In Case You Missed It – December 30 2024

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 of our blog page to be informed when our blog posts are published.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"There’s no reason to push children to read early. Their brains have not evolved to the point where they must read at age three or five." -- Nancy Bailey in Give the Gift of Removing Reading Pressure on Kindergartners!

LATEST TIMMS SCORES SHOW DECLINE FOR U.S.

Tom Loveless: What We Learned from the 2023 TIMSS

Was the U.S. score decline caused by the pandemic? The answer is unclear.

From Diane Ravitch

Two trends stand out.

1. Larger negative effects in math than in other subjects. The most prominent explanation is that learning math is more dependent on formal instruction in schools.

2. Gaps increased between higher and lower scoring groups along several demographic dimensions, including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and the 90th and 10th percentiles (high and low achievers).Note that many of the gaps began widening before the pandemic, but Covid seemed to exacerbate the trends.

A GIFT FOR KINDERGARTENERS

Give the Gift of Removing Reading Pressure on Kindergartners!

Kindergartens should return to providing a developmentally appropriate curriculum.

From Nancy Bailey’s Education Website

This holiday season, give children the gift of reading. One of the best ways to do that is to relieve the pressure of insisting they read early. Some children might pick up reading when they’re very young, but others will learn a little later, and there’s nothing wrong with this.

However, children who are made to feel like failures at this age if they are not reading yet will have a more challenging time learning to read later.

Sadly, examples of kindergarten reading pressure can be found everywhere. A recent Business Insider report describes a mother saddened that their child had to repeat kindergarten because they couldn’t read or write!

Expecting children to read in kindergarten and putting this increased pressure on them became politically motivated with NCLB

TRUST THE EXPERTS

Unintended Consequences

Just because you attended school doesn’t mean you are an education expert or know anything about child development.

From Sheila Kennedy

Rothstein eventually concluded that lower average achievement of these pupils wasn’t due to deficits of instruction, but to the

social and economic challenges that children brought with them to school—for example, greater rates of lead poisoning that resulted in damaged cognitive function; living in more polluted neighborhoods that led to a higher incidence of asthma that kept children up at night wheezing and coming to school drowsier the next day; lack of adequate heal[th care, including dental care, that brought more children to school with distracting toothaches, and on and on...

WE NEED SOME HYGGE IN OUR CLASSROOMS

We Need Hygge Classrooms in America

It would be nice if Americans embraced contentment and connection.

From Teacher in a Strange Land Blog

In Iceland, books are exchanged as Christmas Eve presents, then you spend the rest of the night in bed reading them and eating chocolate. The tradition is part of a season called Jolabokafload, the Christmas Book flood, because Iceland, which publishes more books per capita than any other country, sells most of its books between September and November, due to people preparing for the upcoming holiday.

PUBLIC MONEY SHOULD GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

D for effort

Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly continue to vote to raise the amount the state pays students to go to religious and other private schools...with money diverted from public schools.

From School Matters

Indiana gets a D for effort when it comes to funding public education. Keep that in mind when legislators say there’s not enough money to give schools what they need.

The rating comes from the latest “Making the Grade” report, an annual evaluation of state school funding by the Education Law Center, a New Jersey-based research organization that advocates for equitable funding. Indiana does slightly better, earning a C, for school funding adequacy and fairness.

SCHOOL COUNSELORS NEEDED

School counselors are essential, so let's treat them that way

Here's something that Indiana should spend public tax dollars on instead of diverting money to private and religious schools.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

The 2024-25 Indiana School Counselor Survey paints a grim picture of a profession stretched far too thin. Counselors are overburdened, under-resourced, and struggling to meet their students’ growing mental health and academic needs.

Social-emotional challenges among Indiana students remain at critically high levels, with more than half of counselors reporting an increase over the past year. These issues, many of them lingering from the pandemic, are compounded by mounting academic pressures, career readiness hurdles, and a deluge of administrative tasks. Counselors are drowning in paperwork instead of sitting across from the students who need them most. The state’s student-to-counselor ratio is 351-to-1 and is well above the nationally recommended 250-to-1. This is a massive barrier to effective support.

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both are available with a subscription. Staying informed is essential; 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 – Aug 26, 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.

DAVID KOCH DIES

David Koch Dies, Funder of Attacks on Public Schools

From Diane Ravitch

David Koch died of cancer a few days ago. He and his brother funded the free-market libertarianism that fueled the rise of the Tea Party and Trumpism. They zealously fought to destroy any government program that helped people, from Medicare to Social Security.

They were major funders of ALEC. They opposed any government regulations.

The story in the New York Times falls to mention that they funded attacks on public education and teacher certification, and they zealously supported charter schools and vouchers.

VIRTUAL CHARTERS GET $47 MILLION, BUT WANT MORE

Teachers who continued to work at failing Indiana virtual schools won’t get a final paycheck

These two virtual charter schools over-collected $47 million yet they can’t find the money to pay their teachers for their last month’s work? They suggest the teachers try to get their money from Daleville.

From Chalkbeat*

When Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy agreed to close amid enrollment scrutiny earlier this summer, special education teacher Andi Helms started looking for another job.

But even after she found a position at another school, Helms kept working for the troubled online schools at night, reviewing special education plans and helping students finish classes and transfer to new schools. Even as the schools began to collapse — their state funding cut off entirely — Helms felt strongly that she couldn’t leave students in the lurch.

“We were pretty sure we weren’t going to get paid,” she said. “They knew there were no funds a month ago. They simply wanted us to finish the job, because they knew we wouldn’t leave our kids high and dry.”

This week, Mary Jane Lapointe, an attorney for the two virtual schools, delivered the anticipated bad news: Teachers wouldn’t be paid for the work they did between July 15 and Aug. 15.

As they ask for more money, two Indiana virtual schools say they are all but closed

From Chalkbeat

...despite painting a picture of schools that are all but shut down, she asked the oversight agency, Daleville Community Schools, for money to finish closing the schools — or even to keep them open, saying the schools’ problems could “go away eventually.” Lapointe also disputed the state auditors’ recent findings that the schools had over-reported enrollment and taken in $47 million more in state funding than they should have.

IMMIGRATION POLICIES HURT CHILDREN

Six ways Trump’s new ‘public benefits’ immigration policies could hurt children and schools

From the Answer Sheet

This post looks at how children and public schools could be harmed by this legislation. It comes from the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which seeks to publish high-quality research on issues affecting education. It is directed by Kevin Welner, who is a professor at the school specializing in educational policy and law.

TIME TO REQUIRE KINDERGARTEN?

Kindergarten has become a critical year of learning, but Indiana still doesn’t require it

Let’s advocate for Kindergarten in our state, but let's make sure the early grades in our schools are developmentally appropriate. Help our legislators know that when we ask for Kindergarten, we are asking for play, music, art, snacks, and stories— and not for sitting at a desk and using a computer screen or a pencil for hours on end.

From Chalkbeat

“The reality is that we have kids who come into kindergarten or first grade classrooms that don’t even know how to hold a book,” McCormick said. “They haven’t been exposed to print. Sometimes they’re not potty trained.”

The sooner those kids can get into a high-quality educational setting, the better, she said.

McCormick said her team will continue to advocate for a variety of strategies to strengthen Indiana’s early childhood education landscape. Mandatory kindergarten is still on the wish list.

TEACHER INSERVICE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

The Thirteen Presenters Who Will Ruin Your First Day Back

Beginning of the year teacher inservice should be short, informative, and inspirational. Too often, it is none of those things.

From Curmudgucation

It's been a great summer. You've had a chance to recharge and reflect. You've developed some new ideas, units, and materials, and most importantly, away from the dailiness of the job, you have gotten back in touch with all the reasons you love the work. You cannot wait to get back to it., take a couple of in service days to get fully up to speed, and then-- bring on the students!

Unfortunately, your administration thinks that your very first day(s) back should be spent sitting in some professional development sessions. In some lucky few school districts, these sessions will actually be useful and even inspiring. But if you are really unfortunate, you'll spend those sessions with one of these soul-crushing people...

EDUCATING HOLCOMB ON HOW TO RAISE TEACHER SALARIES

‘This is not rocket science’: Indiana educators bring ideas for raising teacher pay to Holcomb’s commission

From Chalkbeat

The suggestions put forth over more than two hours largely reiterated familiar calls: to reallocate funding from charter schools to public schools, strengthen teachers’ power to bargain their contracts, and bring back a pay scale that guarantees more pay for teachers each year they work.

Many teachers said they were thankful for the opportunity to be heard — but said they had shared these suggestions before.

A REMEMBRANCE

Remembering Phyllis

From Facebook and NEIFPE

Teacher, Ohio public education activist, and friend of NEIFPE, Dan Greenberg posted this remembrance of NEIFPE co-founder Phyllis Bush this morning on Facebook.

PUBLIC EDUCATION SHOULD INCLUDE CIVICS

A true public education: To fully prepare students for life outside school, a curriculum of citizenship is essential

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

For our democracy to thrive, we citizens must be engaged in the community, understand how local, state, and national policies and rhetoric affect our lives, and be informed voters. We must work toward the day when no elected official ever misrepresents American history (even if the teleprompter is covered with raindrops), where elected representatives speak truth to power, and where the average citizen can differentiate between legitimate information and propaganda, real news and fake news, truth and lies.

*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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In Case You Missed It – May 6, 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.

UNREGULATED PRIVATIZATION LEADS TO INSTABILITY

BASIS Private Schools Sold to Chinese Investors, Parents Object

Public schools, run by a locally elected school board, provide stability, accountability, and transparency. Privately owned charter schools, which benefit from taxpayer funds, ought to have the same transparency and accountability. Charter schools are often opened where an additional school isn't needed, draining resources from the public schools. When they close, or like in this case, when they change owners, students and parents are left in limbo...without a voice.

From Diane Ravitch

More than 190 New York City families at the private Basis Independent Schools sent a letter to its leaders Monday to express concerns about its recent purchase by a company backed by a China-based investment firm.

The letter from parents at the Brooklyn site of Basis questioned whether the sale might prompt the school in Red Hook to change curriculum, lose teachers, boost tuition, increase class size and lose its reputation among top college admissions offices.

DEVOS STILL HATES PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UNFIT FOR JOB

New York City: Betsy DeVos Praises Charters, Condemns Spending More on Public Schools

From Diane Ravitch

Betsy DeVos was honored by the rightwing Manhattan Institute. In her by now well-rehearsed speech, she ridiculed the idea of spending more money on public schools, and extolled school choice.

THE FAILURE OF CYBER CHARTERS

After years of debate, some stronger oversight of virtual schools signed into Indiana law

Clearly, cyber charters are a poor choice for students...even charter school advocacy groups question their value.

From Chalkbeat

The struggle to address Indiana’s troubled virtual schools illustrates the state’s dance between protecting school choice and cracking down on failing schools. On one hand, lawmakers defend online education as a critical option for some of the state’s most challenged students, particularly those who haven’t been successful in traditional brick-and-mortar schools.

But Indiana’s virtual charter schools post below-average graduation rates and test scores. They have largely received D and F grades from the state. And the credit data raises questions over how well online schools are educating students, if at all.

INDIANA TEACHER PAY NEAR BOTTOM

Indiana near bottom in teacher pay, school funding

From School Matters

The National Education Associated released its annual report on teacher salaries this week, and, once again, Indiana doesn’t look very good.

The average salary for an Indiana public school teacher in 2018-19 is $50,937, according to the report, compared with a national average of $61,730.

FOUR-YEAR-OLDS IN KINDERGARTEN?

Local schools consider lower kindergarten start age

From WANE-TV

Indiana parents will now be able to send their children to kindergarten at an earlier age. However, it is up to a school district’s discretion.

Press Secretary for the Indiana Department of Education Adam Baker tells WANE 15 the date for schools to received funding for students is changing.

He says currently, if a child is not five by August 1st of a school year, the school could accept the child into kindergarten, but the school would not receive funding for the student.

Now, the date is changing. For the 2019-20 school year, if a child is five by September 1st, the school will receive funding. For the 2020-21 school year, if a child is five by October 1st, the school will receive funding.

NEIFPE'S PHYLLIS BUSH HONORED

3rd District Democrats honor public education advocate Bush

A well deserved honor for NEIFPE's co-founder.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Public education advocate and activist Phyllis Bush, who died March 19 at the age of 75, was named this year's recipient of the J. Edward Roush Service Award presented by the 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party.

The party honored Bush posthumously at an April 27 dinner at the Eagle Glen Clubhouse in Columbia City. The annual award is for "contribution of time, talent and treasure" to 3rd District Democrats, said Misti Meehan, Allen County Democratic chairwoman.

Bush had taught English at South Side High School in Fort Wayne, founded Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education and was a board member for the Network for Public Education.

TEACHERS TAKE A STAND

Two award-winning teachers boycott White House ceremony to protest Trump policies

From the Answer Sheet

On Tuesday, Dueñas and Holstine explained why they decided to boycott the 2019 event, saying they felt they could not attend in good faith. (See video below.)

“My frustrations with the current administration are the messages and actions and policies and words that are shared about the population of students that I work with,” said Holstine, who teaches immigrant children.

“It impacts and it hurts them, and it hurts them both in their hearts and in the world because they then have to deal with the fallout of all of that discrimination,” she said. “I cannot implicitly support people who hate my kids and who talk about them in the ways they talk about them.”

TEACHER'S SECOND JOB PAYS THE BILLS

This Indianapolis teacher works a second job until 2 a.m. But he doesn’t want to leave the classroom

If the Indiana General Assembly didn't give away tax dollars to charter schools and vouchers that aren’t accountable to us as taxpayers, public schools could afford to pay their teachers closer to what they are worth.

From Chalkbeat

"I wonder, why am I consistently putting in these 50-, 60-hour work weeks as a teacher, trying to make every single day meaningful for my students — just to have to go to my second job whenever life happens? Just to be able to afford to maybe make a trip somewhere, and not even somewhere exciting. I’m talking Michigan! … No shame, Michigan." -- Jack Hesser

DON'T SAY THERE'S A TEACHER SHORTAGE

Why It's Important To Say There Is No Teacher Shortage

From Curmudgucation

...There is no teacher shortage.

There's a slow-motion walkout, a one-by-one exodus, a piecemeal rejection of the terms of employment for educators in 2019.

Why is it important to keep saying this? Why keep harping on this point?

Because if you don't correctly identify the problem, you will not correctly identify a solution...

SCHOOLS NEED A GRANT TO UPDATE LEGISLATURE-NEGLECTED LIBRARIES

These Indianapolis schools are overhauling their libraries to encourage reading

This is great, but wouldn’t it be better if the general assembly made sure all of our public school libraries were well stocked and well-staffed by real librarians?

From Chalkbeat

When it comes to encouraging children to read, it sometimes helps to judge a book by its cover.

Staff at three Indianapolis Public School campuses are “weeding” through their libraries to remove out-of-date books and those that have attracted little interest from students — and to make space for new additions that reflect students’ communities and catch their attention.

The weeding and restocking of the libraries is one piece of the Love of Reading project, which was funded with a grant up to about $1.3 million from Herbert Simon Family Foundation and aims to inspire students and their families to read. In addition to adding to library collections, the grant will pay for three dedicated staff members, library renovations, and programing for families. Books that are removed are available for families to take home.

GOVERNOR HAS YET TO PUT MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS

‘We’re not there yet,’ Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb says on raising teacher pay

News from Indiana Governor Holcomb...making excuses.

From Chalkbeat

For some schools, funding will drop in the coming years. Others will see more significant increases. And some schools say they’re still pinched, sometimes forced to ask voters to approve referendums to drum up the funds they need to operate.

Education groups voiced appreciation for the funding increases, but some said schools still need more.

The Indiana State Teachers Association promised to “continue to fight for increased teacher pay and funding for every student,” the group said in a statement last week. “Our members are just getting started and will continue advocacy efforts into the future.”

HISTORY OF RACISM IN INDY IMPACTS SCHOOLS

How racial bias helped turn Indianapolis into one city with 11 school districts

From Chalkbeat

The racial segregation and declining enrollment that plagues Indianapolis Public Schools today can be traced back to the decision made 46 years ago to merge Indianapolis with its surrounding suburbs.

The celebrated unified government, or “Unigov,” law brought together about a dozen communities in Marion County into a single large city in 1970. The idea was to put a bigger, more powerful Indianapolis onto the national map, simplify city services and grow the city’s tax base.

Indianapolis was not the only city in the country to merge with its surrounding county at that time — but it was the only one to explicitly leave schools out of the deal.

TESTING FOLLIES

The Writer Who Couldn't Answer Standardized Test Questions About Her Own Work (Again)!

The blogger Curmudgucation passes on some advice about tests.

From Peter Greene in Forbes

[Sara] Holbrook, as a poet and an educator, has several thoughts about remedies to these sorts of tests. "Parents, demand to see the test prep materials. Teachers, don't waste time on test prep: you can't teach nonsense. Administrators, take the money you are spending on test prep and spend it on classroom libraries instead. There are no quick fixes. Kids need to read and write voluminously." She advocates for transparency. "If a bike helmet fails top protect a child from injury, consumers can sue the manufacturer. These tests are injurious, but shrouded in secrecy and thereby beyond the reach of most teachers and all parents."

FWCS LOSES MONEY TO INFLATION, PRIVATIZATION WINS

The people's priorities shorted

The Governor and legislators brag about all the additional "money for education," but neglect to mention the large increases for privatization.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

...School officials look at per-pupil funding for a more accurate measure of dollars available. For Fort Wayne Community Schools (FWCS), that's 2.2% next year and 1.1% the following year – much less than the 2.3% and 2% statewide average per pupil.

The total increase in education funding also conceals allocations favoring charter and voucher schools over traditional public schools. Indiana taxpayers are likely to spend an additional $25 million over the next two years by giving larger vouchers to families just above the income limit for free or reduced price lunch. An additional $2.5 million in tax credits also was made available to donors supporting private and parochial school scholarships.

Overall, voucher schools are expected to see a 9.3% increase in 2020 and a 5.6% increase in 2021.

Hamilton Schools Superintendent Tony Cassel said the General Assembly's decision to support voucher and charter schools has had an impact there and across the state. He acknowledged raises are unlikely for his 26 teachers, whose only recent pay increase was a one-time stipend.

“I'm glad there was an increase in funding, but at some point the legislature is going to have to take a look at where the money is going,” Cassel said. “It's a continual attack on public education. When you look at the percentage going to charters and vouchers and – that's been the agenda.”

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Vic’s Statehouse Notes #304 – September 23, 2017

Dear Friends,

Now that the Indiana General Assembly is funding a pilot program for pre-kindergarten students, it’s time to make sure all students in Indiana take kindergarten. Kindergarten is still not required for Indiana students.

At the very successful ICPE meeting in Indianapolis on August 26th, State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick spoke up for mandatory kindergarten.

Before the biggest audience since the fall ICPE meetings began at the Dean Evans Center in 2011, over one hundred ICPE members and other friends of public education heard former State Superintendents Suellen Reed and Glenda Ritz agree with Dr. McCormick, since both had supported unsuccessful efforts to require kindergarten when they were in office.

Dr. McCormick has advocated mandatory kindergarten in public comments since the meeting, saying that the estimated number of students who enroll in first grade without having kindergarten first is around 7000.

That is far too many students who in most cases are already behind when they enter first grade.

Let your legislators know that you support guaranteeing that students go to kindergarten. You can share with them the insightful argument that Dr. McCormick used at the August 26th meeting: It is not right to allow students who have had a year of pre-kindergarten at taxpayer expense to take a sabbatical for a year before they take first grade.


Transparency for Spending Public Funds

All three speakers agreed on another key point for public education: There should be transparency in reporting to the state for any school that takes public funds, whether it is a public, charter or private school. Jennifer McCormick, calling for transparency, asked if school choice is made available, “shouldn’t it be a quality choice?” She called for a “safety baseline” based on state standards, and compared the situation to quality standards set for restaurants by the Department of Health. She said if choices are made available, we should have “quality, not a free-for-all.”

The ICPE audience applauded.

Suellen Reed quoted Mark Twain: “The greatness of our American democracy comes from our public schools.”

Glenda Ritz said the United States must invest in children holistically, including wrap-around services.

All in all, it was a great discussion in support of the future of public education. Mandatory kindergarten and greater transparency in spending public funds were two important topics out of several discussed. They are two that deserve your support and the support of your legislators in the short session starting in January.

Thank you for your active support of public education in Indiana!


Best wishes,

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!

ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand is again representing ICPE in the new budget session which began on January 3, 2017. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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