Is Re-Opening Schools a Political, Science-Driven or an Emotional Decision?

* “If we don’t re-open schools another generation of students will be doomed to a life of poverty and the poorest, must vulnerable parents will burdened with childcare expenses; if our economy doesn’t revive a depression paralleling the Great Depression is inevitable.”

* “We have to follow where science leads us, testing, contact tracing, social distancing, masks, and not allow politics or emotions to dissuade us.”

* “I’m afraid, I know too many people who died or who spent weeks recovering and months later are still suffering, until there’s a vaccine I’m not going back to work or allowing my children to go to school.”

*”I go to work every day, I have no other options, I have to pay my rent and feed my family; teachers say they love our kids; not enough to be willing to go to work, as I do.”

School opening opinion varies widely.

As tropical storm Isaisis blows by torrential rain interrupted by glaring sunlight flashes by, sort of like the school opening discussions of the moment.

For weeks the Board of Regents, the Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio dueled over who would make the school reopening decisions.

The governor appointed a commission, the Board of Regents gathered up a few hundred stakeholders, the mayor selected his commission. The Board of Regents/State Education Department issued their 149-page school opening guidance requiring that each of the 700 school districts in the state submit a plan for every school (4400 schools, 1800 in New York City). The New York State Department of Health issued  guidance, the governor announced he would make his decision on school opening “the first week in August,” and set a metric, COVID positive testing below 5% (as of 8-3-20 COVID positive testing was at 1%).

To the best of my knowledge the only district that failed to submit a plan was New York City, the city submitted the outlines of a plan, Read here.

At his Monday (8/4) press conference the governor said, “… the final decision on whether kids will head back in September will be up to parents;” I guess he means if parents don’t like the local plan they can opt for full remote or home-schooling for their children. The governor went on to say, “Where you have a district with multiple schools, they have to address the plan for every school … If you don’t have the details for each school then you don’t have a plan, because how can a parent make a decision, and it’s not just New York City — it’s any school district…. A district could have a uniform plan for the schools in its system, but they would need to work out the logistics for how each school is going to things like testing in order to track the virus.”

Does the city plan to survey parents in each of the 1800 schools? Is it conceivable that some schools will offer a hybrid model and others a remote model? Is the failure to inform the Department that you are opting out by the August 7th soft deadline the only evidence of supporting the school plan? The plan you have never seen?

The Re-Opening Plans were posted on school district websites and many school boards hosted parent meetings to answer questions.  See a school opening plan for a small district (one K-8 school with 700 kids) here.

On Monday evening the school district hosted a virtual session for the community and welcomed questions about the plan, the meeting lasted over two hours, and, Tuesday the district posted the Q & A   on their website , in English and Spanish.

A neighboring school district (Read here)) posted their plan, and included a parent survey:  35% feel comfortable sending their children back to school, 25% not comfortable, and the remainder somewhere in the middle.

The elements of the New York City Plan that the mayor announced and that appear on the site include a 3% COVID positive test metric to trigger all remote, COVID testing available to all staff prior to school re-opening, a process on how schools respond to COVID positive students and staff, and fails to address many, many other questions. The city cannot provide a school nurse for every building (the plans above have school nurses on staff), the overnight deep cleaning without additional custodial staff appears unlikely, and, the supervisory and teacher unions are “doubtful” that the city can address all the outstanding issues before school opening; the first day for students in NYC is Wednesday, September 10^th.

The instructional models, aka, which days are kids in-school which days at home, a hybrid, in-person/remote model is still being discussed, although the chancellor has a preference,

Principals and school leadership teams will compare the different programming models to the specific needs of their students and communities to select a best-fit model. However, the Chancellor has identified certain models as “Chancellor Recommended” so that there is greater consistency for parents across the system.

What does “greater consistency for parents” mean?  There are 1800 different schools, why not allow schools to craft models that meet the needs of the students in their schools?  See the “key tenets” of the programming models here.

While the NYC planning is fluid, without many key elements resolved will the plan satisfy parents and teachers?

A week ago at the American Federation of Teachers convention Randi Weingarten and Dr. Anthony Fauci had an hour chat; Dr Fauci answered questions from teachers and nurses across the nation. (Listen to the discussion here). As I talked with teachers who listened to Dr, Fauci some were comforted and other discomfited by his comments. Science provides facts, not advise.

Urban school districts across the nation are opening with remote only instruction and have COVID positive rates far, far above New York City rates:

Los Angeles seven day average COVID positive testing rate: 8.8%

Chicago seven day average COVID positive testing rate: 5.4%

Houston seven day average COVID positive testing: 14.1%

To answer my initial questions: for teachers and parents a visceral, deeply emotional quandary; for the governor and the mayor, the political implications can be career making or career ending. For the governor very high marks can dissolve if he supports school openings and the COVID positives spike, for the mayor, a mayor who continues to be bashed by mayoral contenders and the conservative media, and by his own stumbles, a chance to resuscitate his mayoralty.

In my opinion the governor who wanted to be the ultimate decision-maker appears to be backing away. The mayor is desperately looking for friends, to “satisfy” parents and teacher/supervisor unions and a Board of Regents/State Education Department without the capacity to review plans for 4400 schools could be the scapegoat.

For the unions assuring a safe opening for their members and students is paramount. The Israel early school reopening disaster is resonating,  The UFT, the teacher union is demanding,

For school buildings to reopen, school communities need:

• Voluntary testing for all students and school-based staff returning for in-person instruction.
• A rolling testing regimen in every school community for adults and student volunteers to identify those infected with the virus but asymptomatic.
• The results of these tests should be available within 24 hours.
• A dedicated group of contact tracers to investigate who else has been exposed when an adult or a student in a school contracts the virus.
• A school nurse in every school building.
• Evidence that the protections and procedures outlined in the plan have been implemented, including the testing and upgrading of ventilation systems, and the necessary staff and supplies to deep clean the buildings every night.

Stay tuned.

Listen to the Almanac Singers, “Which Side Are You On”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEwE0R_7TDc

When elephants fight, it is the [New Yorkers] that suffer, [amended African Proverb]

States, counties and cities are facing catastrophic budget shortfalls; unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression and uncertainty over the re-opening of businesses and schools.  Each day as expenditures exceed revenues the deficits widen,

While the state budget was approved on April 1, under his emergency powers the governor can adjust the budget, in other words the budget is malleable; depending on revenues the budget can be adjusted after the July 1^st.

A bill, the HEROES Act passed the House, it provides over $1 trillion for a wide range of supports.

Will the HEROES Act  pass the Senate? And, if so, how will the Senate change the House bill?

The current House bill would be a life-saver for New York City as well as cities across the state (See proposed $$ to each city here). Speculation is that the final bill will not come before the Senate until late June and will look considerably different than the bill that passed in the House.  The final bill has to “satisfy” Senate leader McConnell, the Republicans and the President.

In a normal year the Mayor and the City Council Speaker would be deep in discussions over the final budget. New York City, since the sweeping governance changes in the late eighties, is a “Strong Mayor,” system. The Mayor has wide discretion over the allocation of resources, the Council, aside from approving the budget; its powers are limited to land use and the holding of hearings.  (Read a fascinating account of New York City governance and the emergence of the current configuration here).

Corey Johnson, the leader of the Council is a candidate for mayor.  Scott Stringer, the Comptroller, is also running for mayor, as well as the Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Boro President and who knows who else …. Andrew Yang? The ranked-choice primary will be held in June, 2021.

Taking “shots” at a weakened term-limited mayor is de rigueur in the world of politics.

Stringer calls for a $1B cut in the NYPD over four years by attrition and using the funds for community programs (Read presser here).

Meanwhile the Independent Budget Office (IBO) paints a bleak picture of New York City’s economy over the next few years,

The coronavirus pandemic has put New York City in the worst economic crunch in decades, with 22% of residents currently out of work and City Hall mired in a nearly $9 billion budget gap.  

 The state government in Albany is facing an even more dire fiscal situation than the city. Rather than providing assistance to the city, the state has looked to the city for fiscal relief. The state budget adopted last month includes hundreds of millions of dollars of cost shifts from the state to the city, including a direct raid on the city’s sales tax revenues. In short, New York City is facing nearly unprecedented challenges as it struggles to maintain budget balance, protect vital services, and provide a safe and healthy environment for individuals who want to live, work, or visit here

After the police clashed with demonstrators and widespread looting occurred the governor threatened to remove the mayor. Can the governor remove the mayor?

(See the text of the City Charter and State law below)

 “What happened in New York City was inexcusable,” Cuomo said during his Tuesday press conference, unprompted. “I have offered the National Guard; the mayor has said he can handle it with the NYPD. My option is to displace the mayor of New York City and bring in the National Guard as the governor in a state of emergency and basically take over … the mayor’s job. You’d have to displace the mayor.”

One would hope and expect that electeds: the governor, the mayor and the candidates will work together to restore the city, to make the city into a better place. We are in a moment in time when sweeping change is possible. Change is inevitable, and change can be disruptive, not all change make education better.

• David Kirkland, NYU Metro Center, “How can we center equity and racial justice when schools open”
• Governor Cuomo “Reimagining Education,    “The Council …can answer key questions about what education should look in the future using new technologies and to develop a blueprint to reimagine education in the new normal”
• Randi Weingarten suggested capstone projects in lieu of traditional end year testing
• Minneapolis, Portland and Denver are removing police officers from schools.

Teachers simply want to back to their classrooms in a safe environment, and we have yet to define safe.

I suspect some of the elements of remote teaching, can be incorporated, adding remote parent conferences to in-school conferences, one on one remote learning to reinforce in-school learning, remote conferences in lieu of out of school meetings, etc., and probably more.

If, however, the decision-makers, continue to bicker, to try and use the crisis for political advantage schools can slide into an abyss.

“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”

Dante Alighieri

 

Its Friday; gray and rainy, listen to Rhiannon Giddens, “Leaving Eden,” a poignant song in troubling times, one of my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcCmg9Oj9XM

 

The Removal of a Mayor in New York State

“The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.”  (NYC Charter)

“The chief executive officer of every city and the chief or commissioner of police, commissioner or director of public safety or other chief executive officer of the police force by whatever title he may be designated, of every city may be removed by the governor after giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be heard in his defense.  The power of removal provided for in this subdivision shall be deemed to be in addition to the power of removal provided for in any other law.  The provisions of this subdivision shall apply notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of any general, special or local law, ordinance or city charter.” (NYS Law)

 

 

Its Friday; gray and rainy, listen to Rhiannon Giddens, “Leaving Eden,” a poignant song in troubling times, one of my favorites.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcCmg9Oj9XM

The Enigmatic Governor of New York State: Presidential Pretender or a Model Governor for the Nation?

In San Francisco, in the summer of 1984 at the Democratic National Convention, Mario Cuomo, the governor of New York State delivered an iconic speech, a revival of the progressive spirit of the FDR New Deal years,

 A shining city is perhaps all the President [Reagan] sees from the portico of the White House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But there’s another city, another part to the shining city—the part where some people can’t pay their mortgages and most young people can’t afford one. Where students can’t afford the education they need and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but can’t find it.

 Even worse, there are elderly people who tremble in the basements of the houses there. And there are people who sleep in the city’s streets, in the gutter, where the glitter doesn’t show. There are ghettoes where thousands of young people without a job, or an education, give their lives away to drug dealers ever day. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces you don’t see, in the places you don’t visit, in your shining city.

Watch the speech here.

 The speech thrust Cuomo pere into the front ranks of contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination; in 1992 he seemed to be on the verge of declaring his candidacy, he was hours away from jumping on a plane to begin his campaign in New Hampshire. Unexpectedly, at an Albany press conference he declared he had decided not to run.  The speculation: why he decided not to run  has been endless.

Cuomo fils, in his third term as governor, as was his father, denies he has presidential ambitions. His daily press conferences are national news, he has skillfully guided the state through the swamps of Republican Washington politics, and, and is slowly moving the state towards a staged re-opening, he is “presidential,”

The state still teeters on draconian budget cuts without an infusion of federal dollars, Cuomo addressed the issue, and, with the Republican governor of Maryland issued a plea for funding for states, to pay police, firefighters, school teachers and sharply criticized the last bailout bill for shoveling money to the largest corporations who used the funds to boost their stock prices. Andrew called for a massive infrastructure program to rebuild highways and airports and schools; without assistance states face draconian cuts and the loss of jobs,

The governor and the state budget director have unilateral power to reduce aid to school districts and localities mid-year if the state doesn’t meet projected revenues.   The next revenue report is due from the State Comptroller’s office on Friday.

Last week, it seems like longer than that; Cuomo announced a 100 member blue ribbon commission;  Eric Schmidt, Google CEO (2001-2011) will lead the re-imagining of the state economy, Schmidt appeared briefly by webcast to say he would focus on issues such as “telehealth, remote learning and expanding broadband access.”

Cuomo also announced he would partner with the Gates Foundation to “re-imagine education in New York State,” with a comment,

“The old model of everybody goes and sits in a classroom and the teacher is in front of that classroom, and teaches that class, and you do that all across the city, all across the state, all these buildings, all these physical classrooms — why with all the technology you have?”

The Gates Foundation in a statement said,

“[We are] committed to work with New York State on its efforts to ensure equitable access to education for its students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will soon provide more details about the partnership.

Thousands of e-communications filled the governor’s mailbox opposing any relationship with Gates.

The governor, in the spirit of the FDR New Deal has become the nation’s governor; partnering with other governors across the political spectrum, partnering with legislators , fighting the virus and pushing to revive the national economy.

At the peak of the crisis, not enough ventilators, no enough PPE, not enough health professionals Cuomo averred,

“We have to get the private and public [health care] systems working together in New York in a way they never had before …  The distinction between private and public hospitals has to go out the window. We’re one health care system.”

 The underlying issue: dollars.  If public and private hospitals coordinate can the state retain the same level of services and lower costs? Create a private-public hospital partnership.

In my view Cuomo is seeking to control Medicaid expenses thorough reorganization of hospitals in the state. Maybe he’s right.

Education is another major item in the state budget.

Every year a combination of parents, school boards, teacher unions and legislators fight to increase state education funding.  Cuomo has grumbled, “we spend more per student than any other state and graduation rates and student progress is way down the list of states.’

Does Cuomo have a plan to use remote learning to control education costs?

An Education Week article asks, “How Effective Is Online Learning? What the Research Does and Doesn’t Tell Us;” research is clear, online learning is less effective than in-person learning, especially for at-risk students.

Cuomo’s rather anonymous education advisory committee  except for national teacher president Randi Weingarten, a resident of New York City, is devoid of New York City educators, a slap at Mayor de Blasio, who just appointed his own education advisory committee.

Bill and Melinda Gates are well aware of public criticism, and, after major stumbles the Foundation has moved in different direction.

We certainly understand why many people are skeptical about the idea of billionaire philanthropists designing classroom innovations or setting education policy. Frankly, we are, to; Bill and I have always been clear that our role isn’t to generate ideas ourselves; it’s to support innovation driven by people who have spent their careers working in education: teachers, administrators, researchers, and community leaders.

But one thing that makes improving education tricky is that even among people who work on the issue, there isn’t much agreement on what works and what doesn’t.

Is the governor using his new found role, his national popularity, to create a pathway to the White House? To reduce funding for education in the state? Or, is he a model for the nation?

Cuomo’s favorability polling is off the charts.

Am I being too cynical?

Is he still the bully simply using the crisis for his own political benefit?

Mario Cuomo’s 1984 speech is as relevant today as in 1984, perhaps more so, the nation desperately needs a leader to meld our nation together, to lead our nation out of the current morass.

Could Cuomo be that leader? Or, is he Geppetto, pulling our strings?

Searching for Normalcy in a Chaotic World: Teaching, Learning and Living at a Distance

We have routines, our early morning ablutions, our route to work, shopping, job responsibilities, family responsibilities, now, remote working, remote interactions, and for children the abnormality is unsettling.

Being cooped up in an apartment, not being able to visit friends, not being able to interact with my teachers, “I feel like I’m being punished.”

From a teacher’s perspective: how do I connect with my kids, how can my “teaching” be engaging?  I can’t look over Juan’s shoulder and whisper, “…try that again … how did you get that answer?” You can’t see that light bulb going off, “Oh, yes, I see now,” you can’t give a thumbs up at just the right time, or, a frown.

Is Maria drifting off, is her attention wandering, I don’t know.

Remote learning is remote, it’s far away and it lacks the emotional connection.

The standardized grades 3 – 8 tests are gone, no more test prep, you can follow the curriculum: Is there curriculum to follow? Or, are we talking about the reading and math “packages” that your school is using?

Can you switch to a curriculum designed for online use?

An online source from Finland gets high marks:  https://koulu.me/.

EngageNY.org provides curriculum modules for every grade and every topic on the grade.

Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, suggests capstone projects, a project-based learning approach,

“There is a way teachers can help students sum up their academic progress, help kids focus, and bring closure to the year.”

“Our capstone plan gives teachers the option and latitude to work with their students on a specific project alongside other activities and assessments to create engagement and demonstrate learning. https://www.aft.org/press-release/afts-weingarten-launches-capstone-proposal-complete-school-year-amid”

On the other hand maybe we should keep everything as simple as possible, for students as well as teachers.

While we worry about our students we worry about ourselves and our families.

We’re told to close our doors, hunker down and wait for the “all clear.”  Should we shop online?  Make quick trips to the super market or pharmacy?  Do we have an exercise regimen?  Is it safe to take long walks? To walk up and down the staircases in my building?  Do I take alcohol wipes wherever I go?

Who do I listen to?

If you’re an avid consumer of the news, the visual representations are frightening

Is density deadly?

Concerns about density were … at the forefront as New York officials discussed the spread of the virus in increasingly alarmed tones. New York City is now among the worst hot spots in the world: The city now has more coronavirus cases per capita than Italy, the world’s epicenter of the virus outside of China, where it originated.

 In the midst of anxiety in some and fear in others teachers and school leaders try and support students and each other. A principal began the day with an online school leadership team meeting; each has received over 100 emails from teachers with questions, especially from teachers of students with disabilities.

Education Next  gives straightforward suggestions to school leaders,

How should school leaders think about the massive task they’re facing?

  There are three overriding principles that can help school leaders as they figure this out, and they’re really super simple.

 The first is to just be calm and pause. That sounds like a simple recommendation, but we all understand that school’s not the most important thing right now, safety is.

 The second is to be straightforward and clear. People have heightened same way that they might otherwise be able to. So the more that school leaders can be straightforward and clear with their guidance and recommendations for families, it’s going to be helpful.

 And the third is to try to create simple solutions. In a crisis situation, simple technology is the best technology. So be careful in trying to teach faculty new skills during a time of crisis. They’ll be less able to adapt and less able to process information themselves.

 Principals are struggling to find online tools to track teacher work, some teachers are creative, some waiting for instructions, are teachers interacting on a grade, interacting with all other teachers interacting with their students?

We are tip-toeing into a new world, a world that may be with us for weeks, or months, it may be the new normal for many months.

Remember: exercise, yoga, meditation, if you’re religious attends online services; the psychological toll can be devastating.

Stay Safe

DeVos, Grizzly Bears and Public Policy: Can Parents and Teachers Create a “#PublicSchoolProud” Movement?

Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos tussled with the committee Democrats for three hours last night, and, the answers to the committee questions ranged from vague, to inaccurate to bizarre.

The fivethirtyeight blog gives a good summary of the major issues at the hearing and Aaron Pallas, a little “tongue in cheek,” recounts what he heard at the hearing.

DeVos stumbled through the three plus hours, glowing as the Republican members of the committee reaped praise and squirmed uncomfortably as the Democrats asked pointed questions. Her handlers trained her, although her performance left a lot to be desired. She refused to commit to upholding the law, waffled on Title IX and the role of the office of civil rights, was vague about supporting transparency for all schools, public and charter, sort of favored accountability in all schools. She supported guns in schools (I believe she is anti-grizzly bear in schools); she has no idea on the debate over proficiency versus growth and steadfastly refused to answer “yes” or “no.” to question after question. She was more than willing to “meet with and discuss policy issues” in her role as secretary, not willing to commit to anything specific. The handlers undoubtedly advised her to commit to nothing, be as vague as possible, charming, and try to eat up as much of the five minutes allotted to each questioner as possible.

Kudos to the Democrats on the committee, they were persistent, fair and asked the right questions.

Barring some catastrophic event, the Republican President’s Republican Senate will confirm all of the nominees. The rules of the Senate require a majority vote; the Democrats needs three Republicans to vote “no” and that is extremely unlikely.

If you watched the circus you may have been struck by the civility of the members of the committee, especially the relationship between chair Lamar Alexander and ranking member Patty Murray. The rules of the Senate require 60 votes to bring a bill to the floor for a vote, called the cloture rule. Presidential nominations only require a majority and treaties, pursuant to Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, requires a 2/3 vote.

The Majority Leader of the Senate sets the calendar, hence the refusal to schedule a confirmation vote for the Obama Supreme Court nominee.

To pass any in the Senate the Republicans require Democratic votes, which means all bills are to an extent bipartisan. Obama’s bills never saw the light of day in the House, the majority in the House totally controls the flow of legislation. If there are conflicts in the House they are within the Republican Party. The Hastert-Boehner Rules deal with whether the Republican Speaker can bring a vote to the floor that requires Democratic votes to pass. Currently the Freedom Caucus in the House, the Tea Party, controls enough votes to stop a bill from getting to the floor, unless the Speaker seeks Democratic votes, very unlikely considering the tenuous nature of the Paul Ryan leadership.

If the cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed why is there so much pressure? Why the 100% plus, plus effort to expose the inadequacies of the nominees?

Simply, we’re only a year and half away from the 2018 election cycle. If the nominees are disasters, the Democrats will pin the blame on the Republican, especially the Republican senators up for re-election in 2018. On the other hand a number of Democrats http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/senate-democrats-2018-midterms-231516 up for re-election come from pro-Trump states. The 2018 election cycle is in full swing.

Education was barely mentioned in the presidential election, I don’t think a single question was asked in the three presidential debates. Nationally public opinion polls on schools is mixed and hard to decipher.

In the current fight for the hearts and minds of voters we need heroes and villains, and, to be honest villains reap more votes than heroes; many voters voted against Hillary not for Trump.

“If it bleeds it leads” is the motto of much of the media, “eyes on the screen,” or “clicks” are generated by disasters, sex, violence and scandal. Media sites sell ads dependent on viewer/readership, as a friend told me we get the news we deserve/desire.

If Betsy DeVos is a disaster, if she “lives down” to expectations the Democrats can use her as the poster child. An arrogant billionaire, the ultimate elitist, using her billions to promote schools that enrich her friends, bring religion into the classroom, a closet bigot, the paradigm of what we do not want in our schools.

The Democrats have to motivate voters, and parents and teachers are prime voters. Arne Duncan was charming, an excellent public speaker,  dedicated to the neediest, and although his policies were anathema his close allegiance to the President gave him a Teflon shield.

Randi Weingarten at the AFT and Diane Ravitch at the Network for Public Education have been relentless and the opposition to DeVos is enormous, probably hundreds of thousands of phone calls and petitions and email to senators opposing her confirmation. Editorials and op ed columns and blogs read by countless voters opposing DeVos; this is what creating a movement of all about.

The New York City teacher union, the UFT is beginning a major initiative to involve teachers and parents at the school level, the Public School Proud campaign intends to create a pro-public school movement, beginning in New York City, spreading across New York State and the nation.

Over the months ahead as DeVos attempts to privatize public schools we must become the Communards, the defenders of public education, our weapons: words and actions.

Give a listen to Leonard Cohen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-RuR-qO4Y,

or, Vince Staples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62ST_xsaZUI

Trump Nominates Betsy DeVos and Declares War on Public Education: Vouchers, Charters and School Choice on Steroids

You may have been “happier” with Michelle Rhee or Eva Moskowitz?

Trump nominated Betsy DeVos, the wife a the scion of the DeVos family (Amway), one of the wealthiest families in the nation.

Will DeVos be the next Cathy Black or the deconstructor of public education?

DeVos has been the leader of the Michigan Republican Party, a major fund raiser for the Republican Party, an early supporter of Marco Rubio and her husband has led the assault on labor in Michigan;  lost to Jennifer Grandholm for the governor of Michigan in 2007 and has been in the forefront of the anti-labor assault.

Dick” DeVos,

“The Greatest Generation did not just win a World War, they labored shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow workers to create and sustain value-added enterprises. By contrast, ‘big union bosses have engaged in cozy deals and political backroom dealings in order to advance their personal agendas, not those of their members,’” 

 “By casting off the practice of forced unionization; Michigan now publicly declares to other states and in fact the world, that we embrace freedom for our workers, true equality in the workplace and that we are ready to compete with anyone, anywhere to create economic opportunity for our Michigan families.”

President Randi Weingarten wasted no time in trashing Betsy DeVos,

“The president-elect, in his selection of Betsy DeVos, has chosen the most ideological, anti-public education nominee put forward since President Carter created a Cabinet-level Department of Education. 

“In nominating DeVos, Trump makes it loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in America. 

“DeVos has no meaningful experience in the classroom or in our schools. The sum total of her involvement has been spending her family’s wealth in an effort to dismantle public education in Michigan. Every American should be concerned that she would impose her reckless and extreme ideology on the nation.

Dana Goldstein, the author if the acclaimed Teacher Wars: a History of America’s Most Embattled Profession parses DeVos’s attacks on public education in Michigan; a state in which charters perform poorly, well below public schools. With access to unlimited dollars DeVos passed legislation creating unregulated charter schools; in spite of legislative attempts to bring accountability to Michigan charter schools DeVos and her cronies successfully derailed the bill.

In an article in Slate  Goldstein paints a picture of DeVos as the Bill Gates of the educational far right who sees her role as creating a totally choice system. Using her fortune to impose her will on the public education.

Decisions as to the nature of schools is left to states and across the nation a handful of states have lenient charter laws, some restrict charters to not-for-profit sponsors, others for -profit and a few on-line for-profit schools.  The feds can provide dollars to existing charters schools; the creation and monitoring of charter schools is a state responsibility.

The battle over Title 1 dollars will dominate the new school wars. Republicans in the House have supported making Title 1 dollars portable, in other words turning them into vouchers that would follow the student to public, private, charters,  for-profits,  religious, or, even home schooling. The result would be dramatic reductions in dollars in the poorest public schools. A transfer of public taxpayer dollars from public schools to the free market, with for-profit schools reaping the dollars.

Diane Ravitch and the Network for Public Education have documented misuse and outright corruption in states with unregulated charter schools as well as extremely poor outcomes in voucher plans.

On the other hand the Trump/DeVos Department will be far less intrusive in states than the Obama/Duncan/King department. The Civil Rights Division of the USDOE has been activist pursuing innumerable challenges to states: Title 9 (Equity for Women in Sports programs), disproportionality (excessive numbers of minority children in Special Education classes as well as suspensions). The acceptance of Title 1 dollars gives the feds the authority to intervene, if they choose. One would expect DeVos would be a far less activist Secretary in these areas.

Under Senate rules a majority is required to confirm cabinet nominees; the Republicans hold a 52-48 majority and barring a catastrophic performance before the committee one would expect confirmations; although the dems will pressure the nominees in the process.

With virtually unlimited dollars DeVos had a free a hand in Michigan. The ability to flit from home to home; the family owns a compound in Vero Beach, Florida and a number of homes in Michigan. Dick DeVos is an accomplished pilot. Whether Betsy can maneuver the rocky shoals of public scrutiny is to be decided. Her actions will be perceived as hostile to cities, hostile to public schools, hostile to the poorest, the attacks will be unrelenting. Maybe she has alligator skin and can cast off the sticks and stones; maybe, like Cathy Black, her wealthy, elitist background will make her ill-prepared for public service.

Will the (de)formers, for example the Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), progressive democrats in most arenas jump on the Trump/DeVos band wagon? Frederick Hess, a leading charter supporter has already endorsed DeVos.

Public education across the nation is at risk.

How Might a Clinton or Trump Presidency Impact Federal Education Policy?

Every day the online New York Times prints the “odds,” expressed in a percent of the Clinton-Trump race – yesterday Clinton was leading 90% to 10%.

The election is no longer 24/7 all over TV screens; as we move towards September the baseball pennant races and the opening of the college and NFL football season are beginning to eat up the media air.

A few shots of a Clinton or Trump rally, a paid Clinton advertisement warning about Trump provoking a catastrophe and lengthy talking head reflections on San Francisco quarterback not standing for the national anthem as a protest against the treatment of Afro-Americans in America.

For large percentages of Americans election fatigue has set in.  There are probably very few undecided voters – yes, Republicans voters who can’t bring themselves to vote for Trump and unenthusiastic Hillary voters … the electorate has chosen sides.

For the last few weeks my morning coffee crowd has moved from political chatter to renewed interest in the resurgent Yankees and Jets/Giants chances; quite sensible.

The last chance to address tens of millions of Americans will be the debates

First presidential debate (September 26, 2016, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY)

The debate will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics to be selected by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate.

The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.

Second presidential debate (October 9, 2016, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO)

The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which half of the questions will be posed directly by citizen participants and the other half will be posed by the moderator based on topics of broad public interest as reflected in social media and other sources.

Third presidential debate (October 19, 2016, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV)

Same format as first debate.

The last time a presidential debate changed minds was the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate.

Of course, to quote, Yogi, “It’s never over until it’s over.”

Both camps are already having internal discussions about cabinet choices.

On the education front the Department of Education is in the final stages of crafting the regulations for the new Every Student Succeeds Act, a Department of Education that will undoubtedly have a new leader no matter who wins the election. The proposed rules are highly controversial (See Ed Week cheat sheet here  and read the extensive criticism and suggestions from the NYS Commissioner Elia here.

One item hanging over New York State and Colorado, the only two states with significant percentages of opt outs; in both states many schools fell below the 95% participation rate and may face unspecified sanctions.

Should the current lame duck Secretary of Education make the decision or the next Secretary of Education? In fact, should the current Secretary of Education release the new regulations or leave it to the new administration?

I imagine in some quarters names for a successor to Secretary King are already being tossed around – not here. I’ll wait until the networks declare a winner on November 8th.

The entire election season, from the cavalry charge of Republicans and the Bernie/Hillary battles:  virtually nothing about education. The reason is not complicated – the American public is sharply divided. See Education Next polling result here.  Appealing to one faction alienates another.

We know a Republican would push for choice, i.e., charter, parochial, private and home schooling all eligible for public dollars. For example, Title 1 Portability, Title 1 dollars would follow the student to wherever the student is receiving education services. Of course, Trump could call for abolishing the entire Department of Education and sharp cuts in federal dollars.

The Democratic side is more complicated, while opt outs and others might want reduction or the end of testing civil rights organizations, allies of the Democrats are strong advocates of testing and the disaggregation of results by ethnicity, race and handicapping condition. One the other hand Clinton made very pro-teacher, pro public education speeches at both the NEA and AFT conventions, and, appears to have an excellent relationship with AFT President Randi Weingarten.

Check out Diane Ravitch’s web site – she will report a talk with Hillary.

Let’s win the presidency, the Senate and the House on November 8th – and then we argue over the future of the federal role.

The AFT Convention: Summing Up – Can Teachers and Their Union Prevail in the Clinton-Trump Matchup?

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn
We can break their haughty power gain our freedom when we learn
That the Union makes us strong

At the end of the AFT Convention the delegates stood, clasped hands and sang “Solidarity Forever,” a fitting ending to an exciting and upbeat week.

As I arrived in Minneapolis for the convention, the hundredth year of the founding of the American Federation of Teachers, I wondered whether the bruising Bernie-Hillary primary battle would spill over into the convention. Would the Bernie supporters still bear scars from the months of sparring, at times personal and nasty, or, would the specter of Trump heal all scars?

I was pleasantly surprised, there were plenty of teacher leaders who were avid supporters of Bernie, and unquestionably the goal now was the defeat of Trump and total support for Hillary. I spoke with a number of teachers who will be attending the Democratic National Convention today as Bernie delegates who are already working with the Hillary election machine.  They weren’t Hillary acolytes, they have their doubts, and the fear of a Trump victory overcame doubts.

The AFT Convention attracts a wide range of union members, from the big cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, etc.) to small cities and rural communities; from teachers to nurses to a wide range of other public employees – 1.6 million AFT members.

The theme of the convention: Honoring our Past and Inspiring Our Future, was obvious throughout the week. A 98-years old retired teacher from Chicago gave a rousing speech, the head of the Minneapolis Area Labor Federation, who looks 18 and had been a grocery store clerk was now organizing across the region. The AFT is the second largest organization organizing nurses, local after local recounted fights with hospital conglomerates cutting corners to maximize profits and endanger patients. Teachers and nurses are natural allies.

The convention moved from speaker to speaker, interspersed with videos, and the reporting of resolutions from the thirteen committees

Read the text of the approved resolutions here.

After each session the convention publishes a description of the events of the previous day called “Afterwards” Select and watch speakers here.

On the first day of the convention the delegates divide up by interest and attend one of the thirteen committees that discuss the ninety-one resolutions submitted by locals from across the nation. The committees range from Education Issues (the most popular – about 800 delegates attended), Human Rights, Organizing and Collective Bargaining, Pensions, International Affairs, Women’s Rights, Higher Education, Nurses Issues and a few others. For two hours, under Robert’s Rules, the committees discuss the resolutions: they may amend, add, delete, and combine or defeat resolutions. (Voting concurrence or non-concurrence) Three of the resolutions are chosen by the committees to be debated on the floor of the convention. (The other resolutions are acted upon by the Executive Council). In the past the debate has been vigorous, at time contentious. This year virtually all the resolutions had the support of the overwhelming number of delegates. In some instances locals worked together to modify similar resolutions, the AFT staff provided research backup, to me, the one overriding issue was the November election.

Rashad Robinson, the leader of “The Color of Change” explained national efforts to build a political constituency,

ColorOfChange.org exists to strengthen Black America’s political voice. Our goal is to empower our members – Black Americans and our allies – to make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone.

Alex Caputo-Pearl, the president of the Los Angeles Federation of Teachers (UTLA) and Keron Blair, the Director of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools  (AROS) discussed plans in the fall for school walk-ins, a nationwide movement to build support for public schools in school communities. The words of Solidarity Forever, “We can break their haughty power gain our freedom when we learn that the Union makes us strong,” echoed again and again as I trudged back to the Big Apple.

I did watch the Trump Acceptance Speech, and it reminded me of something, something deep within my memory neurons; then, that flash!

Have you ever watched the 1935 classic “Triumph of the Will,” the Leni Reichanthal documentary of the 1935 Nazi Party Congress?

Watch a few minutes of film showing der Fuhrer speaking to Nazi Youth linked below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BbWFeihHhE

And the mix tape of clips from the Donald and the Richenthal classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGVBn_3EjmE

and draw your own conclusions.

 

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Convention: Days 1 and 2: Hillary, Randi, ESSA, Governors, Senators, Debate and Guests.

Wow!! What a day…

Sunday night: The convention begins with a Progressive Caucus meeting; over a decade ago there were opposing political caucuses within the AFT, currently the majority, the vast majority caucus is the Progressive Caucus. Although the Karen Lewis and the Chicago Teacher Union (CTU) defeated an incumbent slate in Chicago, at the AFT most of the Chicago delegates are in the Progressive Caucus, the same for the Los Angeles (UTLA), the union president defeated the incumbent slate; however, at the AFT his local is inside the Progressive Caucus umbrella. About 2/3 of the delegates are within the Progressive Caucus – the opposition caucus, from what I can see representing teachers in Berkeley and a few in Detroit is very small in number; although, they speak on the floor every chance they get. The Progressive Caucus took positions on about a dozen of the ninety-one resolutions.

Monday morning: A UFT delegation breakfast meeting at 7 am over watery scrambled eggs and lukewarm bacon Mulgrew gave an update and a preview. The union and the Department still have to negotiate a teacher evaluation plan, without the use of student test scores in grade 3-8 by the end of the year, or, lose half a billion dollars in state aid: probably SLOs, MOSLs and the like … Although there are now almost 150 PROSE schools many other schools struggle with school leadership, especially school leaders who fail to include the union chapter in the planning of educational policies – the union contract, Article 24, calls for mediation if the school leader fails to involve the chapter – the clause was only used three times last year. The union will pursue a major initiative to increase teacher participation at the school level.

Off to the first convention session: Randi Weingarten’s State of the Union address. One of Randi’s best speeches, she spoke about her path to becoming a passionate advocate, the role of her mother who was a teacher, her father who was laid off from a job as an engineer, and introduced her partner, Sharon Kleinbaum, the rabbi at the largest LGBTQI congregation in the nation. For those of you who have heard Randi speak at times she begins to shout, almost shrill, she simply said that’s the way she is … and wondered whether male speakers received the same criticism. The core of the speech:  the most critical election of our lifetimes.  Watch and listen to the speech on the AFT.org website.

Off to the Divisional Meetings, the AFT represents, in addition to teachers, health care workers, colleges and universities, school-related personnel and other public employees. Linda Darling-Hammond, at the K-12 session, hopefully the next Secretary of Education in a Clinton Administration described her new gig – CEO of the Learning Policy Institute : the goal is to publicize evidence-based approaches to the major issues confronting schools, authentic assessment of student performance as well as teacher assessment/evaluation.

The Learning Policy Institute has been created to answer this new moment’s call to action. The Institute conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Working with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others, the Institute seeks to advance evidence-based policies that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the Institute connects policymakers and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels with the evidence, ideas, and actions needed to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness.

Next, the thirteen committees meet to debate the ninety-one resolutions. This year the Education Issues committee attracted about 800 delegates, I chair the International Affairs Committee, usually quite rambunctious, this year much milder. The committees concur, concur with amendments or recommend non-concurrence to the convention and select the three priorities that will be debated on the convention floor.

Waiting for Hillary:  the 4:30 Hillary speech is delayed, she is coming from the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati. About an hour later the Minnesota Senators, Al Franken and Amy Klobushar speak to the convention – both played major roles in dumping NCLB and crafting the new ESSA law. BTW, they’re wonderful speakers – Franken is self-deprecating, and, as you would expect, funny. Klobushar’s mother was a union teacher in Minnesota who worked as a classroom teacher until she was seventy!

We later find out Hillary was meeting with the family of the food-services worker, Phil Castillo, who was murdered at a traffic stop in St Paul, before her address to the convention. As I entered my hotel I was amazed by a sign. “No firearms allowed on this premise,” Minnesota is a concealed carry state!

Hillary’s speech was “workmanlike,” she covered all the bases, addressed every issue, and was interrupted endlessly by spontaneous applause. At the beginning of the speech some Black Lives Matter folk, it turns out guests, not delegates, were chanting slogans. My Bernie friends were totally on board, the critical nature of November was apparent to all. The convention endorsed Hillary with enormous enthusiasm; with the Republican convention in the process of endorsing Trump a Hillary victory is clear to everyone. Whatever reluctance or Bernie pangs are gone – the defeat of Trump is the goal.

The convention adjourned about 8 pm – a long, long day.

 

Tuesday: Day 2

 

The Tuesday agenda: speeches, videos and business.

 

Governor Mark Dayton – a wonderful governor who has been a spectacular supporter of public schools with a close relationship with the teacher union in Minnesota – a merged NEA-AFT state. Leo Gerard, the president of the Steelworkers Union, the AFT and the Steelworkers are working together on infrastructure projects around the nation. School building average age is 43 years – Gerard supports a major investment in school infrastructure.

 

Representatives from organizations with which the AFT collaborates spoke and gave examples of collaborative initiatives across the country: the Color of Change http://www.colorofchange.org/about/ and the Alliance to Reclaim Our School (AROS).

 

A resolution to endorse Hillary Clinton: speaker lined up at the eight microphones with passionate plea after plea – a generation defining election. One speaker, a teacher from Detroit, opposed endorsing any candidates and I think supported militant, disruptive opposition. The resolution passed with only a handful of dissents. Some of the most adamant Bernie supporters gave vigorous endorsements to Hillary.

 

A couple of committees reported out and we adjourn – closing in on 7 pm – another long day ends.

Off to Minneapolis: Preparing for the American Federation of Teacher Convention: Will the Bernie and Hillary Supporters Bond?

On Monday the American Federation of Teachers will celebrate its hundredth anniversary at their bi-annual convention, this year in Minneapolis. About 3,000 teachers, school-related personnel and nurses will spend four days setting policy for the national union, listening to a range of speakers and on Monday afternoon meet the “presumptive” Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. (You can watch on the AFT.org website).

National conventions are always fascinating, an opportunity to meet teachers from around the nation. Chicago (CTU-Local 1) has been at war with Rahm Emmanuel, their mayor, with another strike possible in September.  California appears to be making positive changes away from endless testing, or, are they creating a dense accountability system – talking with teacher trade unionists from across the nation is always enlightening.  I will be meeting teacher union guests from other countries. Recently I was speaking with teachers and school leaders from Austria: How do you become a principal in Austria? “You belong to the right political party.” Are teachers involved in hiring staff? (Odd look) “No, neither is the principal, teachers are assigned by the bureaucracy, and have lifetime tenure after a few years.  We needed a history teacher, they sent us a gym teacher, and our system is totally top down.” BTW, Austria scores above average on PISA assessments (See here).

The convention schedule is packed full of meeting – first meeting 7 am Monday morning. The delegates will debate changes to the AFT constitution and bylaws and debate, in committees, ninety-one resolutions submitted from locals around the country. Linda Darling-Hammond will lead a discussion of teacher assessment and the new federal All Students Succeed Act (ESSA) that replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The US Department had just released draft regulations – no question the regulations and the possibilities for innovation pilots will be discussed (See Education Week discussion here)

On the convention floor there are multiple microphones (usually six, seven or eight) scattered around the arena. Any delegate can jump up to a microphone to support, oppose or amend a resolution. The committees, after debating the resolutions, set priorities, the highest priority resolutions must be debated on the floor – there are thirteen committees – the top three priorities must reach the floor.

The Democratic Platform on Education was set last week, the original platform reflected the de-reformers, led by Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), a coalition led by Bernie supporters and Randi Weingarten made significant changes (Read details here), angering the DFER faction, who are supporters of the Duncan-King policies.

A theme of the convention will be bonding the Hillary and the Bernie acolytes and building a teacher-led Hillary campaign across the nation. Not an easy task since passions were high during the lengthy campaign, considering the Trump alternative, one would hope the Bernie folks will jump on board.

The latest polls, if you have any confidence in polls, predicts a very close election (Read polling results here).

I’ll be blogging from Minneapolis – stay tuned.