In Case You Missed It – December 12, 2022

Here are links to last week's^† articles 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 Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

THIS WEEK

Our children and our public education systems are being hurt by bad policies.

DOING DAMAGE TO OUR CHILDREN

The Impact of Active Shooter Drills in Schools

Active shooter drills are hurting our children. We're hurting them by trying to teach them how to avoid being killed by weapons that have no business being on the street. Instead of taking bold action against the easy availability of weapons of war, we're traumatizing our children.

From Everytown

...Active shooter drills in schools are associated with increases in depression (39%), stress and anxiety (42%), and physiological health problems (23%) overall, including children from as young as five years old up to high schoolers, their parents, and teachers. Concerns over death increased by 22 percent, with words like blood, pain, clinics, and pills becoming a consistent feature of social media posts in school communities in the 90 days after a school drill. These findings unveil even more reason to pause before rushing toward active shooter drills as a potential solution to school violence, as evidence suggests that they are causing lasting emotional and physical harm to students, teachers, and the larger community.

PUBLIC ED ON GOP HIT LIST

Why Public Schools Are On the GOP’s Hit List

This is certainly true in Indiana. For the last decade, the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly has targeted public schools. Vouchers and charter schools have drained money from public education. Punitive testing and union-busting actions have driven teachers from the classroom. Privatization is the goal. The complete destruction of public education seems to be the plan.

By Thom Hartman in The Hartman Report [bold in original]

So why would Pompeo, pursuing the 2024 Republican nomination for president, risk triggering an American domestic terrorist to train his sites on [Randi Weingarten, President of AFT]? Why would an educated man have such antipathy toward public school teachers?

Public schools are on the GOP’s hit list, just as they were in Chile during the Pinochet regime, and for the same reasons:

— Fascism flourishes when people are ignorant.

— Private for-profit schools are an efficient way to transfer billions from tax revenues into the coffers of “education entrepreneurs” who then recycle that money into Republican political campaigns (just like they’ve done with private for-profit prisons).

— Private schools are most likely to be segregated by race and class, which appeals to the bigoted base of the Republican party.

— Most public school teachers are unionized, and the GOP hates unions.

— While public school boards are our most basic and vigorous form of democracy, private schools are generally unaccountable to the public.

— Whitewashing America’s racial and genocidal history while ignoring the struggles of women and queer folk further empowers straight white male supremacy.

— Nothing inspires fear and terror in the minds of parents than a threat to their children, and the GOP — being totally committed to enriching the rich and impoverishing everybody else — has nothing else to sell than fear and hate to win elections. (See item #1: fascism.)

PUBLIC ED AND CULTURE WARS

The Culture War on Public Education

Blogger Peter Greene explains the danger and harm to our schools and our children by ”culture wars.”

From Peter Greene in The Progressive

It seems like ages since so many of us suddenly had to take a crash course in critical race theory (CRT). Then, seemingly five minutes later, just as Christopher Rufo, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, had promised, the CRT panic broadened into the “culture wars,” fought on a dozen different fronts by educators: “Don’t say gay” laws, “anti-woke” legislation, calls to ban books, gag laws for teachers, and private rights of action, so that parents could sue schools any time they felt a line had been crossed.

Culture wars continue to flare, but we should be discussing their true victims.

OHIO LEGISLATURE WANTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE "WILL OF THE PEOPLE"

Opinion: Ohio lawmakers will 'circumvent the will of the people' with school board bill

Jeanne Melvin is a retired public school teacher who spent 39 years as a central Ohio educator. She is a founding member and president of Public Education Partners, an all-volunteer statewide coalition of parents, grassroots citizen groups, school board members, educators, and school administrators that advocate for high-quality public education in Ohio.

From the Opinion Page in the Columbus Dispatch
Written by guest columnist, Jeanne Melvin

Because of the state [Board of Education]’s influence, it’s very important to have members who are true advocates for public education.

Our elected state school board members serve the will of their constituents. They are not selected to serve at the pleasure of the governor's political party, which is no friend to public education.

INDIANA DOE TO LAUNCH NEW ED DASHBOARD

State prepares to launch new education dashboard

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

A new state education dashboard is set to launch “very soon,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said Tuesday.

The Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) website – or at least the first version – is nearing completion and will be discussed during today’s State Board of Education meeting.

While Jenner did not provide an exact launch date during a virtual demonstration of the dashboard, she said it will happen in December “short of anything major happening.”

One of the major goals of the GPS dashboard’s design is to break down data in a way that makes the information accessible to people around the state. It includes year-by-year statistics on various metrics, including the percentage of eighth graders enrolled in the 21st Century Scholars program, the FAFSA completion rate and the median income of graduates, along with data from state assessments like ILEARN and IREAD-3.

The data can be broken down by school and by school district. It can also be viewed by demographic statewide or on a school-by-school basis.

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is 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/ [NOTE: NEIFPE has no financial ties to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette]

^†Note: NEIFPE's In Case You Missed It is posted by the end of the day every Monday except after holiday weekends or as otherwise noted.

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In Case You Missed It – September 21, 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.

ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND WHO SUPPORTS PUBLIC EDUCATION...

Republican Jennifer McCormick endorses Democrat Woody Myers for governor

Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jennifer McCormick, has spent the last four years at the helm of the Indiana Department of Education and has seen who supports public education and who doesn't.

From IndyStar

Republican Jennifer McCormick has endorsed the top Indiana Democrat running for office.

The superintendent of public instruction will back Dr. Woody Myers for governor, IndyStar has learned exclusively. In her extraordinary decision not to back the governor from her own party, she cited Myers' intellect, concern and commitment to education.

“Indiana’s students deserve leadership that invests in their future," McCormick said. "Educators need leadership that will provide support and resources to meet their complex responsibilities."

TESTING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING -- DEVOS

DeVos to State Ed Chiefs: Don’t Even Think About Testing Waivers This Year.

According to US Education Secretary DeVos, nothing is more important than testing...even when that testing is misused to provide evaluations of teachers and schools.

From deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

...DeVos does not even bother with arguments against ESSA-mandated testing in pandemic-saturated 2020-21– just a wafture of her testing-slanted hand to any criticism on that front.

How come? Well, because “opponents of reform, like labor unions”:

Opponents of reform, like labor unions, have already begun to call for the permanent elimination of testing. If they succeed in eliminating assessments, transparency and accountability will soon follow.

So, if the tests go, then the psychometrically unsound practice of using student test scores to grade teachers and schools is threatened. Oh, but no! We cannot allow the testing-to-grade-others to be threatened, and anyone who threatens testing is “like labor unions.” If you oppose test-centric ed, you are Like Labor Unions, the worst of insults in DeVos-think.

There is no pandemic that can stop DeVos and her ESSA tests. She tells the state chiefs whom she is willfully ignoring that she is here for them to “help ensure every state can meaningfully assesses student performance during SY 2020-2021.”

DOES YOUR LEGISLATOR SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION?

Grade card: Most area lawmakers fail in evaluation of support for public schools

Does your local legislator support public education over privatization? Chances are, the answer is "no."

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

...the Republican Party's state election committee has a different measure of results than the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, which awarded that same lawmaker a D based on his votes on nine pieces of legislation. The coalition's legislative report card looked at bills “that diverted taxpayers' money away from public schools, damaged public control of education, or either supported or harmed public education.”

The Fort Wayne Republican wasn't the only member of the General Assembly to earn a D. All but one northeast Indiana Republican facing reelection earned Ds. Rep. Curt Nisly, R-Milford, earned a C. He bucked his party leaders in opposing House Bill 1005 in the 2019 session. The bill moved up the date for abolishing the elected office of the state superintendent of public instruction by four years. The bill was approved and the next governor will appoint a state schools chief effective Jan. 11, 2021.

House Minority Leader Phil Gia-Quinta, D-Fort Wayne, was the sole area lawmaker to earn an A. The only grade of F also went to an area lawmaker, Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn. He was the only member of the General Assembly to vote against this year's HB 1002, which suspends the requirement to use test scores as a measure on teacher evaluations. The legislation was introduced in the wake of the state's latest standardized testing debacle. ILEARN, the “computer-adaptive” test replacing ISTEP+, produced sharply decreased scores in the spring of 2019.

COVID CASES IN SCHOOL CHILDREN ON THE RISE

Youth cases rise as school begins: Officials blame socializing away from buildings

Why are public schools always tasked with solving societal problems that municipalities and legislatures can't solve? Here we have the current national health crisis being dumped on public schools across the country. In Allen County, cases of COVID-19 among children has grown since schools opened for face-to-face instruction. Are teachers and adult school workers, who are more at risk for serious outcomes of positive COVID-19 diagnoses than their students, provided with enough personal protective equipment to protect themselves?

A free article from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Thousands of Hoosier students have tested positive for COVID-19 since school began, an analysis of statewide data shows.

During a five-month period from early March through the end of July, 6,178 people in the 0-19 age range tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to data from the Indiana State Department of Health. But that number has ballooned in recent weeks as kids returned to K-12 schools and colleges.

From Aug. 1 to Sept. 13 – less than two months – an additional 7,366 youths have tested positive.

Allen County had 326 cases in the lowest age range through July. Since then, the county added 309 cases in less than half that time. About 18% of all of Allen County's cases in the youngest age bracket came during the first 13 days of September.

The age range covers all K-12 students and some college students, along with a small number of children not yet attending school.

SOME TEACHERS CHOOSING TO QUIT

Virus spurs teacher exits: Some quit, calling risk too great, protections too little

The US was already facing a critical teacher shortage. As teachers choose to protect themselves against the coronavirus, the shortage will increase. Who will be teaching your children?

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

A spring USA Today/Ipsos poll of about 500 K-12 educators found 20% of teachers were unlikely to return to school if classrooms reopened in fall. About that time, an EdWeek Research Center survey of almost 2,000 educators nationwide found 20% were somewhat or very likely to leave the classroom at the end of the 2019-20 academic year compared with 9% who felt that way before the pandemic. Last month, the National Education Association reported its nationwide poll of educators found 28% were more likely to retire early or leave the profession because of COVID-19.

Locally, the Fort Wayne Education Association in August asked teachers whether they were considering not returning to their position because of health concerns. About 29% of 2,040 respondents said yes. A link to the informal, Google form survey was on the union's website and promoted on social media. Most participants identified themselves as FWCS educators.

**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 – July 20, 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.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SCHOOL PLANS DURING THE PANDEMIC?

Indiana schools plan to reopen. What do you think?

Would you like to express how you feel about schools opening with little to no state support during the pandemic? Here’s your chance.

From Chalkbeat*

Chalkbeat wants to hear from parents, students, and school staff. Tell us your feedback, concerns, and lingering questions...

ALLEN COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEMS

Fort Wayne Community Schools

Masks required for all FWCS students; families can choose remote learning

From WPTA21.com

Fort Wayne Community Schools Superintendent Mark Daniel announced Wednesday that students in pre-K through 5th grade will attend school on a daily basis, but parents will have the option of choosing remote learning for their child.

Face coverings will be required for all students. FWCS will be supplying new masks for students each day to minimize infection.

As for secondary students, in grades 6-12, parents will have a choice of blended learning.

Daniel said students will be divided up into groups, and certain groups will attend in-person classes on a Monday-Thursday format, while Group B will attend the other days.

Teachers will be delivering instruction remotely as well.

High school students will have also the opportunity to attend classes entirely remotely.

Southwest Allen County Schools

SACS outlines return-to-school plan

A free article from Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Phil Downs wants Southwest Allen County Schools' parents, students and staff to think of themselves as belonging to one big team as classrooms reopen next month to families choosing that option.

“We want kids back in the building, but for that to happen, we all have to play safely together,” Downs, the superintendent, said during a board meeting Tuesday. “Understand that while I may feel a certain way about some of the restrictions, if we're going to be good teammates, sometimes you sit on the bench and sometimes you're in the game, but you always have to support the team.”

The 7,700-student district plans to begin the 2020-21 academic year Aug. 5 with students learning at school and at home. Downs described the online options – which require a semester-long commitment – as e-learning for elementary students and a new virtual school for secondary students; the latter will become a permanent district offering.

Northwest Allen County School

Northwest Allen County Schools’ plans for fall: Parents can send kids to school or choose remote learning

From Fort Wayne's NBC.com

School leaders with Northwest Allen County Schools said parents will have the option to send their kids to school or choose remote learning for the upcoming school year...

[Superintendent Chris] Himsel said parents have the option to allow their kids to return to school or choose remote learning. Depending on the results, the school district may have to hire more staff, Himsel said.

"To do things right is going to cost a little extra to make sure that we are being safe for all of our kids," Himsel said. "We do have some students who have underlying health issues where remote learning may be best for them."

East Allen County Schools

While there was no article about EACS plan for reopening schools this week from NEIFPE's social media, the EACS plan was reported in an earlier blog post. You can find the entire East Allen reopening plan at the links below.

East Allen County Schools Reopening Safety Plan (Subject to change)

More information can be found on the EACS web site.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, INDIANAPOLIS

Washington Township schools go 100% virtual for start of 2020-21 school year

From RTV-6 Indianapolis

Washington Township schools in Indianapolis will not return to in-person classes on July 30.

The Metropolitan School District of Washington Township School Board announced Monday that the 11,000 students in the district will begin virtual learning instead of returning to classes.

Read the full statement from the MSD Washington Township School Board below:

MSD Washington Township School Board policy provides that in making any decision board members must always think of our students first. While we do so today, we have also considered what in our judgment is in the best interest of our students’ families and of our dedicated faculty, staff, and administration and their families.

Washington Township Schools won’t offer in-person instruction in a reversal

Cheers to this school district that found the wisdom and the courage to stand up to bullying and keep the health and safety of staff and students as their main concern! May other districts find similar courage!

From Chalkbeat*

While schools across Indiana are releasing in-person reopening plans, many districts in other states are opting not to fully reopen school buildings. In New York City, for example, students are expected to have staggered schedules and come to school in person part time.

Whether to reopen schools full time has become a political lightning rod in recent days, as U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and President Trump have called for schools to fully reopen and threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that don’t.

That debate is coming at a moment when Indianapolis schools are on the cusp of reopening. Most schools in Marion County begin in late July or early August — several weeks before schools typically return in Northeastern states.

INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Back to school: Indiana education chief favors acceleration over remediation

Here are suggestions for school from Indiana’s Chief Academic Officer. Do you agree?

From Chalkbeat*

Indiana’s chief academic officer advised educators to use grade-level material this year rather than review previous curriculum to address widely anticipated student learning loss.

Robin LeClaire said teaching to accelerate will prevent students from falling into a catch-up cycle. This method could especially benefit Indiana’s most vulnerable children, who have also been the most heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

“If we focus on remediation, we will be playing catch-up with our students until they graduate,” she said.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEEDS A DOSE OF REALITY

Trump and DeVos Want Schools Open Full Time, Five Days A Week: The Realities Are Far More Difficult

From Jan Resseger

Now, in mid-July, America is suddenly waking up to the need to think about how COVID-19 will affect the institutions that serve children come August and September. The press is finally reporting that opening public schools for over 50 million young people is going to be complex, difficult and expensive, and that nobody is quite sure how to do it. Now that we are paying attention, we can see that the fall is going to be difficult in all sorts of ways—for children, for parents, for educators, and for the economy. But for President Donald Trump and his education secretary Betsy DeVos, it’s very simple: Schools should open on time, five days a week. The Trump administration has even threatened to punish schools that don’t reopen on time by withholding federal funds.

On Friday, NY Times columnist Michelle Goldberg described what she has learned in interviews with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers: “Two weeks ago, I asked Randi Weingarten… what a functioning Department of Education would be doing to prepare the country to reopen schools in the fall. ‘A functioning Department of Education would have been getting groups of superintendents and principals and unions and others together from the middle of March,’ she told me… By mid-April it would have convened experts to figure out how to reopen schools safely, and offered grants to schools trying different models… ‘None of that has happened… Zero.’ When I spoke to Weingarten again on Thursday, she wasn’t worried that Trump and DeVos would be able to follow through on their threats; they can’t redirect the funds without Congress. But with their crude attempts at coercion, they’ve politicized school reopening just as Trump politicized mask-wearing and hydroxychloroquine. ‘The threats are empty, but the distrust they have caused is not,’ Weingarten said.”

*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 – June 8, 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.

INDIANA'S 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR PLAN

Indiana Department of Education Announces 2020-2021 School Year COVID-19 Reentry Considerations

From the Indiana Department of Education

“The health and safety of Hoosier students, school staff, and communities is priority one. Providing students with a quality education is critical and therefore it is crucial we offer considerations focused on getting students back in the classroom in a safe manner,” said State Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick. “Considering the many unknowns associated with COVID-19, we also recognize the importance of alternative learning opportunities. We appreciate the thoughtful and collaborative spirit in which IN-CLASS was developed.”

REPAIR FORT WAYNE GETS VOTER APPROVAL

School support: FWCS' stewardship made voters' choice easy

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

In terms of importance, an election night without final results falls low on the list of COVID-19's ill effects. It was reassuring, nonetheless, to know one outcome seemed clear Tuesday night: Voters residing in the Fort Wayne Community Schools district overwhelmingly supported its $130 million building referendum.

At polls, 74% favor FWCS measure: Absentee votes yet to count

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Voters haven't wavered in their support of Fort Wayne Community Schools' quest to renovate and upgrade buildings – at least according to incomplete ballot totals Tuesday night.

About 74% of voters who came to the polls supported the third phase of Repair FWCS, a $130 million bond program that will lead to major renovations...

SURVEY SHOWS DISTANCE LEARNING LACKING

With schools shuttered, learning lags and students left behind, Reuters survey shows

From Reuters

A Reuters survey of nearly 60 school districts across the country provides hard evidence confirming parents’ fears: Distance learning is no substitute for in-class teaching, with students missing classes, meals and hands-on instruction.

STUDENTS NEED TO HEAL FROM TRAUMA

Helping Students Heal

From Live Long and Prosper

Public schools have always been a stable force in students' lives and when the next school year begins -- whenever that is -- they will have to take on the additional role of helping students heal from multiple traumas.

How can teachers and schools help their students and likely their families, too, heal after the pandemic and the societal upheaval?

1. CANCEL THE TESTS...

INDY SCHOOL LEADERS REACT TO CURRENT EVENTS

‘Unconscionable and unacceptable’: Indianapolis school leaders promise to fight racism

From Chalkbeat*

At the end of her weekly video update Friday, Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson acknowledged the “incredibly tough week in our country.”

She laid out the litany of traumatic current events disproportionately affecting black students: high-profile national incidents of police brutality, gun violence in local neighborhoods, and the coronavirus pandemic’s outsized effect on African Americans.

“There is just so much loss,” Johnson said. “And so in the midst of that, I want to remind all of our students — but especially our black and brown students — that you are so valued. You are loved. You are brilliant. You are powerful. You are magic. And we are so proud of you.”

AMID SOCIETAL CHAOS, TRUMP VETOES STUDENT PROTECTION

While the Press Covers the Police Killing of a Black Man, Riots, and the Pandemic, Trump Quietly Vetoes Rule to Protect Defrauded Student Borrowers

From Jan Resseger

... On Friday, President Trump vetoed a joint congressional resolution, passed by bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress, to overturn Betsy DeVos’s re-write of the “borrower defense to repayment” rule. Trump’s veto will make it much harder for students defrauded by unscrupulous for-profit colleges to force the federal government to forgive their federal college debts. It seems unlikely that Congress will have enough votes to override Trump’s veto.

The Obama era “borrower defense to repayment” rule made it easier for student borrowers with federal student loans to have their loans forgiven if they had been defrauded. However, an enormous backlog of claims has been building since DeVos took over the department and her staff slowed processing of students’ claims. Finally, last September, DeVos’s department rewrote a new version of the rule more friendly to the for-profit colleges and less protective of defrauded student borrowers burdened with enormous debt.

*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 – May 25, 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.

CAN WE GO BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE FALL?

How Hard Are CDC Guidelines To Follow

Curmudgucation writes on the realities of opening schools safely. It’s not looking feasible for two reasons- cost and human nature.

From Curmudgucation

So now everyone is freaked out about the CDC "guidelines" as reported on that blue meme that was going around. This, of course, was the point-- to sell the idea that public schools will be like prisons, so everyone should pull their kids out. Because in the spirit of never letting a crisis go to waste, there are folks from your neighbor with the tin hat all the way up to the US Secretary of Education who see the pandemic as one more chance to dismantle public schools. So the blue list was framed, worded, and occasionally misrepresented in order to create maximum outrage. Mission accomplished.

Let's look instead at the actual CDC guidelines. I won't lie-- as I pointed out when they were just a few suggestions, they are not particularly awesome. But let's take a look-- Just how big a challenge do schools face when it comes to re-opening in the fall?

NACS superintendent says returning to classrooms next semester is still unknown

Northwest Allen County Schools Superintendent, Chris Himsel, plans to open schools when they are safe.

From Fort Wayne's NBC

After an unprecedented end to the spring semester, Rep. Jim Banks is urging schools to make a commitment to return to the classrooms in the fall. NACS superintendent, Chris Himsel, says it's too soon to decide out of the safety of his students and staff.

I’m a former district leader. Here’s what Indiana schools will need to reopen with confidence.

From Chalkbeat*

In my more than 30 years of experiences in roles from classroom teacher to Washington Township superintendent, I’ve learned that there are no simple solutions to complicated problems.

Re-opening our public schools is one of those complicated problems. Let’s face it: Indiana is not going to recover economically until our more than one million school children go back to school. “Who will care for my children when I’m back to work?” needs an answer, or our efforts to restore the economy will fail.

Getting students back into school buildings, though, is going to be tougher than many realize. If I were a superintendent today, I would be assuming that at least 25% of the parents in my district would be reluctant to send their kids to school because they don’t think schools will be safe. I’d bet the percentage would be similar for employees, from teachers to bus drivers, custodians, and food service employees. Parents do not knowingly put their children in dangerous places, and teachers and staff do not want to work in dangerous places, either.

AFTER DENOUNCING DUNCAN, REPUBLICANS DO THE SAME THING

Betsy DeVos Has, In Fact, Become Arne Duncan 2.0

Politics, thy name is hypocrisy.

From Curmudgucation

For many conservatives, one of the greatest sins perpetrated by Obama’s secretary of education was using the powers of his office to bypass the legislature. Arne Duncan oversaw Race to the Top, which was instrumental in pushing Common Core and other preferred policies into schools across the country. Now Betsy DeVos is using nearly identical tactics to push for her own favorite educational ideas.

MCCORMICK REJECTS DEVOS'S "GUIDANCE"

She CARES: McCormick rightly overrides feds on schools' pandemic relief distribution

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, is clear in how billions in assistance to K-12 schools should be distributed: School districts “shall provide equitable services in the same manner as provided under Title I” for educating disadvantaged students. Federal lawmakers clearly intended the money to be distributed based on poverty.

But DeVos directed public school districts to distribute the money to the private schools within their boundaries based not on the number of students from poverty they serve, but on total enrollment.

“The way we are distributing monies now does not eliminate (funding for non-public schools),” McCormick said in an online information session Tuesday. “It just makes sure that the equitable services for (private) and public schools goes to those students who are most at risk. ... We chose to go with the intent of the law, to address the most at-risk.”

DeVos' directive shortchanges even children from poverty within private and parochial schools. If relief funds were distributed on the basis of enrollment, Bishop Dwenger High School, with just 16% of its 1,014 students qualifying for free- or reduced-price lunch, would collect more federal money than Bishop Luers High School, with about 44% of its 511 students within the poverty guidelines.

Indiana: State Chief Jennifer McCormick Turns Down DeVos Guidance

From Diane Ravitch

Hooray for State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick of Indiana!

She rejected Betsy DeVos’ guidance to share CARES relief funding between public and private schools.

No wonder Republicans are planning to get rid of her and replace her with an appointed state superintendent whom they can control, on behalf of charter schools and voucher schools.

The state education department estimates that if they followed DeVos’ plan, poor kids in public schools would lose more than $15 million to private schools.

GET RID OF IREAD-3 FOR GOOD

With IREAD canceled this year, some Indiana educators push to get rid of it for good

IREAD with 3rd grade retention is educational malpractice that our legislators force upon schools . It is time to end it!

From Chalkbeat*

In a few months, thousands of Indiana students will start fourth grade without ever having taken the state’s third grade literacy exam — the test that typically decides whether or not a student can advance.

It marks the first time in nine years that third-graders haven’t taken IREAD, which was among the statewide standardized tests canceled when the coronavirus forced schools to close and shifted learning online. And the gap year has already opened the door for questions about its value.

As state and school leaders grapple with how to move forward, State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick has said the current situation bolsters her argument for Indiana to get rid of the specialized test. She favors assessing reading progress as part of the more general standardized exam students take in grades 3-8, ILEARN.

INDIANA TEACHERS OF THE YEAR -- ALL OF THEM

Indiana Department of Education Recognizes All Indiana Teachers as 2021 Teacher of the Year

From the Indiana Department of Education

“The COVID-19 pandemic brought new complexities and challenges to schools with no advance warning,” said State Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick. “Teachers across our state have displayed a level of flexibility and commitment, underscoring the fact Hoosiers really are #INthisTogether.”

CREDO'S NEW STUDY

CREDO’s New Study Biased against Public Schools

From Tultican

The CREDO study is singularly focused on test results as determinate of school quality and ignores other advantages of public schools. It is a well known fact that many charter school systems like IDEA and Success Academy spend an inordinate amount of time teaching to and preparing for standardized tests. To these criticisms, Professor Mark Weber of Rutgers University adds a few more observations:

• “The matching variables that create the counterfactuals are far too crude to do the job properly.”

• “The definition of the treatment — enrolling in a charter school — does not account for factors such as increased spending, peer effects, and other advantages which have nothing to do with ‘charteriness.’”

• “The consistently small effect sizes have been pumped up by an unvalidated conversion into ‘days of learning’ which has never been properly justified by the authors.”

DEMOCRACY WORKS WHEN WE THINK ABOUT EACH OTHER

Obama tells 2020 graduates: ‘If the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you.' Read the transcripts of two speeches.

From the Answer Sheet

...This pandemic has shaken up the status quo and laid bare a lot of our country’s deep-seated problems – from massive economic inequality to on-going racial disparities to a lack of basic health care for people who need it. It’s woken a lot of young people to the fact that the old ways of doing things just don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.

It’s also pulled the curtain back on another hard truth, something that we all have to eventually accept once our childhood comes to an end. All those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing? It turns out that they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions. So, if the world’s going to get better, it going to be up to you.

*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 – Mar 23, 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.

STUDENTS NEED TEACHERS

Nancy Bailey: Online Learning Can Never Replace Human Teachers

Diane Ravitch comments on Nancy Bailey's post titled Disaster Capitalism, Online Instruction, and What Covid-19 Is Teaching Us About Public Schools and Teachers

From Diane Ravitch

Online learning can never adequately replace public schools and teachers. In such a desperate time, closing public schools due to this pandemic is showing Americans how reliant we are upon those schools to fulfill, not just an educational purpose, but the real social and emotional needs of children and families.

We’re left with stark revelations about this country’s shortcomings, while at the same time we witness the heroism of teachers and staff who care for all children at this dark time. It is that caring and love that have always been the hallmark of what teaching and public schools have been all about. It is and will continue to be what saves public education and the teaching profession.

This crisis will not throw students into a future of nothing but online learning. It will instead remind parents and students of how much their public schools and teachers mean to them.

LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS PROTECT EMPLOYEES

EACS staff to be paid in shutdown: Board unanimous in approval of resolution

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

A few East Allen County Schools employees waited for a text from Superintendent Marilyn Hissong on Tuesday night, eager to know the outcome of the school board meeting.

Their curiosity was understandable. The agenda included action on a resolution addressing payment during a pandemic-related emergency closure.

They needn't have worried about the board's vote. The seven board members readily endorsed the item, which authorized wage payments to employees – salaried and non-salaried – who are instructed not to report to or perform work at the direction of the superintendent.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN

It's Okay. You Don't Have To Homeschool.

Maybe schools and teachers and parents should take a reasonable approach during the current school closures!

From Curmudgucation

Like most teachers, I've had those student requests. End of the period, usually, they stop by the desk, usually looking downhearted. "Could I have the assignments for the next week or so," they ask. And then the cause. Death of a relative. Family emergency. A non-elective operation. A family tragedy. Some sort of unavoidable crisis that would take them away from school.

My answer was usually something along the lines of, "Just worry about taking care of yourself. We can sort out the work when you get back." On the occasions when the absence might cause extra falling-behind stress, I would offer some general direction ("We're going to be finishing the novel, wrapping up the rough draft, working in groups for the project"), but always with the same caveat-- take care of yourself first.

TIME TO CANCEL THE TESTS

Washington State: All Standardized Tests Canceled for Students for Spring 2020

From Diane Ravitch

As of March 13, state assessments are canceled statewide for the remainder of the 2020 school year. These include: Smarter Balanced Assessments (English Language Arts and Math) for grades 3–8 and 10; Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) English Language Arts and Math for grades 3–8 and 10; English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA21); Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science for grades 5, 8, and 11; Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) Science for grades 5, 8, and 11; WIDA Alternate ACCESS for English learners; and WaKIDS for Transitional Kindergarten.

CDC GUIDELINES FOR ADMINISTRATORS AND SCHOOLS

Interim Guidance for Administrators of US K-12 Schools and Childcare Programs

This is a good place to reference often as information changes. How should schools handle the coronavirus pandemic?

From the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Plan, Prepare, and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Who is this guidance for?
Why is this guidance being issued?
What is the role of schools in responding to COVID-19?
How should schools prepare for, and respond to, COVID-19?
When a confirmed case has entered a school, regardless of community transmission
When there is no community transmission (preparedness phase)
When there is minimal to moderate community transmission
When there is substantial community transmission

CORRECTIONS

My Failed Effort to Correct News about the CDC’s Advice to Schools

Diane attempts to correct some misunderstandings.

From Diane Ravitch

As soon as I saw Laura’s comment, I read the CDC guidance and promptly posted the full CDC guidance.

**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 – Mar 2, 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.

PURDUE'S "FIRST YEAR FREE" BAD FOR EVERYONE

Professor: Purdue's 'first year free' plan bad for students, bad for the university

A free year of college sounds pretty good until you hear who is teaching it...

From the Journal & Courier Online

While this is the official description of “Fast Start,” what Klinsky and President Daniels actually announced on Feb. 18 is this: Klinsky and Sherry are paying Purdue $1 million dollars so that Purdue can pay the College Board $1 million dollars to cover Indiana high school student CLEP exams. And they will be receiving their freshman year at Purdue for free not from Purdue professors but instead from those Klinsky has chosen.

NEW VIRTUAL CHARTER, SAME FACES

Indiana: Key Employees of Failed Online Charter Join New Online Charter

From Diane Ravitch

Last year, two large online charter schools collapsed in Indiana at a cost of $86 million.

Now a new online charter has opened and hired some key employees of those that defrauded they public.

Last summer, as two large Indiana virtual charter schools collapsed under the weight of fraud allegations, a small new online program made its debut.

Indian Creek Online Academy was launched by a 2,000-student district south of Indianapolis experimenting with new ways of reaching students.

INDIANA LEGISLATORS TRY TO PASS BLAME ON TO IDOE

How the state missed thousands of ‘ghost’ students at two Indiana virtual schools

IDOE is not to blame here.

From Chalkbeat*

An alleged $86 million education scam has exposed a troubling weak spot in Indiana: For years, two virtual charter schools appear to have duped the state’s school funding system.

How did the thousands of “ghost” students go undetected by the Indiana Department of Education — the gatekeeper of student counts and school funding — leading Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy to draw millions more in state dollars than they should have?

In a memo sent to state lawmakers this week, the IDOE said it “takes all measures available from a data validation standpoint to ensure schools are not being improperly funded.” The department runs some 70 rounds of checks on enrollment counts used for funding, including steps to clean up data and verify that students aren’t being claimed by more than one district.

INDIANA SUPERINTENDENT MCCORMICK..."WE ARE WHO WE VOTE FOR"

Ed chief leery of new laws

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

“We're staring at 2,200 new laws just for K-12,” McCormick told the partially filled auditorium. “I encourage you to share with your legislators, 'Just take your foot off the accelerator for a minute.'”

She repeatedly said, “we are who we vote for,” and applauded the more than 30 teachers running for state office.

She also noted a troubling statistic: 35% of teachers will leave the profession within their first five years. The turnover comes with high costs and can be a nightmare for administrators trying to fill the positions as well as for the teachers who taught beside those who left.

“When a good teacher walks out, you feel it every day,” McCormick said. “It takes a toll on everyone.”

INDIANA LEGISLATORS REJECT PILOT PROGRAM

Indiana lawmakers scrap plan to let schools count high school equivalency as a diploma

Just another way our legislators show they don’t care about Hoosier students. Guess they’d rather waste millions of dollars on fraud that lines pockets instead of a pilot that would have cost the taxpayers nothing and could have made a positive difference in the lives of Hoosiers.

From Chalkbeat*

A panel of Indiana lawmakers walked back a potential pilot program for high schools Monday after concerns were raised about allowing students who don’t receive a diploma to graduate.

The pilot would have allowed seniors behind on credits to be counted as graduates if they pass a high school equivalency exam and take steps toward career training.

It would have been a big change since students who earn their equivalency, Indiana’s version of the GED, are currently considered dropouts. The idea passed through the Senate earlier this month, but the House education committee changed the proposal Monday to no longer affect schools’ graduation rates.

PUNISHING THIRD GRADERS

Those Third-Grade Punishment Laws

From Live Long and Prosper

Not all children are the same and we shouldn't expect them to be. We don't expect all third graders to be the same height by the end of the school year. Why should we expect them to be at the same reading skill level?

Why is it only reading "grade level" that triggers retention? What about math "grade level" or music "grade level" or physical education "grade level" or behavior "grade level?"

And what if we retain a child in third grade and he still can't read at "grade level" after a second year? Do we retain him again? How many times?

...There are external forces in children's lives that have an impact on school achievement. Teachers have no control over things like a child's food or housing insecurity. Teachers can't be held responsible for a child's lack of health insurance or lack of medical/dental care, Teachers can't control the environmental pollutants in a child's neighborhood.

ACCOUNTABILITY

The gift of school accountability

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Editor's note: The following are remarks delivered by Indiana Superintendent of the Year Phil Downs at the Feb. 17 public education rally at the Indiana Statehouse.

Read more about the impact of private-school vouchers on public school funding at his website, drphildowns.com...

Public schools are held accountable for every penny that comes across our desks. We are held accountable for every penny budgeted, and we are held accountable for every penny spent. Every. Penny. This financial oversight is a gift to us and to our taxpayers.

Accountability is a gift that helps us all make the right decisions. Accountability is also why some school districts have been taken over by the state.

And accountability is why we now know that virtual charter schools have ripped off the taxpayers of Indiana to the tune of at least $68 million.

This year, Indiana is projected to take $168 million from the already underfunded tuition support budget and, through the Choice Scholarship Program, give it as vouchers, primarily to organizations one of whose central tenets is that we are all sinners and need help, and then deny them the gift of any financial oversight whatsoever.

*Note: Financial sponsors of Chalkbeat include pro-privatization foundations and individuals such as 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 – Jan 28, 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.

LOCAL SCHOOLS COMPETE*

Local schools compete in regional Future City competition

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

The assignment was challenging. Your city has been hit with a natural disaster and you, middle school students, have been chosen to design a resilient power grid that will withstand the devastation.

Twelve Hoosier middle school teams with that intent competed Saturday, hoping to win the 2019 Indiana Future City Regional Competition at Purdue Fort Wayne.

EDUCATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE COORDINATOR COMING TO SACS

New resource for teachers in works for SACS

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

The proposed job description details more than a dozen responsibilities. Essentially, Harshman said, the coordinator/coach will work with teachers to help create learning environments conducive to all students. Students who have experienced trauma or adversity should especially benefit.

This can include students who are homeless, hungry or abused, Harshman said.

“Those children show up at school,” she said, “and their brains are not primed for learning.”

Strategies to help students will be informed by educational neuroscience research, Harshman said. The hired candidate must complete the Butler University educational neuroscience certificate program, at no cost to the candidate.

About a year long, the Butler program is designed for educators, social workers and counselors who work with children and adolescents experiencing adversity and trauma, according to its website.

It notes participants become acquainted with the “literature of educational neuroscience, trauma and the brain, and brain development as it relates to behaviors, relationships, and academic acquisition.”

BOSMA THINKS INDIANA DOE HEAD NEED NOT BE EDUCATOR

Speaker Bosma, Qualifications Matter!

From Live Long And Prosper

The Speaker is wrong.

The Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction ought to be an education professional for the same reason that the Superintendent of the Indiana State Police ought to be, and is, a law enforcement officer...

...for the same reason that Indiana's Attorney General ought to be, and is, an attorney...

...for the same reason that the Commissioner of Indiana's State Department of Health ought to be, and is, a medical professional.

Education is a specialized a field. The State Department of Education is, and in the future ought to be, run by an education professional.

OK LEGISLATURE TO TEACHERS: SHUT UP AND TEACH

Oklahoma bill would revoke teachers' certification if they walk out and protest

From CNN

As the nationwide wave of teacher strikes keeps gaining momentum, an Oklahoma bill would make it illegal for teachers to walk out and protest.

But House Bill 2214 doesn't stop there -- it would also permanently revoke certifications of teachers who break the rule, preventing them from ever teaching in the state again.
The bill's author, state Rep. Todd Russ, said the main point is to make sure kids don't suffer a disruption in their education.

Political payback for the statewide teacher walkout? Slew of newly filed bills aim to punish, limit future protests

Oklahoma legislators seek to punish teachers for daring to strike for a livable salary.

From the Tulsa World

Oklahoma lawmakers have filed a host of bills that seek to crack down on the methods educators employed to stage a statewide walkout and Capitol protest last spring.

Proposed measures range from criminal penalties for disrupting the Legislature to the mandatory loss of pay and teacher certification for those who strike or shut down schools to resolve differences with state leaders.

At its peak, the two-week teacher walkout in April had more than 500,000 students out of school — about two-thirds of the state’s student population.

LA TEACHERS SETTLE FOR IMPROVED LEARNING CONDITIONS

LAUSD teachers’ strike ends. Teachers to return to classrooms Wednesday

Teacher salaries weren't the most important thing behind the strike in Los Angeles. The teachers were offered a 6% raise before the strike...and after the strike they settled for a 6% raise. The learning conditions for the students was uppermost in teachers' minds, not dollars in their pockets as the media and public education foes would like you to believe.

From the Los Angeles Times

The tentative deal includes what amounts to a 6% raise for teachers — with a 3% raise for the last school year and a 3% raise for this school year.

But teachers also lost about 3% of their salary by being on strike for six days, according to the school district. Other employees got the same 6% raise without having to makes such a sacrifice. The district had offered 6% to teachers before they went on strike.

Striking teachers were sincere, though, when they said the walkout was always about more than salary. The broader concerns they voiced — about overcrowded classrooms and schools without nurses on hand to help when a student got hurt or fell ill — had a lot to do with why the public responded so warmly and cheered them on, bringing food to the lines and even bringing their children to march alongside the strikers.

TAX MONEY TO VIRTUAL CHARTERS SPENT TO BUY LEGISLATORS

Legislators dealing with virtual charter schools

From School Matters

It should be a no-brainer for Indiana lawmakers to rein in abuses by low-performing virtual charter schools. But there are few sure things in the General Assembly.

As Chalkbeat Indiana reported, virtual charter schools have spent heavily in recent years to lobby legislators. They have also contributed generously to political campaigns. They will be heard.

Regulation is needed because virtual charter schools, which provide all or most of their instruction online, have some of the worst academic performance in the state. Most have consistently received Fs in the state’s school grading system, and their test scores and graduation rates tend to be low.

A JUMP-START ON COLLEGE

In high school, a jump on college

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

About 62 percent of Indiana high school students – or nearly 45,000 – earned college credit through dual-credit and AP courses in 2016 compared with 47 percent in 2012, the agency reported.

“Our most recent data indicate that high school students are not only earning more early college credit than ever, but the credit they earn in high school is actually leading to higher success rates and cost savings for students and the state,” Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said in a statement.

Dual-credit courses are classes that let students earn high school and college credits simultaneously. They can be taught at high schools or colleges.

DOUBLE STANDARD FOR VOUCHER SCHOOLS

You Go, Dan Forestal!

From Sheila Kennedy

With the Indiana General Assembly back in session, one state lawmaker says he still intends to introduce legislation that would block public dollars from going to private schools that engage in discriminatory hiring practices.

The proposal by Rep. Dan Forestal, D-Indianapolis, comes in the wake of discrimination charges lobbed at Roncalli High School, a Catholic school overseen by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Forestal said he wants to see strings put on the state’s voucher program, which uses public dollars to offset to cost of tuition at Roncalli and other participating K-12 private schools.

I’ve written before about Indiana’s voucher program, which is by far the largest in the country, and the damage it is inflicting. The funds supporting the program would otherwise go to Indiana’s chronically under-funded public schools; research confirms that the private schools participating in the voucher program have failed to improve the academic performance of the children attending them...

HB1003 BLAMES SCHOOLS FOR LEGISLATURE'S MISTAKE

Lawmakers' cheap stunt costly blow to schools

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

...Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association, reminded House Education Committee members Jan. 9 that schools have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to property tax caps in the past few years.

“We're lagging behind on tuition support since 2010 by about four percentage points. Had you kept up with inflation ... we would be about $573 million ahead of where we are right now,” Spradlin told Rep. Jim Lucas when the Seymour Republican asked whether the school board group wanted more money or more flexibility. “Indiana has fallen 10 slots behind (other states) on per-pupil expenditures since 2006. We now rank 34th. So you're doing a pretty good job of dedicating 52 percent of our state resources to K-12, but the reality is because we're not using local levies any longer, we're slipping behind.”

HB 1003 shifts blame for the shortfall in education funding – and, subsequently, to lagging teacher pay – to local school officials, who have had no control over general fund revenue since the state took over that responsibility in a 2008 swap for property tax cuts.

*This post has been updated to include one additional article listed at the top

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