Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice

Senate Confirms Catherine Lhamon to Civil Rights Post; Kamala Harris Casts Decisive Vote

Andrew Ujifusa, Education Week

The Senate has confirmed Catherine Lhamon to lead the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights, one of the most prominent jobs in the federal education bureaucracy. The Wednesday vote means that Lhamon, as assistant secretary for civil rights, will once again take charge of the office she led during the Obama administration. Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to seal Lhamon’s confirmation. The Senate education committee’s consideration of her nomination resulted in a tie vote, meaning that an extra procedural step had to take place before her nomination was put to the full Senate for a final vote. Many education civil rights groups and activists have hailed Lhamon as a champion for students of color and others who are often discriminated against in public schools. Yet her critics say she’s sought to impose “progressive social policy” on schools irrespective of legal and other concerns, with “divisive results.”

Civil rights groups sue Oklahoma over law banning critical race theory

Shawna Chen, Axios

A group of civil rights organizations is suing Oklahoma over a law that restricts discussion of race and gender in public schools. Why it matters: The law is one of several Republican-led attempts to ban critical race theory (CRT), a concept that links racial discrimination to the nation’s foundations and legal system. The rights groups’ challenge is the first federal lawsuit to argue that one of these statewide bans is unconstitutional in all circumstances, according to the ACLU, which filed the suit with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on the plaintiffs’ behalf. They’re also requesting that the court temporarily halt enforcement of the bill.

Details: The measure, which passed on party lines and became law in May, bars discussion of concepts including … “[A]n individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” “[M]eritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race.”

A new doc highlights Paulo Freire’s early vision of ‘education as a tool for transformation’ filmmaker says [Audio]

Carol Hills, The World

Some 60 years ago, Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire had a bold idea: teach 300 people in a poor, remote town in Brazil to read in just 40 hours of classes. His literacy experiment was not only successful — it was hugely influential around the world. Freire is best known for his groundbreaking book, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” first written in Portuguese in 1968. The book was later translated into multiple languages and continues to get cited frequently in education and social justice circles. Freire, who died in 1997, was one of the founders of critical pedagogy, a movement that promotes the “emancipation” of students in the classroom and emphasizes the political nature of education. This year marks his centenary. Now, a new documentary looks back at the pioneering work of Freire called “A is for Angicos,” made by Catherine Murphy.

Language, Culture, and Power

An Interview with Sade Bonilla and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales About Ethnic Studies [AUDIO]

Christopher Saldaña, Sade Bonilla, and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, NEPC

NEPC Researcher Christopher Saldaña interviews Sade Bonilla and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales about how ethnic studies curriculum and responsive pedagogy may increase student academic engagement and attainment.

Canada’s Trudeau apologizes for skipping remembrance for Indigenous school victims

Scott Neuman, NPR

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in person to Indigenous leaders after skipping a remembrance for victims and survivors of residential schools. Trudeau visited the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation on Monday to offer his mea culpa to Chief Rosanne Casimir for missing the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, approved by Canada’s parliament in the spring. The prime minister reportedly did not acknowledge invitations to attend the Sept. 30 ceremony, opting instead for a seaside holiday with his family. “I am here today to say I wish I had been here a few weeks ago, and I deeply regret it,” Trudeau told the community in British Columbia.

USC to apologize for sabotaging its Japanese American students’ educations in WWII

Kimmy Yam, NBC News

The University of Southern California announced last week that it will make amends for its discrimination against Japanese Americans during World War II, when the U.S. government deemed the community a national security threat. USC President Carol Folt will award posthumous degrees and apologize to the students of Japanese descent whose schooling was interrupted when they and their families were forcibly displaced and put into concentration camps. At the time, the university refused to release transcripts for students who wanted to transfer, sabotaging their chances to complete their educations. USC is now trying to identify the families of about 120 students who were affected during the 1941-42 academic year.

Whole Children and Strong Communities

Not allowed to be a kid

Amaru Howard, The Nation

My first frightening interaction with cops happened when I was only 6 years old. I was heading to the park with my cousin to play basketball, but as soon as we started walking, two cops began slowly following us in their car. By this time, I had already been taught to act a certain way around the police. My father told me never to make any sudden movements, not to look them in the eye, and to speak clearly and respectfully. I was just a kid and I didn’t remember this. I waved at them, but they did not wave back. My 16-year-old cousin grabbed my hand and led me into the park. Once we entered, the cops finally drove away. When my dad came to pick me up, my cousin told him what I’d done. He scolded me for acting so foolishly.

Study correlates SROs with increased risk of school firearm discharges, disciplines, arrests

Naaz Modan, K-12 Dive

Districts’ decisions to cut or change school police programs were among the most immediate changes following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man from Minneapolis, at the hands of police, and the killings of other Black Americans. In response to those changes, school police advocates often cite school gun violence, especially the predicted increases following COVID-19 shutdowns, as a reason to keep SRO programs in place. However, Lucy Sorensen, a researcher on the study, said in an email conclusive evidence shows SROs do not prevent school shootings. But they may instead slightly increase the chances of firearm-related incidents on school grounds.

420,000 homeless kids went missing from schools’ rolls last year. They may never be found

Neal Morton, Hechinger Report

A week before school started in this sunny desert city, Mike Carr waited at the front desk of the only emergency youth shelter in this southern Utah county. He noticed a young mother on a sectional couch in the living room swaddling her infant in a pink blanket, idly watching a Marvel movie. In the neighboring kitchen, some teenagers — each a potential student that Carr hoped to talk to — prepared lunch before retiring to one of the shelter’s 15 beds. Carr runs a one-person department dedicated to working with homeless students and their families in the sprawling Washington County School District. He used to visit this shelter regularly, but he’s only been here a handful of times in the last 18 months. The coronavirus pandemic kept this small facility on lockdown for much of that time, and Carr mostly stayed quarantined at home to protect his wife, who has preexisting health conditions.

Access, Assessment, Advancement

‘Promises Made Just Have to Be Promises Kept’: Black Colleges Feel Stung by Democrats

Erica Green, New York Times

As part of President Biden’s sprawling domestic policy agenda, he proposed tens of billions of dollars for historically Black colleges and universities as a long-overdue down payment on leveling the playing field between them and their wealthier, predominantly white-serving counterparts. But as Mr. Biden’s $3.5 trillion vision to rebuild the nation’s physical and social infrastructure has met the realities of a divided Congress and a shrinking spending plan, funding for some of the nation’s most underresourced higher education institutions has fallen way short.

Without free community college, can it still be a game changer for Latino students? [Video]

Suzanne Gamboa, NBC News

Felicia Lozano, a barista at Starbucks and a full-time student at San Antonio College, still had to “step it up” and scramble to work more hours to cover community college and living costs this year. Lozano is studying American Sign Language interpreting, which is a three-year program at the college. She covered her first two years with savings from Social Security benefits after her father died when she was 16. But that money is running out, so she asked to work full time at Starbucks. “It’s really hard,” she said about working and going to school full time. “It’s really drained me completely.”

Could juvenile detention centers look like college campuses?[AUDIO]

Education Beat Podcast, EdSource

California’s juvenile justice system is at a crossroads, with state-run youth prisons shutting down in less than two years. Many of the 3,600 youth held in county-run juvenile halls, camps and ranches are former public school students like Kent Mendoza, who was incarcerated when he was 15. He’s now part of a growing movement to reimagine juvenile detention facilities and the education provided in them.

Inequality, Poverty, Segregation

Is Your School District Underfunded?

Eesha Pendharkar, Education Week

The Oak Grove school district in Illinois spends more than $2,500 more per student than neighboring North Chicago school district. In Massachusetts, Swampscott schools spends almost $5,000 more per student than neighboring Lynn school district. And in New Jersey, Brigantine City School District spends more than $14,000 more per student than its neighbor, Atlantic City Schools. These sorts of stark disparities in spending can be traced back to the amount of affordable rental housing in each school district, according to a new report by Bellwether Education. School districts in communities with a lack of affordable housing generate $4,664 more in per-pupil funding compared with the average district in the nation’s biggest metropolitan areas, according to the report.

California schools are running out of money

Emily Hoeven, Cal Matters

California school districts have two choices: Bite the bullet and make budget cuts now, or delay them and face even more painful decisions. That was the ultimatum Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a school finance agency, delivered to district leaders last week. But warnings have been popping up everywhere. The state is hiring a fiscal consultant to help San Francisco Unified — which is currently facing a $116 million shortfall — figure out how to slash 13% of its $1 billion annual budget. Hayward Unified is considering closing an elementary school — one that primarily serves immigrant families — to plug budget gaps. West Contra Costa Unified, confronting a possible $30 million deficit, says it may have to lay off teachers. Yet the state is pouring a record amount of money into education. So what gives?

Families between care, education and work: The effects of the pandemic on educational inequalities in Italy and Milan

Marta Cordini and Gianluca De Angelis, European Journal of Education

School closures in 2020 were a sudden and unexpected event for most countries in Europe. The forced closure of schools has nurtured the debate on the increasing structural inequalities that characterise not only the school itself but also its intake, families and territories. On one hand, the multifaced role of the school has emerged; on the other hand, the flaws of a system that cannot hinder the reproduction of inequalities has been highlighted. Italy is already known as a country with a high degree of educational inequality, where the reproduction of social disadvantages by social origins is so strong that the chances for social mobility of the less advantaged are significantly reduced. This peculiarity of the Italian system has been emphasised by the pandemic, as households and the domestic space are involved in school activities to a greater extent than usual.

Democracy and the Public Interest

Texas schools are being told to teach ‘opposing views’ of the Holocaust. Why?

Francine Prose, The Guardian

I’ve been trying to imagine what Gina Peddy could have been thinking when, on 8 October, she informed a group of Southlake, Texas, elementary school teachers that, if their classroom libraries included books about the Holocaust, students should also be steered toward books with “opposing views”. The executive director for curriculum and instruction for the Carroll Independent school district, Peddy later explained that she was simply helping her staff comply with Texas House Bill 3979. Signed into law on 1 September by Governor Greg Abbott, the ruling prohibits educators from discussing controversial historical, social or political issues. If these subjects do arise, HB 3979 mandates that teachers “explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective”.

Jewish Southlake residents on Holocaust remark: ‘There are not two sides’ [Video]

Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News

At a tense school board meeting Monday night in Southlake, Texas, a former student gave painful testimony about antisemitic bullying that he said he endured in the Carroll Independent School District. Teachers grew emotional as they described feeling unsupported and under attack.   And many parents defended a district administrator who told teachers to offer students books showing “opposing” perspectives on the Holocaust, saying she was trying to follow a problematic new state law, while also condemning her interpretation of that law.

The Proud Boys Are Coming for Public Schools

Jeff Bryant, The Progressive

When violent insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, some of the rioters were members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group prone to street brawling and pro-Western, anti-Muslim, and misogynistic rhetoric.  The insurrectionists were thwarted, but now extremist groups—including the Proud Boys—are aiming their threats and violence at a new target: public schools. In Orange County, North Carolina, the Proud Boys and other white nationalist groups have begun showing up at high school football games and school board meetings, “protesting the district’s COVID-19 and LGBTQ+ policies.” Their intimidating language, apparel, and physical gestures prompted officials to hire extra security and pass a resolution opposing “incidents of hostile and racist behavior,” according to a report in the News and Observer.

Other News of Note

This High School Made Their Homecoming Halftime an Epic Drag Show

Donald Padgett, Out

A group of 30 high school students and teachers in Vermont strutted, spun, and sashayed down the runway to a pulsing techno beat as they performed a special drag show before an enthusiastic audience during halftime of their team’s homecoming football game last week. The Gender-Sexuality Alliance club at Burlington High School planned the event and teamed up with students from South Burlington High School for the well-received performance. Burlington and South Burlington High Schools come together with Winooski High School to form their Seawolves football team, and the drag show took place during halftime of last Friday’s game.

Andrew LeValley, English teacher and GSA advisor at Burlington High, came up with the idea as a way to soften the football experience for some.