Title: Trump Brings Uncertainty to Big Education Issues

Source/Author/Date: RealClearEducation, Andrew Ujifusa, November 9th 2016

URL Link

What Do We Tell The Children?

The Huffington Post

Ali Michael, Ph.D. 

Source: LINK

Key Points: As educator's we need to be good role models for the students. We need to focus on the good and positives. This will be a good time to talk about democracy and civic duties that we all have. Discuss issues around our immediate communities in which students can take a role and make a change. 

Relevance: The election that just happened has a lot of minority students talking about their fears. This is their future and it affects their daily life. Personally, I have received a lot of concerning questions from my students and know of other teachers who have the same issue. 

Audience: Staff and teachers in schools. Parents and children.

Advocates for Spec. Ed., Gifted Weigh In on ESEA Rewrite - Education Week

Advocates for Spec. Ed., Gifted Weigh In on ESEA Rewrite - Education Week

May 5, 2015

Audience: Policy Makers, Educators, TAG & SPED Teachers and Families

Key Points: The United States Senate Education Committee on April 16 approved an amended and bolstered revision to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The next step is the Senate Floor. There would be an increased push for talented and gifted education funding and higher/better provisions for teacher support in TAG through federal funding of teacher training. It hopes to reduce the "excellence gap"

Exciting ESEA re-write Developments

Senate Committee Reaches Agreement on New ESEA, April 7, 2015  

Diane Ravitch Blog

http://dianeravitch.net/2015/04/07/senate-committee-reaches-agreement-on-new-esea/

Key Points:

• Senate Commitee works on re-authorization of ESEA (Elementary & Secondary Education Act-- currently “No Child Left Behind.”)
• Removes
• Significant amount of Federal oversight/ tools for manipulation.
• “low-performing schools” sanctions
• Leaves
• Yearly testing in place
• Does not create vouchers
• Does not create Score Card for low-performing schools to provide funding differential transparency

Intended Audience:

Policy Wonks, School administrators, practicioners

Relevance:

New legislation in this direction could be a boon for teacher professionalism and what I see as more authentic learning.  It is important that this is only a Senate committee draft, subject to floor debate (if allowed) and the hugely partisan House before heading to Obama (who, by the way might now like how many of Arne Duncan’s tools/ initiatives are repudiated with this legislation).  If lame-duck congress can pass this before we start teaching, it will be a better footing at the beggining of our careers.

Politics that Impact the Classroom

Education Week 
Partisan Hurdles Ahead on K-12 for some GOP Governors 
Andrew Ujifusa, 3/4/2015
Audience: Educators, Education Politics readers
Key Points: 
1) That three traditionally Democrat-leaning states (Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois)  have recently elected Republican Governors, and that this has implications for the education policy of the state. 
2) The issues in Maryland and Massachusetts focus on the role that charter schools play in serving the needs of the student population as well as their political implications. 
3) In Illinois, the foremost issue is that the new Governor plans to erode or eliminate the power of the public-sector unions.  He is also looking at options to close and consolidate school district administrative functions.   
Relevance: 
Working in public schools is an inherently political position.  Teachers are not meant to be overt partisan actors in the course of their typical day, but our professional lives and educational positions are most certainly political footballs.  It is important not only to develop ourselves pedagogically, but also to stay aware of, and to act on policies that will have implications for issues we care about.