ICYMI: One Hour Less Edition (3/12)

Thank goodness for all the computerized timekeepers, set so nobody has to remember anything. For the record, we at the Institute are in favor of the time change, because the board of directors believe it's okay to get the rest of us up when the sky lights up, and that's starting to get a little early in the day, thanks.

Slimmer list than usual this week, but still some choice bits from the world of education.

Thinking about Teachers at the Table

Nancy Flanagan takes a look at the issues surrounding the presence of teachers at the policy table, and how Michigan is starting to get things right again.

Why are so few Black men teachers in New York City?

Amaya McDonald asks one of the big questions (and talks to Jose Luis Vilson along the way). 

How Child Labor Violations Have Quadrupled Since 2015

NPR offers a podcast about the rise in child labor violations. Extra interesting right now, since a bunch of red legislatures are suddenly super-interested in weakening child labor laws.

Adults complained about a teen theater production and the show's creators stepped in

There had been speculation that administration in Middlefield, Ohio had shut down a student production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee because it mention gay persons. Turns out things were worse than that, but a compromise was worked out. 

Who Gets to Decide What Students Read?

Anne Lutz Fernandez points out that critics of public education can't decide whether they just don't know what's going on in school, or they know too much (and hate it). 

When Students Cheat, They Only Hurt Themselves

Stevem Singer with some thoughts about cheating and reminders that students are more inclined to cheat on what they consider to be a waste of their time. 

Will The Senate Ignore the Cost of SB202 on Public Education?

Florida, leading the way for education privatization, looks at spending a huge amount of money on vouchers. Accountabaloney has some of the figures.

Neo-Nazi Homeschoolers Could Be Paid $22,000 to Teach Their Kids About Hitler

Yes, that Ohio backpack bill could absolutely direct a bunch of money to neo-nazi homeschoolers. 

A reminder that you can have all my latest for free in your inbox:

Alexandra Robbins Gets It Right: Read This Book

Alexandra Robbins is a journalist and the author of five New York Times bestselling books. Next week her newest book, The Teachers, drops. I've read it, and you should, too.  This is a must-read for everyone who wants to understand what a teachers; life looks like from the inside, and for every teacher who wants to feel as someone gets it.

Robbins, who actually works as a substitute teacher in her own local district, gets it. 

I approached my review copy of this book with some trepidation. Would this be one more book about education by some writer who dipped her toes in the waters and came away with Startling New Observations that every teacher already knew or, worse, that every teacher already knew were wrong. It was great to discover that this was not That Book at all.

The book follows three teachers month by month through the school year, but it is also packed with the voices of other teachers.

What a radical notion-- a book about teaching that is filled with the voices of teachers!

Teachers from all across the nation, from every grade level (even friend of the Institute Steven Singer), talking honestly about what the job is like, what it takes, what it takes out of you.

Robbins is unapologetic in her respect for the work:

Teachers are among the most vital, hardest working, passionate, and selfless members of the workforce--yet they are among the most disrespected and undervalued. 

The three "close up" stories capture all the ups and downs of classroom teaching--the supportive and not-so-supportive colleagues, the work of finding ways to get students to progress through the year, the struggle of balancing personal and professional existence, the increased demands on time, the difference between a toxic and healthy school environment. Along with the month by month stories of those three teachers, Robbins provides in depth examinations of the larger issues-- violence, problematic parents, pandemic fallout, anti-teacher activists, the problems of understaffing.

To simply list the topics makes the book seem like a downer, but I found it an encouraging and uplifting read, capturing how teachers find ways to rise and meet the many challenges they face--not like the kind of imaginary super-teachers we see in media, but like human beings with their own strengths and weaknesses and struggles who manage to rise up and do the work. In many ways, Robbins captures not just the human reality of teaching, but the ways in which teaching is a deeply human endeavor, centering on the best of what human beings can be. 

Or to put it another way, in my fifth year of retirement, nothing has made me miss the classroom more than reading this book.

Anyway-- you should read this book. It officially drops on Tuesday, March 14, and you should get a copy (or pre-order now). In her blurb, Diane Ravitch calls this book "a beautiful testimony." I agree. Do not miss this book. 

National Parents Bill of Rights Is Wasting Time

The GOP in DC is making noise about a Parents Bill of Rights, but if some folks think they're talking about the kind of legislative overreach we're seeing in places like Florida and Arkansas, well, think again. There's nothing radical in this bill, nothing revolutionary in this bill, nothing new in this bill, and really, nothing objectionable in this bill. This is a big fat nothingburger, a PR move cosplaying as serious legislation.

The breakdown of the bill is simple (so simple that Kevin McCarthy was able to run it down in less than 45 seconds, including a reality-impaired comment about how parents all over who just want to talk are being labeled terrorists), though we'll look at the more detailed breakdown as well.  Here are the five "pillars" of the bill.

1-Parents have the right to know what their children are being taught.
2-Parents have the right to be heard.
3-Parents have the right to see the school budget and spending.
4-Parents have the right to protect their child’s privacy.
5-Parents have the right to keep their children safe.

1- Are there states that don't require public schools to make their curriculum a matter of public record? They should fix that. Now, if the GOP means that every word the teacher is going to speak and every worksheet they're going to hand out should be a matter of public record before the year starts, well, that's not possible. 

This is also meant to include a list of every book in the library, and a "timely notice" of any plan to eliminate gifted programs. 

2- I'm not aware of any public school in the country where the rule is to never, ever listen to a parent who calls the school. I suspect that some folks have confused the right to be heard with the right to be obeyed, and I have no doubt that there are school boards that have instituted rules in self-defense that will limit public comment to less than a total of twelve hours. I do note, however, that since this right is only being "created" for parents, school boards must get the right to tell people who are neither parents nor residents of the district to STFU. 

The long list includes a suggestion that districts consider community feedback when making decisions, except that the community includes taxpayers who are not parents, so the bill is a bit unclear here on who exactly gets rights. Weirdly, the bill also instructs educators and policymakers to respect the First Amendment rights of parents which I'm pretty sure, regardless of this bill, are covered by the actual First Amendment. 

3- Are there any states that do no require budgets and spending to be a matter of public record?

4- The fourth seems simple enough-- don't sell student data, don't give it to tech companies--though Congress might want to have a chat with Google and the SAT and ACT folks on this one. I suspect we'll hit some bumps whenever a child decides that they want to protect their own privacy by keeping things private from their parents. But otherwise, once again, this right already exists.

5- This seems to boil down to letting parents know about any "violent activity occurring on school grounds or at school-sponsored events while still protecting the privacy of the students involved in the incident." So I guess "some student and some other student had a fight at a school thing" is the template? It certainly doesn't have anything to do with serious attempts to get gun violence under control so that parents don't have to worry about their kids being shot at school.

As I said-- a lot of nothing in this burger. If you really want to lay down some parents' rights, we could try:

The right to paid parental leave for 12 weeks after the child is brought home.

The right to wages sufficient to raise a family.

The right to affordable, quality child care so that parents can earn those wages.

The right to send their child to a fully funded, fully professionally staffed school.

The right to universal health care to guarantee the health and well-being of every child. 

And if you want to get really radical, you could demand that the rights embodied by those five pillars be guaranteed not just for public schools (where they are pretty much already law) but also for charter and private schools, which are more prone to meetings and budgetary plans not accessible to the public, listen to parents when they feel like it, and all too often require students and parents to shed rights as part of the cost of admission.

And I'll stop before getting too far into a bill of rights for the taxpayers who are required to foot the bill but are somehow never brought up when folks are beating the parental rights drum.

"I couldn't imagine someone would oppose a Parents Bill of Rights," McCarthy told ABC News, which I think speaks both to his imagination and his goals--to concoct a base-pleasing dog-whistling bill that can score some sort of political win. 

Becky Pringle, NEA president, offered a sort of response

McCarthy would rather seek to stoke racial and social division and distract us from what will really help our students thrive: an inspiring, inclusive, and age-appropriate curriculum that prepares each and every one of them for their future. Parents and voters agree that elected leaders should be focused on getting students the individualized support they need, keeping guns out of schools, and addressing educator shortages.

What else can you say, I guess. Congress could find far better things to do with its time and far better things to do to help education than this performative time-wasting. 

OH: Parents Only Matter Sometimes (Example #154,233)

One of the hot new trends is to loosen up those child labor laws, for reasons that are not terribly clear. Need for cheap, compliant workers? Help with the process of sorting people into their proper class and place? Larger pool of workers who won't mind that the minimum wage is not a living wage because they are still living off their parents? Get out of having to give them an allowance? Not really sure.

But as Ohio considers opening up child labor, a curious argument turns up. The legislature was debating whether or not to include a "minor work hours notification form" that would, in effect, require parents to sign off on their children's new job. And this popped up.

State Sen. Bill Reineke, R-Tiffin, did not object to the amendment, but said parental guidance isn’t always a good thing when it comes to children working.

“I am concerned about that, in the long term, those kids who really want to do something with their lives, want to get a job, can still do it, even if they can’t get their parents to cooperate with them,” Reineke said.

This would be the same Bill Reineke, sponsor ofSenate Bill 178, a bill to reconfigure the Ohio Department of Education while stripping it of power. He wrote an impassioned defense of the bill for the Columbus Dispatch, and he led with this line:

Parents matter. Grades matter. And results matter.

It's the same old pattern. Parents matter, and their rights matter, unless they conflict with what we want to do. Parents should have the final say in their kids' health care, unless their kids are trans. Parents should get to choose where their child goes to school, unless the parents aren't religious enough in the right way, or unless they're LGBTQ persons. Parents should be part of any decision the student makes about what name to be called, but shouldn't have a say about whether their child gets a job.

It's remarkable how fluid the belief in the importance of parents is for some of these politicians. 

The Trouble With Don't Say Gay Laws In One Conversation

This is a fairly awesome clip, coming from the folks at Heartland Signal, that captures the heart of the trouble with Don't Say Gay bills.

It's from debate in the Missouri House between two speakers identified as Rep. Phil Christofanelli and Rep. Ann Kelley, who proposed the anti-LGBTQ bill. They are both Republicans; Christofanelli is gay. (Also, the Missouri House apparently has a tradition of addressing female representatives as "lady," which ends up sounding kind of rude, but is apparently just fine.)

PC: I'm just gonna read to you the language in your bill. "No classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties relating to sexual orientation or gender identity shall occur." Um...Lady, you mentioned George Washington. Who is Martha Washington?

AK: His wife? 

PC: Under your bill, how could you mention that in a classroom?

AK: So to me, that's not sexual orientation.

PC: Really. ,,,So it's only really only certain sexual orientations that you want prohibited from introduction in the classroom.

AK: [Talking over him] Have-- have you got language to make that better? To make it where you're not talking--

PC: Lady, I didn't introduce your bill--

AK: Ok

PC: ...and I didn't write it. You wrote it. And so I'm asking what it means. Which sexual orientations do you believe should be prohibited from Missouri classrooms?

There's a break in the video here.

AK: We all have a moral compass, and my moral compass is compared with Bible. 

PC: Lady, I believe during your testimony-

AK: I believe--

PC: --you said that you didn't want teachers' personal beliefs entering the classroom, but it seems a lot like your personal beliefs you would like to enter all Missouri classrooms.

AK: You can believe something without--without--without putting that onto somebody by the way you behave. And you can have beliefs and morals and values that guide you through life.

PC: I don't dispute that, but I'm asking about the language of your bill and how it would permit the mention of the historical figure Martha Washington, and could you explain that to me?

AK: What does she-- why is she famous? Is she famous because she was married to George Washington? 

PC: It seems like that would be a relevant fact in her biography, yes. Could it be mentioned under the plain reading language of the bill?\

AK: [About fours seconds of silence.]

PC: Is that a "no"?

AK: I- I- I don't know, sir.

PC: Okay.

This is so on point. Proponents of these bills would like to use the language of "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" to give plausible deniability and argue that their bill doesn't actually say a thing about gay folks. But traditional roles like straight women are wives who are married to straight men are absolutely gender identities and sexual orientations, only while these folks want the deniability, they also want "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" to exclusively mean "LGBTQ."  And when you want to address that masked double meaning, they'd like to bury that conversation in talk about religion and faith and morals and please don't make us say out loud that we want this bill to ban any mention of LGBTQ persons in classrooms. 

Also, by existing visibly, LGBTQ persons are imposing their values on us, but by silencing mention of their existence, we are not imposing values on you. 

I feel for Kelley and the twisty contortions she and others in legislatures have to go through to avoid saying what lots of their supporters are, which is that LGBTQ persons are wrong, maybe even evil, and anything that includes acting as if they are just normal human beings is forcing the gay agenda on the rest of us and that just shouldn't be allowed, particularly not in schools. But folks in Kelley's position know they can't quite get away with saying that. Yet. 

So we get conversations like this, where the pretense is worn so thin that there's hardly enough to even wipe your nose with. 

Watch it for yourself:

MO State Rep. Phil Christofanelli (R) criticizes fellow GOP Rep. Ann Kelley's anti-LGBT school bill.

PC: Who is Martha Washington?
AK: [George Washington's] wife.
PC: With your bill, how could that be mentioned in the classroom?
AK: That's not sexual orientation.
PC: Really? pic.twitter.com/3usn7LUg6Q

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) March 6, 2023

Hiring Someone To Take Your Online Course For You

Because I look at lots of education-related stuff on line, the interwebz send me lots of strange and terrible education-related business advertising. I've seen a lot. But I was still not prepared for BoostMyGrades. That this kind of thing is in the world...

BoostMyGrades is not shy about its business model. Right there in huge font on the front page is "We Take Your Online Classes, Tests and Exams!" subheaded "BoostMyGrade’s professionals are academic experts who guarantee great grades and take your exams, quizzes, papers, and entire classes." And they also want you to know that they "understand the importance of complete confidentiality."

The pitch couldn't be clearer

Are you tired of thinking:

“I wish I could pay someone to take online class for me.”
“I can’t find the time to study. Can someone take my final exam for me?”
“I just don’t understand this material. Is there a way for someone to take my math test for me?”

Then it’s time to reach out to BoostMyGrade and begin enjoying life without academic stress. Our experts will complete your class, test, quiz, essay, or assignment for you.

They're other big selling point is direct contact with what they euphemistically call "tutors."

We understand that passing grades are critical to the future success of the students that work with us. We take our business seriously and are the only online class-taking service that allows you to communicate directly with your expert tutor through our advanced notes system. You can also escalate issues, ask questions, and manage your entire online class from your dashboard.

Sigh. Yes, it's grades that are critical to future success, not, say, actually knowing stuff. 

Other great marketing quotes: "Tests are stressful, but they don’t have to be."

Of course, they also write papers and essays for you.

The FAQ at the site actually includes the question "Is this cheating?" (Actually, the question is "Is this cheating, what about books?") And the answer is--

We urge you to consult your school’s honor code. In many cases our service is not considered cheating; it should be considered a supplement to your own studies and work.

I am deeply curious to see the list of schools that don't consider this cheating. 

This is not some hack-looking website either. It's slick and professional and if you're on it for more than thirty seconds, a chat box will pop up to answer your questions. I asked "Kate" where they were based and she said West Coast California. Seems legit.

The site boasts ten years of experience; their testimonials page only goes back to early 2019. Another site said they started in 2015. At least one reviewer was unimpressed with both the quality and the price ($82 for a three page paper). There's an intriguing but unverified complaint from a student who claims that Keiser University, a private university in Florida, steered the student toward BoostMyGrade. Review site mentions of BMG are few, but generally negative, and many refer to "tutors" for whom English seems not to be a primary language. Fees mentioned land in the hundreds of dollars.

Which seems like such a shame. What is the world coming to when the people you hire to help you lie to your school won't be straight with you? 

NH: Working To Further Silence Teachers

New Hampshire's current leaders seem more and more intent on whacking teachers into submission. We've seen lots of versions of teacher gag laws in this country, but New Hampshire has managed to come up with a whole new ugly wrinkle. "Live free or die" is now "shut up or else."

In 2021, Rep. Glenn Cordelli (R-Carroll) co-sponsored HB 544, one of the many various "divisive concepts" gag bills proposed on the wave of critical race theory panic. The “Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education” language was fuzzy, trying to say that you can't teach critical race theory, but you can teach about things like racism, but only if you don't take a stand on it, so, maybe, "teach about racism, but don't say it's wrong." 

Of course, most of these bills were vague (since nobody who proposed them really seemed to understand what CRT is, how could they not be) which was a feature, not a bug, since that vagueness insured that the bills would have a chilling effect.

Much like their voucher bill, HB 544 sparked enough opposition that New Hampshire’s GOP-controlled legislature inserted its “anti” language into this year’s budget as the “Right to Freedom From Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education.” The Department of Education has offered some clarification, but it focuses on the “discrimination” portion of the law, not the “divisive concepts” portion. And if the department’s guidance really is the whole story, the “anti-critical race theory” law doesn’t actually prohibit critical race theory at all. After Governor Chris Sununu signed the bill into law, more than half of his diversity council quit.

But apparently some folks were concerned that the law by itself would not be chilling enough, teachers who violate the law can be brought before state authorities and lose their license if it is found they have “discriminated against an individual or identified group.” Their school can be sued, and the state attorney general could take action. 

Not chilling enough? To further up the ante, the state set up a website to let parents and students to turn in teachers that they believe have violated the law. Students and parents may fill out this form, a questionnaire that can be submitted to the state. There’s a space to describe “what action was taken against you that you believe to be discriminatory” which can include any differentiation in privileges, discipline, harassment, or retaliation.

And just to sweeten the pot, New Hampshire's Moms for Liberty offered a bounty for turning a teacher in. The group tweeted “We’ve got $500 for the person that first successfully catches a public school teacher breaking this law. Students, parents, teachers, school staff...We want to know! We will pledge anonymity if you want.” End someone’s career, and collect a bounty. (The term “bounty” is not hyperbole; in response to a question about how to contribute, Moms for Liberty NH suggested to PayPal them and mark “CRT Bounty” in the notes.) This courtesy of Rachel Goldsmith, the M4L chief who is also part of the Free State Project, once serving as executive director.

The state provided little clear guidance, but plenty of folks on the right felt emboldened to go after their local schools. 

Apparently, none of this was enough for some folks, starting with Rep. Cordelli.

“I had a couple of incidents related to me where the Department was trying to get information from schools and in a couple of cases they were met with resistance from the administration. I felt this would help (Commissioner Edelblut) in cases of substantial incidents in schools that deserve immediate follow-up,” Cordelli said.

Cordelli said the Department of Education was having trouble getting cases referred to the Human Rights Commission with “roadblocks at the Attorney General’s Office.” Since the public hearing on the original bill “they have been more cooperative,” Cordelli said.

One way to interpret this might be to conclude that the various "substantial incidents" turned out to be giant nothing burgers. But what Cordelli wants is a "little push to get things moving." Ot, in other words, we are going to by God find a way to get some teachers and schools charged with something by somebody.

Rep. Cordelli has a new bill--HB 533--that a would allow the Department of Education to bring a complaint "on behalf of" any aggrieved persons, And that's not the worst of it.

In an amendment so fresh that it's not on the legiscan site yet, Cordelli proposes to give the Education Commissioner subpoena power in cases of educator misconduct. If someone in the state capitol decides you've been naughty, the education chief can drag you there to face a hearing on your alleged naughtiness. This is doubly scary because Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut is a home-schooling, Libertarian-loving businessman whose main knowledge of education is about how to make political hay from it. 

If New Hampshire's GOP has learned anything, it is that the more time you give the public to weigh in on these kinds of bills, the more grief they give you. So even though the ink is not yet dry on the amendment, the amended version of HB 533 will be heard Wednesday, March 8th, at 9 A.M.

The state teachers union president says the amendment is concerning, but they'll wait and see what the reasoning is, which I'm thinking is pretty generous. Meanwhile, the “Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education” is the subject of a lawsuit that the court has just allowed to move forward after a state motion to dismiss the lawsuit failed. 

Let's just hope this newest scare tactic doesn't inspire other folks across the country.