Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Vaccinate Our Kids - https://wp.me/p5gGh3-jUE Texas GOP Passes Bill To Stop Teachers From Talking About Racism | HuffPost - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-republicans-ban-teachers-racism_n_609a96c8e4b063dccea1a3ef on @HuffPostPol Challenging Students . . . And How to Have More of Them (#) - Alfie Kohn - https://www.alfiekohn.org/?

Judge: Betsy DeVos Cannot “Quash” Deposition About Her Actions Re: Defrauded Corinthian College Students Former US ed sec Betsy DeVos did not want to give a formal, in-person account of her decision to side with defunct, for-profit, California-based Corinthian Colleges by not granting monetary relief to hundreds of thousand of students defrauded by this federal-aid-sucking monster. However, on M

Dana Milbank: The War Over Civics Education Dana Milbank believes that Republicans are terrified of restoring civics education for fear that the younger generation will learn how our government is supposed to work. He wrote in the Washington Post: Pretty much everything the Trump-occupied Republican Party has been doing these days violates the basic tenets of democracy that American schoolchildr

Education Matters: "You have to police them on a daily basis." Richard Corcoran on the free speech of teachers "You have to police them on a daily basis." Richard Corcoran on the free speech of teachers Teachers cannot be trusted, and don’t take my word for it, take Commissioner Corcoran's Little boot Corcoran said of the 185 thousand teachers in Florida’s public schools; none of them can be trus

Providence: State Takeover Stumbles As “Toe-Popping” Official and Superintendent Are Fired When Gina Raimondo was Governor of Rhode Island (she is now Biden’s Secretary of the Treasury), she determined that the only way to fix the Providence schools was a state takeover. Raimondo, a former hedge fund manager, hired Angelica Infante-Green as state commissioner, although Green’s experience was lim

NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES WAS TERMINATED BECAUSE SHE DID NOT COME FROM A “TRADITIONAL ACADEMIC-TYPE BACKGROUND.” GOOD GRIEF. RACISM IN ACADEMIA. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill said Thursday that the tenure application for New York Times journalist and The 1619 Project lead author Nikole Hannah-Jones was terminated because she did not come from a “traditional academic-type background.” As

What Do Large Schools Need to Reopen? UFT President Michael Mulgrew has a column in the NY Daily News laying out a program for reopening. Mulgrew correctly points to the safeguards we insisted on as a reason schools were relatively safe this year. He asks that schools reach out to parents and enact a remote option for those who still aren't comfortable. These are all good ideas, and I think they

The movement to privatize public schools marches on during coronavirus pandemic Legislatures in 35 states have proposed bills to enact or expand voucher programs or charter schools. A few have passed; others have failed. Still others are sitting on governors’ desks or are stalled in the state’s House or Senate. Several are obvious attempts to please right-wing donors with no chance of moving out

TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT Physicians Urge Schools to Maintain Mask Mandates, Protect Kids 22 by Andy Spears / 2d A group of Tennessee physicians this week responded to Gov. Bill Lee urging local school districts to drop mask mandates. Here’s more from a press release: “Mask requirements for our classrooms keep COVID out so our kids can stay in school, parents at work and most importantly, prote

THIS WEEK FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ED.GOV NEWS FROM DR. MIGUEL CARDONA AND THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Press Releases Washington State's Melito Ramirez Named America's First ‘Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE)’ Awardee Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Announces Virtual Public Hearing to Gather Information for the Purpose of Improving Enforcement of Title

Blog Posts Archive - Network For Public Education Network for Public Education Blog Posts of the Day This Week Blog Post of the Day Our NPE Blogs of the Day feature what we think are interesting and important blog posts centered on issues of public education. The views expressed by the bloggers are, of course, entirely their own. To submit links and tips for inclusion, please send an email to npe

Dad Gone Wild – Nobody reads it, everybody quotes it. CHOICES, IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICES. by TC Weber / 19h “I volunteer because it makes me look helpful, and it gives me first dibs on the refreshments.” ― Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club For all intents and purposes, the school year all over but the shouting. Grades have been turned in. Graduations scheduled. Library books returned. By mid-

Teacher Tom TEACHER TOM THIS WEEK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Teacher Tom: Let's Turn The World Around: Teacher Tom's Play Summit We heard it from Mandela, "Turn this world around, For the children" - turn this world around. He's done it once before, and now we hear his call For the children, turn this world around. Turn, turn, turn, Turn this world around For the children, turn this world aroun

California Department of Education SSPI TONY THURMOND STUFF THIS WEEK FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Preschool through Third Grade (P-3) Alignment 2d CDE seeks to elevate the role of high-quality, inclusive and multilingual preschool, strong early intervention services, and P-3 alignment in ensuring the future of California’s children. CACFP ECR Calculation Training for Center Sponso

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 LARR Saturday’s Must-Read Articles On School Reopenings by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h stevepb / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING (& SHOWING) WHAT SCHOOLS LOOK LIKE DURING THE PANDEMIC (you might also be interested in SCHOOLS WENT REMOTE A YEAR AGO – HERE ARE MY CHOICES FOR THE BEST

Education Research Report U.S. Spending on Public Schools in 2019 Highest Since 2008 by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d K-12 School Spending Up 4.7% in 2019 From Previous Year The nation spent $752.3 billion on its 48 million children in public schools in fiscal year 2019, a 4.7% increase from the previous year and the most per pupil in more than a decade. Instructional salaries, the largest expenditur

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all TODAY Dana Milbank: The War Over Civics Education by dianeravitch / 25min Dana Milbank believes that Republicans are terrified of restoring civics education for fear that the younger generation will learn how our government is supposed to work. H

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES OP-ED: Prioritizing student voices to reopen schools | Dhaka Tribune - https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2021/05/19/op-ed-prioritizing-student-voices-to-reopen-schools via @dhakatribune The Fall of the House of Gates? | The Nation - https://www.thenation.com/?p=386470 on @TheNation Please use the additional state and federal fu

Judge Orders DeVos to Testify About Cruel Treatment of Students Who Were Defrauded Salon wrote about a A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will have to testify in a class action lawsuit over her handling of the Education Department’s student debt loan forgiveness program . Judge William Alsup said “exceptional circumstances” warrant issuing DeVos a subp

A Day of Action: Educators Pledge to Teach the Truth, June 12 - PopularResistance.Org A DAY OF ACTION: EDUCATORS PLEDGE TO TEACH THE TRUTH, JUNE 12 Lawmakers in at least 15 states are attempting to pass legislation that would require teachers to lie to students about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression throughout U.S. history. In response, educators across the United States a

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 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-in-education-larry-f

More than Schools: J4J Launches New Quality of Life Agenda with Virtual Rally The Journey for Justice Alliance (J4J) just launched a new Quality of Life Agenda initiative, as part of its Equity or Else campaign. Here's what makes it so important. J4J, a coalition of organizations across more than 30 cities, has its roots in education justice, but in recent years has begun to articulate a vision

Indoctrinate this, part 1: The voices of the Great Migration laugh at Richard Corcoran A grifter who can't make finalist in a university president search rigged for him is no match for the honest, competitive study of America -- which is an unpoliceable classroom without walls. I was already in the process of writing and documenting this piece about The Great Migration’s relevance to today’s eco

If it's Belittling to Do This to Adults, Isn't it Also Belittling to Children? There was an old hamster wheel in our classroom. Most of the children had no idea what it was, but it was nevertheless an endlessly popular plaything. Someone was forever spinning it or turning it upside down to roll on the floor or otherwise employing it in their games. Over the years, I saw it used as a part of bloc

Carol Burris: Choice Zealots Accelerate Their Drive to Put Public Money into Private Schools Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education explains in an article at Valerie Strauss’ Answer Sheet in the Washington Post, that choice zealots have redoubled their drive to divert public money away from public schools and hand it over to unregulated private schools, religious sc

GOP Election Preview: Our Children Were Robbed I live in Northwester Pennsylvania, and this is Trump country. We've got a GOP controlled legislature and a Democratic governor, and a great deal of contentiousness stemming from that situation. And in the recent primary election, voters passed a constitutional amendment that de-powered the governor in the case of, say, a massive pandemic and gave e

A Case for Critical Race Theory, and More – radical eyes for equity A Case for Critical Race Theory, and More White privilege is a system of advantage that benefits all white people (or to be more clear, all people who are perceived of as white). That racial privilege, however, is no guarantee of success or shield of protection for some individual people who are white. White people fail, white pe

Why Is Cardona’s Department of Education Partnering with an Astroturf Parent Organization? Parents whose children are enrolled in public schools across in the United States have traditionally joined the PTA—affiliated with the national Parent Teacher Association —or an unaffiliated PTO—a Parent Teacher Organization, but few would have had the opportunity to join the National Parents Union . PTAs

Cartoons about Little Kids in School This month’s feature is cartoons about little kids at school and at home. Enjoy! MORE CARTOONS: Cartoons about Little Kids in School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Seattle Schools - The State of K-5 Math As I mentioned in another post, the minutes from the Board’s committee meetings are being written in a manner that makes it difficult to ferret out information. But what IS useful is when staff comes with a presentation so the entire thing gets uploaded and attached as documentation. I was looking at the documentation for last week’s Student Services, Curr

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES If you want people to go back to work, child care IS infrastructure, especially during a global pandemic | Eclectablog - https://www.eclectablog.com/?p=72770 on @Eclectablog Historians Clash With the 1619 Project - The Atlantic - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/historians-clash-1619-project/604093/ on @theatlantic Mate

USDOE Announces Virtual Public Hearings on Title IX (Sexual Discrim./Harassment) The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) Office for Civil Rights announces a number of virtual public hearings related to Title IX (“Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance”) scheduled in June 2021. Hearing dates are as follows: June 7, 2021, 9

Play-Based Learning Isn’t Free Play and May Be Connected to Online Learning Play-Based Learning Isn’t Free Play and May Be Connected to Online Learning The term play-based learning is increasingly used to reference play in school, especially during the past year. Sometimes it’s called purposeful play . Play-based learning is not the same as free play, even though sometimes it is described as such

The movement to privatize public schools marches on during covid-19 pandemic While many Americans see 2021 as the year that may bring back something close to normalcy after the covid-19 pandemic, it has instead been declared the “Year of School Choice” by the American Federation for Children, an organization that promotes alternatives to public education and that was once headed by Betsy DeVos.

Texas: Vouchers Lose Again! Our friends in Texas, Pastors for Texas Children, report that a legislative proposal for vouchers was beaten again! They work closely with parent groups across the state. PASTORS FOR TEXAS CHILDREN VOUCHER REMOVED FROM BILL! This week is evidence of what happens when you rally your voices in support of our children. If you remember, we started off the week letting you

PHYSICIANS URGE SCHOOLS TO MAINTAIN MASK MANDATES, PROTECT KIDS A group of Tennessee physicians this week responded to Gov. Bill Lee urging local school districts to drop mask mandates. Here’s more from a press release: “Mask requirements for our classrooms keep COVID out so our kids can stay in school, parents at work and most importantly, protect vulnerable children who do not have the option

MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents) The University of Central Missouri has been sponsoring charter schools since 1999 , serving as the major sponsor of charters in Kansas City (in Missouri, the rule used to be that only St. Louis and Kansas City could house charter schools). St. Louis schools have been a mess , with both public and charter schools having their share of legi

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_15.html Actor John Boyega On 'Star Wars', 'Small Axe' And Telling 'Stories Of The Untold' by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h ' John Boyega has been outspoken about systemic racism in Hollywood. He has talked abou

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 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-in-education-larry-f

Space Has a Way of Imposing Its Will on Us We didn't stay in a lot of hotels when I was a boy, but when we did they were mostly motels because our family often opted for taking trips across the country by car. I remember those long motel hallways with doors all along both sides. They seemed to go on forever. As dad wrangled the suitcases, my brother and I would race ahead, vying to be the first

Minnesota: The Money Behind the Effort to Rewrite the State Constitution’s Education Clause In late April, I posted an article by Minnesota blogger and public school advocate Rob Levine about a sneaky effort by elites in the state to rewrite the state constitutional clause on education to protect and encourage segregated charter schools. This new post digs deeper into the machinations and motiva

The K-12 Culture Wars The public school culture wars are raging more intensely than at any time since the Reagan era. Fueled by intense political polarization and the continued fallout from pandemic school closures, the culture wars now threaten public education. Special guests: New Hampshire teacher Misty Crompton, Iowa teacher Nick Covington, Missouri teacher Jessica Piper and New York City te

19 Rules for Life (2021 Edition) I first posted this list when I turned 60, and have made it an annual tradition to get it out on my birthday and re-examine it, edit it, and remind myself why I thought such things in the first place. I will keep my original observation-- that this list does not represent any particular signs of wisdom on my part, because I discovered these rules much in the same

Preschool through Third Grade (P-3) Alignment CDE seeks to elevate the role of high-quality, inclusive and multilingual preschool, strong early intervention services, and P-3 alignment in ensuring the future of California’s children . The California Department of Education (CDE) is committed to interrupting and counteracting inequities, racism, and bias and also closing opportunity gaps to ensur

Broadview-Thomson K-8 School Encampment: Hubris and Inaction May Mean Trouble Editor’s note: I apologize for the wonkiness of the look of this story. In the time I stepped away from blogging, I think Blogger changed some formatting and I’m struggling to understand it. As most of you know, the district reopened schools and three schools had homeless encampments on or nearby their campuses. The di

FL DEPT OF ED COMMISSIONER SAID HE FIRED A TEACHER FOR #BLACKLIVESMATTER #CRT #ISUPPORTAMY You should know this is happening: Richard Corcoran, the Florida Dept of Education Commissioner , said he fired a teacher for #BlackLivesMatter Here is what the Florida Times-Union said about the situation A Duval County teacher who hung a Black Lives Matter flag in her classroom says she heard she was fir

A Memo from the Superintendent To: Our teachers and other educators From: Your Superintendent May 18, 2021 As a lifelong public educator, I pride myself for having learned from the greatest educators in the history of civilization: John Dewey, Maria Montessori, Aristotle, Jean Piaget, Plato, and Sam Hinkie . For this particular testing season, I suggest that we rely on the wisdom of Sam Hinkie.

Activists Mobilize for Waivers and Opt Outs as Biden Mandates Tests O ne month after taking office, the Biden administration faced its first major education policy test. It failed miserably. Despite a campaign promise to end standardized testing in public schools ( See “Biden’s Broken Promise: Time to Opt Out!” by Denisha Jones ), on Feb. 22 administration officials declared it would not grant “

“Chasing Childhood” Explores Crucial Life Skills Learned in Free Play CHASING CHILDHOOD Chasing Childhood is a feature documentary exploring the unintended consequences of overparenting. What if all this well-intended hovering, fear and over-scheduling has backfired? The film takes us to three communities that are trying to shift culture to create room for play and independence with the hope of

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Helping students cope with the pandemic - https://www.koat.com/article/helping-students-cope-with-the-pandemic/36459023# on @koat7news Six in 10 Parents Plan to Vaccinate All of Their Children and Large Majority of Parents Would Feel Safer Sending Kids to School if Most Other Children Were Vaccinated - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-re

A parent’s plea. – Educate Louisiana A Parent’s Plea When I first decided to advocate for education policy, it was my hope that I could educate the public (parents, teachers, students, etc.) about education policy, and how it affects them. There has been instances when my writings drilled down to specific school districts, but I have always tried to address issues by providing specific statutes a

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_15.html What Is Activism? Carl Hancock Rux Talks With Lara Downes by Mark Anthony Neal / 14h 'The poet and playwright Carl Hancock Rux wrestles with the idea of being an activist in America today in its v

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 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-in-education-larry-f

We Will Win When We Love Psychologist Carl Jung wrote, "Where love rules there is not a will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking." This, I think, is an important thing upon which modern educators in general, and early childhood educators in particular, could stand to meditate. I strive to place love at the center of my practice, as I know is true of most of my colleague

Jeff Bryant: The Story of a School That Beat Back a State Takeover and Thrived Jeff Bryant reports here on the inspiring example of a so-called “failing school” in North Carolina that not only succeeded in blocking a state takeover, but then heightened community collaboration to turn the school into a community school. North Carolina passed a state takeover plan based on Tennessee’s failed Achie

What Does Educational Equity Mean? | janresseger What Does Educational Equity Mean? Monday, May 17, 2021, marked the 67th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education , which banned racially segregated schools and unequal access to education. Over more than two decades, NAACP attorneys Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall built up a series of court prece

Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) – radical eyes for equity

Dartmouth Blindsides Med Students with Shaky Cheating *Evidence* One of my concerns in teaching senior English is that students will cheat on major assignments. The increasing usage of online technology in my classroom has done little to quell this concern. In my case, I had reason to suspect that an adult completed an online test for one of my students, who then possibly shared those results wi

A Scholarly Masterpiece: William Frantz Public School By Thomas Ultican 4/18/2021 My wonderful friend from New Orleans, Mercedes Schneider, said of this meticulously researched book, “Intense, captivating, and horrible in its reality, William Frantz Public School is a story overdue for the telling – a must read for those seeking to understand New Orleans’ history and the lingering impact of Whit

Greene and the district don't deny Corcoran had teacher removed from the classroom Where not a lawyer, it seems to me Amy Donofrio is going to own the district as she sues it into oblivion. Corcoran tells the Times Union he had Greene remove her from the classroom. While the district sticks with her, she is under investigation (for what) story. I spoke with a school board member on Sunday, and t

PA: One District (Mostly) For Sale Chester Upland is a district that has struggled with issues and money and racism for decades; they are the history of every problem facing public education in the last century, right up to and including the gutting of a public education system by privatizing charter operators . Poorer and Blacker than all surrounding districts, they have suffered through one da

U.S. Spending on Public Schools in 2019 Highest Since 2008 K-12 School Spending Up 4.7% in 2019 From Previous Year The nation spent $752.3 billion on its 48 million children in public schools in fiscal year 2019, a 4.7% increase from the previous year and the most per pupil in more than a decade. Instructional salaries, the largest expenditure within current spending, totaled $239.9 billion in f

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES How Teachers Fought for Their Safety in the Pandemic—and Won | The Nation - https://www.thenation.com/?p=385623 on @TheNation The Case For Universal Pre-K Just Got Stronger : Planet Money : NPR - https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/05/18/997501946/the-case-for-universal-pre-k-just-got-stronger?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twit

Everything You Wanted to Know About Bill Gates, But Didn’t Ask Walter Isaccson, author of best-selling biographies and former editor of TIME, wrote this awestruck article about Bill Gates in 1997. At the time, Bill was the richest man in the world, his marriage to Melinda was new, and he hadn’t yet decided that he was the smartest man in the world and knew everything better than those who had wo

Remote Learning - What Have We Learned? Update from Massachusetts: Beginning May 29th, masks will no longer be needed at recess, students can begin sharing school items in the classrooms, and no masks for outdoor activities. Via Twitter today: No remote education option next year in NJ. "All students will be back in school for full-time, in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year. Full-

The Importance Of Being Delusional You may remember the old Roadrunner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote, distracted by his mad pursuit of his prey, runs right off the edge of a cliff before pausing in mid-air. Oddly, he’s fine as long as he doesn’t look down and notice the reality of his situation. If he’d just kept running, he might have made it to the other side of the gap (where his nemesis had

WILLIAMSON PARENTS SPEAK OUT FOR DIVERSITY, INCLUSION A group known as One WillCo helped organize a parent response to a plan by Williamson County Schools to focus attention on diversity in the district and address issues of systemic racism. Here’s more from a press release: Before tonight’s school board meeting, over 100 community members joined outside the Williamson County Admin Complex to sh

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 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-in-education-larry-f

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_15.html The Pioneering Legacy Of The International Sweethearts of Rhythm by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h ' The International Sweethearts of Rhythm reached the height of their acclaim in the 1940s as the nation

Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Announces Virtual Public Hearing to Gather Information for the Purpose of Improving Enforcement of Title IX | U.S. Department of Education Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Announces Virtual Public Hearing to Gather Information for the Purpose of Improving Enforcement of Title IX The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil

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 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-in-education-larry-f

How Do We Know?: Not Simple, Not Settled In the early to mid-1980s, I entered the world of serious recreational cycling. I had been an athlete throughout my childhood and teen years, but found myself sedentary and out of shape in the first few years of my career as a high school English teacher. Road cycling wasn’t the most inviting of sports, being both an individual and group endeavor. I quick

Teacher Tom's Play Summit is Here: Together, Let's Turn This World Around It's time to do more than just mark you calendar. I'm giddy to announce that registration for Teacher Tom's Play Summit is officially open! You probably haven't been counting down to this day like I have, but if you've been awaiting this moment, you can click through right now to get signed up . I can't tell you how proud

Capital & Main: Eli Broad Wanted to Destroy Public Education Upon his death recently, Eli Broad received many laudatory obituaries, describing his philanthropic contributions to the arts and medical research. He even built an art museum in Los Angeles, named for himself. Modesty was not one of his virtues. Less noted was his determination to disrupt and destroy public education. Not only did he

The Complexity of Daily Principal Decision-making J ust as the classroom teacher is in charge of the students but wholly dependent upon them to respond, interact, and learn, so too are principals dependent upon their teachers to adhere to district policies, create classrooms where students absorb lessons, and collaborate with peers and school staff. After all there is only one principal (maybe a

TN Schools and CACFP Organizations and Resources The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division is pleased to inform you about the U.S. Department of Agriculture Team Nutrition (TN) Schools and TN Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Organizations. These organizations are part of an important network committed to providing healthy meals and environments for program

Who’s Running for Seattle School Board? As of May 17th at 3 pm, it’s pretty sparse. For Eden Mack’s seat in District 4, only interim director Erin Dury has filed. For Zachary DeWolf’s seat in District 5, no one has filed. DeWolf declined to run again which was probably wise as he would have lost. For Betty Patu’s seat in District 7, only interim director Brandon Hersey has filed to run. Per this

Education Matters: At some point DCPS's silence about the bullying of Trans children becomes complicty At some point DCPS's silence about the bullying of Trans children becomes complicity Orange County has made its position known and I would love to know DCPS's. Or do they think like senator Stargel, that being gay is a choice? At some point, silence becomes complicity and DCPS is silent about a

PA: The Special Ed Funding Triple Whammy Are you ready for the best explainer yet for the screwed-up state of Pennsylvania's charter funding when it comes to special ed students? Here at the Institute, we're fans of the work of Research for Action . The Philly based research group is meticulously independent and well-conceived and executed. We're previously looked at their work on test-based (po

CAN I GET A LITTLE SUPPORT FOR THAT SUPPOSITION? “We’re all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.” ― Rudyard Kipling, The Light That Failed So riddle me this? I can shop at Publix without a mask, but I can’t get more than 4 tickets per student to a high school graduation ceremony, why? A graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime event and it appears we are erring on the s

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Alexandria city council votes to pull police out of schools - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/alexandria-police-middle-high-school/2021/05/15/55308846-b3fb-11eb-9059-d8176b9e3798_story.html A Lovely Conversation About Teaching Readers - Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages - https://www.valentin

Moving Forward with a New ED.gov A new ED.gov is coming. The transformation is already underway and includes a brand-new look-and-feel and a critical rethinking of how we effectively communicate online. The goal: a digital experience where you can find what you need, discover things you did not know, and leave feeling satisfied. Step 1: Plan In the fall of 2019 ED began planning for the redesign

Historian: Segregation Persists Because Whites Opposed Any and All Efforts to Advance Desegregation Today’s is the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education of 1954. Much has changed. Barack Obama was elected President twice. But much has not changed. The desegregation of schools that once seemed inevitable stalled, inhibited by white flight from urban districts and housing desegregation. H

Why is “Critical Race Theory” Controversial and What Is it? In several states, the Governor and Legislature have denounced “critical race theory” and even (in Idaho and some other states) banned it from their schools. The controversy over teaching about race gained ground when former President Trump condemned CRT as divisive and launched his own quickie commission to teach “patriotic” education.

"Bewilderment is the True Comprehension" I was waiting at the crosswalk. Across the street was a building of windows. Behind me was a future building of windows, yet another downtown residential tower under construction. I could see a multitude of reflections of the building behind me in the windows of the building across from me. Then, in a flash, I was bewildered as it seemed that the building

Defeating the Science of Reading Narrative, Part 3: Building Bridges with Colleagues Over the past month I have been exploring the Science of Reading (SOR) narrative that has dominated discussion about reading instruction for the last few years in posts here , here , and here . What I have argued is that the SOR narrative is far too narrow a conceptualization of reading instruction and that maki

Secretary Cardona Begins to Correct DeVos’s College Loan Policies that Undermined Vulnerable College Students’ Access to Education Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has begun repairing some of the injustice of Betsy DeVos’s policies in the federal college loan program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. In an extremely significant first step, two weeks ago, Cardona replaced Mark A

Covid and the Good Guys You can set this Twitter comment next to a quote from Rep. Virginia Foxx, who said that Weingarten "is attempting to rewrite history by framing her union as part of the 'solution.'" Both are a fine example of how far off the rails the re-opening school debate has gone (if we can characterize a bunch of people hollering at each other a debate). Notice that the outpouring a

Bill Gates acknowledges an affair with an employee, which Microsoft investigated The confirmation of the affair and investigation comes two weeks after Gates and Melinda French Gates announced plans to divorce SEATTLE — Bill Gates acknowledged through a spokeswoman that he had an extramarital affair with a Microsoft employee, which Microsoft said led its board to investigate the “intimate relati

Education Matters: Education Commisioner Richard Corcoran says he had teacher, Amy Donofrio fired Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran says he had teacher, Amy Donofrio fired More incredible work from Accountabalony: but I didn’t think to say “okay and keep all of the crazy liberal stuff out” and so now we literally have them, and they hide it in “social emotional learning” so it doesn’t SAY “

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Jones High success story illustrates inadequacy of voucher schools | Commentary - Orlando Sentinel - https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/guest-commentary/os-op-jones-high-physics-vouchers-20210516-czffpniexnb2jjxzmgcwrz3vei-story.html via @orlandosentinel How HBCU Tennessee State University Could Be Owed Half A Billion Dollars : NPR

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Grandchild Edition (5/16) Grandchild Edition No, I don't have a new one. But my newest grandchild is in town, so I get to see him for the first time in a year. A photo of his extreme cuteness to follow, but you'll have to scroll past this list of reading material from the week. How College Became a Ruthless Competition Divorced From Learning In the Atlantic, Daniel Markowit

In rare school board campaign visit, national teachers union president calls Scranton recovery plan 'immoral' May 16—SCRANTON — Calling Tuesday's election a critical moment for the Scranton School District, the national president of the American Federation of Teachers visited the city on Saturday to campaign for the union-endorsed candidates. The unprecedented visit by Randi Weingarten comes ami

Decisions, Decisions–What’s a School District to Do? Let’s survey the audience. Even as we close out the Covid school year, districts are wrestling with deciding how to open schools in August. What mitigation measures should they keep in place? What should they drop? What does the community want? Parents? Students? Teachers and staff? Grumpy Old Teacher’s (GOT) district has put a survey online t

Vouchers in FL Create Black Christian Madrassahs in Strip Malls Although this commentary by Billy Townsend describes a seed of hope in Florida's education desert, the bigger message points to what you get with laws that allow unregulated and unaccredited private "schools" to replace public schools that have been malignantly-neglected by segregationists who want to close them. Orlando Sentinel ,

Breaking up with your favorite racist childhood classic books Philip Nel is the author of “ Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature and the Need for Diverse Book s,” a 2017 book that helped launch a conversation about racism in children’s books that led to a recent decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to stop publishing six of the prolific author’s books. Nel, who

California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom? California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom? Gov. Gavin Newsom and powerful California lawmakers are standing firm against allowing distance learning next school year. SACRAMENTO — The biggest state Capitol battle this spring could pit California leaders against local school officials, civil rights groups and teachers unio

Where’s the Biden Administration on School Problems Facing Students, Teachers, and Parents? Where’s the Biden Administration on School Problems Facing Students, Teachers, and Parents? The pandemic showed us that public schools are critical. Understandably, Covid-19 has been front and center. But the Biden administration glosses over or is silent on critical school issues. Sometimes these topics a

Chicago Eliminates Another Arne Duncan Initiative While Arne Duncan was superintendent of schools in Chicago, he received over $10 million from the Gates Foundation to begin “turning around” low-performing schools. He supported the creation of The Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), which subsequently took over 31 schools, some of which raised test scores but were criticized for pushing

EdAction in Congress May 16, 2021 House to vote on anti-Asian hate crime bill this week The House is scheduled to vote this week on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (S. 937/H.R. 1843) , which passed the Senate by an overwhelming vote of 94-1 on April 22. Introduced by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), it would strengthen federal efforts to address hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans in several ways: desig

Education Matters: Greene ignores CDC guidelines, continues to put people in jeopardy Greene ignores CDC guidelines, continues to put people in jeopardy First, let me say I am over masks. I am over wearing them, I am over telling kids to wear them, and I want nothing more than for them to be in the rear window of history. That being said, I will continue to wear them; you see, I don't know most o

Closing Out the Covid Year It has been a year like no other. While a pandemic disaster did not strike to close all the schools in Grumpy Old Teacher’s (GOT) north Florida district, as we once anticipated through the holidays, Covid mitigation and adjustments have still had their effect. As we close out the school year (thirteen school days left [yay!] along with a boatload of testing [boo!], how

Is Critical Race Theory Dividing the Country? When people start referring to a cultural phenomenon with initials—CRT for ‘critical race theory,’ say—you know that whatever that thing once was, it’s now morphed into something completely unrecognizable. Made less complex. Reduced to stereotype. And in the case of CRT, politicized . In my long years of classroom practice, pedagogical strategies and

Impoverished Pennsylvania District About to Be Fully Charterized, Despite Parent Opposition Chester-Upland school district is one of the poorest in the state. Seventy percent of its students are black. One big charter school, owned and operated by a wealthy Republican lawyer from Philadelphia, already dominates the district with his Chester Community Charter School. The district has been in rece

We’re Still Waiting For The Promise Of Brown v. Board Of Education To Be Fulfilled “When the Supreme Court’s decision finally etched itself upon the country, the social stuff of that imprinting behaved in ways other than intended.” Our house had a cottonwood tree in the backyard. In the excruciating Texas summer, it bloomed and cotton flew around the house like a summer snow. It caked over the w

Schools in the U.S. should continue to use masks, C.D.C. advises The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday clarified coronavirus advice for U.S. schools, recommending the continued, universal use of masks and physical distancing, after the agency’s sudden announcement that vaccinated Americans could forego masks indoors. All schools teaching students from kindergarten through gr

NV: Should Charter Schools Hire Licensed Teachers ? Nevada is one of the country's leading states for privatizers; in 2015, they went all in on education savings accounts aka super-vouchers. Well, not so super- -they were not large enough to benefit the poor families that were the excuse for passing the bill. But they've got tax credit scholarships so that donors can get out of paying school tax

Big Education Ape TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 5/15/21 Biden promised to end federal funding of for-profit charter schools. A new report explains how they operate. - The Washington Post New report provides reality check on virtual schools - The Washington Post TOP POSTS THIS WEEK Saturday, May 8, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edref

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Newsom’s $2 billion college savings plan for 1st graders & Chris Edley’s new gig https://edsource.org/podcast/newsoms-2-billion-college-savings-plan-for-1st-graders-chris-edleys-new-gig Philadelphia pre-Ks could see millions in federal dollars. Parents and providers weigh in on how to spend it. - Chalkbeat Philadelphia - https://philade