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Sunday, January 25, 2026

ICYMI: Big Frozen Blizzard Edition (1/25)

We are getting hammered this morning, but my nephew and his wife in Minnesota are expecting negative twenties--cold enough to put the area under an exploding tree warning, as if Minnesota wasn't suffering enough already. May all the unwelcome visitors in that state have a truly miserable weekend-- they've earned it.

In the meantime, I have some education reading for you. Here we go. 

Excerpts Are Anti-Knowledge: Not Always, But Often Enough to Matter

Say Amen! Laura Pantranella has more patience than I to lay out some solid and specific reasons that training students on reading excerpts is a really bad idea. 

Children as Collateral Damage

God bless Bruce Lesley, who read through the Heritage Foundation's latest big fat slab of malignant baloney about saving America by saving the children. Only they don't really want to save children. 

Florida lawmakers debate what’s ‘harmful to minors’ in school books, again

Florida once again tries to keep works from escaping the long hand of censorship by closing loopholes that allow for considerations like "artistic merit." Merit, shmerit. Let's get that statue of David a robe.

‘What Sort of Nation Terrorizes Children?’: A Teacher’s View From Minneapolis

Italia Fittante teaches high school literature in Minneapolis, and her students are having a rough time. EdWeek has the piece, and it is worth your time.

When School Stops Feeling Safe: Librarians Supporting Immigrant Students in Real Time

The AI School Librarian has some concrete thoughts and suggestions about what schools and staff can do (and not do) to help their students in this extraordinarily terrible time.

The Ruffled Mind

AI and ICE are birds of a feather, argues Audrey Watters. Plus her usual assortment of useful links. Have you subscribed yet, because you should.

Fear, arrests and know-your-rights: How one school district is grappling with ICE coming to town

Alexandra Villarreal  at Hechinger looks at how schools in New Haven, Connecticut, a district that has worked hard to build relationships with the immigrant community, are dealing with ICE. 

Dear Ohio Anti-Property Tax Campaign, the State of Ohio should NOT pay for education alone

Stephen Dyer continues to explain how Ohio's school funding system is in the weeds.

Why 'symbolic' ICE resolution in Sarasota matters more than you think

Mark Rochester of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune writes about Bridget Ziegler's dumb resolution and how it represents something bigger--the nationalization of local issues.

Google's work in schools aims to create a 'pipeline of future users,' internal documents say

This may be the least surprising news ever. Tyler Kingdale reports for NBC News that Google is in your school in hopes of recruiting future customers. Also, they have known for a long time that Youtube can be unsafe and distracting.

Teacher Education in (Another) Era of the “Bad Teacher” Myth

Remember the whole myth of bad teachers being responsible for all education ills? Paul Thomas does.

I Can't Change Your Kid

Matt Brady points out that the power of teachers is not exactly what popular mythology says it is.

At nine, I disappeared into home schooling. No one came looking

Memoir of a home school kid, by Stefan Merrill Black

Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless

You may want to sign up for a free trial of The Economist to read this, but the headline stands pretty well on its own.


It's about math. It's also about selling some wares. Thomas Ultican breaks it down.

Deception: How the 100,000 Studies Lie and the “Five Pillars” Lie are Jeopardizing the Future of Children in America

This very long and wonkily detail-filled post by Denny Taylor takes on some of the sacred texts of supposedly settled reading science. 

McMahon’s Troubling School Patriotism Fails to Address The Needs of Children

Nancy Bailey looks at Linda McMahon's Big Patriotism Tour as it asserts that all children need from their government is exhortations to cheer the flag.

Trump Administration Awards Grants to Promote Patriotic Education

Speaking of patriotism-flavored education, the Trump regime is backing some other attempts to rewrite history for students in K-12.

The Timing Tells You Everything

TC Weber continues to provide an invaluable ground-level view of education shenanigans on the state and local level. This time: NFL player/vendors, and a school shooting anniversary.

The Power of Life

Ben Riley talks to science historian Jessica Riskin about life, intelligence, AI and a bunch of other stuff. Some beautiful and intelligent conversation here.

At Forbes.com, I looked at the year-long saga of the Trump regime's attempt to ban DEI from classrooms and how they just backed away from one of their first big tools. 

Here's the National Children's Symphony of Venezuela, having a ball with Leonard Bernstein's Mambo from West Side Story. 




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