Weekend To-Do List
11/10 - 11/12
1. NYC Schools Issue Warning to Teachers on Israel-Hamas War
READ/LISTEN: A planned student and staff walkout in New York City to call for a ceasefire in Gaza caused New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks to issue a strong warning to teachers, reminding them to keep their personal political beliefs out of the classroom. The 100+ organizing groups, from teacher and parent organizations to youth activists, have condemned the letter and called it an attempt to stifle staff participation. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, cautioned that the warning, while legal, could silence important discourse:
“The Department of Education should spend more time giving teachers the tools to support robust political debate, navigate students’ high emotions, and address serious issues — and less time monitoring their social media accounts,” she added.
Read more from Michael Elsen-Rooney in Chalkbeat here. I’ve also recorded a series of episodes that review the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict to help explain where we are today. Listen to part one here.
2. Artificial Intelligence Will Revolutionize Learning. Are Schools Ready?
READ/LISTEN: Preston Fore covered Code.org’s efforts to reassess how and what to teach students as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly popular, accessible, and capable. The organization has partnered with Khan Academy and the World Economic Forum to create an AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring computer science is part of every student’s education. Founder and CEO Hadi Partovi says the emphasis on computer science education will become increasingly critical:
“After basic reading and writing, there’s nothing that’s going to be more important than computer science,” he says. “It’s going to be more important than math for a graduate in the 2030s.”
Read more in Fortune here. I also discussed this topic with Khan Academy’s Sal Khan on this week’s Lost Debate. Listen here.
3. Loudoun County Voters Choose Change
READ: Virginia voters took to the polls this week and sent a firm message that they want change. Democrats will comprise the majority of the Loudoun County School Board after both incumbent candidates were defeated. Karina Elwood wrote about the shift in the County, often considered “ground zero” for the nation’s education culture wars:
On both sides of the aisle, candidates campaigned on restoring transparency and trust to the board. They talked about holding community forums and fostering better relationships with parents. But they recognized that the school board is also about education, and Loudoun faces many of the same key challenges of public schools around the country: staffing shortages, behavioral challenges, chronic absenteeism, learning loss and crises in mental health and with fentanyl.
Read more here.
4. Ohio Governor Sued Over Reading Mandate
READ/LISTEN: An Ohio-based nonprofit group has filed a lawsuit against Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, accusing him of violating state law after he announced a new mandate for schools to follow the “science of reading” approach. The Reading Recovery Council says DeWine forced the mandate by including it in a budget bill instead of specific education. Ohio State University Gay Su Pinnell funds the Council’s Reading Recovery program, which has faced criticism for its approach to teaching reading. The Council’s executive director, Dr. Billy Molasso, admitted the group has a personal stake in the lawsuit:
“The practical matter is, we have to be able to keep our business going,” Dr. Molasso said in an interview. “But the stand is principled,” he said, adding, “We believe that what we do works, and we’ve got evidence to prove that it does work.”
Read more here. Chris also discussed Pinnell’s approach with journalist and Sold a Story podcast host Emily Hanford for an episode of the Citizen Stewart Show. Listen here.
5. Why Is Preschool So Expensive?
READ: 6.38 million U.S. parents rely on childcare for children five years old and younger, but how many can truly afford it? Matthew Bateman, co-founder and vice president of pedagogy at Higher Ground Education, joined Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast to explain why preschool has become a growing financial burden for families. While Bateman says intricate billing systems, tight operating costs, labor shortages, and complex regulations are primarily to blame, he also argues that the industry is ripe for innovation:
“If you squint and you look at the industry as this is where it's at right now, it looks very dark. It's like there's a labor crunch,” Bateman says. “Education is very bimodal, it's hard to expand capacity, but if you step back and you say parents are really skeptical of existing institutions and people are hungry for something different, I think you can be a lot more optimistic and I think we will see changes in the next 10, 20, 30 years in this space.”
Read more from Abraiya Ruffin in Bloomberg here.
6. Reinventing High School
READ: Frederick Hess penned an op-ed for Forbes about the Carnegie Foundation and Educational Test Service’s new effort to replace the Carnegie Unit. The century-old measure of course-taking has long been outdated, but Hess warns that any new measure focused on mastery will need to be careful to ensure rigorous standards are set:
If student progression or high school completion turns on mastery-based assessments, will public officials and educators have the stomach to insist upon a meaningful standard? Will they find excuses to shift away from mastery of science and math, and towards mastery of content-free soft skills? That’s where the rubber meets the road.
Read more here. Read about my vision for the high school of the future here and reach out if you want to help build it.
7. Las Vegas Cyber Attack Sets Off Alarm Bells
READ: A hacker using “double-extortion ransomware” leaked 200,000 Las Vegas student profiles after Clark County school district refused to pay a ransom. Originating on TikTok, the hack released student social security numbers, home addresses, and photos, resulting in a class-action lawsuit against the district. Mark Keierleber reported for The 74 on the attack, which one expert called a warning for schools everywhere:
“It’s very easy to overshare information and grant rights for people who shouldn’t be able to see this information,” Levin said. “That’s what it looks like happened in Clark County is they got access to some student accounts, found some shared folders and in the shared folders was more sensitive information that allowed them to escalate privileges and get to even more sensitive information.”
Read more here.
8. Should Schools Be Responsible for Basic Needs?
READ: Jill Barshay wrote about the rise of the community school model in her latest piece for The Hechinger Report. While 60% of schools reported partnering with community organizations to provide non-educational services in 2023, most of these services benefitted from pandemic recovery funds, which are set to expire soon. Moreover, Barshay notes that the model has the potential to redefine a school’s mission:
Whether it’s a good idea for most schools to expand their mission and adopt aspects of the community school model depends on one’s view of the purpose of school. Some argue that schools are taking on too many functions and should not attempt to create outposts for outside services. Others argue that strong community engagement is an important aspect of education and can improve daily attendance and learning. Research studies conducted before the pandemic have found that academic benefits from full-fledged community schools can take several years to materialize. It’s a big investment without an instant payoff.
Read more here.
9. Parents Should Embrace Cellphone Bans
READ/LISTEN: Pamela Paul advocated for more cellphone bans in a recent op-ed for the New York Times. With new studies suggesting that bans may result in less bullying, more effective communication, and an increase in positive school culture, Paul says it’s time for parents to embrace the new policies:
But if we expect our kids to comply with no-phones policies, we’ve got to get over the deprivation. Our own parents would just call the front office — in an emergency. Not because they wanted to make sure we remembered to walk the dog.
And really, if we’re trying to teach kids to be safe, responsible and independent, shouldn’t we give them the leeway to do so? Phones don’t teach kids these values; parents do.
Read more here. Rikki and I also discussed smartphone bans on Lost Debate this week. Listen here.
10. A Path Forward for Black Male Educators
READ: Sharif El-Mekki took to the pages of Education Week to argue that while recruiting and retaining Black male educators may be a challenge, it’s one worth investing in. El-Mekki reflected on three key solutions schools should adopt: learning from HBCUs, ending Black male teacher “typecasting,” and encouraging current students to see themselves as future educators:
Teacher talent among Black men also needs to be uncovered from where it’s often hiding in plain sight. Black men are everywhere in our schools, but they’re usually outside of or adjacent to classroom-teaching roles. There are countless Black men with college degrees who are behavioral-support specialists, climate and culture aides, and in a host of other paraprofessional roles. Removing barriers to entry into the teaching profession for these future educators is a must.
Read more here.