ICYMI: Finally Winter Edition (11/20)

I still remember the year my family was driving back from New Hampshire via the New York Turnpike and after driving down one land snow canyons, we were finally forced off the road at Syracuse, where the turnpike had been closed. As a kid, I found it a great adventure. As an adult, I'm suspecting my parents did not. God bless everyone in the downwind-of-the-lake portion of New York. 

Meanwhile, here are some readings from the week. 

Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Child While Teaching High School Students How To Be Good Police Officers

Whoopsies! Everyone's okay in this Indiana high school, and they've certainly learned about the importance of gun safety and why it's a super-good idea to bring guns into schools.

Not just ‘Maus’: A Missouri school district removed several Holocaust history books, too

That Holocaust is such a bummer, so in Missouri, some folks think maybe we should just disappear it so nobody gets uncomfortable. From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

What you don’t know about the UW System’s new charter schools should worry you

In Wisconsin, a sudden explosion in charter schools, and there are many reasons to be concerned. By Ruth Coniff for the Wisconsin Examiner.

‘Too hyperbolic’? School board parental rights push falters

Collin Brinkley for the AP. Another election post-mortem looking at the ways in which the parental rights moral panic didn't quite score as well as hoped.

Democrats poised to increase their majority on state board of education

Some good things happened in the last election in Michigan, including the election of Mitchell Robinson, friend of the Institute, to the Starte Board of Education.

One Educator’s Grateful Remembrance: A Teacher

Paul Bonner guest blogs at Nancy Bailey's blog, talking about a teacher who made a difference in his life. Spoiler alert: he doesn't remember her for her excellent test prep.

Messy

At Blue Cereal Education, Dallas Koehn offers a personal reflection on the place of mess in his life and teaching.

A call for rejecting the newest reading wars

At Hechinger, fifty-eight educators sign a letter in reaction to Emily Hanford's latest podcast/hit piece for the reading wars (my wife, a certified reading specialist and second grade teacher is listening and is not impressed). 

Success Academy Parents Speak Out. Part 2 “I was told my seventh grade daughter had to repeat entire grade because she failed one course by one point”

Gary Rubinstein has been hearing from parents who have dealt with Success Academy, New York's bit time charter business. Here's another rough story.

The Promise, Power, and Practice of Student Agency

At ASCD, Tanji Reed Marshall has a paper looking at the whys and hows of building student agency. You may not agree with all of this, but it's still thought-provoking.

Play is crucial for middle schoolers, too

Christina Samuels at Hechinger with something that's not exactly news to anyone who spends time with middle schoolers, but it's still nice to see it in print.

This week at Forbes, I looked at research about Arizona's new massive voucher system that serves wealthy students who were never in public school in the first place, and some of the stories coming out of places where right-wingers took over the school board.

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