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Sunday, August 20, 2023

ICYMI: Last Hurrah Edition (8/19)

I'm typing this on the mobile office in a hotel in downtown Cleveland, where the CMO (Chief Marital Officer) and I have come to wrap up her summer and use the theater tickets that were her Christmas present. Next week she'll be back at that delightful mix of room prep work and soul-crushing PD that kicks off a teacher's year. 

Here's this week's list, including a couple of If You Only Read One Thing selections. 

The new “science of reading” movement, explained

Here's one must-read for the week. For Vox, Rachel Cohen provides one of the best explainers written about the science of reading flap, done with nuance and thoughtfulness. Read this.

What happened when an Ohio school district rushed to integrate classrooms

Laura Meckler in the Washington Post. Shaker Heights school district wanted to fix some equity problems. Things could have gone a little better.

Research on school vouchers suggests concerns ahead for education savings accounts

Researcher Josh Cowen once again lays out the research that shows how vouchers fail to live up to their promises, and fail to serve students and taxpayers.

Top 5 myths of separation of church and state

If you only read a couple of things on the list this week... This comes from the head of the Baptist Joint Committee, and it makes a forceful (and useful) argument for the separation of church and state (including schools). You can even view it as a pdf, making it easier to print out and send to people who really need to read it.

New Jersey Supreme Court rules in favor of Catholic school that fired a teacher for having premarital sex

One can question whether this is right or not, but don't forget to ask if schools like this should be propped up by taxpayer dollars.

Texas: BASIS Charter School Sells “VIP Car Line” for $2500+ a Pop

Does it seem exclusionary that some charters don't provide transportation? You don't know the half of it. The indispensable Mercedes Schneider has the tale of one Texas charter's clever fundraising idea.

Ron DeSantis Wants To Win Over Parents — But He's Focusing On The Wrong Issues

Horsey race coverage from FiveThirtyEight, with some interesting survey results included.

Idaho law hands parents more power in choosing school curriculums. It’s led to major changes

In the Guardian, a well-rounded piece about the effects of Idaho's law forcing school-parent collaboration. In some places, it's actually going pretty okayish. In others, not so much.

Banned: 19 books pulled from Mason City School Libraries

The story here is not that schools in Iowa are pulling books from shelves--that's not news. What's new is how they're using AI to facilitate the process and banning books that nobody has objected to.

Book banning, reshelving has reached ridiculous heights

Niki Kelly is mostly a political reporter in Indiana, but she sees the moves to restrict reading materials becoming increasingly absurd and overly repressive.

From ‘crisis’ to ‘catastrophe,’ schools scramble once again to find teachers

NBC  news on the story.

Are We Failing Our Teachers?

How do we know that the story of the teacher exodus is really starting to penetrate the mediasphere? Well, this story ran in Readers' Digest, not exactly known for their heavy hitting education coverage. Yet here they are.

Idaho’s Teacher of the Year Winner Leaving State Following Right-Wing Harassment

And if you'd like your coverage of the teacher exodus more personal and specific, here's a depressing case study for you.

Wisconsin’s public schools and the war on democracy

Always happy to see Ruth Conniff write about education. Here's a deep dive into the issues facing public schools in Wisconsin, including under-funding and attempts to undercut democratic institutions.

Chaos at New College of Florida

The DeSantis attempt to replace a liberal college with a hard right one is not going all that well. Johanna Alonso covers it for Inside Higher Education.

Recall language approved for school board member charged with being fake elector for Trump

Those fake electors in Michigan who are now in trouble for trying to help steal the 2020 election? One of them is a school board member.

Philadelphia’s school board must take charter school standards seriously — and act when they’re not met

Lisa Haver looks at the condition of Philly charters, the super-well-paid leadership that is failing students and taxpayers, and the folks failing to hold the charters accountable.

Florence 1 Schools: Palmetto Youth Academy still using taxpayer money despite being closed

Their authorizers shut them down in June, but this South Carolina charter is apparently still open, and still spending taxpayer dollars.

The Claremont Institute: The Anti-Democracy Think Tank

There was a time when folks thought of the Claremont Institute as conservative, but not wing nuts. That time has passed. In more recent years, they've gone off the deep end-- and they're very well connected. Katherine Stewart writes about it in the New Republic.

A National Warning

Thomas Ultican has spotted some shenanigans in Delaware surrounding charter school regulations and a new model to make charters less accountable. Watch out and make sure it's not coming to your state.

Black teachers are burning out of classrooms. Meet the people fighting to keep them there

From Reckon, an encouraging piece about some of the groups trying to get actual support to Black teachers. 

Houston ISD student regrets performing in ‘propaganda play’ starring Mike Miles

This is crazypants. Mike Miles, to help whip up the troops coming back to work in the Houston school district that the underqualified takeover artist now runs, decided what they needed was a musical about Mike Miles. The show included students, one of whom now says they were tricked into helping with this sad propaganda ploy.

School districts call state ed department’s bluff, keep AP African American Studies on the books

Governor Huckabee Sanders' Arkansas said, "You can't teach that stuff here because it's indoctrination." Now school districts are saying, "Yeah? Try and stop us." Give a cheer, and pass the popcorn.

Inside the campaign to cancel sex ed

Sarah Crosby at Popular Information looks at how Moms For Liberty and their friends would now like to cancel sex ed, courtesy a bootleg tape of an M4L planning session.

Universal ESA vouchers: Arizona’s $1 billion failed experiment

How's that whole vouchers for everyone thing going in Arizona. Not great, if you're a taxpayer.

New ACLU Complaint Reveals Central Bucks School District Lied To The Community, Illegally Retaliated Against Teacher

But hey--at least the fake report was really expensive. Bucks County Beacon continues to keep an eye on one of the worst school boards in the country.

Using Frederick Douglass to Rationalize Slavery? In Florida, Yes!

PragerU videos are all pretty bad, but Charles Blow at the New York Times writes about one of the worst, in which Frederick Douglass explains why slavery wasn't all that bad.

Is PA’s Richest Billionaire Trying to Buy a State Supreme Court Seat?

You know, who among us has not tried to buy a judgeship? But if you're in Pennsylvania, be aware that the anti-abortion GOP candidate for state supreme court has been heavily financed by Rich Guy Jeffrey Yass.

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