What's Happening in Public Education in 2023?
I would name several items of interest for 2023.
One would be whether nationwide, the attacks on the contents of public school libraries will continue as well as attacks on members of school boards. Those who are showing up with pitchforks seem to have a litany of issues; "woke" school districts, gender reading/discussion, pronouns used, transgender athletes and, of course, "choice" or "options" for their child's education.
The second issue would be - who are these parents and are they grassroots or corporate grown? Signs are that they are not just parents acting on their own. Read up on "Moms for Liberty."
The third issue would be the looming shortage of teachers.
And circling back again to an issue that still concerns - what about boys? American boys, in many ways, are on a downhill slide and attention must be paid.
Worrying about boys then leads to worrying about ALL K-12 kids and their anxiety levels. And fyi, there is a real mental health issue that teens worry about and it's "climate anxiety." More on this soon.
From the Gates Foundation on their work in 2023:
Our Washington State team will work with local and regional partners to help students see a clear path to success in the careers they choose, with an emphasis on young people who face the highest barriers including Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, and students from low-income backgrounds and rural communities.
That begins with helping students take the next step in their education journeys after high school—whether that’s enrolling in a trade school, apprenticeship program, or two- or four-year college.
First up in 2023: we will issue an open invitation for regions to be part of a learning network. In addition to connecting these regions with technical experts to help them identify and test solutions, community organizations will have a chance to receive grant funding to help them start or expand programs and build coalitions. Alongside this regional work, we’ll explore statewide policies that help all students take the next step to reach their aspirations.
Up and coming stories:
- Students are Turning to TikTok for Homework Help. Is that a bad thing? Education Week
In fact, a general survey of TikTok users in the United States found that 1 in 4 use the platform for educational purposes, according to a new survey from online learning platform Study.com. And 69 percent of those who use TikTok for educational purposes said it has helped them complete their homework.
- One of my favorite education writers, Rick Hess, had this interesting op-ed on what the Right could do to align with parents. He got some great points. Via The Hill.
- Promote transparency and accountability
- Teacher pay and professionalism
- Get serious about career and technical education
- Embrace excellence (and here Hess means gifted programming accessible to all)
-Who is to blame for our nation's turn to listening to fascists and this move for parents to having "choice?"According to a Raw Story commentary, teachers are taking the fall.
Former Tea Party congressman and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently put a bulls-eye on the back of the president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers.
Public schools are on the GOP’s hit list, just as they were in Chile during the Pinochet regime, and for the same reasons:
— Fascism flourishes when people are ignorant.
— Private for-profit schools are an efficient way to transfer billions from tax revenues into the coffers of “education entrepreneurs” who then recycle that money into Republican political campaigns (just like they’ve done with private for-profit prisons).
— Private schools are most likely to be segregated by race and class, which appeals to the bigoted base of the Republican party.
— Most public school teachers are unionized, and the GOP hates unions.
— While public school boards are our most basic and vigorous form of democracy, private schools are generally unaccountable to the public.
— Whitewashing America’s racial and genocidal history while ignoring the
struggles of women and queer folk further empowers straight white male
supremacy.
Comments
sign me
publiceducationfan
And a school district where teachers have male tears mugs on their desks and the future is female posters on their walls is not serious about being welcoming and inclusive to males.
Finally, the book banning continues. My school doesn't do Gatsby, The Odyssey, and new books are being cut this year on ideological grounds. That's going on everywhere.
Thanks for hosting the discussion!
SP
Teachers can opt out of paying dues to unions post-Janus decision at the Supreme Court. I’m not gonna say that makes them powerless, but those are the facts.
Agree with you on anti-male sentiment in the schools. I’m living it with a teenage son. There’s not an obvious role/place for boys to be and of course they’re listening to the strong men of the world (think: Andrew Tate, Trump) and going down that path. When did gender equity become a zero sum game?
In This House
Except I guess it's not even a secret that public schools have been weaponized for political purposes, as the Raw Story account makes clear. Public schools are a place where you can force-feed your ideology to the captive children of your enemies, while skimming cash for your preferred political party (and the other side wishing they could do the same.) So it's not even about the students anymore. Public schools have become toxic and divisive, even on top of being increasingly ineffective. No surprise they can't retain staff. So let it go. Let's try something different.
The problem is that we don't operate schools to serve political ideas. I do not agree with this at all:
"Public schools are a place where you can force-feed your ideology to the captive children of your enemies, while skimming cash for your preferred political party (and the other side wishing they could do the same.) "
Do I think there are some activist teachers (especially in high school)? Sure but they are few and far between.
If you mean charters and vouchers as something "different," the answer is no. I'm going to be writing a post about charter schools in Seattle soon, though.
- Curriculum. There are concerns about the cost-effectiveness of pricey subscription-based curricula like Amplify, as well as the negative impact on college admissions for students who were denied access to advanced math in high school. The CCC balanced literacy ELA curriculum, while research-based, is not evidence-based and has led to declining reading and writing scores. Most Seattle ELA teachers prefer evidence-based structured literacy, phonics, and other science of reading approaches, but these tools and training are missing. The district is also lacking a comprehensive social studies curriculum, apart from truncated in-house ethnic studies materials and frameworks and STI.
- Dyslexia. With state-mandated universal K-2 screening, there will likely be a push for more dyslexia-inclusive curricula. The success of Seattle Excellence will depend on how dyslexia is addressed in our schools. Currently, the CCC curriculum uses costly add-on MTSS pull-outs for dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other SLD supports, which (note for Liza Rankin) is not inclusive. Switching to an affordable structured literacy program that optimally aligns with evidence-based practices will be crucial for addressing dyslexia more effectively and inclusively.
- Teacher ed programs, reading, and dyslexia. Graduates of local teacher education programs, including the University of Washington College of Education and Seattle U, are not trained in the best literacy pedagogy. When asked, many fresh graduates lack an accurate understanding of dyslexia, defining it only as a “difficulty reading.” The First Step Act is the first federal law to define dyslexia accurately as “a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.” The new DSM will update this, too. Approximately 20% or more of public school students have dyslexia, so teacher ed programs must step up but so far are MIA.
- Why do we teach ELA? OpenAI’s ChatGPT can generate natural, fluid writing that is good enough to fool teachers and experts. Many people are concerned about students using this tool to cheat on English class essays and college admissions essays. In 2023, it is important to consider what it means to teach writing and why we teach it, and what it means for students to be good writers when such technology exists. Additionally, the NCTE last year issued a statement calling on education to "decenter book reading and essay writing" in ELA classes. This ties into the ChatGPT and curriculum conversations. Why are books important? Why is literary analysis important? Why is essay writing important?
- Social media and mental health. Preteens and teens have been using social media for over a decade, and research is showing it can be toxic for this age group, especially girls. Despite this, many schools still communicate via social media, and it is allowed and even encouraged by parents and teachers. Healthy social media use or non-use needs more attention to the mix of issues if we want to address the mental health concerns of adolescents comprehensively.
Happy New Year
You say ".... we don't operate schools to serve political ideas." Who is we, and what world do you live in? In the world where the rest of us live, public schools are viewed primarily as a social engineering tool, and they are definitely operated to serve political ideas. I think that's the real world, because every time I kick it, it kicks back.
As well, new data suggests that coming BACK to schools sent the teen suicide rate up and how those rates dropped when schools were closed. I'm going to write a post about that as well.
Mike Pompeo criticized Randi Weingarten? It's such an obvious garden variety political tit for tat, red meat to the base, but according to this author it's an invitation to stochastic terrorism.
It's true the GOP wants to cut public schools - after all, cutting spending is what they do. But what does that have to do with fascism?
In reality, public schools do a much better of a job than the GOP in discrediting themselves. The lack of standards and the complete embrace of therapeutic culture is probably the biggest reason, which allows in other things like activist capture (we have to keep everyone happy, right?). It's very easy to argue for cutting schools when they are fighting for such great causes like porn in the library. I know you boomers are very proud of the sexual revolution, but come on!
The article laments that "the National Assessment of Educational Progress, determined in 2018 that only 24% of US students were 'proficient in civics.'", but why is that a surprise when curriculum like the historically inaccurate 1619 project was pushed onto kids? If teachers are telling kids America is irredeemably racist, why should they care about civics?
Why will millenials like me put our kids in private schools? Because public schools are run by people who will slurp up propaganda like this. Cowards who will crumple the minute someone calls them racist or fascist or transphobic. I hope public schools can improve enough to where I feel comfortable sending my kid there, but I am not too optimistic.
I just want my kid to be normal, competent and well-rounded. I don't want them to be taught incoherent, politically-motivated garbage. I guess that makes me fascist? Okay, bye then!