face value, not even young children. As John Holt writes, "We cannot assume, just because we hear someone say, 'I'm doing this to help you,' that what he does will be good."

This is not to say that as a parent, teacher, or other adult responsible for the well-being of a child, that we shouldn't compel a child when their imminent safety or the safety of others is involved. No, that's our paramount responsibility, to keep the children safe, right now, and sometimes compulsion is necessary. But claims of doing it for someone's "own good" are rarely about imminent danger, but rather some danger, real or imagined, that will come, or not, in the future. And quite often the so-called danger is simply an excuse to assume control over other humans.

Dictators always rest their case on doing it "for your own CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: "For Your Own Good"

The State (SC): Read to Succeed bill would fail reading again in South Carolina – radical eyes for equity

The State (SC): Read to Succeed bill would fail reading again in South Carolina – radical eyes for equity

The State (SC): Read to Succeed bill would fail reading again in South Carolina

Read to Succeed bill would fail reading again in South Carolina (hyperlink version below and link to The State in title)

Currently, I am in year 37 of teaching in SC, serving as a high school English teacher at Woodruff High for 18 years before moving to teacher education at Furman University for the past 19 years. I entered education in SC in 1984, the first days of the accountability movement in our state.

Despite political leaders changing standards and high-stakes testing multiple times over the past four decades, political and public perception remains convinced that our students are, once again, failing to learn to read.

Bill 3613 is making the same mistake political leaders have been making since the 1980s, tinkering with punitive legislation aimed at our students and teachers while ignoring the overwhelming negative impact of inequity in our students’ homes and communities as well as the harmful negative learning and teaching conditions that persist in our schools.

Read To Succeed, which Bill 3613 seeks to amend, misreads both how students CONTINUE READING: The State (SC): Read to Succeed bill would fail reading again in South Carolina – radical eyes for equity

The Whole Truth about Kids, Schools, and Covid-19 (Derek Thompson) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Whole Truth about Kids, Schools, and Covid-19 (Derek Thompson) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Whole Truth about Kids, Schools, and Covid-19 (Derek Thompson)

The following article comes from The Atlantic, January 2021. “Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he writes about economics, technology, and the media. He is the author of Hit Makers and the host of the podcast Crazy/Genius.”

Those school boards and superintendents who continue to keep schools closed in light of this evidence have the duty of explaining to their patrons why district schools have not re-opened. Perhaps the rates of infection among adults in the geographical area are very high and they are waiting for rates to come down. Or maybe there are insufficient funds to prepare buildings to meet Center for Disease Control guidelines. Or there are too many teachers refusing to enter schools because of underlying medical condition. Or there is a lack of phase-in plans for younger children and then older ones attending.

Whatever the reasons are, district policymakers need to explain clearly and coherently why their schools have not re-opened in light of the preponderance of evidence for opening classrooms to in-person instruction. That is task number one.

Federal health officials at the CDC this week called for children to return to American classrooms as soon as possible. In an essay in the Journal of the CONTINUE READING; The Whole Truth about Kids, Schools, and Covid-19 (Derek Thompson) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Choose Monday: Give This Book

CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Choose Monday: Give This Book

Donors Choose Monday: Give This Book

Ms. Evans-Klopp is at Andrew T. Morrow in Central Islip, NY in a high-poverty neighborhood and trying to work through open-yet-restricted building work, and she'd like a class set of Give This Book a Title by Jarrett Lerner to give her third graders some excitement and a little creative break.

You can help with even a small donation. And as always, I encourage you to lend a hand to someone, somewhere. I do these posts to make it easy, but if you know of a local need, now is the time to step up and help. Every little bit helps.

CURMUDGUCATION: Donors Choose Monday: Give This Book

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board February 1, 2021--Slogging Through the Pandemic Snowstorm

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board February 1, 2021--Slogging Through the Pandemic Snowstorm

UFT Executive Board February 1, 2021--Slogging Through the Pandemic Snowstorm

UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr--Welcomes us, says minutes passed. UFT Town Hall this Thursday.

Carrie Prugh--Tomorrow is mayoral town hall 5 PM

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Evaluation--Some superintendents and schools have been using attendance and time on Zoom as evaluation. That's not acceptable. There is a state law on evaluation. Governor made executive order last year, is not inclined to do so this year. DOE has done nothing to help, offered no PE. As far as we're concerned, this is about when student and teacher are in classroom. We will try to settle, but if not we will go before commissioner. 

Important to have different type of appeal process. This is a very unique and odd teaching process. We can't have principals using attendance. Issues are over what schools did when students didn't engage. We have had some good process, but we're not done until we're done. 

MOSL is something we'll have to start looking at. MOSL has worked well for us. We've had five different laws. The matrix with MOSL has been our friend. Student learning has protected teachers. There are hundreds of schools where maybe science exam is used for all in building. We will make sure we do a good job and no one is harmed for teaching in a pandemic.

Vaccine--We are more than halfway through our list. This week and next should be 16% increase in doses, and federal should help. There will be no cancellation of UFT appointments. If you find a match elsewhere you can remove yourself online. I'm not happy until everyone who wants it gets it but we're working on it. 

Middle schools--Don't know yet, will discuss with mayor. It's all about testing. City positivity rate going down for last 9 days, now at 5.2. We'd have 227 schools closed today, but CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board February 1, 2021--Slogging Through the Pandemic Snowstorm

Republicans Want to Slash Funding for Schools in COVID Relief Bill | Diane Ravitch's blog

Republicans Want to Slash Funding for Schools in COVID Relief Bill | Diane Ravitch's blog

Republicans Want to Slash Funding for Schools in COVID Relief Bill

Politico reports that Republicans have come up with a “compromise” COVID relief bill that slashes funding for schools. President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief bill, that includes $170 billion for schools. Republicans have offered a COVID relief bill of $600 billion with a dramatic cut for schools, reducing the school aid to $20 billion. In the previous COVID relief (the CARES Act), charter schools, private schools, and religious schools received far more funding per-pupil than public schools. Republicans want public schools to reopen without the resources to reopen safely.

SENATE GOP PLAN WOULD SLASH BIDEN’S REQUEST FOR SCHOOL FUNDING: A group of 10 Republican senators is set to unveil the details today of a $600 billion counterproposal to Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan, and Biden plans to hear them out. White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced on Sunday evening that Biden had invited the group to the White House early this week. Her statement also touted the “substantial investment in fighting COIVD and reopening schools” in the administration’s original proposal. 

— The GOP lawmakers, led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), requested the meeting to make the case for a bipartisan deal — even as Democratic congressional CONTINUE READING: Republicans Want to Slash Funding for Schools in COVID Relief Bill | Diane Ravitch's blog

Schools Matter: Part 2: Red State Governors Pick Up Where DeVos Left Off

Schools Matter: Part 2: Red State Governors Pick Up Where DeVos Left Off

Part 2: Red State Governors Pick Up Where DeVos Left Off

More than 15 years before the Trumpers arrived in DC to initiate the latest "back to basic stupidity" era in all things social, cultural, economic, and intellectual, there was another Republican, George W. Bush, who had his own particular backwards fixation, which found its way into education policy in general and K-3 reading instruction in particular. 

Following his appointment to the Presidency by the Supreme Court in December 2000, Bush's first big initiative was No Child Left Behind, and reading instruction was the centerpiece of that legislation. 

In shaping NCLB reading policy, Bush leaned heavily on NIH neuropsychologist and self-declared reading guru, Reid Lyon, who viewed learning to read "the right way" as important for neural wiring as it was for academic success.  In a 2002 speech, Lyon told a group of Maryland teachers that "[w]e have to realize that education has to take on the same importance as medicine. . . . Teachers are the best brain surgeons around, the best at developing the nervous system." 

Lyon's enthusiasm for regimented phonics instruction as the best way to hard-wire receptive, convergent learners was matched by his animosity toward professional teacher preparation and research-based methods for teaching reading that go beyond . Just two months after Lyon spoke to Maryland teachers about the importance of their craft, he said this at a national policy forum:  "If there was any piece of legislation that I could pass it would be to blow up colleges of education."

Five years later, however, Lyon was helping to launch a for-profit college of education focused on preparing reading teachers the way God and Reid Lyon intended (my bolds): 

What I learned at NIH and what guides our course development at American College of CONTINUE READING: Schools Matter: Part 2: Red State Governors Pick Up Where DeVos Left Off

TOO MANY THREADS – Dad Gone Wild

TOO MANY THREADS – Dad Gone Wild

TOO MANY THREADS

“What we learn from history is that no one learns from history”
― Otto von Bismarck

 

Keeping up with everything that is going on in the education world is getting a little difficult. As the moves keep escalating and demands grow exponentially.

In regard to MNPS, the COVID-19 tracker has remained under 7 all weekend and currently sits at 6.9. Today at 3:30 Dr. Battle will hold a press conference to announce a likely return to school. It’s an announcement that will elicit mixed reactions.

While virtually everybody longs for the re-opening of schools, there is a difference of opinion on whether it can be done safely or not under current conditions. Let’s dive deeper.

RE-OPENING OF SCHOOLS

Since mid-Summer, Commissioner Schwinn, at the urging of Governor Lee, has been pushing for schools to re-open for in-person learning, even when doing so might be considered unsafe for teachers and students. There was some lip service paid to a commitment to improving remote instruction, along with some aid in securing technology, but the focus has remained squarely on opening school buildings.

The TDOE did produce some opportunities for teachers to get guidance and PD on remote learning, but most of the offerings were broad and general, with only some of the information applying to local LEAs. Instead, teachers were left to rely on each other and local district offerings which varied greatly in quality, while every effort was made to increase in-person learning opportunities.

In an effort, to pressure schools to return as quickly as possible, Schwinn and Lee issued a clarion call on the dangers of learning loss. This is where they first touted the dire prediction of students CONTINUE READING: TOO MANY THREADS – Dad Gone Wild

LEO’S TV – radical eyes for equity

LEO’S TV – radical eyes for equity

LEO’S TV

In the opening weeks of my first-year writing seminar, I introduce students to reading like writers (here and here), emphasizing that we are not reading to write literary analysis (as many of them have done for Advanced Placement Literature) but reading to explore and acquire moves and approaches for effective writing.

Since the first essay assignment is a personal narrative, I provide them with several essay examples and highlight “Peculiar Benefits” by Roxane Gay as a powerful model of what we are trying to accomplish—engaging the reader with personal narrative in order to ask the reader to consider or reconsider some larger idea or argument.

Today I read aloud, as I typically do, the first three paragraphs of the essay from the original online version of Gay’s essay at The Rumpus (many students read Gay’s Bad Feminist, which includes a slightly revised version). We had a robust discussion, and many students were interested in the essay and excited by the writing strategies we highlighted, centered around purposeful writing instead of templates or rules.

Once we ended that discussion, I noted that the three paragraphs included two places that were copyedited for the published essay in Bad Feminist. I asked if any students noticed those examples of what many English teachers and CONTINUE READING: LEO’S TV – radical eyes for equity

How a fight for an elementary school became a catalyst for positive change - Alternet.org

How a fight for an elementary school became a catalyst for positive change - Alternet.org

How a fight for an elementary school became a catalyst for positive change

As soon as Anna Grant's busy workday at Forest View Elementary School in Durham, North Carolina, ended, she would head toward the next school where she was needed. "I would get off work and immediately drive to meetings, press events, whatever we had organized [for the school]," she recalls. Her second school of concern was Lakewood Elementary, where Grant now works. In 2017, Lakewood was a flashpoint of grassroots protest due to a threat by the state to take over the school.

"Roughly 200 protesters, parents and neighborhood residents" rallied at Lakewood Elementary to keep the school out of the state's new Innovative School District (ISD), reported NC Policy Watch, a media project of the North Carolina Justice Center. The ISD was created by the state legislature to take over low-performing schools and transfer governance from the local school board to charter school management companies. Lakewood, along with Glenn Elementary in Durham and three other schools in the state, was on the shortlist of schools at risk of being transferred into the ISD.

"It's a takeover," NC Policy Watch quoted Bryan Proffitt, then-president of the Durham Association of Educators. "I don't intend to allow a terrible legislative idea to ruin our neighborhood school," Durham school board member Matt Sears told a reporter for the Herald-Sun.

Grant now calls the protests "a community effort" that united teachers with parents, community activists, and the Durham school board in an effort to stave off a transfer of CONTINUE READING: How a fight for an elementary school became a catalyst for positive change - Alternet.org

MPS celebrates National Black Lives Matter Week of Action 2021 | Educate All Students, Support Public Education

MPS celebrates National Black Lives Matter Week of Action 2021 | Educate All Students, Support Public Education

MPS celebrates National Black Lives Matter Week of Action 2021

The Milwaukee community will have opportunities to listen, learn, and add their voices to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) narrative in order to bring about positive change. Leading off Black History Month in February, the National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, February 1–5, 2021, is designed to engage the community in topics that address four national demands and foster discussions and solutions to current issues.

Milwaukee Public Schools thanks its partners and sponsors for helping to host the week of events centered on four national demands and BLM principles.

• Black Educators Caucus
• Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership
• Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH)
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Alliance of Black School Educators (MMABSE)
• MPS Department of Black & Latino Male Achievement
• Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA)
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

All events will be virtual and are free and open to the public. Registration is required to participate.
Register for all Black Lives Matter Week of Action events at http://mpsmke.com/blmregistration

Monday, February 1, 2021, 5:30–7:00 P.M.
Students Amplified—Student Panel Discussion
Join us as six student activists engage in a moderated discussion about living through and learning during a pandemic, the recent racial uprisings, and a future where Black Lives Matter at school.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 5:30–7:00 P.M.
Cultivating Genius: A Community Conversation with Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
Hear from author and educator Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, associate professor of language and literacy at Georgia State University and author of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Dr. Muhammad will engage in a dialogue about her book and what it means to cultivate genius in students using an equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 5:30–7:00 P.M.
Got Talent? Talent Showcase and Poetry Night
Watch students and families from across the district battle it CONTINUE READING: MPS celebrates National Black Lives Matter Week of Action 2021 | Educate All Students, Support Public Education

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

 NewBlackMan (in Exile)

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY

Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_30.html

Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” by Ben Jealous

by Mark Anthony Neal / 18h

| @BenJealous | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile) February is Black History Month – and Black people just made a whole lot of history. Joe Biden is our president and Donald Trump is not because Black organizers and voters decided that they would not be denied their right as American citizens to be heard at the ballot box. Kamala Harris is our history-making vice president, a Black and Southeast

'Fully Erased': With Harris' Rise, There Are No Black Women In The Senate

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

'The lack of a Black woman in the Senate has turned a moment of triumph for many thrilled to see Kamala Harris ascend to the vice presidency into something more bittersweet.' -- Morning Edition

Black History Month 2021: “There’s a Lot Left to Be Done” by Ben Jealous

by Mark Anthony Neal / 19h

| @BenJealous | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile) February is Black History Month – and Black people just made a whole lot of history. Joe Biden is our president and Donald Trump is not because Black organizers and voters decided that they would not be denied their right as American citizens to be heard at the ballot box. Kamala Harris is our history-making vice president, a Black and Southeast

Bob James Offers a Backstory on His Most Sampled Records

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

Legendary Jazz musician Bob James talks to Tracklib about some of his most sampled songs, including "Nautilus", "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" and " Westchester Lady".

My Name is Pauli Murray: New Film on Black Queer Legal Pioneer Who Inspired RBG & Thurgood Marshal

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

'Democracy Now! looks at the life of one of the most pivotal figures in the history of struggle for gender equality and racial justice, Pauli Murray , whose story is told in the new documentary My Name Is Pauli Murray , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Murray was a trailblazing Black, nonbinary, queer, feminist poet, lawyer, legal scholar and priest who influenced the likes of Ruth

The Deep History of White Supremacy Within the U.S. Military

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

'As the Biden administration hopes Lloyd J. Austin will help usher in an era of change for the U.S. military, The Takeaway looks back at the history that got us to this point, and what our government and military leaders really need to do to root out violent racist hate groups from our armed forces. Dr. George Reed , retired Army Colonel and the Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the Univers

Sirius XM's Crank Radio Gives Go-Go Music A National Platform

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

'NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to Sirus XM hosts Charles "Shorty Corleone" Garris and Rico Anderson , who are giving the D.C. region's go-go music a national boost with the new Crank Radio show.'

The New Yorker Radio Hour: William Barber, and the Question of Faith and Politics

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

'In January, 2021, the Reverend William J. Barber II of the Greenleaf Christian Church delivered the homily for the inaugural prayer service. His appearance, speaking to, and for, the new Administration, was significant. Politics and religion go hand in hand for Barber, but his agenda is diametrically opposed to that of the Christian right, which has so deeply influenced U.S. politics. Barber thi

Ani DiFranco Wants Us To Engage In 'Revolutionary Love'

by Mark Anthony Neal / 1d

'At a time when the country seems more and more divided, it can be a lot to ask of a person to "love thy neighbor," even when they don't necessarily love you back. It takes an aggressive kind of love to start engaging, and that's the idea that inspired the title track of Ani DiFranco 's newest record, Revolutionary Love . The phrase is also the name of a book by DiFranco's good friend, activist V

Surveillance And Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation

by Mark Anthony Neal / 2d

'Journalist Jon Fasman says local police are frequently able to access very powerful surveillance tools with little oversight. He writes about the threat to privacy in We See It All.' -- Fresh Air

Showdown, The Caribbean Answer To Verzuz, Is Part Of A Long-Running Musical Exchange

by Mark Anthony Neal / 2d

'The livestream event Showdown debuted in 2020, with two soca stars facing off. Even though Verzuz came first, the American series arguably owes its existence to Caribbean music.'

 NewBlackMan (in Exile)