The National Newspaper Publishers Association’s ESSA Awareness Campaign is focused on informing and engaging parents, educators, elected officials and opinion leaders about efforts and policies aimed at closing achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students.
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Here we go again: President Donald Trump and Congress were unable to reach agreement on temporary spending plan to keep the government open. So the U.S. Department of Education and other government agencies are on a partial shutdown, as of midnight Friday night. This is the first time this has happened in four years.
Lawmakers will keep trying to hammer out a deal. But in the meantime, the department’s headquarters at 400 Maryland Ave. will be a much quieter place than usual, but most school districts aren’t going to be immediately affected if this turns out to be a short-term shutdown. A longer-term shutdown, however, could cause more headaches. Head Start, the federal preschool program, and Impact Aid to districts with a federal presence in their backyard will likely feel the pinch first. (See below for more).
Below are the answers to some frequently asked questions about what happens now:
How many people will still report to work at the Education Department? A lot fewer than usual. More than 90 percent of the department’s nearly 4,000 employees will be furloughed for the first week of the shutdown. Of course, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her top aides still come in. If the shutdown goes on for more than a week, more employees could return on a temporary basis, but it would not be more than 6 percent of the department’s staff.
Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.
Associate Editor Christina Samuels contributed to this post.
Source: Education Week Politics K-12
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has given six more states the thumbs-up on their plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act: Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, and New Hampshire.
These approvals bring the grand total of approved state ESSA plans to 33, plus Puerto Rico’s and the District of Columbia’s. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia submitted plans last spring, and all but one of those states, Colorado, have been approved. Another 34 states turned in plans last fall, and so far, 18 have been approved.
So what do the approved plans look like? Below are some highlights of the state’s draft applications…
Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.
Want to learn more about the Every Student Succeeds Act? Here’s some useful information:
Video: ESSA Explained in 3 Minutes
youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWQGmU-J80Q?rel=0&w=600&h=338
Source: Education Week Politics K-12
First of a six-part series
Poverty is the worst form of violence. — Mahatma Gandhi
Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit. — Eli Khamarov
Poverty is brutal, consuming and unforgiving. It strikes at the soul. — Charles M. Blow
Last August, I introduced the first column in a six-part series declaring that “poverty is not a character flaw,” but rather a math problem (and so much more). The math problems identified during the course of the series focused on America’s substantial inequities in employment, education, housing and transportation.
Then, in the final column, I began to explore the idea that, in addition to being a math problem, poverty is “so much more.” Poverty is an unrelenting assault on humanity, a wicked scourge that can have a decidedly detrimental effect on the health and wellness of those caught in its steely grasp.
In this new six-part series titled “We already know that poverty is a math problem. So, what else is it?” I will explore the impact that poverty has on the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being of people.
The series will conclude with an attempt to tackle Ruby K. Payne’s intriguing notion of the hidden rules among classes, which she describes as “the unspoken cues and habits of a group.” She adds that here in the United States, such a concept is often “recognized for racial and ethnic groups, but not particularly for economic groups.”
Still, before I begin to address these issues over the next couple of months, I would like to briefly discuss some of the inherently unique obstacles that people living in poverty face, which are generally unbeknownst to others. I am reminded of a passage from James Baldwin’s essay “Fifth Avenue, Uptown,” where he writes:
“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor, and if one is a member of a captive population, economically speaking, one’s feet have simply been placed on the treadmill forever.”
A half-century after these words were composed by the legendary writer and activist, New York Times Op-Ed columnist Charles M. Blow revisited Baldwin’s assertion, noting that while its “original intent” was related to monetary matters (namely paying more for lesser goods), he has personally “always considered that statement in the context of the extreme psychological toll of poverty.”
To his point, consider some of the decisions people in poverty make that others couldn’t bear to imagine, like choosing between buying food, paying the light bill, or purchasing prescription medications. In fact, the threat of unexpected costs or the potential of a personal or family crisis likely figures in every choice made by those below the poverty line.
The truth is that poor households don’t have the luxury of planning for the future. For those in poverty, sometimes the day’s only objective is to survive into tomorrow.
These are just some of the reasons that the life expectancy of someone who is poor is 10 to 15 years less than someone who is not. Or why many in poverty are forced to find more than one job, often working longer hours than most and performing back-breaking work for insufficient pay. Far too many of our fellow citizens live in substandard housing, can’t find or afford nutritious food, lack access to quality health care, and are consigned to underfunded public schools.
The stress of poverty, as demonstrated by a number of recent studies, plays havoc with the physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual health of millions of Americans each and every day. Pure and simple, poverty is violence and it should not stand.
As Dr. King famously said upon winning the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
Yes, indeed.
Clarence Hightower is the executive director of Community Action Partnership of Ramsey & Washington Counties. Dr. Hightower holds a Ph.D. in urban higher education from Jackson State University. He welcomes reader responses to 450 Syndicate Street North, St. Paul, MN 55104.
By Mrinal Gokhale
[/media-credit] O.N.F.Y.A.H. African dance and drum ensemble.
MILWAUKEE COURIER — Thousands gathered at the Marcus Center of Performing Arts on Sunday, Jan. 14 to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From 1 pm to 3 pm, local elected and community leaders gave speeches on Dr. King’s legacy, and Milwaukee Public School students delivered speeches and displayed artwork inspired by Dr. King.
Other than Atlanta, Milwaukee is the only other city that has celebrated Dr. King’s birthday since 1984. Each year, Milwaukee Public Schools students in grades K-12 participate in an art, essay and writing contest that honors Dr. King’s legacy. This year’s theme was “take a stand for truth and justice.”
[/media-credit] Milwaukee Flyers Tumbling Team.
MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver was one of the communityleaders who spoke this day.
“We have had 5,000 students participate in the preliminary contest, and 56 won,” she said. “Our young people are finding ways to get active in our community.”
Amir Johnikin, grade 3, was the first place speech winner for the 3-4thgrade category. He attends Elm Creative Arts Elementary School. Without a paper in his hand, he was one of the first to share his entire essay on stage. He stated that the same streets that Dr. King marched were the same streets where his father’s life was taken. He also mentioned African Americans like Sandra Bland, who died at the hands of police officers.
[/media-credit] Ameen Atta, winner of the 9-10th grade speech category speaks against the racism he has experienced as a Muslim.
“King had a dream that people of all races would co-exist in peace,” he said. “I challenge you to stand up for what you believe in, I challenge you to stand up for justice, and I challenge you to stand up for truth.”
Tenth grader Ameen Atta feels especially passionate about the theme when it comes to Islam. Atta won first place in the 9-10th grade speeches category.
“As a Muslim, I stand against violent, senseless acts against Islam,” he said.
He also said that it is “disgusting” to hear “hateful remarks and proposals by leaders of our community.”
“If it’s African Americans, more police. If it’s Hispanics, build a wall. If it’s a Muslim, travel ban,” he said. “But if it’s none of the above, even if the person is the deadliest mass shooter in the history of our country, the only proposal is to send thoughts and prayers to the victim.”
[/media-credit] Amir Johnakin, winner of 3-4th grade speech category challenges the audience to stand up for justice.
Mayor Tom Barrett was one of the first to speak when the event began. He believes that although Dr. King has helped bring social and racial justice to our country today, our current president is not doing so.
“Rather than having an individual who is appealing to our better angels, we have someone who is not appealing to our better angels but to our lesser angels,” he said.
In addition to contest winners, Milwaukee Tumblers, O.N.F.Y.A.H, United Indians of Milwaukee and Latino Arts Strings performed during the multi-cultural salute portion. After the event ended, the art winners were honored in a reception at the Bradley Pavilion.
Contact: Tom McCarthy, DPI Communications Director, (608) 266-3559
MADISON — Claudine Clark, a world language teacher at Madison East High School, has found innovative ways to bring the world into her classroom, earning her the third annual Global Educator of the Year Award. Nomination letters cited the thousands of dollars in scholarship support Clark has secured so her students can see the world. She is noted for bringing international teachers to her school, promoting lifelong language learning, and sharing what she has learned with colleagues.
“Wisconsin graduates need to be able to communicate, collaborate, and compete with others across intersections of language and culture,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers in presenting the award today. “Ms. Clark prepares global scholars with these skills, ensuring that they are world-ready.”
A Wisconsin native, Clark earned a bachelor of science degree in secondary education, French, and English as a second language from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She has taught in Hortonville, Green Lake, Janesville, and for the past ten years, the Madison Metropolitan School District. Her international education travel experiences include time in Benin, Japan, France, Canada, and Egypt.
To qualify as the Wisconsin Global Educator of the Year, a teacher must cultivate students’ global awareness, promote growth of global competencies, model and engage colleagues in best practices for global learning, employ innovative approaches to building global knowledge and skills, and implement the Global Education Achievement Certificate program. There are currently 84 high schools that have implemented the Global Education Achievement Certificate program. The certificate is awarded to graduating high school students who have demonstrated a strong interest in global citizenship by successfully completing a global education curriculum and engaging in co-curricular activities and experiences that foster the development of global competencies. In 2017, 75 students were recognized as global scholars.
The Global Educator of the Year is selected by the State Superintendent’s International Education Council, chaired by Gilles Bousquet, University of Wisconsin-Madison French professor and department chair. The recognition includes a $1,000 cash honorarium from the Madison area Rotary Clubs. Evers and DPI World Languages and International Education Consultant Pam Delfosse presented the award to Clark on behalf of the DPI International Education Council at Friday’s General Session of the Wisconsin State Education Convention in Milwaukee.
NOTE: More information about global learning is available on the department’s International Education website.
OAKLAND POST — Laney College’s latest tiny home prototype will house two homeless students beginning this spring semester.
Laney College carpentry presents the Pocket House at Capitol Hill. Right to left: Digital fabrication instructor Marisha Farnsworth, Laney student Kim Gordon, Congressperson Barbara Lee, Laney students Daniel Ticket, Miguel Vega, and Rick Rothbart.
Laney’s carpentry department has achieved success building tiny homes. They won a contest hosted by Sacramento Municipal Utility District for a tiny home they built in 2016. Councilmember Abel Guillén spearheaded a collaboration between the City of Oakland and their department with an $80,000 grant to Laney carpentry to build a tiny home prototype for mass production.
The latest model of the Laney-made tiny homes is the Pocket House Model M. It was delivered to West Side Missionary Baptist Church by Martin Kauffman, a truck driver who donated his services.
Art Ramirez is an electrician who will also donate his services to get the tiny home’s water and electricity up and running.
Rev. Ken Chambers said the 200-member Interfaith Council of Alameda County supports this project, and has a goal to house 1,000 people this year.
But the first step is to work with Laney coordinators to interview and select students in need of the home each semester. The parking lot the tiny home sits in is already a safe car park, and Chambers is taking steps toward being able to pay a stipend to the selected students for overseeing the lot. The church will also offer access to health and employment services.
Chambers hopes to create a system that can be replicated throughout Oakland and have a deep impact on the unsheltered communities it holds.
The post Laney, West Side Baptist’s Pocket Houses for Homeless Students appeared first on Oakland Post.
Contact: Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs 517-241-4395
Agency: Education
LANSING – Thirty-four Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs are sharing $2.85 million in state grants from Governor Rick Snyder’s MiSTEM Advisory Council, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced today.
The state Legislature set aside $2.85 million in 2017-18 to distribute grants up to $100,000 for the implementation of STEM programs listed in the STEMworks database. The MiSTEM Advisory Council selected the awardees, whose funding ranges from $24,000 to $100,000, from 134 applications seeking more than $10 million. The applications came from local and intermediate school districts (ISDs), universities, and STEM providers
“STEM education is critically important to a student’s success later in life,” Governor Snyder said. “Thank you to my partners in the state Legislature and the Department of Education for ensuring that more Michigan students will have access to these STEM skills.”
The MiSTEM Advisory Council said in a statement:
“The Council would like to thank the Governor for the leadership and vision to propel STEM education down a new and exciting path. The legislature has stepped up to the challenge and appropriated funds to support this shift in culture, enabling STEM programming around the state to benefit from proven best practices.
“As proud as we may be about this initial success, we are even more encouraged by the widespread potential that will be harnessed and directed toward the further advancement of STEM education for all of the students throughout the state.”
State Superintendent Brian Whiston said the grants’ STEM focus will help Michigan become a Top 10 education state in 10 years – the central goal of the Michigan Department of Education.
The grants align with the Top 10 plan’s goal of implementing high-quality classroom instruction through a child-centered instructional model with a strategy to enable public schools’ students to engage in integrated STEM programming.
In weighing the applications, the MiSTEM Advisory Council considered reviewer ratings, program type, and distribution across the MiSTEM Network Regions.
Two successful applicants, Oakland Schools and West Shore ESD, received multiple awards to provide professional development in regions other than their own. They are using the funding to build on statewide work underway for several years with seed funding from other sources.
Here is the list of 10 ISDs, 10 local districts and three STEM education provider applications selected for funding:
| Organization | Region | STEMworks Program | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeview Sch. District (Calhoun) | Region 1 – Southwest Michigan | PLTW | $94,340 |
| Oakland Schools | Region 2 – South Central Michigan | Modeling MS Science – Jackson/Lansing | $100,000 |
| Brighton Area Schools | Region 2 – South Central Michigan | PLTW | $53,007 |
| National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc. | Region 3 – Wayne County | Camp Invention | $100,000 |
| Wayne RESA | Region 3 – Wayne County | Math Recovery | $62,716 |
| Plymouth-Canton Community Schools | Region 3 – Wayne County | PLTW | $74,339 |
| Detroit Public Schools Community District | Region 3 – Wayne County | A World In Motion® (AWIM) | $97,730 |
| Iridescent | Region 3 – Wayne County | Iridescent | $91,382 |
| Macomb ISD | Region 4 – Macomb County | Math Recovery | $53,737 |
| Oakland Schools | Region 5 – Oakland County | Modeling Biology | $100,000 |
| Oakland Schools | Region 5 – Oakland County | Modeling Chemistry | $100,000 |
| Genesee ISD | Region 6 – Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair Counties | Math Recovery | $98,406 |
| Shiawassee Regional ESD | Region 7 – Capital Area | Math Recovery | $99,120 |
| Otsego Public Schools | Region 8 – West Michigan | MiSTAR | $34,160 |
| Kent ISD | Region 8 – West Michigan | Math Recovery | $45,675 |
| Oakland Schools | Region 8 – West Michigan | Modeling MS Science – Muskegon | $100,000 |
| Mason County Eastern Schools | Region 9 – West Central Michigan | Cereal City Science | $100,000 |
| Midland Public Schools | Region 10 – Central Michigan | MiSTAR | $88,784 |
| Sanilac ISD | Region 11 – Thumb | Cereal City | $100,000 |
| Oakland Schools | Region 12 – North East Michigan | Modeling Biology – Roscommon | $100,000 |
| Public Schools of Petoskey | Region 13 – North West Michigan | Full Option Science System (FOSS) | $60,185 |
| Eastern Upper Peninsula ISD | Region 14 – Eastern UP | Cereal City Science – elementary | $93,488 |
| Eastern Upper Peninsula ISD | Region 14 – Eastern UP | Cereal City Science – middle school | $82,474 |
| Oakland Schools | Region 15 – Central UP | Modeling Physical Science – Marquette | $100,000 |
| L’Anse Area Schools | Region 16 – Western UP | Engineering is Elementary | $28,119 |
| Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium & Keweenaw | Region 16 – Western UP | Math Recovery | $24,285 |
| Great Lakes Fishery Trust | Statewide | Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative | $99,166 |
| Muskegon Area ISD | Statewide | Math Recovery | $99,960 |
| West Shore Educational Service District | Statewide | AP Computer Science/Computer Science Discoveries | $668,927
(6 applications total) |
The Legislature created the MiSTEM Advisory Council in 2015. It’s made up of 11 voting members serving at the pleasure of the Governor and four ex-officio legislators appointed from the House of Representatives and Senate.
More information on the MiSTEM Advisory Council Grant
THE OAKLAND POST — The Oakland Unified School District and AC Transit have announced that bus transportation service to Montera Middle School, Skyline High School and Community Day School will be extended through June 2019.
“This extension gives our families assurance of both agencies’ commitment to support their transportation needs and to find solutions together,” said Board of Education Member Nina Senn.
Finding a longer-term solution will take time and an extension into 2019 gives us breathing room to do so,” she said. “We are very grateful for AC Transit’s and our state legislators, Senator Nancy Skinner, Assemblymembers Rob Bonta and Tony Thurmond’s … partnership and collaboration as we work through this process.”
Said AC Transit Board President Elsa Ortiz, “AC Transit is proud of our decades-long partnership with OUSD and honored to know that our service will remain a passport for East Bay students.
“In collaboration with OUSD, we devoted the past year to developing cost savings that minimized changes to ‘school-tripper’ bus lines, while working with stakeholders on the financial commitments that now protect supplementary bus service through the close of next school year,” she aid.
For information about bus routes and schedules, visit AC Transit’s website at: http://www.actransit.org/
The post AC Transit to Oakland Hills Schools Wins Reprieve appeared first on Oakland Post.
By Robin White Goode, blackenterprise.com
Twenty-five African American high school students from Atlanta are heading to Harvard this summer as part of the Harvard Debate Council’s residential summer program.
That’s according to the website Rolling Out.
The Art Institute of Atlanta, where the surprise announcement was made, awarded the students $10,500 in scholarship money to attend the prestigious program. An additional $88,000 needs to be raised to support the students’ tuition, room and board, and travel. Donate here.
Read more at http://www.blackenterprise.com/great-debaters-25-black-atlanta-students-head-harvard-summer/