Weekend To-Do List
10/21 - 10/22
1. Moms for Liberty Arrives in New York City
READ: Former Queens school counselor Elena Chin has founded New York City’s first Moms for Liberty chapter. The Queens-based group joins 285 other chapters nationwide seeking to “represent voices that feel unheard” in today’s schools. Chin, a 25-year DOE veteran, was inspired to bring the group to Queens after witnessing more posters around her school celebrating diversity and hearing from an increasing number of students that they now identified as LGBTQ+:
“What we hope to accomplish is minimize it before it even starts and is full blown into the schools,” Chin said. “Raise awareness. Get a parent at every school board meeting to watchdog. We can’t normalize this stuff.”
Read more from Marianna McMurdock in The 74 here.
2. Scholastic Book Fairs Grapple With Book Bans
READ: Scholastic announced a new policy for its annual Book Fairs, allowing schools to opt out of including certain books focused on race and sexuality. Schools will also have the option to move certain books to a separate collection called “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice,” including biographies of Rep. John Lewis and Ruby Bridges and picture books from Colin Kaepernick and Jojo Siwa. While Scholastic defended the decision as a way to support schools in the 30+ states currently affected by book bans, California-based school librarian Mychal Threets condemned the move:
Addressing the company, he said: "We are fighting for the freedom to read. We are celebrating the freedom to read. Join us. You are the powerhouse. Use your voice."
Read more from Rachel Treisman at NPR here.
3. In Search of the Biden Administration’s K-12 Agenda
READ: Libby Stanford at Education Week reported on the Biden administration’s continued delay in defining a clear policy agenda for K-12 schools. With 15 months remaining in Biden’s term and new polling showing that Republicans are now trusted more on education than Democrats, education advocates worry the window for change is quickly closing:
“The Biden administration has missed an opportunity to really reclaim the Democratic Party’s mantle on public school choice, on accountability and innovation,” said Curtis Valentine, co-director of the Reinventing American Schools project at the Progressive Policy Institute.
Read more here.
4. Cardona Says No to Vouchers
LISTEN: U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has one suggestion for the administration’s policy agenda: no private school vouchers. Cardona was in Pennsylvania this week and issued a strong rebuke of the state’s proposed PASS voucher program, which would have allocated $100 million for students in the poorest districts to use as scholarship funding for private schools. While he ultimately vetoed it to pass the statewide budget, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro supported the program and continues to call it “unfinished business.” Cardona disagrees:
“The moment public schools are fully funded, we could have that conversation,” Cardona told Chalkbeat at a Monday event in Philadelphia about career and technical education. “Right now, I am totally against any public education dollars going to private school vouchers.”
Read more from Carly Sitrin in Chalkbeat here.
5. Hawaii Makes the Case for Religion in Schools
READ: Paul E. Peterson and Nina Buchanan took to the pages of Education Next to describe their experiences with immersion charter schools in Hawaii, the growing influence of religious customs and traditions in those schools, and whether the success of these institutions makes a case for more religious and/or cultural practices in schools:
One may wonder whether such immersion programs prepare young people for life and work in an English-speaking society, but as a tool for cultural preservation, the strategy has many advantages. Both immersion schools we visited are enjoying rising enrollments, with hundreds of students pressing the school’s physical capacities, substantial waiting lists, strong leadership, and a stable teaching staff. You cannot teach a new language without high expectations and devoted teaching. And students benefit doubly from the instruction in Hawaiian, since learning another language can also enhance comprehension of the structure underpinning one’s original tongue.
Read more here.
6. Grose: Improve Outcomes by Fixing Absenteeism
READ: Jessica Grose penned an op-ed for the New York Times after reflecting on the rapid increase of schools implementing 50 percent grading floors despite no proof that the practice improves outcomes. Grose argued that rather than focusing on lenient grading, schools should focus on improving attendance rates and providing adequate resources and staff to support at-risk students:
It is clarifying, though, to know that there is something straightforward — reducing absenteeism — that can be done to help the students who are furthest behind. What we need is some kind of galvanizing financial and cultural push to make that happen. We need more Americans to understand the scale of the problem, that in the past school year, about a quarter of schoolkids were chronically absent — missing at least 10 percent of school days; and we need more Americans to understand the ramifications of having a populace where not enough people acquire basic reading, writing, scientific or critical thinking skills.
Read more here.
7. Missouri Embraces Four-Day School Week
READ: Micah Barnes and Kate Cassady at the Missouri Independent reported on the 160+ public school districts in Missouri that have adopted a four-day school week to address persistent teacher shortages and salary concerns. While the article didn’t address the impact on student outcomes, it did note studies that show an increase in teacher morale and retention, decreases in fighting and assaults, and savings of up to $50k annually for districts due to reduced transportation and other costs. Joe Turner, associate professor of special education, leadership, and professional studies at Missouri State University, said the practice is here to stay:
“This (four-day week) keeps rural schools in the game,” Turner said. “Until the state and decision-makers and legislature figure out ways that help rural school districts be competitive in the teaching job market, you’re going to continue to see schools transition to the four-day week.”
Read more here.
8. Now Serving: Lunchables
LISTEN: Washington Post reporters Lenny Bernstein and Lauren Weber visited a North Carolina school to understand how updated National School Lunch Program guidance has allowed Lunchables to make their way to school cafeteria menus this year. With nearly 20% of children in the U.S. classified as obese, a number that is four times higher than it was in the 1970s, critics have pointed to the move as a prime example of the food and nutrition industry’s disregard for health and wellness outcomes for young people.
Kraft Heinz sees an estimated $25 billion growth opportunity in the school lunch market. Listen here.