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Sunday, September 22, 2024

ICYMI: Black Cat Nazi Porn Election Edition (9/22)

Well, that was a heck of a week for news. If you somehow missed it, God bless you--I'm not going to spoil it for you. In the meantime, here's some reading from the week.


From The Markup, an interview with Maywa Montenegro about AI in the (college) classroom. Worth it for just this paragraph alone.
Even if you believe that the machine is learning, your brain is not learning. And you might be in debt—tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars—from your education. Do you really want to walk away without having given your brain, your mind and intellect, the gift of that learning, even if it’s a struggle? That blows my mind. Why would we do this? Please don’t.
English teaching, AI and the thermostatic principle

Julian Girdham with what amounts to one quick thought about AI, but it's a worthwhile one for combatting hype.

Why Teens Across the Country Are Acquiring Brooklyn Public Library’s Free Digital Cards

Who's using the Brooklyn Public Library e-card, and why? Kelly Jensen at Book Riot has stories and charts. 

Why ‘School Choice’ is on the Colorado Ballot This Year — and What You Should Know About It

Mike DeGuire with plenty of details and background on an attempt to get school choice enshrined in the Colorado constitution.

Trojan Hearse? A Right-Wing Think Tank Aims to Abolish the Miami-Dade Teachers' Union

I'm not sure I would call the Freedom Foundation a think tank; they're more of a dark money hard right anti union activist group, and at the moment, they have targeted a major Florida union local. Francisco Alverado has the story for Miami New Times.

Alabama teacher poisoned by students, unable to work: Lawsuit

It's like Alabama state and local authorities tried to fine the best way to shaft a teacher who was already in a mess thanks to students. Trisha Powell Crain has the story for AL.com.

Using Learning Science To Analyze the Risks and Benefits of AI in K-12 Education

I don't think I buy everything here, but it covers a lot of ground with some actual nuance and sources, even if it is from the Center for American Progress.


Jose Luis Vilson is as always thoughtful and personal about education. In this case, some of the special features of middle school.

'Educational' Screens In Classrooms Do More Harm Than Good

Clare Morell at Newsweek suggests that while we're having the big discussion about cellphones in the classroom, we might want to talk about those other omnipresent screens.

School voucher and hospital groups top lobbying spending lists for 2024 TN legislative session

If Betsy DeVos weren't rich, she would sure be broke by now. A breakdown on who's trying to buy their way to policy success in Tennessee.

Exclusive: Watchdog finds Black girls face more frequent, severe discipline in school

Claudia Grisales reports for NPR on a study from the General Accounting Office, and boy these numbers are ugly.

Some Missouri schools arming teachers in the classroom

Yeah, that's going to help. Surprisingly, at least one feature of this program doesn't suck.

Under Tennessee’s stricter school library law, some books quietly disappear

Tennessee has been a big state for panic over Naughty Books, and Marta Aldrich is reporting on how bad it's getting.

Students prefer teacher feedback over AI feedback, research finds

Behind this completely unsurprising headline, some interesting details from a study of AI paper feedback. Reported by Tanya Peterson.

In an Unprecedented Move, Ohio Is Funding the Construction of Private Religious Schools

Want your taxpayer dollars to go to a private religious school so they can build new facilities? Ohio is the state for you. Eli Hager dropped this surprising story at ProPublica.

Can It Be Constitutional for the Ohio Legislature to Spend our Tax Dollars to Help Churches Build Religious Schools?

Jan Resseger is asking the question, and while the answer should be obvious, certain privatization groups would like to pretend otherwise.

Former Oklahoma teacher says board used 'profoundly stupid work of fiction' to justify revoking license

I wrote about the latest news in the saga of Summer Boismier, but since then she's had a few things to say herself. I think it's safe to say that this whole business has not shut her up.

Does expertise protect against overclaiming false knowledge?

A research paper to prove what you already knew-- people who actually know what they're talking about don't try to pretend to know what they don't know, but people who don't really know what they're talking about will extend their expressions of faux expertise all around the block and back.

Turmoil at Lionheart Academy Endangers Charter School

Lionheart Classical Academy was meant to be the Hillsdale toe in New Hampshire, but it has turned out to be a mess that is in danger of financial collapse according to Damien Fisher at NH Journal. But also--

Who is the mysterious Florida-based landlord and philanthropist of a charter school under scrutiny in Peterborough?

Lionheart's troubles include an investor who's also their landlord, who's in Florida and who nobody has really met. Jeremy Margolis in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.


Jose Luis Vilson again. He's on a roll this week. Here he looks at our problematic relationship with immigration and schools and society.

‘A violation against free speech’ | Penn State removes Collegian newspapers from campus

Penn State is trying to pick a fight with the student newspaper The Collegian. As the father of an alumnus, I am not impressed by the school.

Bomb Threats in Schools

Nancy Flanagan looking back on one of many teachers' less beloved memories--the bomb scare. And here we are again, for even worse reasons.

People thinking without speaking, part three

Benjamin Riley talks to an MIT neuroscientist about language and thinking and consciousness and this may make your head hurt a little, but it's cool stuff.


Akil Bello really knows this stuff. Here's some real advice about getting into college, from Word In Black. Plus Bello does this really cool thing where he publishes on his blog the stuff that got cut out of the original-- so you can get the rest of that piece right here. 

Watch and Share This Video.

If you haven't yet seen the Schoolhouse Rock style video for Project 2025, Sue Kingery Woltanski has you covered, plus some commentary. 

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