Friday News Roundup

It’s Friday! Here’s your News Roundup.

Texas Superintendents Say Lack of School Safety Funding May Lead to Budget Cuts (The Texas Tribune)

Legislative mandates. Ugh!

The Texas Tribune reported this week that the Texas Legislature adjourned without approving increased funding for school safety even though that same legislature passed new safety mandates (after the tragic school shootings in Uvalde, Texas) expecting improved safety measures on Texas public school campuses.

Sadly, this happens all the time – that is legislative mandates without the requisite funding.

This is why public money might need to go somewhere else other than legislatures when it comes to funding schooling operations.

A Rose-Colored Recovery: Study Says Parents Don’t Grasp Scope of COVID’s Academic Damage (The 74)

The 74 online reported this week that,

“Last week, as leading education experts gathered – again – to ponder the nation’s sluggish recovery from pandemic learning loss, one speaker put the issue in stark relief.”

“’This is the biggest problem facing America,’ Jens Ludwig, a University of Chicago professor, said flatly. Nonetheless, he told those assembled at the Washington D.C. event sponsored by the Aspen Institute, ‘We do not have our hair on fire the way it needs to be.’”

“That disconnect is the subject of a new paper released [this week] that further explores what many have labeled an ‘urgency gap.’ To pinpoint the extent of the gap, the authors talked to parents about the signals they’re getting from teachers and schools about their children’s progress. Parents expressed little concern about lasting damage from the pandemic and typically thought their children were doing well in school – a view that researchers say is belied by dismal state and national test scores.”

Maybe we need to “personalize” learning for parents as well as their children.

Exclusive: Sales Skyrocket for Phone Pouch Company as In-School Bans Spread (The 74)

The 74 online reported this week that,

“Business is booming at Yondr, a company that produces neoprene pouches to lock up students’ cellphones – a clear sign that the movement to keep phones out of classrooms is spreading across the U.S.”

“Since 2021, the company has seen more than a tenfold increase in sales from government contracts, primarily with school districts – from $174,000 to $2.13 million, according to GovSpend, a data service.”

One must wonder how public schools could have used the $2 million paid to Yondr differently, like tutoring or maybe mental health support for students and their families.

We’ve talked about this cell phone issue before. Schools are going to lose on this issue, so they might want to start reallocating money away from companies like Yondr to help young people improve their learning.

Students Are Regaining Academic Ground – Except in Math (EducationWeek)

A bit of good news this week. EducationWeek  online reported this week that,

“Students have started to ramp up academic progress in core subjects like reading, science, and social studies – but not math.”

“Public schools report that 44 percent of their students perform below grade level in at least one subject, according to the latest federal School Pulse Survey, which was conducted in October. That’s down 5 percentage points from last fall, but still higher than the 36 percent share of struggling students that was typical before the pandemic.”

“However, 56 percent of students at high-poverty schools and 59 percent of students at schools serving the highest shares of students of color started the school year below grade level in at least one subject.”

Like I said, “a bit” of good news.

As Districts Choose Better Curricula, Some Teachers Say It’s Too Hard (EducationWeek)

According to EducationWeek online this week,

“About 3 in 10 teachers think that the curriculum their school or district uses is too challenging for their students, according to a new survey from the RAND Corporation.”

…

“These results come as momentum for high-quality curricula – standards-aligned materials that engage students in rigorous work – has grown across the country.”

Hmmm. The dangers of low expectations when it comes to learning seem to be alive and well in the nation’s teaching ranks.

As a classroom teacher, I learned early that, when it came to learning, you received what you expected.

Bridget Ziegler, Caught in Sex Scandal, Refuses to Quit Florida School Post (The Washington Post)

The Washington Post reported this week that,

“Bridget Ziegler, half of a Florida Republican power couple embroiled in a rape allegation and same-sex scandal, refused to resign from her seat on the Sarasota County School Board on Tuesday night.”

“All four of her fellow board members – including two people she ran alongside last year – voted to ask her to step down.”

“The co-founder of the far-right group Moms for Liberty made few remarks in the nearly four-hour meeting, during which dozens of residents demanded that she leave the board.”

“’I’m disappointed,’ Ziegler said after her colleagues asked her to step down, noting that their resolution ‘does not have any teeth.’”

…

“Her husband, Christian Ziegler, is the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Police are investigating him for an alleged sexual assault in October. He claims the encounter, which he videotaped, was consensual. The woman making the allegation said he raped her, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.”

“Both Zieglers have acknowledged having a three-way sexual encounter with the woman at a different time.”

Wow.

And these are the people we elect to improve learning for our children?

Unbelievable.

Monica Snellings Retirement from Education Reimagined

Monica Snellings retires today from Education Reimagined, a Washington D.C.-based think tank committed to personalized learning. Truth be known, many of the articles I’ve commented on in this column came from Monica’s excellent newsletter “In Addition.” Monica, thanks for your service to the learner-centered movement and most importantly thanks for being, in your own words, a “voracious reader.”

Have a great weekend. The holidays are just around the corner. SVB