A daily round-up of education news and views for the Carolinas.
Carolinas
22nd June 2021

A daily round-up of education news and views for principals, superintendents, teachers and administrators in North and South Carolina.

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NATIONAL NEWS
Bipartisan bill would fund research into impact of active shooter drills
A bipartisan bill has been reintroduced in the U.S. House, proposing funding to study the impact of active shooter drills on students. Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) are backing the School Safety Drill Research Act, which would give the National Academy of Sciences $1m to research how to prepare for active shooters in ways that are effective and do not cause undue anxiety. “For a practice that is so widespread, we really should not be operating in the dark,” said Rob Wilcox, federal legal director for Everytown for Gun Safety. The group has tried to look at the impact of these experiences on kids. Some are announced ahead of time, so kids know it is coming and are prepared. Others, they get no warning at all. And some go even further, Mr. Wilcox said: "(some schools will do) an unannounced drill where students are caught off guard, (where) an individual is dressed and acting like an intruder and is trying to storm classrooms," carrying and shooting a fake gun. Rep. Perlmutter is optimistic that there’s enough bipartisan support to get Ellie’s idea to the president’s desk, even though funding for the research was derailed last year at the 11th hour.
Interior Secretary to address legacy of indigenous boarding schools
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other federal officials are expected to announce steps that the federal government plans to take to reconcile the legacy of boarding school policies on Indigenous families and communities. Starting with the Indian Civilization Act of 1819, the U.S. enacted laws and policies to establish and support Indian boarding schools across the nation. For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their communities and forced into boarding schools that focused on assimilation. Ms Haaland cited statistics from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, which reported that by 1926, more than 80% of Indigenous school-age children were attending boarding schools that were run either by the federal government or religious organizations. Besides providing resources and raising awareness, the coalition has been working to compile additional research on U.S. boarding schools and deaths that many say is sorely lacking. Ms Haaland has suggested that investments planned by the Biden administration and efforts to strengthen tribal sovereignty can help to heal the wrongs.
Opinion: School-safety debate swinging in favor of campus police
Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the civil rights organization Advancement Project National Office, looks at how the conversation on the role of police in schools has changed in the 13 months since the murder of George Floyd. The decades-long argument for police-free schools, of which Ms Browne Dianis is an advocate for, has seen numerous districts across the nation, including in Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, and Portland, severe ties with local police. She goes on to note that "the pendulum seems to be shifting back to business as usual," with federal funding allowing schools to monitor students through anonymous reporting systems, social-media surveillance, and threat-assessment teams that coordinate with law enforcement. Not long after cutting ties with the Minneapolis police department, the city’s school board employed tools to digitally surveil their students, and has hired “school safety specialists” to provide security as a “bridge” between in-school interventions and law enforcement. Ms Browne Dianis describes these as "dangerous and unproven practices" that disproportionately criminalize Black and brown students.
DISTRICTS
SC lawmakers approve budget
The South Carolina House and Senate has approved a budget of around $10.8bn, under which teachers will receive a pay raise. Also included in the spending plan is a needs-based 4K program for every school district in the state, with 21 of the state's 81 school districts still having no 4K program, including Richland 2, Greenville, Horry County, Beaufort, Charleston, York 2, York 3 and York 4, Lexington 2 and Lexington-Richland 5, before the upcoming school year. State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman commented: “The funding provided in this year's state budget will expand the current offerings statewide to ensure that all at-risk students have the opportunity to receive a high quality early childhood education.”
NC school mask policies left to local boards under new legislation
Local school boards across North Carolina will be allowed to set their own masking policies for the upcoming school year under new legislation proposed in the state House this week. Rep. David Willis, who introduced Senate Bill 173, stated: “Decisions about face coverings for our students should be left to local authorities. Our school boards are in a much better position to implement policies that reflect their communities than Governor Cooper is in Raleigh. They should have the flexibility and authority to make those decisions.”
NC legislation on teacher prep classes signed by Governor
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has signed legislation allowing people to become a high school “adjunct instructor” after completing just one college semester of teacher preparation classes. Sen. Jim Burgin, a Harnett County Republican and one of the bill's primary sponsors, noted earlier this month that “The best teachers that I had at the high school and college level were folks that came out of the industry with real-life experience.”
Cleveland County summer school in full swing
A report on Cleveland County Schools' summer program quotes Brian Hunnell, assistant superintendent in the district as saying: "K-8 is more of your at-risk child, maybe they didn't perform well during the year and that kind of thing. Your high school students are doing more credit recovery." He went on: "It is still quality instruction all day long."
STUDENTS
SC School for the Deaf and the Blind graduate profiled
The Post and Courier features a profile of Vanessia Sanders of Salters, who has graduated from the SC School for the Deaf and the Blind (SCSDB). The report notes that the SC School for the Deaf and the Blind is "the state's specialized school for students who are deaf or blind. It offers pre-K-12 educational programs on its main campus in Spartanburg and specialized vision and hearing services in school districts and homes throughout the state."

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