Weekend To-Do List

4/20 - 4/21

and

Apr 20, 2024

1. Biden Administration Unveils New Title IX Rules

READ: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona effectively broadened the scope of Title IX on Friday after announcing the Biden administration’s new regulations for the 1972 law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools and educational programs receiving federal funding. Among other changes, the updated rule redefines sex-based harassment, mandates that all parties in sex discrimination cases be treated equitably, and codifies protections for transgender and nonbinary students. The Biden administration says the new regulations provide students with the most comprehensive coverage since Title IX was established:

“These regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.

Read more from Bianca Quilantan at Politico here and read the Education Department’s final rule here.

2. The Toughest Job in San Francisco?

READ: Gail Cornwall gave readers of The 74 a glimpse into the daily life of Lauren Koehler, executive director of the San Francisco Unified School District Enrollment Center. Koehler is responsible for turning around the district’s rapidly shrinking enrollment numbers, which have decreased due to factors like population loss, remote schooling, and school privatization. As part of her reporting, Cornwall also spoke with several parents about why they’ve left SFUSD:

“My husband and I are both a product of a public school education, and it’s something we really wanted for our children,” said Rodriguez, the first caller. But her son ended up in private school, she explained, because “we didn’t want him sitting in front of a screen.”

3. Citizen Stewart Walks Into “Enemy Territory”

READ/LISTEN: My co-host Chris Stewart took to his Substack to share more about his recent appearance on Tim Pool’s show alongside Corey DeAngelis. Chris wrote about his experience facing off in person against an online adversary and how his stance on public schools has evolved over the years:

I know better than anyone that pro-choice talking points about "the system" and “government schools” are weapons to sell a disaster story about public schools. I used to call them starter prisons. I once said that public schools are so bad that sending kids home with an iPad would teach them more. Then COVID kept our kids at home, and no one trumpeted the need to get kids back in public schools more than conservatives and Republicans.
To be clear, I agree that the quality of our public schools is uneven, stellar in some places, and abysmal in others. Too many children, especially those marginalized by race, poverty, disabilities, and family structure, are too often the victims of malpractice and neglect. Yet, no education sector is untouched by that problem. Every sector has schools that are at the top of the key and others that are below hell.

Read more here and listen to Chris discuss his visit on the latest episode of The Citizen Stewart Show here.

4. Why (Most) Teachers Don’t Get Maternity Leave

READ: Only 18% of the country’s largest school districts offer paid parental leave, and most that do offer less than six weeks. Sara Randazzo at The Wall Street Journal wrote about the barriers to expanding leave policies for new parents, the states trying to break past them, and the impact of both on teachers:

In Tennessee, Vaughn’s anger toward the leave policies grew in 2022 after she made the decision to work while having a miscarriage—a physically and emotionally draining experience—so she wouldn’t have to use up sick days for a future pregnancy.
Now five months pregnant, she will benefit this fall from the new state law guaranteeing six weeks of paid leave, separate from her sick days.
“It’s taken off so much pressure that I was feeling before,” said Vaughn, who struggled with infertility for a decade. “I can focus more on having this healthy pregnancy and having my own child and taking time to bond with her when she gets here.”

5. A New Kind of Microschool

READ: Aleksandra Appleton introduced Chalkbeat readers to Lab School in Indianapolis, a new public microschool hosted at Cornerstone Lutheran Church and supported by Purdue Polytechnic High School’s charter network. The Lab School opened this fall with the goal of providing a small, personalized education to students whom PPHS teachers had identified as likely to do better in a setting that could offer more one-on-one attention and support:

PPHS CEO Keeanna Warren said it was important to PPHS leadership to provide a small, personalized environment for students who need it, especially as a tuition-free public charter school.
“If we want to see academic changes, if we want to support all students, we have to try new things and be responsive to what families and communities are saying they want,” Warren said.

The Lab School is one of the first microschools to be categorized as public. Read more here.

6. Librarians Weigh Reading and Jail Time

READ: Hannah Natanson and Anumita Kaur at The Washington Post spoke with librarians across the country to understand the state of the profession in 2024. Legislators in 22 states have proposed 57 bills prohibiting book bans or forbidding harassment of school librarians, while 27 states have considered 100+ bills focused on limiting the titles offered in libraries and threatening librarians with jail time for handing out the wrong book. The reporters spoke with Tara White, who quit her role as director of literacy for a school district in Indiana in response to an Indiana law saying school employees could face criminal prosecution for handing out books that contain sexual material that is harmful to minors:

“I loved being a librarian and … helping every student find themselves in a book,” White said. But while certain she wasn’t actually “breaking the law, nobody wants to go through that process.”
Nobody wants to go to jail, she said, for giving children books.

7. Now Hiring: The Right Kind of Counselor

READ: Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation this week allowing religious chaplains to serve as counselors in Florida’s public schools. Chaplains must pass a background check but aren’t held to other qualifications as of now. DeSantis remained undeterred in the face of pressure to veto the bill from advocacy groups like the ACLU, Interfaith Alliance, and National Education Association:

“When education in the United States started, every school was a religious school. I mean, that was just part of it. Public schools were religious schools,” DeSantis insisted. “You know, there has been things that have been done over the years that veered away from it, that original intent. But the reality is, I think what we’re doing is really restoring the sense of purpose that our Founding Fathers wanted to see in education.”

Read more from Michael Moline in The 74 here.