In Case You Missed It – April 11, 2022

Here are links to articles from the last two weeks receiving the most attention on NEIFPE's social media accounts. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the new Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

THIS WEEK

The NEIFPE Blog is back after a sustained absence due to our blogger's bout with COVID-19.

The most popular articles on our social media from the last two weeks just happened to come from only two sources -- the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette** and the blog, Curmudgucation.

Time to catch up.

NACS NEEDS A NEW SUPERINTENDENT

NACS tenure ends for Himsel

In a completely understandable move, Chris Himsel has turned in his resignation as superintendent of Northwest Allen County Schools. Himsel has been targeted by so-called "parents' rights" patrons of the district (and some from outside the district) because he followed the state guidelines on mask-wearing during the pandemic. The attack expanded into a "hate-Himsel" campaign that covered censorship and Critical Race Theory in addition to student and community health.

Himsel has been a voice of reason in support of public education since he was hired. His retirement is a great loss to NACS. Hopefully, he will continue to use his voice to advocate for public education.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

The Northwest Allen County Schools board on Monday formally accepted Superintendent Chris Himsel's retirement along with the terms ending his 12-year tenure, allowing the district to begin searching for a new leader.

Himsel, who was not in attendance, said in a statement to The Journal Gazette that he was honored to serve exceptionally talented students with an extraordinary team.

“Together, we developed the talent and nurtured the creativity of each learner and made positive differences in the lives of the children we were blessed to serve,” said Himsel, who has been on medical leave since December.

High standards

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

In a letter to district employees, Himsel thanked them for the dedication and talent they bring with them to work each day and reminded staff what they had accomplished during his 12 years with NACS.

"We created a culture of service to and caring for others," Himsel began. He cited the district's Random Acts of Kindness clubs; the Champions Together program that models inclusivity; the Relay For Life cancer-awareness event it has hosted the past five years; and districtwide fundraisers for health and service organizations such as Erin's House for Grieving Children, Community Harvest Food Bank and Riley Hospital for Children.

"We created a culture of achievement," Himsel continued. He noted nearly 80% of NACS graduates earned college credit or a career credential in high school; the district's graduation rate has remained above 95% since 2011; and more than 50% of NACS students have earned honors diplomas since 2017. In 2010, when Himsel joined the district, just 28% of students graduated with an honors diploma.

Additional successes at NACS during Himsel's tenure include:

• Expanding summer school offerings and increasing options for students to earn high school credits while in middle school.

• Establishing before- and after-school tutoring.

• Starting full-day kindergarten.

• Implementing strategies to reduce student anxiety and encouraging them to persevere and overcome adverse childhood experiences.

• Balancing a general fund budget that, in 2010, had a debt of more than $6 million.

"These accomplishments, and many others, benefit each NACS child in some way," Himsel wrote. "Our accomplishments over the past 12 years reveal what can be achieved when nobody cares about who gets the credit while collectively focusing on meeting the needs of children. None of these accomplishments reflect the work of an individual, instead they exemplify the collaborative work of many."

AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME: TEACHER RESIDENCY

Schools to welcome teacher residents

It's about time. This will be an incentive for young people to enter the field of education during a time of national teacher shortages.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

The program, created in 2019, is modeled after medical residency and apprenticeship programs. It provides yearlong paid teaching experiences for student educators who plan on teaching kindergarten through 12th grade, the statement said.

It said students teach alongside an experienced mentor teacher, preparing them for the classroom after graduation. School corporations partner with Indiana colleges to execute the program in their district.

MORE PRIVATIZATION COMING TO FORT WAYNE

Proposal made for charter school

Another charter school wants to disrupt the education of children in the Fort Wayne area.

The charter application claims that the "majority of the schools [in the district] are low-performing." FWCS has a higher than state-average graduation rate...and even if they didn't, low-performing schools are a result of high poverty, not poor education. Furthermore, charter schools have not been shown to perform better than public schools.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Community members will soon get to weigh in on a new K-8 charter school eyed for Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne Preparatory Academy wants to open in the 2023-24 academic year with 150 elementary students. Leaders plan to expand to the middle school grade levels : eventually serving 400 students, according to a 60-page application filed with the Indiana Charter School Board.

A public hearing about the proposed academy is set for 5:30 p.m. April 18 in the Globe Room of the Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza downtown.

CURMUDGUCATION: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

ICYMI: Can It Be April Already Edition (4/3)

Peter Greene offers up a compendium of notable readings from the previous week...another way to keep up with education news.

From Curmudgucation

...You can make sure you don't miss this weekly digest or any other scintillating posts by subscribing via the little box over in the right column (I have no idea where it is on your phone). There's also a Facebook page where you can catch all the writing I send out into the world.

So here's some reading for this week. Remember that if you think something is valuable and worthwhile, you can amplify by sharing the post through whatever avenues you use.

PARENTAL RIGHTS IS THE NEW ANTI-PUBLIC SCHOOL MOVEMENT

Moms For Liberty's Big Takeover Plans

The "parental rights" movement does not understand the purpose of public education in a free society. The public schools belong to the public, not the parents alone. Any parent should have the right to send their child to a private school if they choose, at their own expense.

From Curmudgucation

...the parental rights movement at its most extreme seems to have nothing at all to do with a children's rights movement. I'm a parent, and I absolutely get the rights and responsibilities that parents have to protect and guide their children, but there's a line past which it all starts to become creepy, as if you own this child and will engineer the tiny human to turn out to be exactly what you choose them to be, and much of the parental rights activist rhetoric lives close to that line. "I have total ownership and control of my child" is exactly how you get to the notion of "My child didn't turn out exactly the way I demanded they turn out, so somebody else must have messed with their head." Parental rights are a real thing, and parental responsibilities are a very real thing, but children are actual human beings and not lumps of clay to be crafted by other adult humans.

"Don't Say Gay" Reactions: Masks Off

The attacks on public education are coming fast and furious in preparation for the mid-term elections.

From Curmudgucation

The chilling effect is a major feature of the law, amplified by the enforcement of the law by parents. Florida has now given every parent the ability to interpret the law as they see fit (including whatever mom created that Tweet above). It doesn't matter if some bring nonsense suits that lose in court--school districts have neither the time nor the money to defend themselves from nonsense suits, and district administrators will continue putting the kibbosh on anything that might trigger their district's most anti-LGBTQ parents.

Ugly days ahead in Florida.

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has changed its online access and is now behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both are available with a subscription. Staying informed is important, and one way to do that is to support your local newspaper. For subscription information, go to fortwayne.com/subscriptions/

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In Case You Missed It – Jun 1, 2020

Here are links to last week's articles receiving the most attention in NEIFPE's social media. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

CHARTERS WANT IT BOTH WAYS

Carol Burris: Charters Are Looting Federal Funds Meant to Save Small Businesses

From Diane Ravitch

...Carol Burris and Marla Kilfoyle of the Network for Public Education wrote an article in Valerie Strauss’s “Answer Sheet” about the charter schools that are claiming federal funds designated for small businesses, thwarting the intention of the legislators. Public schools are not eligible for the PPP relief funds, but—presto chango—the money-hungry charters decided they are not public schools after all, they are really small businesses. Next week, they will again claim to be public schools, not small businesses.

CHARTER OWNER INVESTS TO HURT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Potential partnership sours as charter leader opposes South Bend school referendums

He says he's "not trying to harm the schools," but harming them will likely put more money in his pocket.

From Chalkbeat*

According to election committee filings, Garatoni [founder and board president of three local charter schools] has contributed $30,000 to his anti-referendum campaign, which has no other donors, and has spent around $10,000 so far. The pro-referendum committee has raised nearly $17,000 and spent more than $14,000.

Garatoni acknowledged that his growing network of charter schools, which together serve around 1,300 students in grades K-12, could benefit from the referendum failing, because it might force the district to close more schools. Under state law, empty school buildings are available for charter schools to purchase for $1. But Garatoni said that’s not why he opposes the referendum.

“I’m not trying to harm the schools,” Garatoni said. “Basically, I’m saying fix the schools. If they get the money then they can coast again and they won’t confront the issue.”

POLITICS LEAVES RURAL STUDENTS BEHIND

How the politics behind rural internet access leave parts of Indiana ‘in the dark ages’

From Chalkbeat*

Before the coronavirus crisis, schools in hilly, forested Brown County, Indiana, didn’t expect students to work online at home.

Even with a growing fiber network in the area, too many families couldn’t connect to the internet, and those who did often used hot spots or unreliable connections. So schools used workarounds: Students did their assignments offline at home and logged on once they got to school to upload work, said Superintendent Laura Hammack.

But during the pandemic, that approach no longer works, and school leaders are finding longstanding access gaps more difficult to bridge...

“We’re still over-relying on the private sector to make good on these promises, and the private sector hasn’t delivered,” said Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer advocacy group that focuses on utility and environmental issues in Indiana. “No question about it, campaign cash and lobbying influence has a lot to do with why so many folks lack access to this service..."

INDIANA'S APPLICATION FOR RELIEF MONEY

Holcomb applied for $61M in relief for schools. Here are 3 things to know.

From Chalkbeat*

Indiana is eligible to receive up to $61.6 million in discretionary funding for schools. The amount was determined by the number of school-age children in the state. That’s on top of the $215 million Indiana’s K-12 schools are already set to receive through the federal coronavirus relief bill known as the CARES Act...

...the application doesn’t reveal a detailed plan — governors were asked just three questions — it does give us a first look at how Holcomb will spend the money. Here are three things to know:

1. Holcomb wants to create more technology and remote learning grant opportunities...

2. The state would create “needs-based criteria” to decide how to distribute the money...

3. There’s no mention of a statewide plan for closing technology access gaps.

CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING MORE IMPORTANT THAN TEST SCORES

David Berliner: Kids Missing School? Don’t Worry.

From Diane Ravitch

...what if they do lose a few points on the achievement tests currently in use in our nation and in each of our states? None of those tests predict with enough confidence much about the future life those kids will live. That is because it is not just the grades that kids get in school, nor their scores on tests of school knowledge, that predict success in college and in life. Soft skills, which develop as well during their hiatus from school as they do when they are in school, are excellent predictors of a child’s future success in life.

DUMP THE TESTS

Why shouldn't high stakes testing be abandoned next year?

We do not need testing in the fall or even at all when our children go back to school. “We just need smart teachers with the RESOURCES they need to do the work.”

From Curmudgucation

[Standardized testing] would also waste precious instructional time, waste resources, and provide meaningless bad data. Look-- if testing really worked, if it really told us all the things that guys like Toch want to claim it does, don't you think teachers would be clamoring for it? If it were an actual valuable tool, don't you think that teachers, struggling with spotty resources against unprecedented challenges, would be hollering, "If I'm going to try to do this, at least find a way to get me those invaluable Big Standardized Test!"

But no-- in the midst of this hard shot to the foundations of public education, a lot of professional educators are taking a hard look at what is really essential, what they really need to get the job done. The Big Standardized Test didn't make the cut. We don't need the "smart testing," especially since it isn't very smart anyway. We just need smart teachers with the resources they need to do the work.

Disadvantaged kids 'fell further in maths, reading due to COVID'

Here’s an idea...Instead of testing as soon as schools open again, or worrying about what kids have missed...

From the Sydney Morning Herald

“... schools should prioritise helping students settle down after a strange and often stressful experience.

Pasi Sahlberg, research director at the Gonski Institute for Education, said schools should put social and emotional wellbeing first. "I think we should let children play and learn outside as much as possible," he said.

"Schools should not worry too much about how much teaching kids have missed when they were not at school and instead focus more on what they learned when they had more time to do their own things on their own pace. I bet many of us would be surprised about the latter."

SCHOOLS MUST "COEXIST WITH COVID"

Reading, writing and REOPENING: Two months into lifewith COVID-19, schools still have more questions than answers

From NACS Superintendent, Chris Himsel in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Despite the work that remains, we continue to be hopeful we will be able to take steps toward normal. However, we will not jeopardize the health of our students, staff or their families simply because all of us desire a rapid return to our previous normal.

From what we are learning at this moment, school will look significantly different until there is a vaccine. Until then, we must learn to coexist with COVID-19. Over the next several weeks, we will continue gathering facts and developing plans for safely engaging our students.

*Note: Financial sponsors of Chalkbeat include pro-privatization foundations and individuals such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, EdChoice, Gates Family Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, and others.

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has changed its online access and is now behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both, are available with a subscription. Staying informed is important, and one way to do that is to support your local newspaper. For subscription information go to fortwayne.com/subscriptions/

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In Case You Missed It – Sept 2, 2019

Here are links to last week's articles receiving the most attention in NEIFPE's social media. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

TESTING IN INDIANA

ILEARN fails as effective student measuring stick

From NACS Superintendent Chris Himsel in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

ILEARN represents the sixth time the state tests, the standards tested on the tests, or the company administering the tests has changed since 2009, and the third since 2015. Each change resulted in a new state-defined passing score. For this and many other reasons, the “passing” results are arbitrary.

Schools and districts have been informed that the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the newly defined “passing” scores is much lower than in previous years.

The lower scores do not reflect a lack of performance by our students, teachers or schools.

Instead, the scores highlight the misuse of standardized tests and the fallacy of one-size-fits-all testing and accountability systems. Indiana began implementing the fallacy with PL 221 more than 20 years ago after passage of the federal law, No Child Left Behind.

McCormick: It’s time to change school grading system

From School Matters

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick is tapping into the alarm over results of Indiana’s new ILEARN standardized assessment to call for changes in how the state evaluates schools.

She said the test scores “once again show us the importance of developing a modernized, state-legislated accountability system that is fair, accurate and transparent.”

5 times problems derailed Indiana’s standardized tests

How much would you pay for something that has no real use or value to you and doesn’t even work a lot of the time? Asking for some Hoosier legislators.

From Chalkbeat

Standardized testing in Indiana has been called into question repeatedly over the past decade. ISTEP, which was given for 30 years through 2018 and is still being used in Indiana high schools, was plagued with technological issues. And now, following the transition to ILEARN, state test scores are said to be low in both English and math; those scores are set to be released publicly on Sept. 4, though schools received them earlier this month.

This time around, the decline isn’t the result of a technical glitch. School officials are attributing it in large part to ILEARN’s new computer-adaptive format and its introduction of some new content.

ILEARN results: déjà vu all over again

From School Matters

Here we go again. Indiana has a new standardized test, the results sound bad, and educators are calling on the state to hold off on imposing consequences on schools or teachers using new test scores.

Today, Gov. Eric Holcomb joined the call for a “pause” in accountability based on the tests. House and Senate leaders concurred, which means it’s almost certain to happen. Results from the new assessment, called ILEARN, are scheduled to be made public at the Sept. 4 State Board of Education meeting.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because we went through the same thing just four years ago. Then, Indiana adopted new, more stringent learning standards, and the state test, called ISTEP, was revised to incorporate them. Test scores plummeted, and lawmakers approved “hold harmless” legislation that prevented the new test from hurting schools’ letter grades.

ILEARN scores are expected to be low. Holcomb, McCormick don’t want that to hurt teacher pay, school grades.

Not only should we hold our teachers and schools harmless, we should also hold the students harmless.

From Chalkbeat

With the scores for Indiana’s new standardized test expected to be low, state officials fear that what was supposed to be a more reliable measure of student, teacher and school performance may prove meaningless.

ILEARN scores are said to be low across the state in both English and math. As a result, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is asking legislators to pass a “hold harmless” exemption, which would protect schools and teachers from being negatively affected.

Such a move undercuts the test’s role as an accountability metric for the state. It could also fuel the debate over whether the test is a useful measure of student achievement, especially if it isn’t comparable year-over-year.

CHARTER SCHOOLS

GEO charter network to get a second chance in Indianapolis

Why are the people in Indiana ok with this waste of money?

From Chalkbeat*

The GEO Academies is returning to Indianapolis eight years after the mayor’s office sought to close one of their schools for poor performance — a conflict that eventually pushed the charter operator out of the city.

The Indiana Charter School Board voted 6-2 Friday afternoon to authorize the new school, which hopes to open its doors in 2020.

Board members quit after two embattled Indiana virtual schools lose their charters

It seems that the people involved with these charters are not the kind of people who take responsibility for their actions on their own. It would be nice to have a legislature which wouldn’t give our tax dollars and free rein to these types of folks.

From Chalkbeat

After losing their charters Monday night, two embattled virtual charter schools were scheduled to hold board meetings Tuesday night to discuss finishing the process of shutting down.

But that discussion never happened because Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy no longer had any board members.

“There’s no one left,” said the schools’ attorney, Mary Jane Lapointe.

Two board members, Thomas A. Krudy and Sam Manghelli, resigned during an executive session held in the lobby of an Indianapolis office building because they were locked out of the virtual schools’ fourth-floor suite.

TEACHERS SPEAK OUT

Teachers across northern Indiana speak out, demand increased pay: 'It's grim, very grim'

From WSBT22.com

Teachers from across northern Indiana packed the cafeteria at Concord Junior High Tuesday night.

They were there to speak to a commission put together by Governor Eric Holcomb. It's tasked with finding ways to increase teacher pay in Indiana.

Indiana has a reputation as one of the worst states for teacher pay.

Our Operation Education team reported a couple of weeks ago that Indiana teachers rank last in the country for salary growth since 2002.

*Note: Chalkbeat sponsors include pro-charter foundations and individuals such as EdChoice, Gates Family Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, and others.

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