Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice

At Moms for Liberty summit, parents urged to turn their grievances into lawsuits

Laura Pappano, Hechinger Report

It’s not a rebrand. But the Moms for Liberty group that introduced itself three years ago as a band of female “joyful warriors” shedding domestic modesty to make raucous public challenges to masks, books and curriculum, is trying to glow up. The group’s national summit this past weekend at a convention center outside Orlando leaned into family (read: parental rights), faith — and youth. The latter appeared to be a bid to join the cool kids who are the new face of conservatism in America (hint: young, Christian, very male), as well as a recognition of the group’s “diversity,” which includes grandparents, men and kids.

The Accidental Gift of Being a Teacher

Larry Cuban, Educational Review

I am a teacher. Others might classify me as an “educator” since for nearly a half-century, I have also been a superintendent, a teacher educator, and university professor. But it is classroom teaching—not administration or scholarly research—that has defined my adult life. Teaching has permitted me to be a lifelong learner, a persistent questioner, performer, and friend to former students and colleagues. Even as a 90-year-old, after a career of teaching, superintending, and doing research, I confess, that I still teach through my writings.

Talking Back to Dominant Narratives in a High School’s Daily Morning Announcements

Hannah Edber, Radical Teacher

In this piece, I describe a critical analysis of the content, language, and tone of my former school site’s daily morning announcements to examine how dominant narratives about the “who” and “what” of schooling are upheld and/or challenged. I then focus my discussion on an ongoing project I undertook alongside my high school students to “write back” to the school’s priorities by composing and sharing their own announcements with the school community. I examine my students’ announcements for their use of community cultural wealth and discuss the possibilities of engaging with student-generated announcements on a wider scale at the school to shed light on student identities and experiences that are too often missed in discourse in and about the school.

Language, Culture, and Power

This School Has Taught Native Hawaiians Since 1887. Is That Discrimination?

Amy Qin, New York Times

The Kamehameha Schools, established with a bequest from a Hawaiian princess in 1887, is among the most elite private educational institutions in Hawaii. Its central mission, to serve Native Hawaiians, stayed intact for decades. That vision has long been realized through its admissions policy. While anyone can apply to attend Kamehameha’s elementary, middle and high schools, preference is given to students who can prove some Hawaiian ancestry. As a result, almost all students attending Kamehameha are Native Hawaiians.

Cellphone bans can help kids learn — but Black students are suspended more as schools make the shift

Jill Barshay, Hechinger Report

Thirty states now limit or ban cellphone use in classrooms, and teachers are noticing children paying attention to their lessons again. But it’s not clear whether this policy — unpopular with students and a headache for teachers to enforce — makes an academic difference. If student achievement goes up after a cellphone ban, it’s tough to know if the ban was the reason. Some other change in math or reading instruction might have caused the improvement. Or maybe the state assessment became easier to pass. Imagine if politicians required all students to wear striped shirts and test scores rose. Few would really think that stripes made kids smarter.

Seeking Justice: Understanding Community Leader Support for Black Young People’s Activism

Rebecca L. Fix, Leila Habib, Edward McWilliams, Dylan B. Jackson, Journal of Community Psychology

Although adult allies often play crucial roles in mentoring and supporting young people who are activists, there remain gaps in our understanding of how community leaders interpret youth activism and the nature of organizational supports they provide for Black young people. We aimed to clarify perceptions about young people’s involvement in social activism surrounding policing among community leaders who serve Black young people (ages 12–21) in Baltimore, Maryland. We interviewed 11 community leaders. Results indicated community leaders believed young people engage in activism due to mistrust and negative perceptions of police, a desire for justice, and to influence policies and laws. Most participants supported youth activism and emphasized the importance of increased adult involvement in amplifying youth voices.

Whole Children and Strong Communities

Don’t Just “Protect” Trans Youth, Actually Support Them

Kathleen Nicole O’Neal, Current Affairs

“How does it feel to be a problem?” This is the question that the eminent sociologist and socialist W.E.B. Du Bois posed to his fellow African Americans in his 1903 masterpiece The Souls of Black Folk. Today, the same question could be posed just as easily to transgender young people, who find that their very existence has become a lightning rod for all sorts of cultural and political conflicts taking place in the United States and elsewhere. While the experiences of African Americans in the early 20th century can’t be mapped neatly onto those of transgender youth today, the question itself speaks to a shared reality. Both groups have been stigmatized, pathologized, singled out, and “othered.” They’ve been treated by politicians, media figures, and for transgender youth particularly, by many in their own communities as first and foremost “a problem.” 

Pedagogies of Well-Being: Disciplinary and Moral Concerns

Neha Miglani, Anthropology and Education

Early on in my investigations of Happiness Class, a well-being initiative for students in public schools of Delhi, I was encountered with a paradox. While Happiness Class was supposed to be about well-being of students, relieving them of everyday anxieties and stress within and outside classrooms, the teachers, however, were most concerned about bringing a certain discipline among their students. In a context like India, where disciplinary authority of school teachers has been historically important and somewhat romanticized, this comment from a teacher can invoke an easy interpretation. Happiness class becomes another opportunity for teachers to exert their authority. However, ethnographic engagement over time revealed a more complex picture, one that simultaneously shows the perilous dangers and meaningful educational value of this conceived discipline in well-being.

Girlhood and Grit: A Stockton Teen Fights In and Out of the Ring [Audio]

Adreanna Rodriguez, Latino USA

Born and raised in Stockton, California, 15-year-old Faith Gomez is starting to make a name for herself in the amateur boxing world. A Latina with no big sponsors or fancy gym, Faith trains out of her garage with her father. Her battles don’t just take place inside of the ring, as this teenager is fighting stereotypes and the pressures of growing up. Producer Adreanna Rodriguez —who was born and raised in Stockton— brings this coming of age story about a teen juggling school and the grind of becoming a boxing champion… all while giggling and showing off her Hello Kitty stuffies.

Access, Assessment, Advancement

Government shutdown imperils dozens of Head Start preschool programs

Moriah Balingit, AP News

Head Start programs that serve tens of thousands of the nation’s neediest preschoolers are facing a cutoff of federal funding at the end of the month because of the government shutdown, leaving many scrambling to figure out how to keep their doors open. The early education initiative is funded almost entirely by the federal government, making it particularly vulnerable to funding disruptions. The programs — which are run by schools, local governments and nonprofits — receive new grants annually and are not allowed to carry over unspent money. With new grants on hold, a half dozen Head Start programs already missed federal disbursements they were expecting on Oct. 1 and are staying open with fast-dwindling reserves or help from local governments.

A scholarship for Black California students has to accept white applicants. Here’s why

Adam Echelman, CalMatters

A scholarship for Black students at UC San Diego is now available to anyone, regardless of race, after students and a right-leaning nonprofit organization sued the university for discrimination this July. The plaintiffs argued that the scholarship fund violated a series of laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was put in place to protect Black Americans in the South. One of the students, Kai Peters, said he was denied access to the scholarship because he isn’t Black. Peters sent  a written statement to CalMatters through the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, the nonprofit plaintiff. He said his lack of access is an example of “institutionalized racism” — a phrase that was created in part to characterize how government institutions discriminate against Black Americans.

Mobile Center Helps Mississippi Students With College and Career Planning Services

Torsheta Jackson, Mississippi Free Press

Clarksdale High School Graduation Coach Tre’Shawn Malone exited the front doors of the high school and escorted two senior students to a 17-foot truck parked in the bus loop. As they approached the Get2College Mobile Unit, an outside TV monitor played YouTube videos about college. Malone verified that the team was ready and then sent one student into the back of the unit. The second stepped on the custom mat and climbed the stairs into the front of the vehicle.

Inside, Daniela Griffin had closed the wall that creates two private offices and sat down on a stool in the walkway while the student took a seat on the other side of a foldout table. Within minutes, she had pulled up the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and was mirroring it on the screen above the desk.

Inequality, Poverty, Segregation

Trump’s attempt to gut special education office has some conservative parents on edge

Sara Luterman, The 19th

The Trump administration’s decision to lay off most employees within the U.S. Department of Education’s special education office was described by the president this week as part of cuts to “Democrat programs that we were opposed to.” This was news to many conservative parents of disabled children, as well as disability policy experts. More than 7.3 million children in all 50 states rely on special education services, which are partially funded and enforced by the federal government.

Federal SNAP-Ed program cuts mean less nutrition education for Colorado students and families

Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat

Southern Colorado’s Center school district used to offer young children fruits and vegetables to try that they might not have previously eaten at home, like kiwi and jicama. The federally-backed program that helped provide these foods also assisted educators in teaching preschool and elementary students’ families why fruits and vegetables are good for their health. With kiwi, for example, the district would send home recipes for a salad that could be made by parents, said Janet Sanchez, Center Consolidated School District 26JT’s director of preschool. The program in Center and others like it across the state received support through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, or SNAP-Ed, which ended on Sept. 30 as part of federal budget cuts passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.

Heatwaves worsen educational inequality in Brazil

Luana Stangherlin dos Santos & Júlio César Claudino dos Santos, Nature Climate Change 

Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of heatwaves globally, with particularly alarming effects in the global south. In Brazil, recent years have seen record-breaking heat events, exacerbating challenges in public health, agriculture and urban life. However, an often overlooked impact of extreme heat is on learning outcomes and educational equity. Emerging evidence demonstrates that heat exposure impairs human cognition, reduces learning productivity and undermines human capital accumulation. Laboratory and field studies confirm that even moderate increases in temperature disrupt concentration, memory and executive functioning. Moreover, chronic exposure to high temperatures can impair sleep quality, further degrading cognitive performance and self-regulation during school hours.

Democracy and the Public Interest

Three waves of school vouchers: A history of expansion and exclusion

David DeMatthews, Torri D. Hart, and David S. Knight, Brookings

America is seeing a surge in private school voucher programs. In the last year, state legislatures in Texas and Tennessee passed voucher legislation, while the U.S. Congress passed a nationwide tax credit scholarship program. Vouchers are often framed as innovative, civil rights-oriented reforms that empower parents, but their origins and outcomes tell a different story. We recently published an examination of 150 years of voucher legislation in the United States. Rather than fostering competitive education markets and creating valuable new opportunities, we see that vouchers have frequently exacerbated inequality, excluded vulnerable student groups, and redirected public resources to private entities.

This Is Ground Zero in the Conservative Quest for More Patriotic and Christian Public Schools

Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica

The future that the Trump administration envisions for public schools is more patriotic, more Christian and less “woke.” Want to know how that might play out? Look to Oklahoma. Oklahoma has spent the past few years reshaping public schools to integrate lessons about Jesus and encourage pride about America’s history, with political leaders and legislators working their way through the conservative agenda for overhauling education. Academics, educators and critics alike refer to Oklahoma as ground zero for pushing education to the right. Or, as one teacher put it, “the canary on the prairie.”

Birthright Citizenship and the 14th Amendment (Video)

Kate Masur and Martha Jones, The 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy

From early civil rights movements to the struggles of Black sailors and the work of abolitionists before the Civil War, the promise of birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment was shaped by many powerful voices and experiences. Moderated by Sherrilyn Ifill, Founder of the 14th Amendment Center, this conversation will explore that history and how it influenced the way people understood what it meant to be an American in the years after the Civil War. Recorded 

Other News of Note

The United Nations is Born:  October 24, 1945

This Day in History

Convention on the Rights of the Child

United Nations General Assembly resolution 44/25

The States Parties to the present Convention, Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Bearing in mind that the peoples of the United Nations have, in the Charter, reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Recognizing that the United Nations has, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenants on Human Rights, proclaimed and agreed that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, Recalling that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance, Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community, Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding, Considering that the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity …