Weekend To-Do List

9/1 - 9/3

1. Defund the Department of Education?

READ/LISTEN: Lexi Lonas at The Hill wrote about the growing momentum within the Republican party to shut down the U.S. Department of Education after four GOP candidates pledged to abolish the department during last week’s presidential primary debate. Lonas asked Jonathan Butcher at The Heritage Foundation how such a decision could be made:

“There would have to be some legislation to specifically outline this, but I do think it would need to have the support of the executive branch and, obviously, this is a Cabinet-level agency, so I think having the president — would have to take a leadership role and help to make sure that the proposal is carefully crafted,” said Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman senior research fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation, which supports nixing the DOE.

Read more here. Vivek Ramaswamy shared more details of his proposal to shut down the department after the debate. I’ve invited him to discuss his plan on a future episode of Lost Debate:

Rikki and I also debated the purpose and efficacy of the department on this week's episode of Lost Debate. Listen here.

2. A Lockdown Reckoning in Cali?

READ: James Freeman took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion section to advocate for a “just reckoning” in the upcoming court case examining California’s handling of school lockdowns and remote learning during the height of COVID. Freeman went on to say that as a result of lawmakers evading accountability for their decisions during that time, students continue to be subjected to poor policies today:

This column would love to report that the lockdowners are hiding their heads in shame but sadly many bureaucrats and politicians have still not been cured of their mania for misguided mandates. Even when children have been allowed back in classrooms, they can still be mistreated by such measures.

Read more here.

3. Rural Schools Pilot Virtual Teacher Model

READ: Sara Randazzo reported on the rise of virtual teachers in rural school districts like Prescott Valley, Arizona. In the face of continued teacher shortages, some districts have relied on virtual teachers for assistance with subjects like Spanish, ASL, math, and science. While debate over the virtual teacher model continues, some districts have seen enough success to justify $1 million per year for the program:

Professor Garrard McClendon said they found the Proximity students scored slightly higher on state standardized tests in several eighth- and ninth-grade subjects. “If you don’t have a teacher for three subjects are you really going to value education?” said Proximity founder and President Evan Erdberg.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal here.

4. Continued Adderall Shortage Serious Concern for Returning Students

READ: Dray Clark at The Hill spoke to physicians about the ongoing nationwide Adderall shortage and how it might impact back-to-school season. 41.1 million Adderall prescriptions were dispensed in the U.S. in 2021, and one doctor said the shortage is a serious concern for millions of children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:

“These medications are very necessary and can really affect a child’s performance and attendance at school,” physician Sujatha Reddy said.

Read more here.

5. ‘13th Grade’ Pilot Shows Promise in New York

READ: Marianna McMurdock wrote for The 74 about MESA Charter School’s efforts to support its students beyond high school graduation. The school’s ‘13th Grade’ program pays graduates $500 to participate in six weeks of workshops and case management focused on everything from self-awareness and goal-setting to resume writing and interview support. MESA says the program, launched three years ago, is just the beginning of its longer-term responsibility to its students:

While a high school’s success is often sized up by its graduation rate, co-executive director and co-founder Pagee Cheung believes metrics from alumni’s post-secondary lives should serve as a wake up call. 

“The goal is beyond just graduation numbers — how are they surviving once they leave?” said Cheung. “There’s a vacuum in accountability and responsibility.”

Read more here.

6. Paging Bruce Wayne: Batman Writer Disinvited by Georgia School District

READ: Anushka Patil at the New York Times reported on a Georgia school’s decision to cancel Marc Tyler Nobleman’s visit after the author refused to omit the word “gay” from an upcoming conversation with fifth-graders. Nobleman penned “Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman” and had previously shared with students that the co-creator’s son was gay. Forsyth County school district’s chief spokeswoman, Jennifer Caracciolo, said the topic was not appropriate per Georgia’s state standards:

“It would be almost like if someone was doing a speech to kindergartners and they talked about the Holocaust and the horrors of the Holocaust,” she said, adding that the district had used the episode to remind its principals that all instructional resources, including guest speakers, must be “thoroughly vetted.”

Read more here.

7. To AI or Not to AI

READ: University of Pennsylvania professor Jonathan Zimmerman penned an opinion piece for the Washington Post about his choice to remain neutral on AI during the upcoming school year. Zimmerman explains that by leaving the use of AI in the hands of his students, he is also asking them to decide the type of life they want to live:

But some courses really do ask you to think. And if you ask an AI bot to do it instead, you are cheating yourself. You are missing out on the chance to decide what kind of life is worth living and how you are going to live it.

Some of my colleagues are making students complete writing assignments in class to ensure that the work they submit is really theirs. I won’t do that, because I think it’s patronizing. You are grown-ups. You can vote in elections, and you can die in wars. This AI thing is your call, and it’s your life. I can’t live it for you.

But remember: The bots can’t, either.

Read more here.

8. Meet the Christian Homeschool Pioneer Driving Parental Rights Discourse

READ: Emma Brown and Peter Jamison took to the pages of the Washington Post to profile homeschooling pioneer Michael Ferris, who believes public schools indoctrinate children with a secular worldview that leads to a godless religion. His influence has grown immensely within conservative circles as families adopt his messaging about secularism in public schools as the rationale for increased parental rights measures. Critics of Farris warn that newer supporters don’t understand the ways he has inserted an “extreme religious agenda” into the debate around parent rights:

“Everyone should be aware of Michael Farris and his influence on the Christian right,” said R.L. Stollar, a children’s rights advocate who was home-schooled and has long warned of the conservative home-schooling movement’s political goals. “To Farris’s credit, he is really good at what he does. He is really good at taking these more extreme positions and presenting them as if they are something that would just be based on common sense.”

Read more here.

9. Schools Struggle to Model Sharing in Recent Co-Location Disputes

READ: Linda Jacobson at The 74 reported on the growing tensions over co-location between charter and traditional schools in Los Angeles and New York. While research suggests sharing space with charters can have positive impacts on math and reading performance for traditional school students, the infighting between leaders over how to share their facilities negatively impacts the broader community:

“It’s simmered over into the community,” said Angelica Solis-Montero, who has two children at Gabriella Charter School, which shares a campus with Logan Elementary in the Echo Park neighborhood. “These families shop in the same places; they access the same public resources. One group of students has been pitted against another group of students.”

Read more here.