ICYMI: Bunch of Dads Edition (9/17)

The CMO (Chief Marital Officer) here at the Curmudgucation Institute is complaining that Instagram is bombarding her with NSYNC reunion images, and "they just look like a bunch of dads." Also something about her lost youth. Meanwhile, the Board of Directors is sorting Legos. Just so you know about the kind of hard-hitting zero-cost scholarship that's going on here.

And now here's your weekly collection of stuff worth reading.

Raising the Bar on Kindergartners: A Nation at Risk Lives On

Nancy Bailey with a pointed reminder that littles are still under extra pressure and the secretary of education is still someone who doesn't quite get it.

Charter Schools Can’t Claim to Be Public Anymore

Carol Burris at The Progressive, explaining that North Carolina is showing the path to transforming charters into another version of private schools.

The Charter-School Movement’s New Divide

At The Atlantic, Cara Fitzpatrick takes a look at the implications of Oklahoma's proposed Catholic charter school, both for public ed and for charter schools.

Chartered: Florida is No. 2 in the country for charter school closures

A Tampa Bay news site has a whole series about charters in Florida. Start with this one about the incredible rate of charter failures and closures in the state. 

Christian lawmakers push battle over church and state after Roe

What if conservative christianists had their own version of ALEC?

James Lindsay Ties Together all the Conspiracy Theories for School Board Members and the M4L Crowd.

Sue Kingery Woltanski caught James Lindsay, a way right speaker, and his talk at a Leadership Institute Summit, and if you like your conspiracy theories with a big topping of commie alarmism, he's your guy. Read her piece, but beware the comments.

Dallas ISD superintendent says new grading method for Texas schools is connected to school voucher debate

Texas has long specialized in regularly moving the goalposts for school evaluation, but the Dallas superintendent says the latest tweak is just about making public schools "fail" so that students need to be "rescued" by the vouchers that Abbott and friends so desperately want to install.

Deeper Learning Requires Deeper Relationships?

Who knew? Well, most actual teachers knew, but Scott McLeod adds some data to the conversation.

Federal grant pays $126K salary of Florida official who pushes DeSantis education agenda

Well, wouldn't it be fun, if you were governor, to use federal grant money to push your own agenda (instead of whatever it was the grant was for). Just another day in Ron DeSantis's Florida.

Teachers are becoming more educated, but salaries are declining

With charts. Some data to use when you get into that argument with your uncle again.

Moms for Liberty Takes on Head Lice and Other Critical Issues

Yes, I recommend Nancy Flanagan every single week. That's because you should read her every single week. This time she tries to puzzle out a Moms for Liberty tweet. What's going on? Are they coming out as pro-lice? 

Takac: Now Is the Time to Invest in All Pa. Public Schools

State Rep Paul Takac tries to make a case that Pennsylvania should actually fund its school systems.

Abolish School Supply Lists, Too

Jose Vilson goes school supply shopping with his child, and notes that school supply lists tell us something about school resources, and who gets them and who has to go shopping for them.

Chris Rufo’s dangerous fictions

Zack Beauchamp read Chris Rufo's book and talked to the guy on the phone, and comes up with one of the better Rufo profiles out there. "Exaggeration and hyperbole are not just incidental to his intellectual project. They are his project."

Local Parents, Educators Face ‘Attack’ on Public Schools from Indiana Lawmakers

Steve Hinnefeld runs down the state of Indiana's various attacks on public education.

Chicago Diminishes Suspensions and Expulsions by Adopting Restorative Practices as School Discipline Strategy

Jan Resseger looks at some data that suggests Chicago has made restorative practices work for school discipline.

My Students Are Writing. That Makes Me Happy

The indispensable Mercedes Schneider with a brief reflection on the moments when teaching just feels great.

Refusing to Censor Myself

Children's author Maggie Tokuda-Hall writes about what happened when Scholastic said it would like to pick up her book--if she would just cut a couple of things.

The Very Common, Very Harmful Thing Well-Meaning Parents Do

Technology makes it possible for parents to subject their children to more surveillance than ever. But Devorah Heitner explains why it's just a bad idea.

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