ICYMI: Post Election Blues Edition (11/13)

Well, that was a party. Here's hoping your state was more Michigan and less Florida. Now back to work. Here's some reading from the week.

Initial merit pay vote has troubles

In case you haven't followed my link elsewhere, here's Justin Parmenter's take on the newest development in North Carolina's quest to trash teaching. 

Dozens of youths illegally employed to clean meat plants, Labor Dept. says

From the Washington Post, this appalling story about youths working in highly dangerous jobs, and the employer's efforts to hide it all from the authorities. Surprise--the youths are all Spanish-speaking.

How a viral teen app became the center of a sex trafficking hoax

Also from WaPo, one more story of Why We Can't Have Nice Things, and how current moral panic can trash just about anything, in spite of facts.

As Teen Loneliness Rates Soar, Schools May Be Making It Worse, Scientists Say

Yes, it's a lot of depressing stuff this week. This is a Newsweek story via MSN, and it gives folks in education an awful lot to think about. 

Denver Archdiocese’s guidance to Catholic schools: Don’t enroll transgender students. Treat gay parents differently.

Not that it's a surprise to anyone, but it's still a bit stunning to see it in print and official. In the Denver Post.

A Science of Reading reader to go with the latest Hanford podcast

Courtesy of Paul Thomas, a useful guide to some actual science.

What I believe Emily Hanford misses

Nancy Bailey asks some questions about what Hanford may or may not really get about reading instruction. 

The Right Wing Mothers Fueling the School Board Wars

From the New Yorker, so mind the paywall if you've already burned your free reads. A great dig into the culture wars and the women who have helped push them. 

The Damage Is Already Being Done

Sue Kingery Woltanski is a school board member in Florida, and she blogs at Accountabaloney. She has fears about the level of disinformation and distrust currently in play (and commenters show up to provide evidence). This is what Florida looks like on the ground right now. 

Oklahoma teacher helms campaign against banned books after being threatened by conservatives

Remember Summer Boismier, the English teacher who got in trouble over sharing the link to the Brooklyn Library's banned books program. The woman who got harassed by a bunch of conservatives (including the dudebro now in charge of Oklahoma education). Here's what she's been up to since then.

Many schools are buying on-demand tutoring but a study finds that few students are using it

Jill Barshay at Hechinger (via KQED) unpacks some study that shows that--shocker--students aren't all that interested in logging on for extra work from an online tutor. Who would ever have guessed?

Texas politicians rake in millions from far-right Christian megadonors pushing private school vouchers

NBC news with the also-unsurprising story that school voucher supporters are spending a lot of money to rent some politicians.

I'm going to brag on my home town here, recently profiled in this Pittsburgh news outlet. This is where I have lived and worked for most of my life. It's not a bad little place.

At Forbes this week, I took a look at a policy memo by Helen Ladd about some problems inherent in charter schools as currently practiced.