ICYMI: Health Care System Edition (11/23)

My 92-year-old mother has spent most of this week in the hospital, and as always when I encounter the health care universe, part of me wonders how the hell people who don't have A) decent insurance, B) relatively easy access to a health care facility, and C) someone who can spend days sitting with them in the room, keeping them company, and translating and advocating-- I mean, my mother has all of those things, and it's still not super-easy. What the hell hope do people without those resources have? What a screwed-up system we have in this country, and yet some people insist on defending it avidly (and some other people would like to change the education system to more closely resemble it). 

So it's been a week here and it's not over, and if the blog has seemed a little quiet, that's why. I love you all, but I love my mom more. But I still have some pieces for you to read. 

School voucher confidential: Yes, the other parents are talking about you

Austin Gelder and Elizabeth L. Cline at Arkansas Times get commentary from a bunch of actual Arkansas parents about the state's voucher program. Nice change of pace, that, and not nearly as snotty as the headline might lead you to believe.

Learning with AI falls short compared to old-fashioned web search

Shiri Melumad has done some actual research indicating that people get more knowledge from a Google search than they do from an AI summary. And isn't that a low bar to fail to clear.

Are States Equipped to Track Students’ Paths From Classroom to Career?

Evie Blad at EdWeek asks many questions about the cradle to career data pipeline-- but not the most important one which is "Should we do this?" Informative yet awful.

RIP Department of Education

Jennifer Berkshire explains how education policies will be handled by the Department of the Boss.

‘Selling off the Department of Education for parts’: The agency’s major overhaul faces fierce backlash

If you want some official reactions to the news, 19th News has them.

I’ve already seen the impact from Charlotte’s Border Patrol surge

Juston Parmenter writes an op-ed for the Charlotte Observer (yes, that Charlotte) about the effects of the border patrol incursion. (Spoiler alert: the effects are not good).

Wall Street Is Paywalling Your Kids’ Sports

From The Lever, by Luke Goldstein. Turns out private equity has found yet another turnip to squeeze. And it includes not allowing you take recordings of your own child playing the sport.

Ohio is passing a law about a school exam question - A strange story behind a testing fiasco

When the Big Standardized Test screws up, does it take the state legislature to fix it? Ohio is working on the question.

Crazy-Pants Makes Crazy Prediction

Thomas Ultican notices that Erik Hanushek is out making wacky predictions again. What he's saying, and why you can safely ignore him.

Uncredible! ASD Debunks AG Cox’s Hillsdale Allegations, Citing Bishop-Era Policy

Continued noise and kerfluffle from the far right over Hillsdale pamphlets handed out in Anchorage schools.

How the Trump Administration Manipulates Power and Undermines Core Principles that Protect Public Schools and Students’ Rights—Part 2

Second part of a Jan Resseger series. It includes a link to Part I if you missed that, which you should,

Open Enrollment/Predator Schools

Andru Volinsky explains the trouble unleashed in New Hampshire by a state supreme court decision that facilitates an ALEC open enrollment scheme.

What is going on in Florida?

A lot, and almost all of it is unprincipled, anti-public education, and ugly (but not all of it). Sue Kingery Woltanski has the rundown, including the part where someone wants all public schools converted to a classical education. Plus the part where the state voucher system made $270 million go missing.

In Florida school wars, are locals finally pushing back?

Well, we can hope. Column by John Hill in Tampa Bay Times.

State Spending on Public School Students Lowest since 1997

That's the year they started voucherizing education. Ohio continues to shaft public school students, and Stephen Dyer has the numbers.

Federal judge rules law requiring display of Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms unconstitutional

This really shouldn't be news, but here we are-- no, you can't inflict your own particular religion on all school students.

Tennessee parents sue to stop voucher program

Opening shots fired. We'll see where the courts land on this one.

AI Suckage Round-up

An awful lot of news related to the awfulness of AI and its unfitness for education. Here we go--

‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI

As I've repeatedly argued, you can't expect students to feel as if they should make an honest human effort when the people in charge of the course won't

AI Companies Are Treating Their Workers Like Human Garbage, Which May Be a Sign of Things to Come for the Rest of Us

Indeed. Joe Wilkins at Futurism

A general understanding of the human

Ben Riley hits several points, including classroom tech.

OpenAI Blocks Toymaker After Its AI Teddy Bear Is Caught Telling Children Terrible Things

Frank Landymore at Futurism says that at least OpenAI knew enough to pull the plug on sex fetishj instructions for children.

The résumé is dying, and AI is holding the smoking gun

See also: college recommendation letters.

The Great AI Bubble

Carole Cadwaller, the woman who used a TED talk to call Sam Altman a data rapist, explains the AI bubble and the economic disaster it will unleash.

The more that people use AI, the more likely they are to overestimate their own abilities

Ther's now some nifty research suggesting that AI will make your Dunning-Kruger problem even worse. "ChatGPT explained it to me, so now I am a freaking expert!!"

I started putting a music video into each of these weekly roundups because these days we can surely use a reminder about some of the nice, even beautiful, things that we humans create beyond policy arguments and political detritus. These are pieces of music I like, some for ages, and some newly discovered. Recommendations are welcomed. This week, it's Zak Abel, a performer I know nothing about, but I do like his song.

As always, it would be delightful if you subscribed. Always free.