Friday News Roundup

Here’s your Friday News Roundup!

School Leaders Rush to Manage Deportation Fears (EducationWeek)

Last week, EducationWeek reported that,

“For months now, Almi Abeyta, the superintendent of Chelsea public schools just north of Boston, has been bracing herself for an immigration policy change that could affect schools.”

“Back in November, following the victory of President Donald Trump, who had emphasized his goal of mass deportations throughout his campaign, she fielded questions from families and educators about whether schools faced any threat of deportation actions.”

“In December, Abeyta started putting together resources on immigration laws as they relate to education, and her 6,000-student district directed families to local Know Your Rights sessions so they could learn about their legal protections while in the country.”

“In January, she paid attention to the news while doing her regular work as superintendent. Then, on the evening of January 21, one day after Trump took office, his administration announced it had rescinded the policy of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that considered schools to be protected areas against immigration enforcement.”

“Despite her preparation, Abeyta still felt caught off guard.”

“’We weren’t expecting any of this to happen so incredibly quickly,’ she said.”

At the exact time our nation’s reading and math scores are falling, and public confidence is waning, a huge “activity avoidance” issue has entered our public school system – identifying undocumented children and using them to access their families.

Will schools cease being placed for learning and instead be places to capture kids and their families for deportation?

This Leader Said All Kids Will Do College-Level Work. What It Took to Get There (EducationWeek)

EducationWeek reported this week that,

“From the time she was a teenager, Jennifer Norrell understood that other kids had educational opportunities her own school didn’t provide.”

“Though both of her parents were professionals, Norrell, now the superintendent of the East Aurora school district in Aurora, Illinois grew up attending what she called a ‘rough’ high school outside of Chicago.”

…

“Fighting these persistent low expectations – the assumption that those kids, in those neighborhoods, could never do college-level work – is what has driven Norrell to vastly expand East Aurora’s AP [Advanced Placement] program, more than doubling the percentage of high schoolers taking these courses over the past six years.”

It seems like there’s always a isolated news story about a school leader like Jennifer Norrell. And while she is to be congratulated for providing outstanding academic opportunities to her students, there are just too many other school leaders content to not expand challenging courses like AP to more of their students.

Expected Trump Order to Shutter Education Department Could Amount to ‘Pocket Change’ (The 74)

The 74 reported this week that,

“Despite the fiery rhetoric, President Donald Trump’s push to eliminate a Department of Education he accuses of abusing ‘taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth’ comes down, appropriately, to civics and math.”

“First, the president cannot legally abolish a department with statutory responsibilities embedded in the law. Only Congress can do that.”

“Most of the public money that flows to the department goes to programs codified in federal legislation. They include Title I ($18 billion annually), special education ($15 billion) and the Office for Civil Rights ($140 million).”

“To eliminate any of those programs – let alone, to shutter the department outright – or even to move then to another agency, requires a supermajority of Congress. That means seven Democrats and every Republican in the Senate would need to be on board. The political calculus is daunting.”

It’s safe to say that Trump messing with Title I, special education, and civil rights’ monies is a non-starter for all Democrats. Unless Trump moves these three programs to another federal agency, I’m guessing the Department of Education is around another four years.

Top House Lawmaker Supports Trump’s Bid to ‘Depower’ Education Department (EducationWeek)

But that’s not to say Trump and his Republican cronies won’t stop trying to close down the Department of Education.

EducationWeek reported this week that,

“The newly minted chairman of the U.S. House’s education and workforce committee said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education needs to be dramatically scaled back.”

“And the Michigan Republican indicated that he won’t stand in the way of President Donal Trump’s plans to hobble or even abolish the agency by administrative action.”

“’I certainly want to downsize, right-size, depower the U.S. Department of Education, unless our president can abolish it overnight some way,’ Representative Tim Walberg told former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings…”

“’Even the best-meaning bureaucrat in the U.S. Department of Education, I don’t think they have the ability to understand what goes on in Onsted school district where my kids went to school, or Detroit, or Lansing schools,’ Walberg said. ‘They’re all different.’”

Yes, Chairman Walbert, they are all different, and there are a lot of them (school districts that is) across this big country of ours. But with all due respect, the U.S. Department of Education was not formed to supervise the daily activities of public school districts across America. Our U.S. Department of Education was formed to make sure that primarily black, brown, and poor kids received a fair shake when they walked into a public school building. Specifically, taking care of poor learners, special education students, and kids who are victims of discrimination were the primary marching order for the department and its staff when it was formed in 1980.

It would benefit Congressman Walberg and his fellow Republicans to learn some history.

What If ICE Agents Come Knocking at Schools? What Des Moines Metro Districts Say They’ll Do (Des Moines Register)

The Des Moines Register reported this week that,

“Schools in Iowa and across the country are working to assure families they still have some protections after President Donald Trump’s administration authorized federal agents to carry out immigration arrests in schools.”

…

“Most are saying that any immigration agents trying to enter schools or obtain information on students or parents will be directed to administrators, although they say they must comply with warrants.”

So the protection from ICE are a group of Iowa school administrators? That’s it?

And we’re supposed to feel good about this?

That’s your Friday News Roundup for the week of February 3^rd. Til Monday. SVB