Just News from Center X is a free weekly education news blast.
Please share and encourage colleagues and friends to subscribe.
Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice
Four things for educators to know about the tax bill Congress just passed
Andrew Ujifusa, Education Week
Congress just passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a major overhaul for the federal tax code. It took a second House vote on Wednesday to finally get it done, and the holdup was related to education. (More on that below.) And President Donald Trump is about to sign it. So what does it mean for education? Here’s a short list.
California sues Trump administration on behalf of students seeking debt relief
Mikhail Zinshteyn, EdSource
California is suing the Trump administration for what it says is the U.S. Department of Education’s refusal to provide debt relief to more than 13,000 students that courts have found were defrauded by the since-shuttered for-profit Corinthian Colleges. Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed the suit today in federal court in San Francisco against the federal department and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. “After having their American Dreams stolen by a so-called higher education institution, Corinthian students are now being denied critical relief by a Secretary of Education hostile to their plight,” Becerra said. “It is hard to believe that we are forced to sue the Department of Education to compel Secretary DeVos to carry out the Department’s legal duty and help these students rebuild their lives.” Nationwide, roughly 50,000 borrowers are waiting for the Education Department to approve their applications for debt relief promised to them under Obama administration rules following lawsuits against Corinthian.
How much do teachers spend on classroom supplies?
Anna Figueroa, NPR
It’s inevitable. Each year, teachers dip into their own pockets to buy things like notebooks, tissues and pencils for their students. This inevitability is even enshrined in the tax code, which gives educators a $250 deduction for their trouble. Late last week, in hammering out their big tax overhaul, Republicans decided to preserve that deduction. So we thought we would ask teachers how much of their own money they spend each year. The answer: more than $250.
Argentinean ministry of education brings teachers to UCLA
Joanie Harmon, Ampersand
One hundred teachers, principals, and representatives from school districts and teacher education from throughout Argentina, arrived at UCLA on Sept. 26 for Programa de Becas para Docentes Argentinos en UCLA, a three-week conference to learn about best practices for urban schools in the United States. Activities included site visits to LAUSD campuses including UCLA Community School, UCLA Lab School, Ford Boulevard Elementary School, NOW Academy, Esperanza Elementary School, Mendez High School, Roosevelt High School, and Kingsley Elementary School. The groups also visited Emerson Middle School and University High School, which are in the UCLA TIE-INS Program. Professional development sessions tailored to the unique perspectives of teachers, principals, and teacher educators, addressed social justice education, inclusion, standards protocol, and the political context of education in Southern California.
Language, Culture, and Power
Myths from American history class
Alice Roth, The Atlantic
In the U.S., kids spend a lot of time in history class learning about the American Revolution and the founding fathers. But history books tend to simplify the complex reality of the war and the country’s founding. This episode of School Myths by The Atlantic investigates the overblown, rose-colored glasses that are often donned to teach American students about their country’s history.
A quest to give minority voters a bigger voice on school boards
Denisa R. Superville, Education Week
After hours spent knocking on doors and introducing himself to voters in west Modesto, Adolfo Lopez won a seat on the school board in this Central Valley city. Lopez, 26, is now the only Hispanic member of a seven-member board that governs a district of 32,000 students, more than 61 percent of them Latino. As a first-time candidate, Lopez was prompted to run in last month’s election to represent a part of Modesto composed heavily of low-income, Hispanic, and immigrant families and neighborhoods where residents have long felt overlooked.
At UC Berkeley, a conservative student aims to bridge the political divide
Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times
On a recent evening at UC Berkeley, liberal and conservative students argued for nearly an hour about healthcare, economic policy and climate change. There wasn’t a police officer or security guard or heckler in sight. No one waved protest signs. Observers applauded politely. At the epicenter of the nation’s free speech wars, people who did not share the same views had managed to have a civil political debate. It was just such a moment that Celine Bookin dreamed of this fall when she launched the Berkeley Conservative Society and invited the Cal Democrats to take on her new group in a yearlong series of debates. “I wanted to revitalize the focus around decency and political discourse,” said the 19-year-old political science major from Manhattan Beach. “I felt on campus … there’s a high level of vitriol just from a lack of dialogue.”
Whole Children and Strong Communities
Education interview of the month: Community schools
Gregory A. Smith and Jeannie Oakes, National Education Policy Center
Lewis and Clark College Emeritus Professor of Education Gregory A. Smith interviews Jeannie Oakes, Professor Emeritus at UCLA. Greg and Jeannie explore the characteristics, history, and benefits of community schools.
California school district targets underlying issues to combat chronic absenteeism
Lee Romney, EdSource
On an early fall evening, hundreds of students, ranging from 1st-graders to high school seniors, filed onto the stage of a cavernous auditorium at a San Francisco Bay Area high school. One by one, they marched to the microphone to state their name and their milestone in achieving perfect attendance for at least a year: Some had made the goal for four years, some for seven years. One girl, a recent graduate, received a trophy in absentia, for 12. Twelve years without a single tardy, let alone an absence. The annual ceremony is among a host of incentives the Pittsburg Unified School District uses to encourage attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, defined in California as missing more than 10 percent of school days in a year for any reason — excused, unexcused or suspension. The district was among those that earned a state award for its efforts last spring. David Kopperud, who heads the State Student Attendance Review Board, said Pittsburg, a suburban district about 30 miles east of Oakland, was selected because of the breadth of its interventions — rewarding students for high attendance rates, early identification of those who are slipping and intensive services for struggling families.
Natural disasters and the implications of missing so much school
Haley Samsel and Elissa Nadworny, NPR
It’s no secret that we’ve had a rough fall and winter with natural disasters. Even as we write this, fires burn in Southern California, adding to the previous wildfires in the northern part of the state that burned over 245,000 acres in October. Hurricanes Irma and Harvey devastated communities across Florida and Texas, while touching communities in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Louisiana. The U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were devastated by back-to-back hurricanes Irma and Maria. Amidst the trauma and destruction, school districts across the U.S. have shouldered a heavy burden: trying to help their students catch up after missing days, weeks and even months of class time.
Access, Assessment, and Advancement
Early intervention helps boost reading skills for California children most at risk of falling behind
Ashley Hopkinson, EdSource
By implementing summer programs for students in early grades and high-quality preschool that focuses on preparing students for kindergarten, one California county is improving the reading skills of its young children. While San Mateo County has a significant number of residents with advanced degrees, 44 percent of 3rd-graders in the county were not reading at grade level, based on standardized test scores in 2012-13, said Diana Harlick of the San Mateo County Office of Education. The startling statistics spurred community organizations and the county office of education to launch The Big Lift, a preschool-to-3rd- grade initiative with a mission to improve the reading skills of children in San Mateo County by 2020. The program was implemented in 2015. “The causes of the achievement gap are multifaceted and so the solution must be as well,” Harlick said. The Big Lift focuses on various factors that can contribute to gaps in student performance and addresses them in intentional ways, such as parent workshops and increasing the number of slots in a preschool program, she said. Some Big Lift preschools have also expanded from part-day programs to full-day programs that serve children from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Freshman applicants to UC soar to a new record, with UCLA again leading the way
Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times
UCLA has shattered its own record as the nation’s most popular college choice for high school seniors, attracting more than 113,000 freshman applications for fall 2018, according to preliminary data released Thursday. Applications to the Westwood campus soared among California high school students and across all racial and ethnic groups. UCLA again led the University of California’s nine undergraduate campuses, which collectively received more than 181,000 freshman applications — a 5.7% increase over last year.
Beware of expanding community college bachelor’s degrees, report says
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, KPCC
In a report released on Tuesday, California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office warned policymakers against expanding a three-year old pilot program that allows 15 California community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees. “Given numerous concerns about program selection and consultation, a lack of any graduation or workforce outcomes to date, and problems in financial reporting, the Legislature may wish to exercise caution in expanding the bachelor’s degree pilot program in advance of the final evaluation,” the office said in the report’s executive summary. The report said California community college officials moved too quickly to approve the programs – which allowed for only a “limited” review of the programs – didn’t consult enough with universities, and created bachelor’s degree programs without a demonstrated need.
Inequality, Poverty, Segregation
Are private schools immoral?
Dianna Douglas, The Atlantic
Public schools in gentrifying neighborhoods seem on the cusp of becoming truly diverse, as historically underserved neighborhoods fill up with younger, whiter families. But the schools remain stubbornly segregated. Nikole Hannah-Jones has chronicled this phenomenon around the country, and seen it firsthand in her neighborhood in Brooklyn. “White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,” she says. “If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.” Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority. “We have a system where white people control the outcomes, and the outcome that most white Americans want is segregation,” she says.
The end of ‘Mexican schools’: How Latino families in OC sparked desegregation 70 years ago
Jill Replogle, KPCC
“Four miles from Disneyland, you’re going to be able to see the last standing Mexican school building from the segregation era,” Sandra Robbie said as she herded a small group of Chapman University students and a reporter onto a tour bus. We had come along to learn about Orange County’s segregationist past on the 70th anniversary of a federal court case involving five families and four OC school districts. The case, Mendez, et al v. Westminster, led to the end of separate schools for Mexican children throughout the Southwest and is seen as a precursor to the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education.
The community-college ‘segregation machine’
Meredith Kolodner, Brad Racino, and Brandon Quester, The Atlantic
Anthony Rodriguez recalled sitting in a remedial math class at Grossmont College, bored out of his mind. The professor was teaching basic math skills that the 18-year-old had already learned in high school. Rodriguez was forced into remedial math by the community college’s placement test, which assesses a student’s ability to succeed in for-credit, higher-education classes. Rodriguez’s placement-test scores dictated at least a year of these low-level math courses. They cost the same as regular classes but don’t count toward a bachelor’s degree. Each week, Rodriguez watched as fewer and fewer classmates showed up. Eventually, he dropped out too. “Who goes to college to learn what they were doing in high school?” he asked. In California, the answer is—a staggering number of people. Hundreds of thousands of community-college students are placed in remedial classes every year, and few get past them, especially few black and Latino students.
Public Schools and Private $
Does the tax bill help fulfill Trump’s $20 billion school choice promise?
Arianna Prothero, Education Week
Expanding college savings accounts to include tuition at private K-12 schools—part of the tax bill now-approved by Congress—is the most significant policy victory school choice advocates have notched at the federal level since President Trump took office. Trump had campaigned on expanding school choice spending by an eye-popping $20 billion. But he and the GOP-controlled Congress have so far failed to deliver on that.
Lawsuits over sports-driven school choice coming in Betsy DeVos’ home state
Bob Cook, Forbes
There is an interesting legal case emanating from Michigan, the state that gave us current U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, that seeks to break down the last barrier to her pet cause, school choice: transferring for athletic reasons.
Ruling returns charter schools lawsuit against Baltimore to circuit court
Talia Richman, Baltimore Sun
A ruling by the Maryland court of appeals has breathed new life into a lawsuit filed by a group of Baltimore charter school operators who have long alleged that the district’s funding formula for charters violates state law. The schools had argued in a 2015 lawsuit that the district failed to meet its contractual obligations to charter schools and was not transparent or consistent in how it allocates funding for these schools. On Monday, the court of appeals sent the lawsuit back to the circuit court, following a stay, and ordered both parties to go through the discovery process.
Other News of Note
Women are invited to give fewer talks than men at top U.S. universities
Ed Yong, The Atlantic
A few years ago, Michelle Hebl attended the latest in a series of talks hosted by her department at Rice Univeristy. The speaker was a man, and Hebl realized that she hadn’t heard any female speakers in that series for a while. “Maybe I’m just not thinking about them,” she thought. “Or maybe it’s something we should look at.” Colloquium talks, where academics are invited to discuss their research, give speakers a chance to publicize their work, build collaborations with new colleagues, and boost their reputations. The talks can lead to promotions or job offers. They are big opportunities. But as Hebl’s student Christine Nittrouer eventually found, they are opportunities that are predominantly extended to men.
Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Under the Taliban, how can a girl attend school undercover?
Staff, NPR/TED
When Shabana Basij-Rasikh was six years old, the Taliban forbade girls from getting an education. Rather than giving in to their threats, she dressed up as a boy and went to a secret school for girls in Kabul.