Public Education News

The Board has created a new Ad Hoc Committee on the Budget and it will have its first meeting this Thursday, August 7th, in the Board conference room from 1:30-2:30pm. The Chair is Director Sarah Clark with Members Joe Mizrahi and Liza Rankin. 

I would guess from that short timeframe, the time is going to be used to create an outline of the work. There is no agenda available yet. 

The New York Times had a timely article this morning:

It’s Time for That Often-Dreaded Task: Buying Back-to-School Supplies

Parents of children in kindergarten through high school are spending an average of $144, and that’s coming as families are feeling financial stress.

That seems like a lot of money on top of maybe a new backpack, lunchbox, shoes, and clothes. 

“I dread it,” said Rachael Rayes, a speech therapist and mother of two boys in Kenner, La., who wrote about school supply shopping on the New Orleans Mom website. “I hate it more than matching socks.”

And teachers?

According to federal statistics for the 2020-21 school year, the most recent available, 95 percent of public schoolteachers spent money on school supplies — $445, on average — that wasn’t reimbursed. (Teachers can get a $300 tax deductionfor supplies on their federal tax return.)

 A big "WOW" from me for Cloud Peak Elementary in Buffalo, Wyoming because that 225-student K-5 school achieved over 80% reading proficiency. How did they do it? A very planned and structured intervention program for EVERY student in the school. From Principal Maggi Lambert:

Until two years ago, Cloud Peak used a “traditional” intervention model. We identified the lowest performing students as “struggling readers.” They all received the same intervention regardless of their skill gaps. Does that sound like your school or district?

What did they do?

We set up professional learning communities (PLCs) — groups of educators who work collaboratively to improve teaching and learning for all students — and received intensive training on using data to collaborate on innovative solutions.

We looked at our data and introduced diagnostic measures to identify specific skill gaps interfering with students’ reading ability, followed by diagnostic assessments to home in on targeted interventions. Then, we got to work.

Our most powerful shift was carving out a dedicated intervention and extension block, which we call “Reading I&E.” Every third, fourth, and fifth grader receives daily targeted reading instruction — support or enrichment — in addition to regular core reading instruction. 

Since I&E is built into our master schedule, students aren’t pulled out of science or social studies class for intervention.

In fifth grade, for instance, all students read novels, but their experience varies greatly depending on their needs. Enrichment for stronger readers includes book talks, character interviews, and story mapping. Intervention for others includes vocabulary, explicit decoding support, and structured scaffolds to boost comprehension.

No one is stuck in a label. Every student constantly learns and grows with the support or enrichment they need.

That's differentiated teaching and learning in an entire school. 

But now we shift to what is happening at the national level by the Trump regime. Let's see. 

• The dismantling of the Department of Education continues.
• At nearly the last minute, the DOE finally released the already promised and budgeted federal dollars to districts throughout the country.
• From the AP: 

Days after he sent letters instructing top pharmaceutical manufacturers to use a “most favored nation” pricing model for prescription drugs, President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he had cut costs by up to 1,500%. But Trump’s grandiose claim is mathematically impossible.

Get this guy into remedial math. Or make this into a fun math quiz for your middle schooler. Read this to them as ask, "How much would someone pay if prices were cut over 100%?"

• Big excitement for kids who love science. The interim NASA administrator (who is also Transportation Secretary) Sean Duffy is sending astronauts to the moon. But what does he want to build? From Politico:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator.

NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by POLITICO — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut. The move also underscores how Duffy, who faced pushback from lawmakers about handling two jobs, wants to play a role in NASA policymaking.

“It is about winning the second space race,” said a NASA senior official, granted anonymity to discuss the documents ahead of their wider release.

Duffy also offered a directive to more quickly replace the International Space Station, another NASA goal. The two moves could help accelerate U.S. efforts to reach the moon and Mars — a goal that China is also pursuing.

Look at this timeline:

The reactor directive orders the agency to solicit industry proposals for a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor to launch by 2030, a key consideration for astronauts’ return to the lunar surface. NASA previously funded research into a 40 kilowatt reactor for use on the moon, with plans to have a reactor ready for launch by the early 2030s.

We're in a space race with China and Russia for a nuclear reactor and a space station. I wonder how this will all get done in less than 5 years.