And the Biden $1.9 Trillion Goes To…
Before rounding the corner and homing in on home plate—Inauguration Day 2021—President-Elect Joe Biden unveiled his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, an add-on to Congress’s March $3 Trillion COVID relief plan and December’s $900 billion. Here’s a quick—albeit...
Substitute Teacher Shortages and Disconnected Homeless Students
An August 2020 National Education Association survey found that: 28% of educators said the pandemic made them likelier to leave teaching. Meanwhile, back in mid-November, the EdWeek Research Center survey of a nationally representative sample of 913 pre-K educators--...
The Toll Exacted by Learning & Living Remotely
Thanks to the COVID vaccine, the light is on at the end of the tunnel, but it’s still a long way off and for many kids that translates into more on and off again remote instruction, with mental health and more on the chopping block… Turns out that 39% of districts...
Biden’s Secretary of Education Pick: Miguel Cardona
So, who is this fellow on tap to replace Betsy DeVos as the 12th U.S. Secretary of Education, jumping ahead of both NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia and AFT president Randi Weingarten? Well, for starters, he was an English Language Learner when a student himself,...
To Open or Shutter Schools: Are the Teachers’ Unions Deciding?
Recently Education Week’s Madeline Will wrote a piece called, “How Teachers’ Unions Are Influencing Decisions on School Reopenings.” Here some excerpts from the article about what's being said about the unions and reopenings: “Teachers’ unions have an outsized...
A Must Read: Superintendent Gibson’s Snow Day Letter
It snowed a lot in the northeast last week, making for a perfect snow day, a time to unleash kids and teachers alike from devices of all sorts to play--making snow balls, snowmen, snow angels, and maybe get in some sledding, too. But the likes of Philadelphia School...
Screened-In, Kids Lose Out Educationally, Socially, & Emotionally
Stuck at home and screened-in for much of the day, kids are paying a huge price in the fight against COVID-19--but they're not the super-spreaders. Still, many, including a number of teachers, are all in with remote instruction, but justifiably so? Give a listen:...
The Cost of School Closures & Semi-Closures
As the heartbreaking pandemic wears on and new restrictions are added, subtracted, and resurrected, give a listen to those who know well the cost of closures to students, their parents, and teachers: “The United States has extracted an enormous sacrifice from its...
Remote Learning’s Already Apparent Shortcomings
A mid-October Pew Research Center survey that compared taking an online-only course with an in-person one found that: Just 30% said they “provide equal educational value.” 68% said they do NOT. So now imagine being one of the countless kids who, from mid-March to...
2020: Scams, Loss, Death, and Other COVID Side Effects
Since mid-March we’ve been pretty much stuck in an unending bad movie or Twilight Zone episode called COVID-19 that’s now infected 12,818,000 Americans and claimed some 262,000 lives. Among the virus’s other miserable side effects: Finds the U.S. Census Bureau, about...
On the Way to Normal with Pfizer, Moderna, with Thanks
On November 18, Dr. Anthony Fauci, reassuringly said, “The cavalry is on its way. It’s not here yet, but it’s going to come. We have an even better than expected efficacy signal on two vaccines. We’re likely to already start having distribution of doses, hopefully by...
The Other Pandemic: Closed School’s Effect on Teen Well-Being
Mid-June Common Sense Media/America’s Promise Alliance surveys found that schooling’s “new normal” has hit teenagers hard—especially those who are black, Latino, and Asian. If a parent, you’re not surprised. As school psychologist Rob Coad reminds us: “One of their...
Expert Schooling Guidance and San Francisco Teachers’ Ongoing Refusal to Return, Too
By now, we all know our schooling options: Send kids every day, a couple of days per week, or keep them home dnd engaged in full-time remote instruction. Choiceless choices, stuck as we are in COVID’s grip. What's a parent to do? For answers and guidance, Education...
COVID’s Non-Stop Education Side Effects
The EdWeek Research Center has found that 31% of teachers and district leaders said teacher morale was “much lower” in August than before the pandemic, up from 26% in June. Plus, 32% of teachers said they’re likely to resign because of COVID, up from 12% in May. A...
Politics in the Classroom: Yes or No Way?
In Education Week’s recent “Is the Election Still a Teachable Moment?” author Sarah Schwartz quotes Daniel Bachman, a teacher at New York’s Massapequa High School: “Teaching the election in the past has always been a joyful thing. I always looked forward to it. I just...
Character: Gone Missing in American Politics and Society
Character is much in the news of late—or should I say its lack as the country reels from rioting protestors, rising crime rates, and right on up to the highest echelons of government on BOTH sides of the aisle. As Arthur Schwartz, president of Character.org writes,...
Autumn’s Back-to-School Essential for All: The Seasonal Flu Vaccine
The back-to-school 2020 version began with most kids serving yet again as a captive virtual instruction audience, but the ties that bind have loosened, allowing many schools to now transition to a hybrid teaching model: typically three days of online learning, two...
The U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey Reveals Young People’s Ignorance
This first-ever state-by-state survey revealing how little Millennials and Gen Z know about history and the Holocaust is cause for great worry both culturally and educationally, as a new wave of anti-Semitism now overtakes America and Europe… World War II began with...
Opening Shots: What Folks Are Saying about September Schooling
“They need the structure, they need the socialization, they just need to go. I love you, but here’s your backpack, here’s your lunch… Have a good day.” ~ Missi Magness, Indianapolis parent “Given recent media coverage, parents and teachers could be forgiven for...
Common Sense Media Talks Remote Instruction with Teens
Of the 800 teens questioned in Common Sense Media’s remote instruction survey: 60% said online learning is worse than in-person instruction; 25% said it’s “much worse.” And yet, 42% think schooling now should be fully remote; 37% prefer the hybrid model, with 19%...