nationalreview--2019-03-23--Finishing What Darwin Began

Finishing What Darwin Began

David Sloan Wilson's new book argues that evolutionary biology can inform society and politics.  In This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson continues the project of scientific imperialism that has defined much of the latter part of his career. This View of Life takes as given that humans are shaped by our evolutionary past, and proceeds to show how general principles derived from the discipline can be applied to policy decisions and social problems, guiding our species-wide goals to further our flourishing. Wilson aims to break evolution out of its biological box, offering it as a universal framework for understanding and shaping human phenomena.  This is an ambitious program. But first one has to address the historical elephant in the room: the misapplication of evolutionary principles. The prosecution argues that evolution stands of accused of aiding and abetting the abominations that culminated in Nazi Germany. After the defeat of Hitler’s regime, evolutionary theory retreated into the redoubt of biology, concerning itself with natural history, laboratory experiments, and abstruse mathematical models. And there it should stay, argue its critics, lest we repeat the mistakes of the past.  David Sloan Wilson rejects this argument in totality. He notes that the opprobrium hurled at evolution’s application to social problems draws from Richard Hofstadter’s Social Darwinism in American Thought. Hofstadter was a man of left-wing commitments writing in 1944, as the war against Hitler’s regime was still a live concern. His was not a dispassionate scholarly analysis. He aimed to produce something which could be deployed in the fight against “racism, nationalism, or competitive strife.”  This View of Life highlights how men as diverse as Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Francis Galton, and Thomas Malthus were not united in their views, nor were they the cruel anti-humanitarians that their detractors portray them as (Hitler’s own views were scientifically inchoate at best, and ignorant at worst). Wilson’s arguments are familiar to libertarians in particular, many of whom have long argued that Hofstadter misrepresented classical liberals.  The argument for the defense that one encounters in This View of Life may not entirely convince, at least in the chapter-length treatment Wilson provides. The great evolutionary geneticist R. A. Fisher’s central work, Genetical Theory of Natural Selection, contains a long exposition of eugenicist thought as applied to humanity. To not put too fine a point on this, contemporary readers invariably find this section quite offensive. And yet Fisher himself was a complicated figure, a patriotic British Tory conservative and Anglican Christian. The past was truly a different age.  Most of This View of Life, though, presents a forward-looking positive vision, not a backward-looking apologia. Wilson argues cogently that humanity, both in its biology and its culture, is a product of evolution. The central pillars of his narrative are the “four major questions” elucidated by the ethologist Niko Tinbergen in the 20th century as essential aspects of any evolutionary analysis. First, what is the function of a trait? Second, what is the history of the trait over many generations? Third, what is the physical mechanism of the trait? Finally, how does the trait develop during the history of the particular organism?  At this point you may wonder how Wilson applies these questions outside of biology, in religion for example, thereby completing the Darwinian revolution. Though This View of Life touches upon religion, it is in an earlier book, Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society, that he elaborates in detail how religious belief systems are evolutionarily shaped cultural phenomena.  Consider the trait of missionary activity. The function of the trait is to increase the flock and bear witness to the message of salvation. In regards to its history, the earliest records of missions go back to Buddhism, many centuries before Christ, during the reign of the Emperor Ashoka. The trait seems to have become common in many Roman “mystery religions,” culminating with Christianity, and later adopted by Islam, evolving over time in vigor and centrality to various faiths. The mechanism is straightforward. Believers leave their homelands and propagate their views. Finally, the nature of missionary activity has changed in many religions over time, as aims and methods have been refined – changes that develop through selection.  A specific religion can be thought of as a cultural organism. Consider the Western Christian tradition – the Roman Catholic Church and the eruption of the Reformation. It made forays into organized missionary work under Gregory the Great in the sixth century a.d., but it truly refined the process in the 16th and 17th centuries with the emergence of orders such as Jesuits – missionary arms of the Church tasked with countering the spread of Protestantism – taking the faith across the oceans to new lands.  The application of evolutionary principles to religion illustrates that This View of Life is not wedded to genetics. Genetics revolutionized our understanding of evolution in the 20th century, but in our time Wilson wants to push evolution beyond its genetic basis. All that evolution requires is inheritance of characteristics. This vision is grounded strongly on a “multi-level” understanding of organismic complexity, extending ideas Wilson developed in the early part of his career. In the biological context, that means viewing organisms from their simplest level – that of the gene – up to the individual, above that to kin groups, and then to large entities such as tribes and nations. And once you extend your analysis to large groups, cultural processes become much more powerful than biological ones.  Due to its ambition, This View of Life takes aim at the incumbent imperium of applied social science: economics. Wilson has no time for the utilitarian individualism of neoclassical economics and its fixation on static equilibria. He rejects Homo economicus as intellectually impoverished, with thin insights not conducive to fostering human flourishing. Just as with the refutation of the arguments popularized by Hofstadter, skeptics may raise their eyebrows at the broad-brush dismissal of economics in Wilson’s narrative, but the thing to focus on is the alternative vision he presents. You can set This View of Life next to Tim Harford’s The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World with no guilt.  It is simply a fact that humans are fundamentally social animals. Though the liberal vision emphasizes the centrality of the individual in terms of worth, our evolutionary history suggests that human uniqueness lies in our incredible sociality and cultural creativity. Individual human beings exist, but so do a wide range of social organizations. Consider the various city-states of ancient Greece, with their myriad political systems, or the communes of the Burned-over District of upstate New York in the 19th century after the Second Great Awakening. Religions, civic associations, and polities: These are all unique and ubiquitous to our species.  Evolution on the individual level favors selfishness, as one might see in Homo economicus. Greed is, on the one level, good. But Wilson shows that in the broader context of animal breeding, maximizing the most “fit” lineages results in lower overall productivity, as rapacious individuals tear down the social fabrics on which they rely to exist. It is often the case that selection for groups of cooperative organisms, who may on an individual level be less impressive, results in greater yield. Evolution is more than the sum of its parts.  And so it is with human societies, as the total drive toward selfishness leads to a war of all against all, and social collapse. Homo economicus may win against other members of their own tribe, but their tribe always loses to Homo sapiens, which is a much less rapacious creature. This View of Life presents a progressive vision of human complexity increasing over the eons, as bands becomes clans, and clans become tribes, and tribes become nations. The ultimate level of organization Wilson envisions is a global one.  But here he does not imagine a centralized, top-down leviathan. Rather, he posits iterative experimentation as an essential feature of evolutionary systems, which evolve and change over time. They depend not on eternal equilibriums, but on contemporary responses to current conditions. Wilson inveighs against laissez-faire, but does not offer up as a utopian uniform alternative a centralized command economy. Evolution is not top-down design, as might apply to a physical system, but bottom-up adaptation and experimentation, as is the norm in biological systems. Small businesses, civic associations, localities, and nonprofits will likely drive social change and advancement on a global scale in the view promulgated in Wilson’s narrative. They incentivize innovation and promote what works.  This View of Life begins with a discussion of the ideas of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, an evolutionary biologist, Jesuit priest, and philosopher, whose impact in the 20th century has been largely forgotten in the 21st century. It concludes with a frank admission that Wilson is aspiring to the same aim of de Chardin’s work in The Phenomenon of Man, which argued that humanity is pushing forward the project of increased social complexity so that there will evolve a supreme-consciousness, the “Omega Point.” In a broad sense Wilson too aspires to the Omega Point. He states that the “evolutionary worldview” in This View of Life is an ethic, while “evolutionary theory” is simply a description. This is a large step for a scientist – so large that it changes his work from that of a scientist to that of a pundit.  Most evolutionary biologists would no doubt feel The Phenomenon of Man is a bizarre work. Richard Dawkins has praised sharp critiques of The Phenomenon of Man. In his scientific work Dawkins has suggested that humanity is good not in spite of its nature, but because of it. Similarly, many scientists will look askance at the grand claims Wilson promotes in This View of Life, as he mixes “is” and “ought,” jumping from a positive description of reality to normative prescriptions for human happiness and well-being.  In contrast, religious conservatives may see Wilson’s visions as materialistic and hubristic. Its ultimate evolutionary basis, and nearly messianic aims, ensure that This View of Life will alarm many traditionalists.  The fact is, one can argue that Wilson’s This View of Life is all of these things, and that the author believes in the importance of his vision to such an extent that he is not particularly concerned with causing alarm. Wilson begins the book as an evolutionary biologist, describing the facts as they are. He ends it like de Chardin, an evolutionary priest, preaching to the unconverted the good news at hand.


abcnews--2019-01-17--Second lady to teach art at Christian school that bans LGBT teachers families

Second lady to teach art at Christian school that bans LGBT teachers, families

The White House has announced that Second Lady Karen Pence will teach art classes twice a week at a Northern Virginia’s Immanuel Christian Elementary School through the end of May.  But the announcement has been drawn into focus the school’s policies seen as hostile to the LGBT community, including a ban on any students and teachers, and a policy that reserves the right to remove students who are children of LGBT parents.  According to a copy of the school’s employment application, aspiring faculty must pledge they will “strive to live a personal life of moral purity,” and notes that should include an understanding that “the term “marriage” has only one meaning; the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive covenant union."  The school also asks applicants to commit to not engage in "moral misconduct," which it says includes “homosexual or lesbian activity… transgender identity, [and] any other violation of the unique roles of male and female.”  A separate agreement required for parents to sign notes that the school reserves its right to “refuse admission to an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student” if conduct in the home is “in opposition to… a biblical lifestyle" – which it says includes “participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity.  Vice President Mike Pence faced similar scrutiny during the 2016 campaign for his past promotion of policies that were seen as hostile to the LGBT community.  In the 1990s, Pence’s congressional campaign website included a statement that raised questions whether he advocated for “conversion therapies” for gay youths.  “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior,” the website said.  But a spokesperson for Pence after the website comments surfaced said he was merely calling for federal funds to “be directed to groups that promoted safe sexual practices” and that he was not a proponent of conversion therapy.  The Vice President's office did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment on the school's policies.  The Second Lady's office in its announcement said that Karen Pence had previously taught art for 12 years at Immanuel Christian School, as well as 13 years at public and private schools in Indianapolis, Indiana.


abcnews--2019-10-16--Chicago teachers to strike in nation's 3rd largest district

Chicago parents and community groups are scrambling to prepare for a massive teachers' strike set to begin Thursday, prompting the city to preemptively cancel classes in the nation's third-largest school district.  The Chicago Teachers Union confirmed Wednesday night that its 25,000 members would not return to their classrooms Thursday after months of negotiation between the union and Chicago Public Schools failed to resolve disputes over pay and benefits, class size and teacher preparation time.  The strike is Chicago's first major walkout by teachers since 2012 and city officials announced early Wednesday that all classes had been canceled for Thursday in hopes of giving more planning time to the parents of more than 300,000 students.  "We want this to be a short strike with an agreement that will benefit our schools and our teachers. We have a ways to go," Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said during a union news conference. "We actually want to see improvement on all the issues we are talking about here."  Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was disappointed by the union's decision to strike.  "We are offering a historic package on the core issues — salary, staffing and class size," she said Wednesday night at her own news conference, adding that school district negotiators will remain at the bargaining table and that she hopes the union does, too.  During the 2012 strike, the district kept some schools open for half days during a seven-day walkout. District officials said this time they will keep all buildings open during school hours, staffed by principals and employees who usually work in administrative roles.  Breakfast and lunch will be served, but all after-school activities and school buses are suspended in the district serving more than 300,000 students.  Janice Jackson, the district's CEO, encouraged parents to send their children to the school that they normally attend, however they will be welcome in any district schools.  "We've put together a really comprehensive plan for the students," Jackson said. "We will make sure they are safe and they have a productive day."  Also striking will be 7,000 support staffers, whose union also failed to reach a contract agreement.  Before the strike announcement, June Davis said if teachers walked out, she would likely send her 7-year-old son, Joshua, to his usual elementary school — Smyth Elementary on the city's South Side where almost all students are low-income and minority.  Davis, 38, said she would otherwise have to take her son to his grandmother's in a southern suburb, requiring an hourlong trip on a regional bus line.  "Everybody's hoping they will come to some kind of agreement, find some compromise," Davis said.  Lightfoot preemptively announced that classes on Thursday would be canceled, saying she wanted to give parents more time to plan. A clearly frustrated Lightfoot said the city had not only offered a 16% pay raise over the five-year contract, but the city also had agreed to put language in the contract addressing "enforceable targets" on class size and increasing staffing levels for positions such as nurses, librarians and social workers — items the union said were critical.  She said the union's demands would cost an unaffordable $2.5 billion per year.  Union leaders disputed Lightfoot's characterization of the city's willingness to concede to their demands on several issues, including class sizes.  "CPS' current class size offer falls far short of what's needed to address the sweeping scale of the problem," they said in a statement.  Lightfoot said the city agreed to make substantial changes on some of the union's top priorities, but its negotiators responded by issuing additional demands, including some she deemed unacceptable.  "The union is still demanding to shorten instructional time by 30 minutes in the morning," she said. "We won't do that. We will not cheat our children out of instructional time."  Before heading into a downtown law firm for bargaining talks Wednesday morning, union vice president Stacy Davis Gates said there is a "gross disconnect" between Lightfoot's comments and what negotiators have put in writing.  "To say that you have offered a proposal that respects what we are asking for, to say you've bent over backward ... it's absolutely ridiculous," Davis Gates said.  Community organizations have been preparing for days to welcome students, ranging from a $100 per day camp for elementary school kids at the Shedd Aquarium to all-day programs run by the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago and accessible for a $20 annual membership fee.  Mimi LeClair, president of the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago, said a strike is particularly difficult for single parents and those whose jobs have inflexible schedules.  "It's a horrendous dilemma, deciding between likely losing their job or having their paycheck docked when they rely on every penny or leaving their children home alone," LeClair said.  The city's public libraries also are planning programs for students, along with a network of churches and community centers that are part of the city's Safe Haven program intended to give kids a safe place during the summer months particularly on the city's South and West sides.  The YMCA of Metro Chicago expects highest demand for its all-day programs for children between the ages of 5 and 12, who are too young to stay home alone but whose parents may oppose sending them to schools unstaffed by teachers.  "Real life still happens," said Man-Yee Lee, a spokeswoman for the organization. "Parents still need to go to work and their kids still need somewhere to go."


abcnews--2019-10-16--Chicago teachers' contract talks about more than money

Chicago's public schools will be closed Thursday as the city's 25,000 teachers are set to go on strike . A strike in the nation's third-largest school district would mean no classes for more than 300,000 students. Like most workers threatening to walk off the job, the teachers want a raise. But money is only part of the story.  Here are some of the issues behind the school district's second strike in seven years:  WHAT KIND OF MONEY ARE THE TEACHERS LOOKING FOR AND WHAT KIND OF RAISE IS THE CITY OFFERING?  The city has offered 16% raises for the teachers over a five-year contract and calls for the teachers' health care costs not to increase for three years. The city says that's a pretty good deal for teachers, whose starting annual salary of just under $53,000 is higher than the salary for teachers in any other school district in the state. But the union, which is asking for a 15% raise over three years, says its analysis shows teachers at the end of the contract will make about $15,000 less than the city says they will. The union also said the contract leaves unclear just how much health care costs will increase during the final two years.  WHY DON'T TEACHERS JUST TAKE THE MONEY?  At first blush, it seems like a pretty good deal: a 16% raise over five years. But the teachers' union sees a potential trap. Teachers say if they take the raise, they lose negotiating leverage as they demand more school nurses, social workers, librarians and smaller classrooms because those are not the kinds of things they can legally strike over. The union knows about the city's vow to add at least 200 social worker positions and at least 250 full-time nurse positions but has made it clear that the only way to make sure the city follows through on its promises is to put it in writing in the next contract.  WHY NOT JUST INCLUDE STAFFING REQUIREMENTS IN THE CONTRACT?  Until this week, the city wanted nothing to do with adding staffing requirements to the collective bargaining agreement, saying it would make it tougher for principals to run their individual schools because it would require them to use a chunk of their budgets to fill those positions at the expense of the "needs and desires of the local community or school." But this week the CPS and city announced a willingness to write into the contract language that would address class sizes and staffing issues. That's potentially good news to the union, which has made it clear that any deal must address staffing shortages and overcrowded classrooms.  JUST HOW CROWDED ARE THE CLASSES?  It depends on who you ask. The school district contends that 80% of the kindergarten to third-grade classes made the 28-student maximum and 90% of the fourth- to eighth-grade classes met the 31-student maximum. The union estimates that a quarter of the city's elementary school students are in overcrowded classrooms. That disagreement is partly why the union wants a contract provision that calls for teachers to receive an extra $5 a day per student whenever their classes exceed the mandated size limit. The union also is pushing for smaller class sizes. The district says that would require the hiring of another 1,150 teachers and 1,000 teacher assistants at a cost of at least $225 million annually.  WHY ARE NURSES, LIBRARIANS, SOCIAL WORKERS, AND COUNSELORS SUCH A STICKING POINT?  There is no disputing the fact that the school district needs more people on those jobs. According to the union, about one-fifth of the district-run schools have librarians. And as scarce as they are citywide, the union says they are even harder to find in schools where most students are black. As for nurses, both the union and the school district agree many more are needed, though they can't agree on how many are currently working in the district. The union wants contract language that spells out that people will only be asked to do the jobs for which they are hired. It also has expressed concern about the number of students currently assigned to counselors and about various roles counselors are expected to fill, including as substitute teachers and lunchroom help.  WHAT IS THE DEBATE OVER AFFORDABLE HOUSING ABOUT?  Chicago is an expensive place to live and the way the union sees it, too expensive for some teachers and way too expensive for teaching assistants, clerks and other support staff. Like other city employees, teachers are required to live in Chicago and the union said that if police officers and firefighters receive housing subsidies, they should also get them. They want language in the contract that would call for the school district to provide housing assistance for new teachers and others, and to help students' families who are at risk of losing their housing. Mayor Lori Lightfoot agrees affordable housing is an important issue but a collective bargaining agreement between the teachers and the city isn't the place to solve it.


abcnews--2019-10-31--Anxious students feeling pinch amid Chicago teachers' strike

Deadlines that could affect both Chicago students and striking teachers are looming over talks to resolve a walkout that has canceled classes for 11 days in the nation's third-largest school district.  High school students are trying to meet Friday deadlines to submit early applications to colleges without access to their teachers or counselors, while athletic teams have been prevented from participating in playoff games.  Chicago's teachers union voted to approve a tentative contract agreement with city officials Wednesday but refused to end a strike that has canceled two weeks of classes unless the city's mayor adds school days to cover that lost time.  Teachers, meanwhile, could lose health insurance coverage at the start of November. Union leaders said this week that their 25,000 members will have to weigh the "risks and rewards" of continuing.


abcnews--2019-10-31--The Latest: Teachers pleased, relieved strike is over

The Latest on Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike (all times local):  Teachers say they're pleased and relieved to be going back to work after their union and the city reached an agreement to settle an 11-day strike.  Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a contract agreement that will re-open schools Friday.  Teachers say they are satisfied with mayor's decision to allow five days to make up for time lost to the strike.  Fifty-year-old high school physical education teacher Lloyd Jimenez says he thinks the city made a greater concession than he expected.  He says the settlement comes as a huge relief. He had feared he might lose his health benefits and jeopardize a kidney transplant his wife needs.  Elementary school science teacher Hillary Remis says she believes both sides compromised but the deal can only benefit students.  Families across Chicago are breathing a sigh of relief after learning a two-week teachers' strike is over and classes are set to resume.  Parent Dominique Dukes has two children who are Chicago Public Schools students. They're ages 7 and 14. She says she printed worksheets for them at the library to keep them occupied during the 11 days that they missed school but she fears they missed out on their education.  She's happy they can go back to class on Friday and hopes there isn't ever another strike.  Officials with the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools announced that they reached an agreement Thursday afternoon and that classes would resume Friday. The last sticking point had been whether the district would make up days lost to the strike. They agreed to make up five lost days.  The Chicago Teachers Union says it has reached agreement with the nation's third-largest school district to make up five of 11 school days lost during the teachers strike.  The union and city officials announced Thursday that the strike has ended and that classes will resume Friday.  CTU tweeted that members have agreed to "make up five days of student instruction." The city has provided no further detail.  The union's delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract. But they said they wouldn't end the strike unless the mayor committed to making up some of the lost days.  Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she would not respond to a "unilateral demand" but was open to negotiations.  The Chicago mayor and the city's teachers union say a strike that has cancelled classes for 11 days has been suspended and that classes will resume Friday.  Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that the Chicago Teachers Union has agreed to the terms of a tentative deal.  The president of Chicago's teachers union says he's open to a compromise on making up two weeks of lost class time because of a strike.  Jesse Sharkey said Thursday that restoring all 11 days of canceled classes may not be feasible. He says union leaders want to have a conversation with Mayor Lori Lightfoot but that the amount of makeup time "can't be zero."  Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract. But they say they won't end a strike unless the mayor commits to making up class days.  Lightfoot says adding two weeks is a "nonstarter" but has suggested she's open to a compromise.  The impasse has led to more than 300,000 students missing 11 days of school.  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the teachers union's demand to make up two weeks of lost class time because of their strike is a "nonstarter."  Lightfoot said Thursday that the Chicago Teachers Union presented a "unilateral demand" as they accepted a tentative agreement late Wednesday with the nation's third-largest district.  Lightfoot says she's only open to continuing discussions that are in the "spirit of compromise." She has maintained throughout the strike that she won't extend the school year.  Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson says there isn't a way to do it without further disrupting families' lives.  CTU delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract.  The impasse has led to more than 300,000 students missing 11 days of school.  Striking Chicago teachers say they will return to their classrooms but only if the city agrees to make up two weeks of lost class time.  Elected delegates for the Chicago Teachers Union voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement with the nation's third-largest school district but say they won't come back without Mayor Lori Lightfoot's commitment.  The union is encouraging members to fill the streets outside City Hall on Thursday, hoping to pressure Lightfoot into accepting its terms. The impasse cancelled classes for an 11th day for more than 300,000 students.  Lightfoot says she won't accept the union's demand. She's said throughout the strike that she would not extend the school year  CTU President Jesse Sharkey says Lightfoot's refusal feels like punishment for teachers and will hurt students.


abcnews--2019-11-19--Thousands of teachers expected at Indiana Statehouse protest

Thousands of teachers are expected to pack the Indiana Statehouse for a rally calling for further increase teacher pay in the biggest such protest in the state amid a wave of educator activism across the country.  Teacher unions says about half of Indiana’s nearly 300 school districts will be closed while their teachers attend Tuesday’s rally on the same day legislators gather for 2020 session organization meetings.  Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and leaders of the GOP-dominated Legislature have avoided direct criticism of teachers or the decisions by school districts to close, but don’t expect to take action on further boosting school funding until at least 2021.  Teacher unions say members are frustrated over seeing little or no pay raises in a decade.


breitbart--2019-08-21--1000 Kentucky Teachers Get Warning They Broke Law in RedforEd Sick Outs

1,000+ Kentucky Teachers Get Warning: They Broke Law in #RedforEd 'Sick Outs'

But none of the 1,074 teachers who broke the law will be fired or prosecuted, Secretary of Labor David Dickerson said.  Instead, they were given a one-time warning, with the promise of future consequences should they break the labor law again.  “The Kentucky teacher sickout saga began on February 28, when the local #RedforEd affiliate in the state, Kentucky 120 United, launched a protest of legislation under consideration at the state legislature that shut down public schools in several counties,” Breitbart News reported.  Subsequently, Kentucky Commissioner of Education Dr. Wayne Lewiss asked for “the names of those teachers who called in sick in order to protest education legislation at the state capitol, forcing schools in several counties to close for six days in the last two weeks,” which began the investigation that culminated in Dickerson’s announcement on Friday.  “An investigation by Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration showed 1,074 teachers violated Kentucky law when they participated in a “sick out” during this year’s legislative session over concerns about their pension benefits, Labor Cabinet Secretary David Dickerson said Friday,” the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.  The Louisville Courier-Journal reported on Tuesday, “[Gov.] Bevin said in the interview that while his cabinet could have fined those teachers up to $1,000 per day, his administration instead will ‘show some grace in this instance’ and ‘use this as a teachable moment.’ However, he left open the possibility of fining teachers if such sickouts happen again.”  Bevin, a Republican, faces a tough re-election challenge in November against the Democrat gubernatorial nominee, Attorney General Andy Beshear, who was recently endorsed by KY 120 United.  A Gravis Marketing Poll of 741 registered voters in Kentucky conducted between June 11 and June 12 showed Bevin leading Beshear by six points, 48 percent to 42 percent. The poll has a 3.6 percent margin of error.  As Breitbart News reported in February, #RedforEd is a teachers union movement that “has its roots in the very same socialism that President Trump vowed in his 2019 State of the Union address to stop, and it began in its current form in early 2018 in a far-flung corner of the country before spreading nationally.”  Its stated goals–higher teacher pay and better education conditions–are overshadowed by a more malevolent political agenda: a leftist Democrat uprising designed to flip purple or red states to blue, using the might of a significant part of the education system as its lever. . . Ostensibly focused on better pay for teachers, the real objective of the #RedforEd movement, as expressed by its young founder [Noah Karvelis, then 23-years-old] at the Socialism 2018 conference held in Chicago this July, is to obtain political power to advance a socialist agenda. “We’ve created an organization now. We have a network of 2,000 leaders who are experienced. They’ve been out on a job action. They’ve organized their campuses. They’ve collected signatures for a ballot initiative,” Karvelis said in his 13 minute speech to an estimated 1,800 fellow socialists from around the country, a number of whom were also teachers. (Beginning at the 11:00 minute mark of the video of his speech found at this KFYI webpage.  #RedforEd teacher activists in Kentucky responded to the one-time warning scornfully.  “School is just barely back in session and already Kentucky teachers have received their first threat from one of Bevin’s heavies at the Labor Cabinet,” KY 120 United, the Kentucky #RedforEd affiliate, said in a post published on its Facebook page Friday, shortly after Dickerson’s announcement:  In a move that surprised exactly no one, the Labor Cabinet rules that teacher sickouts in 2019 were illegal work stoppages and 1,074 teachers were guilty of this. While they could be assessed a fine of $1000/day, they won’t at this time. They ended their release with a threat against anyone attempting to sick out again in the future, stating there would be penalties assessed in that event. Maybe if the labor cabinet secretary wasn’t so busy being a Bevin lapdog, he could have done his actual job and ensured the bonds were secured to pay the BlackJewel miners when the company shuttered. Our Kentucky teachers continue to show up for our kids and help them achieve their goals. We should expect our legislators and governor and his hand picked cabinet to respect our education system and its lifeblood–teachers. As we face critical teacher shortages, this administration is bent on continuing the attacks. Game. On.  As #RedforEd teachers in Kentucky continued their dispute with the Bevin administration, an estimated 640,000 children returned to classes in Kentucky’s K-12 public schools this month. Kentucky’s public school students have performed slightly below national averages in a number of the most recent standardized tests of reading and math.  “Despite years of effort in classrooms, Kentucky still has significant numbers of students achieving at the lowest levels and too little performing at the highest, according to a Herald-Leader analysis of the 2016-17 statewide scores released Thursday by the Kentucky Department of Education,” the Herald-Leader reported in September 2017.  “Consider one-fourth of the state’s high school students earn the lowest marks possible in math and one-third scored the lowest in reading. Meanwhile, only half of the state’s elementary students can read or perform math at high achievement levels,” the Herald-Leader noted.  This past September, the Herald-Leader reported “In most areas, Kentucky schools have not made much progress at all in the last five years, Kentucky Interim Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis said in releasing statewide accountability results for 2017-2018.”  In 2017, 33 percent of 8th graders in the country were rated proficient in math, according to the Nation’s Report Card, prepared annually by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, while 29 percent of Kentucky 8th graders were rated proficient.  In 2017, 35 percent of 8th graders in the country were rated proficient in reading, while 34 percent of Kentucky 8th graders were rated proficient.


breitbart--2019-09-04--NYC Teachers Given Dear White Teacher Essay to Encourage Student Discipline Across Racial Lines

NYC Teachers Given ‘Dear White Teacher’ Essay to Encourage Student Discipline Across Racial Lines

The New York Post learned about the essay and reported that it differs from the city’s Department of Education’s controversial teacher training program:  Unlike the Department of Education’s controversial “implicit bias” training — which, among other lessons, tells teachers that “racial equity” requires favoring black students over whites — the essay’s message is that white instructors should stop being afraid to discipline black students. Essay author Chrysanthius Lathan blasts white teachers who she says routinely send minority students to “teachers of color” for discipline — because they’re scared of being called racist.  “My strength in the classroom does not come from my racial identity, and neither does yours,” Lathan, a former teacher in Portland, Oregon, who now works as an educational consultant, wrote in her essay.  “It comes from the way we treat — and what we expect from — kids and families. It is time for you to take back the power in your classroom,” Lathan wrote.  “Lathan also gives blunt advice to the white teachers she says ‘live in fear of their good faith actions being labeled as racist,’” the Post reported.  “You need to find that bone in your body that tends to recoil when it comes time to deal with people of color — and purposely straighten it back out,” she wrote.  “By contrast, the $23 million, ‘implicit bias’ training mandated by schools Chancellor Richard Carranza included consultant Darnisa Amante’s justification that a middle-class black student would ‘have less access and less opportunities’ over the course of a lifetime than a poor white classmate, according to sources who heard her say it,” the Post reported.  “Dear White Teacher” is one of more than 50 essays in the book distributed at the orientation. The New Teacher Book is a 324-page manual published by Rethinking Schools, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit, according to the Post.  Other essays in the book are controversial, the Post reported, including ones that attack charter schools as a “fundamental threat to the hope of sustaining a multicultural democracy” — and others that encourage new teachers to join unions and activist groups.


breitbart--2019-10-03--Kamala Harris More Books Pencils Not Armed Teachers

Kamala Harris: More Books, Pencils, Not Armed Teachers

Breitbart News reported that Florida’s new law empowers school districts to allow teachers to be armed to defend themselves and their students, should an attacker strike. The push to arm teachers came after Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri reviewed evidence in the February 14, 2018, Parkland shooting and said, “People need to keep an open mind to it as the reality is that if someone else in that school had a gun it could have saved kids’ lives.”  The law allowing teachers to be armed took effect on Monday, October 1, 2019. The next day Harris tweeted, “We need more books and pencils in our classrooms — not guns. Period.”  On April 16, Breitbart News reported Harris’ admission that she owns a firearm “for personal safety.” This admission came even as she maintained her opposition to teachers being armed for the safety of themselves and their students.  AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.


breitbart--2019-10-18--Company Announces 'Bogus' China Arrest of U.S. English Teachers

A company bringing U.S. teachers to China announced Thursday that China arrested two of its members running an English language school on “bogus charges.”  In a post on their Facebook page, China Horizons confirmed the company would be closing down following the arrest of owner Jacob Harlan and director Alyssa Petersen in Jiangsu province last month, citing increasing political and economic problems between the U.S. and China.  “Over the past 17 years we have had the great opportunity to help you experience China in a personal and unique way,” the statement read. “We are grateful for the memories and relationships that have been built over the years.”  “Unfortunately, because of increasing political and economic problems between the U.S. and China, we are no longer able to send teachers to China safely,” it continues. “As a result, our company will be closing our doors at the end of October.”  The statement also announced that the two Americans had been detained for nearly two weeks already while admitting the grim reality that they could face months or even years behind bars.  “Because of the changes that are taking place in China right now the owner, Jacob Harlan, and the director, Alyssa Petersen, have been detained in China for 13 days now and may be so for the next few months or years,” the statement read.  “They are being charged for bogus crimes and their families are working on getting them international lawyers to help them get back home to the states,” it continued. “If you would like more information and would like to help, there are 2 separate GoFundMe accounts that have been created for them both.”  China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he did “not see any concrete links” between their detention and U.S.-China relations.  According to Petersen’s GoFundMe aimed at supporting her legal fees, Petersen was detained by authorities on September 27 and has since been held in a facility in Zhenjiang city and is said to be “doing OK.”  Harlan’s GoFundMe explains that he and his eight-year-old daughter were taken by police from the hotel in which they were staying. His daughter was later allowed to board a flight home to Utah accompanied by a family friend, and the family is said to be “doing well under the circumstances.”  China’s English-teaching industry has seen substantial growth over the past two decades, with thousands of Americans going out to teach for relatively high salaries. However, many face problems securing visas and navigating the strict control of life under the Chinese Communist Party.  Speaking to the South China Morning Post on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. State Department official confirmed that they were monitoring the situation and the detainees were receiving “all appropriate consular services.”  “We are aware of the detention of two US citizens in Jiangsu, China and the charges being brought against them by the provincial government,” the official said. “We take seriously our responsibility to assist US citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation.”  Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.


buzzfeed--2019-03-26--Kamala Harris Has Announced A Plan To Increase Salaries For Teachers

Kamala Harris announced a plan Tuesday to raise the salaries of teachers across the country by as much as 20%, offering a “historic” federal investment in American educators as the first major policy proposal of her presidential campaign.  The California senator’s plan would try to close is known as the “teacher pay gap,” a gulf in pay between educators and comparable workers. It would mean a direct federal investment of some $315 billion over 10 years, her campaign said, as well as incentives to push states to close the gap on their own.  The plan would give $3 in federal dollars for every $1 states put toward increasing teacher pay relative to other professions in their state. And it would make a “targeted investment” in teacher pay at high-poverty public schools, which mostly serve students of color — a salary boost that is meant, Harris's campaign said, to solve problems with high turnover and low experience that plague many struggling schools.  The plan would also include funding for teacher training and recruitment programs, particularly at historically black colleges.  The proposal is a sign of an increasing focus on raising teachers wages among Democrats after a string of high-profile teacher strikes and walkouts nationwide. Strikes last year in Oklahoma, West Virginia, and elsewhere stirred grassroots political energy and organizing, particularly among women voters. In the early days of the 2020 campaign trail, candidates from Harris to Beto O’Rourke to Elizabeth Warren have fielded questions on how they will help teachers.  Education is consistently at the top of voters’ minds, according to national surveys that have found people consider education more pressing than almost any other issue. But it often receives little attention in the crush of presidential campaigns, losing out to flashier, more heated topics like health care, gun control, and abortion.    That’s partly because, compared to states, the federal government has long played a relatively small role in K–12 education. Only a tiny fraction of funding comes from the federal level; the vast majority is made up by states, which fund education — and pay teachers — at vastly differing levels.  The Harris initiative would mark a shift in that dynamic, giving a significant chunk of federal government money to states to pay elementary and secondary educators. The $315 billion is a massive investment compared to other federal education initiatives; Barack Obama's Race to the Top grants, his signature education initiative that gave federal money to states, cost $4.3 billion.  Her campaign said it would pay for the investment by “strengthening the estate tax” — which in 2019 does not apply to the first $11.4 million of an individual’s estate — and closing other tax loopholes that favor the wealthy.  The teacher pay proposal fits in with another signature policy for Harris’s campaign. Last year, in the Senate, Harris introduced a bill to offer $500 in monthly tax credits to working- and middle-class families, called the LIFT Act, which she has made a core piece of her early presidential run. She said at the outset of her campaign that passing the LIFT Act would be her first priority as president.


channel4uk--2019-04-14--Worsening child poverty stopping learning say teachers

Worsening child poverty stopping learning, say teachers

Children from low income families are avoiding school because they’re worried about being bullied, teachers have warned.  A new survey by the national education union says some children are coming to school without having eaten for two days, while others can’t afford basic equipment like pens and rulers.  Teachers say a lack of government funding means measures to tackle poverty, like free breakfast clubs, are being scrapped.  We’re joined by Shoshannah Thompson, Headteacher at Halley Primary School in Tower Hamlets.


channel4uk--2019-09-19--Teachers warn more children starting school unprepared and not potty-trained

Children barely able to speak in sentences, some still in nappies under their school uniform, some unable to use a knife and fork. These are just a few of the challenges faced by reception teachers of the class of 2019.  In an exclusive survey carried out by this programme, 82% of reception class teachers say increasing numbers of children aren’t adequately prepared for school.  Nearly two thirds say they’ve seen an increase in the numbers of new pupils not toilet trained. They told us about children who didn’t recognise books, swiping them like tablets. And – with some parents delegating story time to technology – is Alexa becoming nanny?


chicagosuntimes--2019-03-12--UIC draws up plan to help train high school art teachers

The University of Illinois at Chicago is giving students who want to become high school art teachers some help.  The school says in a news release that for the first time since 2010 it is giving students pursuing an undergraduate degree in studio art the opportunity to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education — or BFAAE degree — along with a professional teaching license.  Five undergraduate students entered the art education major last fall and school officials expect that number will nearly double next fall and continue to grow.  Because UIC has a large number of diverse students, the hope at the school is that it will be able to help fill the need for more teachers of color in Illinois and throughout the country.


dailyheraldchicago--2019-08-31--15 area school districts will have to raise starting teachers salaries to 40000 a year

15 area school districts will have to raise starting teachers' salaries to $40,000 a year

Some suburban school districts will have to raise starting salaries by as much as 22% over the next five years to meet a new state minimum pay requirement for educators.  That's according to a Daily Herald analysis of 96 suburban school districts' teacher contracts.  Currently, 15 of the school districts in the analysis have starting salaries below the $40,000 minimum mandated for the 2023-24 school year.  Fox Lake Elementary District 114 has the lowest starting salary among the 96 school districts at $32,341, according to the district's teacher contract. Maine Township High School District 207's current starting salary of $59,517 topped the analysis. On average, the starting salary among the suburban districts is a little more than $45,000 a year.  Eighteen of the districts have starting salaries higher than $50,000 this year. Of those, 13 are high school or unit districts where many teachers might be required to have more specialized or advanced degrees to teach certain subjects.  District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace said the performance of students has grown despite a growing number of students from low-income families in the district. Studies have shown students living in poverty often have lower academic achievement than wealthier peers.  "Our student performance is the highest it's ever been by every meaningful measure," Wallace said. "That is the value of great teachers, and our District 207 teachers are some of the best in the nation."  Proponents of the mandatory minimum wage see it as a way to make teaching a more attractive occupation and help solve the growing teacher shortage problem in some parts of the state. But critics worry it will start an arms race among school districts that will ultimately result in higher property taxes and set precedents that could result in similar mandated wages for other public-sector jobs.  Meanwhile, many school administrators said it's too early to know what the effects of the new law will be on future teacher contracts.  "The talent follows the money, so I do think it matters, but I don't think it's the only thing that matters," said Joe Williams, superintendent at Queen Bee Elementary District 16 in Glendale Heights where the starting teacher salary is $48,200 this year. "It's not just the cost of living new teachers are looking at, but the quality of life."  Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the new law less than two weeks ago setting a minimum wage for educators at specific levels for the next five years, stepping up to $40,000 by the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Subsequent yearly increases in the minimum salaries for teachers are based on the Consumer Price Index, subject to review by the legislature.  The first step that schools must meet is a $32,076 minimum salary for the 2020-21 school year, which all 96 of the suburban school districts exceed. Salaries must be $34,576 for the 2021-22 year and $37,076 for the 2022-23 year.  Before the new law, the minimum wage for teachers had been $10,000, according to the Illinois Education Association, though no school district's starting salary was that low. In fact, many downstate school districts' starting salaries are higher than some suburban counterparts.  "It's important that the focus of this minimum wage law is to attract and retain good teachers for the entire state," said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. "The intent of the bill was not to pit one part of the state against another part of the state. It's to encourage more people to go into the profession."  Grant Wehrli, a Republican state representative from Naperville who supported the bill, said setting minimum wages for teachers could be a bad precedent resulting in minimum wages for other government jobs.  "That's absolutely something that should be a concern going forward and something I'll be keeping my eye out for," he said, "but this law (for teachers) was something that is going to help in areas of the state that are struggling right now."  Several suburban school districts are going through contract negotiations with the teachers union, leaving officials hesitant to talk about what the new law means for that process. At Woodland Elementary District 50 in Gurnee, the starting salary is $34,220, the second lowest among the districts in the analysis.  "I can't speak to its impact because we don't want it to have any bearing on our negotiations," said Chris Bobek, District 50's associate superintendent for business services.  Contact Jake at jgriffin@dailyherald.com or (847) 427-4602. And go to dailyherald.com/subscribe to access the entire Suburban Tax Watchdog archive.


eveningstandard--2019-06-19--More than half of teachers in England find their job aposunmanageableapos

More than half of teachers in England find their job 'unmanageable'

More than half of secondary schoolteachers in England think their job is “unmanageable”, a global study has revealed.  Teachers in England have one of the highest workloads in the world, according to the survey which was conducted in 48 countries.  They were also found to have the second longest working days in the world, trumped only by teachers in Japan.  John Jerrim, professor of education and social statistics at UCL’s Institute of Education, said there had been a clear drop in job satisfaction over recent years.  “Low levels of job satisfaction amongst secondary is clearly a serious problem in England, one that education policymakers need to urgently address,” he said in a commentary on the survey, which was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  More than half of secondary teachers said they may have been better off choosing another career, according to the participants’ responses.  Vast amounts of marking were blamed for much of the dissatisfaction.  The high proportion of teachers in England having to mark and write feedback for pupils remains unchanged since the previous survey in 2013, the Guardian has reported.  The study further revealed that secondary teachers in England tended to have fewer years of experience than other OECD countries: 13 years in the profession compared to the OECD average of 17 years.  The UK education secretary Damian Hinds said the results offered an accurate glimpse into the challenges faced by teachers.  “These findings reflect many of the frustrations that I heard from teachers and heads when I first took on the role of education secretary and underlines the importance of the teacher recruitment and retention strategy that I launched in January this year.  “We know that too many teachers are having to work too many hours each week on unnecessary tasks, which is why I have taken on a battle to reduce teachers’ workload so that they can focus on spending their time in the classroom, doing what they do best – teaching.”  The OECD’s latest survey showed that working hours for secondary school teachers in England have increased from from 48 in 2013 to more than 49 hours a week today.  While Primary school teachers in England recorded working 52 hours a week – longer than their peers in all other countries participating in the study, apart from Japan.  Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the survey of 4,300 teachers at 300 schools “should act as a wake-up call for any future prime minister”.  She said: “The government must end teachers’ unsustainable workload by tackling the high-stakes school accountability system which is fuelling the long hours culture and driving teachers out of the profession.”


france24--2019-05-29--New Zealand teachers go on countrys largest education strike

New Zealand teachers go on country's largest education strike

Marty Melville, AFP | New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media during a press conference at the Justice Precinct in Christchurch on March 28, 2019.  Tens of thousands of New Zealand teachers walked off the job on Wednesday, a day before the government announced its ‘wellbeing’ budget, calling for higher pay and shorter hours in the country’s largest ever education strike.  Almost 50,000 secondary and primary school teachers joined the strike across New Zealand, according to their unions, closing schools around the nation.  The strike came a day before Jacinda Ardern’s government was set to release its first ‘Wellbeing’ budget, which had been touted globally as a new approach to fiscal decision-making guided by a broader range of indicators to improve New Zealanders’ living standards.  Unions working on behalf of teachers have been negotiating with the government for months for pay rises and measures to reduce workloads, but so far have ended in deadlock.  “The offers we have received from the government have not addressed the issues our profession is facing. They will not turn around the crisis in education that is looming,” said Lynda Stuart, the president of teachers’ union NZEI Te Riu Roa, in a statement when the strike was announced earlier this month.  Education Minister Chris Hipkins said earlier this month when the strikes were announced that the extra NZ$1.2 billion (€703 million) over four years in pay rises on offer was the “biggest offer teachers have had in a decade” and told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday there was no more money for teachers’ pay in this year’s budget.  The strike spotlights the difficulties Ardern’s government faces in delivering on its promise to pour money into social services and rein in economic inequality when it took office in 2017.  The centre-left government’s traditional union support base says sluggish wage growth and soaring living costs have left workers struggling, with junior doctors, nurses and court officials taking action in the past year to demand pay hikes.  The government on Tuesday said it was “hacked” following the early release of some budget information by the opposition National Party. The Finance Minister said not all the details in the information was correct. Police were investigating and the National Party denied involvement in any illegal activity.


freedombunker--2019-01-31--School Choice Also Gives Teachers Like Me More Choice

During a moment of small group discussion in a professional development session, a teacher near me gave his opinion:  In most school buildings, there smolders an animosity of which most people aren’t aware between teachers and administrators. It shows up in staff meetings. It’s heard in teachers' lounge gossip. “If only they trusted us and gave us the freedom to do our jobs as we saw fit,” goes the refrain of frustrated teachers.  This tension, while a problem in itself, is indicative of a larger issue. There is a handful of different ways to teach that are based on different educational theories; public schools, not committed to any particular theory, mandate a poor mixture of them all onto their teachers. Private schools, a different option where the curriculum may be more aligned to individual beliefs, contain only 10 percent of school enrollment, leaving most teachers to teach a hodgepodge curriculum with which they don’t agree. It’s a matter, then, of hampered choice.  A quick overview of the two broad educational theories to which teachers ascribe is needed to understand this problem. The first has a classical view of education and sees schools as a way to make a well-rounded, generally knowledgeable individual; the focus is on content. The second could be called skills-focused educators who see schools as a way to train the next generation of civically-minded workers. Within each broad theory are a myriad of subdivisions and practices.  Asking "What and how should we read in class?" exemplifies the diversity in teaching methods. Regimented charter schools would model a systematic method for analyzing a text, practice with their class, and then ask the students to do so as an assessment. The progressive urban educators would treat a text as a cultural artifact to compare and contrast the systems of oppression in various eras. A private Christian school would read a work and guide their students into understanding what the author believed. Montessori schools would ask students to pick their books and subsequently discuss what it made them think about. This short list doesn’t even touch on vocational, STEM, or arts-based schools.  In this market of choices, no one method is inherently superior to the other. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.  In this market of choices, no one method is inherently superior to the other. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Each does, however, require a unique set of skills to create a unique set of students. Speaking for myself, I was educated in the progressive, urban school method and taught myself into a regimented charter school one. During my first year of teaching, an administrator required that I implement a classroom structure I had never learned. Within a few weeks, my class was chaos, as I had no idea how to do what they asked, and I, like the teacher in my anecdote, learned to ignore administrative mandates.  This problem is professionally stifling. Many teachers required to teach Shakespeare stumble through a month of an author for whom they have neither respect nor understanding. Others have a unit that implements Montessori-like choice reading without the knowledge of how to push the depth of a student’s thought when every kid in the class has a different book. Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the Fordham Institute, says:  School choice will create a system without this inherent tension between teacher freedom and bureaucratic mandates. This system ties funding to students and deregulates the system, allowing for a diversification of schools to contend for skilled teachers.  Many teachers worry that a system like this would allow for anti-scientific, overtly racist, or simple bad teaching to spread. Two things can work against this concern. First, any mixture of state or local content standards, intermittent standardized tests, or school inspections can ensure a minimum of quality without the need for the federal government to run schools. More importantly, the system allows for market pressure to keep schools accountable. If a school is ineffective, parents can choose to send their kids elsewhere, thereby draining funds away. This school, with its poor practice, will then either have to change or close.  It is a system that will provide them with the freedom they long for.  Sadly, 79 percent of teachers, both Republican and Democrat, oppose school vouchers. Along with their concerns about accountability, many believe they will drain money from their paychecks to private schools, but studies have shown reality to be the exact opposite. Instead, it is a system that will provide them with the freedom they long for.  Ashley Berner of John Hopkins University wrote in a review of the research on school choice that “many educators will find [this] pluralistic system professionally attractive. Funding an increasingly diverse spectrum of schools will likely generate innovative working environments and strong school cultures that mirror teachers’ individual commitments and pedagogical styles.”  A disciple of classical education could leave the mediocre curriculum of the public school and teach strict grammar through philosophy at a private school. The progressive educator can leave Shakespeare behind and teach reading through culturally relevant materials. The Montessori people can say goodbye to curriculum altogether and let the kids guide the class as they go along.  While applying for jobs during graduate school, I had the pleasure of interviewing at a choice-funded Christian charter school in a poor neighborhood of Milwaukee. Every individual teacher in that school had a shared vision and pedagogy that created an energetic atmosphere, which I have yet to feel again.  Seeing the mandated curriculum at this school, a professor with whom I discussed this opportunity drew back in horror. “How can they teach like this?” she gasped. She disagreed with almost every curricular choice this school had made, while I praised them for it all. In a system with choice, she could pick a school that better fit her belief, leaving me happy at a school that fits mine.


freedombunker--2019-02-13--School Choice Is about Rewarding Good Teachers

One of the most common myths in education is that school choice is somehow bad for public school teachers. In fact, teachers started striking against school choice in Los Angeles just last week. However, basic economic theory tells us that school choice is actually good for teachers because it introduces competition for their employers. In a competitive education labor market, employers must compete for talent by offering teachers smaller class sizes, more autonomy, and higher salaries.  In fact, the five studies that exist on the subject all find that charter and private school choice lead to higher salaries for teachers in traditional public schools. For example, a study published in the Journal of Public Economics finds that charter school competition increases teacher salaries by about 3.4 percent in difficult-to-staff public schools. None of the five studies indicate that school choice competition is bad for public school teachers.  Some of the teachers make well over $1 million each year. Now that’s an incentive structure that’s good for both students and teachers.  But that’s not all. As shown in Andrew Coulson’s School Inc. documentary, teachers in private institutions in South Korea are highly satisfied with their jobs because their students actually want to be there. And, of course, it’s easier for teachers in private educational institutions (“hagwons”) to tailor their lessons to students because the children “are matched with classes based on their performance levels” and interests.  Highly demanded teachers in South Korea are also financially rewarded for a job well done. As shown in the clip below, some of the teachers make well over $1 million each year. Now that’s an incentive structure that’s good for both students and teachers.  Maybe the teachers in Los Angeles should have been striking for more school choice, not less.  This article was reprinted from the Cato Institute.


freedombunker--2019-10-12--Teachers Who Quit to Create Schooling Alternatives

It’s not uncommon for public school teachers to experience burnout or feel demoralized by the weight of their work. Many leave the classroom and the education profession behind to pursue other careers. In fact, U.S. Labor Department data reveal that public school educators are quitting their jobs at record-breaking rates.  But some public school teachers wonder if conventional schooling may be the root of their discontent, not education itself. They are frustrated by standardized curriculum expectations, more testing, an emphasis on classroom compliance and the antagonistic relationships between teachers and students that a rigid schooling environment can cultivate. Rather than abandoning their passion for education, some of these teachers are building alternatives to school outside of the dominant system that nurture authentic teaching and learning relationships.  One of the pioneers of schooling alternatives is Kenneth Danford, a former public middle school social studies teacher who left the classroom in 1996 to launch a completely new learning model. Along with a teacher colleague, Danford opened North Star, a self-directed learning center in western Massachusetts. They sought to create a space for young people, ages 11 and up, that prioritized learner freedom and autonomy, while rejecting the coercion and control they witnessed in the conventional classroom. This involved building the learning center as a resource for peer interaction, optional classes, workshops, and adult mentoring while providing teenagers with the opportunity to come and go whenever they chose.  Using homeschooling as the legal mechanism to provide this educational freedom and flexibility, North Star members attend when they want, frequently using the center to supplement community college classes, extracurricular activities and apprenticeships. Full-time, annual membership up to four days per week is $8,200, but no family has ever been turned away for an inability to pay these fees. Some families choose part-time enrollment options that start at $3,250 per year for one day a week at North Star.  In his new book, Learning Is Natural, School Is Optional, Danford reflects on his more than 20 years of running North Star and the hundreds of young people who have gone through his program, often gaining admission to selective colleges or pursuing work in fulfilling careers. He told me in a recent interview:  Sharing this model with others was the next step for Danford. After receiving many calls and emails from educators across the country and around the world who wanted to launch centers similar to North Star, in 2013 Danford helped to establish Liberated Learners, an organization that supports entrepreneurial educators in opening their own alternatives to school.  One of the centers that sprouted from Liberated Learners is BigFish Learning Community in Dover, New Hampshire. Founded by Diane Murphy, a public school teacher for 30 years, BigFish allows young people to be in charge of their own learning. Murphy opened the center in January 2018 with five students; today, she has over 30. Full-time tuition at the center (up to four days a week) is $9,000 per year, with part-time options also available.  An English teacher, she never expected to be the founder of a schooling alternative. “I loved my job,” she says, but she quit to create something better. “The main reason I left is because the kids began showing up more and more miserable,” Murphy continues.  Granted more freedom and less coercion, young people at BigFish thrive—and so do the teachers. “Real teachers understand that our role is to support and lead young people to discover and uncover their talents, most especially to find their passions and their voice,” says Murphy. Working outside of the conventional school system may be a way forward for more teachers who want to help young people to drive their own education, in pursuit of their own passions and potential.  According to Kevin Currie-Knight, an education professor at East Carolina University, it’s rare for teachers to recognize that their dissatisfaction as an educator may be a schooling problem, not a personal one. Currie-Knight, who studies self-directed education and alternative learning models, says that the tendency is for teachers to internalize the problems they encounter in the classroom. If children aren’t engaged or are acting out, teachers typically assume that it must be their poor teaching and that they must not be cut out for the job, rather than seeing it as a problem with coercive schooling more broadly.  “School isn’t challengeable,” says Currie-Knight of its entrenched position in our culture.  Currie-Knight explains that most teachers go into education either because they really like a certain subject area or they really like kids, or both. “In the conventional environment,” he says,  Many of these teachers conclude that it’s their teaching that is the problem, rather than the underlying dynamics of conventional schooling that compel young people to learn certain content, in certain ways and at certain times.  Teachers who leave the classroom to create schooling alternatives can be an inspiration to other teachers who may feel frustrated or powerless. Rather than blaming themselves, entrepreneurial teachers are the ones who imagine, design, and implement new models of education. As BigFish’s Murphy proposes:  This article is republished with permission from Forbes.


sputnik--2019-05-27--Ramadan Interferes With Learning Process Finnish Teachers Complain

Ramadan Interferes With Learning Process, Finnish Teachers Complain

May has become a gruelling time for some Finnish schools, as the Muslim fasting month, Ramadan, complicates the learning process, the newspaper Suomen Kuvalehti reports.  Hungry children experience difficulties in maintaining concentration during their lessons and while preparing for the final exams at the end of the spring semester, the newspaper said. Furthermore, the anxiety of the fasting children is quickly passed on to their classmates.  In early May, the administration of the city of Tampere announced that Ramadan would not be observed at the city's schools. Katja Simonen, an organiser of language and cultural education at a secondary school in Tampere, equated school to working life, where people need to adapt to certain rules.  "It is about the state of Muslim children and the welfare of all students. In Finnish schools, children should eat," Simonen explained. "Young children can fast at home and cannot cope at school without food," she added. According to her, primary school children don't need to observe Ramadan at all, since only healthy adults in the Muslim community fast.  READ MORE: Swede Complains About Death Threats Over 'Ramadan Pork and Booze' Joke  However, the prescription is not strictly observed. At Pohjois Hervanta school alone, where 40 percent of the schoolchildren are migrants, 60 students observe Ramadan, despite the city administration's instructions.  "We cannot force-feed children or give injections with nutrients. All we can do is advise parents not to force children to fast," school headmaster Ilpo Nybacka said.  According to the director, the effects of Ramadan are tangible.  At Pohjois Hervanta, the lack of concentration has reached such high levels that parents were asked to immediately stop the children's fasting. However, it is still difficult for some parents to accept the school's instructions.  "It may be hard for them to understand the school's call to stop fasting if at the age of 9, the child is already a Muslim believer who wears the Islamic headscarf as a symbol of faith," Katja Simonen explained.  For those pupils who observe Ramadan, despite the city of Tampere's instruction, water is offered alongside an additional 15-minute break.  According to headmaster Nybacka, the most problematic aspect from the school's point of view are the students who parade their piety as a way of getting additional benefits.  "Religion and fasting cannot be used to obtain special status. Sincere religiosity is one thing, yet reluctance to eat food that 'doesn't taste good enough', have a longer recess or buy food from the kiosk is another", Nybacka argued. According to him, there should be the same rules for all students in Finnish schools.  According to the Finnish Teachers Trade Union, schools and municipalities have different approaches to Ramadan. While some forbid fasting, others support it.  "Schools play a big role in integrating Muslim migrants into the Finnish education system. Ways to ensure freedom of religion can be sought together, but the rules should be common to all. You can not seek benefits, hiding behind Ramadan or prayers", union representative Päivi Lyhykäinen explained.  "The freedom of religion is entrenched in the Finnish constitution. However, families' religious principles should not adversely affect school life or work," Leena Nissilä of the Finnish Education Commission said.  READ MORE: 'Not Halal Enough': Finland's Strict Slaughter Rules Roasted by Local Muslims  During Ramadan, which this year lasts from 5 May to 4 June, fasting from dawn until sunset is obligatory for all Muslims, except except those who are ill, travelling, elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, chronically ill, or menstruating.


sputnik--2019-12-11--Teachers From 30 Countries Complete Online Course on Digital Learning, Russian Culture

The online courses “Digital Pedagogy” and “The achievements of Russian culture in a multilingual world” are part of the project “Building a digital cooperation space,” and are publicly available in the public domain. The online course “Achievements of Russian culture in a multilingual world” tells about the history of Russian culture and its impact on world culture. The curriculum includes lectures on avant-garde, constructivism, theatre, cinema, ballet, non-conformism and philanthropy.  The online courses were created as part of the project “Building a digital cooperation space”, introduced by the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia through a grant from the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and the International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).


themanchestereveningnews--2019-07-03--Brexit is putting pupils off learning modern foreign languages say teachers

Brexit is 'putting pupils off learning modern foreign languages' say teachers

Brexit is causing students across the UK to become disinterested in learning modern foreign languages (MFL), according to the British Council.  While more than two-thirds of teachers surveyed by the council said the difficulty of exams was the issue, one in four secondary school teachers said Brexit was having a "negative impact" on pupil's motivation to learn languages.  Out of the 1600 surveyed, an impact on parental attitudes was also noted, with some parents actively discouraging their children from learning languages.  As teachers blame Brexit for a decrease in pupil engagement, two in five added that Britain leaving the EU poses a major challenge to providing high quality language teaching, as the majority of secondary schools depend on EU citizens to help staff their language departments.  The recent report over attitudes coincides with a long-term decline in the number of entries for GCSE language exams, with both French and German seeing a reduction of 30 per cent since 2014.  Trends also support the little likelihood of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds studying languages, as after revisions to the syllabus, 84 per cent of state schools say lower attaining students are now less likely to take a language than three years ago.  Lead researcher, Teresa Tinsley, said: "The report paints a picture of language learning in England becoming increasingly segregated along both socio-economic and academic lines.  "Pupils from poorer backgrounds and those who are less academically inclined are much less likely than their peers to acquire any substantial language skills or access foreign cultures in any significant way, challenges that Brexit looks to exacerbate.  "We all know the pressures schools are under, but these inequalities are not good for our society or the future of our country."  The Language Trends report also indicates declining levels of international engagement in primary and secondary schools, with half offering pupils no international activity at all.  Vicky Gough, schools adviser at the British Council, said: "We need to give our young people more opportunities to learn about and engage with different cultures.  "Languages open up so many doors - not only are they a valuable skill highly sought after by employers, they also allow for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the wider world."  A spokeswoman for exams regulator Ofqual, said: "We take seriously concerns about the perceived difficulty of MFL subjects and continue to look at this issue in detail.  "We are currently conducting a comprehensive review of grading standards in GCSE French, German and Spanish, looking at statistical evidence, contextual data including trends in the numbers taking these subjects and the quality of students' work, to see if there is compelling case for an adjustment to grading standards in these subjects."  The Department for Education say they are supporting schools to encourage students to study languages. Initiatives include the £10m Mandarin Excellence Programme, which will put 5,000 young people on track to be 'fluent in Mandarin by 2020.'  This research is based on an online survey completed between January-March of this year by teachers in 776 state primary schools, 715 state secondary schools and 130 independent secondary schools across the country.


conservativehome--2019-02-01--Mark Lehain Gove was right to support headteachers over excluded pupils

Mark Lehain: Gove was right to support headteachers over excluded pupils

Mark Lehain is Director of Parents and Teachers for Excellence, and founder of the Bedford Free School.  Robert Halfon is a brilliant exponent of an expansive, effective, and inspiring conservatism. Few have done more than him to challenge Tory stereotypes and champion policies that cut through to the wider public.  However, I worry that when he addresses educational matters, as in his column on Wednesday, he undermines all the other great things that he has done over the years. It contained quite a few errors and misconceptions, but I’ll just focus here on the four biggest.  Exclusions rates – they’re up, but for good reasons  Halfon correctly states that exclusion rates are up in recent years, but omits two important facts. First, that the rate is no higher now than they were a decade ago; secondly that the increase is largely down to a deliberate decision by Michael Gove to help headteachers make their schools safer, after numbers were kept artificially low under Labour.  In the bad old days, heads operated in a regime where if they expelled a student a group of strangers on an Appeal Panel, with little understanding of the challenges schools face, could overturn things.  This had two terrible consequences: bad behaviour went unchallenged, as heads avoided expulsions in case they were overturned and their credibility undermined; and schools were literally forced to take back students who had assaulted staff and students, or brought weapons into school. For many heads it just wasn’t worth the risk to their school’s reputation, and behaviour and learning suffered.  Conservatives should be proud that Gove put a stop to this and backed headteachers, whilst ensuring fairness through introducing “Independent Review Panels” instead. Schools today are safer, happier places because of this change.  Exclusions do not lead to crime and prison  Another error is the way Halfon links exclusions to crime, saying “we know that pupils who are excluded from schools are twice as likely to carry a knife, and 63 per cent of prisoners report having been excluded from schools in their youth.”  It’s not exclusions that make people carry knives or go to prison, but other underlying issues in families and communities that cause them all. Schools are places of learning, and we should not ask them to compromise their purpose or safety to address such complex underlying problems.  Different rates of exclusion for different students do not mean discrimination is occurring  The law is clear that exclusions should always be a last resort. School leaders take this seriously, and bend over backwards to support students and avoid exclusion if they possibly can.  Sadly, in recent years a small but influential group of activists have been successful in convincing some politicians and journalists that, because some groups of students experience higher rates of exclusion than others (e.g. those on Special Educational Needs registers), there is systematic discrimination in our school system.  When Halfon writes that “children with special educational needs account for around half of all permanent and temporary exclusions”, he does so to reinforce this view above.  However, the statistic in isolation is misleading – and he knows this, as it’s been pointed out to him repeatedly. As the teacher wrote in a : “Children are not excluded for having SEN. They are excluded for one of the main reasons they end up being given the SEN label, their behaviour.”  High student mobility does not mean pupils are being dumped  Finally, I worry at how Halfon referenced data published by Ofsted regarding schools with high levels of student mobility during GCSE years.  Ofsted has not “identified” these schools as ones who are dumping kids: they’ve just said that they wanted to examine why these particular schools were experiencing high pupil turnover, which is perfectly reasonable.  He also wrote that “over 19,000 students disappeared from the books”, making it sound like schools made them vanish. This is just incorrect. Schools are not allowed to remove a child from their roll without permission and evidence of where they are going on to be educated.  As Ofsted said when it released its statistics here, half of those that moved went to other state schools, another chunk into home education, and some more probably to independent ones. Knowing what’s happened with the remainder is important, but it’s not right to judge institutions without having all the facts.  Education is a big success for the Conservatives  While we’ve definitely not got everything right, I would argue that it is disadvantaged children who have benefited most from Conservative school reforms. Smearing schools, and confusing correlation with causation, doesn’t help anyone. Restricting how schools can keep their staff and students safe would damage vulnerable pupils most.  There is so much that we can be proud of having achieved in England’s schools since 2010. The list of successes is quite incredible: a stronger National Curriculum, more rigorous exams, fairer funding, more autonomy for schools and staff, hundreds of popular free schools, a more enlightened Ofsted, proper phonics teaching… I could go on and on.  But we mustn’t forget though that all of these achievements rely on safe, orderly schools. Let’s be careful as fix the bits of the system that aren’t working, and not inadvertently throw away all our hard-earned gains by letting behaviour slide like it did under Labour.


thedailyrecord--2019-01-18--Pupils global lessons from teacher Keri

Pupils’ global lessons from teacher Keri

A primary teacher from Crieff has been recognised in the New Year Honours with an MBE for the global outlook she’s brought to her school.  Keri Reid (45), principal teacher at Muthill Primary School, has been praised for her outstanding work in bringing a global awareness to her Perthshire pupils.  Keri has made sure her pupils are well aware of the world outwith Perthshire and that helped net her a MBE when the gongs were dished out at the end of last year.  With her help, kids at Muthill have become ambassadors in their learning, retained their full International Schools Award status for the last six years and have spoken to local community groups and other schools.  Muthill children have written to the prime minister - and received replies - and have started up a food bank and a Fair Trade shop.  Last year Martha Cannon, in P6, represented Scotland and spoke to education ministers at the G20 meeting in Argentina via a video recording, explaining why it is important to be learning about the UN Sustainable Development Goals in schools.  Keri has been teaching at Muthill for nearly 15 years and part-time for 10. Her efforts over the last decade have led to Muthill becoming a British Council Partnership School, which has meant getting to know peers in the West African nation of Ghana.  It began in 2006 when through Keri’s dedication, Muthill PS was first successful in getting funding from the British Council.  Teachers from the Tafo community in Ghana have come on exchange visits and with pupils, use technology to share experiences and knowledge, forging strong links.  And since then, it has secured four or five further British Council grants so that Muthill Primary School has hosted 13 teachers from Ghana as part of a Connecting Classrooms project.  Children at Muthill are currently working on a collaborative song video to raise awareness of global goals, written by Muthill pupils and choreographed and put to music by the pupils of Juliet Johnston School in Ghana. In April they will proudly show it to visiting Ghanaian teaching colleagues.  Keri herself has made several trips to West Africa and this summer in the holidays, she is going back to Ghana together with former pupil, Mae Mackay, her niece and two Muthill teachers.  Building on their school’s global connection has been a big thing for children at Muthill, with several fundraising events.  “At Muthill we’ve looked at sustainable development issues, global rights and the Fair Trade movement,” Keri explained.  “We’re not just learning about the pupils in Ghana, we’re learning through them and with them.  “In Ghana, their exports are bananas and chocolate. So we put questions to the pupils out there and straight away, they sent us pictures and made a film of the cacao plantation and the bananas growing right beside their school.”  Responding to the announcement of the MBE honour soon to be bestowed by the Queen, mother-of-one Keri said: “It was a complete surprise but a lovely one. Working with the teachers, children and parents in both schools like this is a joy and something I feel quite passionate about.  “This award is something I intend to share with both communities. Our Global School activities would not have been so successful without the community of Muthill being so strongly behind the link-up.”  Keri’s nomination for a MBE was also for the work she has done in the academic field. She spent two years at the University of Stirling as the early years co-ordinator and a teaching fellow.  “It was a real privilege to work with the next generation of teachers and interesting to work alongside colleagues who worked within education, but in a different context,” she told the PA.  “While there I also took on an additional role as an associate tutor on a masters programme. This secondment led to me starting up a professional reading and enquiry group with staff on return to Muthill, which then led to my other current role, as an associate tutor for the Scottish College of Leadership (SCEL) on a teacher leadership programme.”  Keri also co-ordinates a similar programme for teachers in Perth and Kinross.  “I hugely appreciate that Perth and Kinross Council has let me take up these secondments,” she said. “I’m fortunate to have gained such rich experiences and to be able to share what I’ve learned with other teachers.”  When she received the letter announcing her award at the end of November, Keri revealed she’d glanced at the formal tone of the communication and froze: “My heart sank, I thought it was bad news - or a hoax. I expected to be asked for my bank details next.”  Luckily it was 100 per cent good news, for her and the small school near Crieff.


theirishtimes--2019-04-24--Pupils in small schools forced to practice emergency drills in case teacher falls ill

Pupils in single-teacher schools are practicing emergency drills in case their teacher falls ill in the classroom, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation has heard.  Many rural schools with just one or two teachers are highly vulnerable and face major health and safety concerns, Eoin Fenton, a Galway-based teacher told delegates at the conference in Galway.  One small school in Co Galway has a list of emergency phone numbers on the school whiteboard.  “There’s the number of the chairperson, the local Garda station, parents, etc. Nobody should feel the need to run that drill,” he said.  One teacher, Pádraig Lohan, principal of a small school in Derryoober, Co Galway, said he had given his pupils the passcode for his mobile telephone in case of an emergency.  “ It was so they could call the nearest people and family always. Thank God that never happened,” he said, adding that teachers working on their own must constantly keep pupils under supervision, not even taking a toilet break.  The isolation, he said, meant he looked forward to “the visit of the postman every day”.  “And I did look forward even to the Rent-A-Kill guy. I looked forward to the special delivery guys.”  His school recently gained a second teacher after pupil numbers rose from seven to 16.  In all, there are 26 single-teacher schools and 537 two-teacher schools in mostly rural areas across the State.  In January, the Department of Education announced it would provide a grant to ensure there is more than one adult on the premises at all times.  On Wednesday, INTO delegates demanded that no school should have less than two full-time teachers, while they also argued that enrolment thresholds for third and fourth teachers be restored to previously lower levels.  Falling enrolments at primary level due to demographic change gives the Minister for Education Joe McHugh a “unique opportunity” to reduce class size to the EU average of 20 pupils per teacher with “minimal or no cost” to the State.  Irish class sizes of 25 pupils per class are among the biggest in the EU, second only to the UK: “It’s simple, Minister – hold on to our primary teachers as the number of pupils drops,” said INTO general secretary, John Boyle.  Many schools are forced to hold bake-sales and raffles to pay basic bills.  “Headaches over rising light, heat and electricity costs distract our leaders from their primary function: to lead teaching and learning,” teacher, Michael McConigley said.  Delegates heard how primary schools get just 92 cent/per pupil/per day to cover running costs, while second-level schools receive almost double that amount.  This is because the capitation grant per pupil has dropped from €200 in 2010 to €70 at primary level. The equivalent figure at post-primary is €296.