STATE NEWS California to implement universal transitional kindergarten program Universal transitional kindergarten is poised to become a reality in California, through a $2.7bn program to be phased in over the next five years, until it includes all the state’s four-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. Although some of the state’s largest districts already offer expanded transitional kindergarten, experts say making a year of pre-kindergarten available to all is a watershed achievement in early education. “After lagging behind other states, California suddenly leads the nation in expanding quality preschool,” said Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley. Advocates stress that for transitional kindergarten to best nurture young minds, it must have small teacher-to-student ratios and a developmentally appropriate curriculum as well as before- and after-school services available beyond the program’s three instructional hours. The bill provides many of these quality assurances, such as starting with a ratio of 1 adult for every 12 children in the 2022-23 school year and segueing to one adult for every 10 children by the 2023-24 school year.
EdSource
NATIONAL NEWS CDC updates guidance to emphasize in-person learning The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its guidance for school reopenings in the fall, recommending masking indoors for everyone who is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and three feet of distance within classrooms. It also gave school administrators authority to require indoor mask use even for students and educators who are vaccinated, depending on the needs of the community. CDC officials say they remain confident in the effectiveness of their “layered” approach to safety in schools — using multiple strategies at once, including masking, distancing, screening, contact tracing, ventilation upgrades and staying home when sick. “We really have limited data on transmission of this variant in school settings, but we also don’t have any data to suggest that the layered prevention strategies would be ineffective,” said Erin Sauber-Schatz, a CDC official who oversaw the school guidance. The American Federation of Teachers said the new CDC guidance makes sense and will help students return to the classroom. “The guidance confirms two truths: that students learn better in the classroom, and that vaccines remain our best bet to stop the spread of this virus," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. California will continue to require masks in school settings, state health officials announced Friday, even though federal health authorities released new guidelines saying vaccinated students and teachers no longer need to wear masks inside campus buildings.
Los Angeles Times
Reuters
Washington Post
House Dems propose major funding increase in latest education spending bill A House appropriations subcommittee has published fiscal 2022 spending legislation for the U.S. Department of Education. The package would boost a federal program supporting students from low-income backgrounds by more than 100%, and increase overall funding for K-12 schools by more than 60%. The bill would provide $65.6bn for K-12 education, most of which would go to Title I grants for disadvantaged students. In addition, the bill would provide $17.2bn to special education, an increase of $3.1bn; the bulk of the additional money would go to grants to states under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Programs for English-language acquisition, professional development for educators, and after-school services would also get increases in the legislation. A House subcommittee is scheduled to consider the legislation later today. School district administrators are grappling with how exactly to spend the money, with some pencilling it in for after-school tutoring, and other pushing for increased mental health resources. Many district leaders say they are acting cautiously, avoiding recurring costs such as salary boosts or hiring sprees that could be difficult to sustain when the money runs out.“ Parents will want the money used one way. Teachers will want the money used the other way. Taxpayers who don’t have children in the school will want the money to be used in a different way,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association.
Education Week
Wall Street Journal
DISTRICTS SDUSD adopts activist’s proposed text alert system for school board meetings San Diego USD has launched a new initiative proposed by local civil rights activist Shane Harris geared toward helping people who want to participate in school board meetings from home. The program, called Boost Democracy, is an open government campaign which establishes a text message notification system to alert people when the issue they care about is coming up in a meeting. Its intention is to save people from spending hours watching meetings while waiting for their chance to speak up. San Diego Unified is the county’s first government agency to implement the system. It will be used at the district’s next school board meeting on July 13th.
Fox 5
Eastern Coachella Valley HS grads receive Chromebooks to help with college More than 25 high school graduates from the East Coachella Valley who are planning to continue their education in the fall were given Chromebook devices June 30 to help them with their future studies. A local couple who wishes to remain anonymous donated close to $10,000 last spring to buy the 26 Chromebooks for students in Coachella Valley USD’s high school Expanded Learning Afterschool Programs. Students selected to receive the Chromebooks are graduates of Coachella Valley High School, Desert Mirage High School, West Shores High School and La Familia High School. The graduates plan to attend community college, California State University, University of California or vocational schools
Palm Springs Desert Sun
LEGAL Schools to receive at least $25m from opioid lawsuit School districts will be eligible to apply for at least $25.5m in grants for special education programs as part of a bankruptcy court settlement agreement between state and local governments and opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. The grant program, which will be funded entirely by the company, is geared toward abating the role that the opioid addiction crisis has played in student absenteeism, learning disabilities, and behavioral issues among public school students. Lawyers plan to appoint an expert on special education to serve as lead trustee for the initiative. That person will flesh out the terms of the application process and criteria. The early description of the grant program says it will prioritize plans for programs that could be replicated elsewhere. The 59 districts that joined the bankruptcy suit against Purdue Pharma will also get a small payment as part of the settlement agreement. That list includes districts in large urban areas like Baltimore; Chicago; Miami-Dade County in Florida; and Rochester, N.Y., as well as smaller or more rural districts in Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Maine, and New Hampshire. The amount of those payments, and when they will be distributed, is yet to be determined.
Education Week
Former UCLA spirit squad director sues school The former longtime director of UCLA’s spirit squad has sued the school’s Title IX office, alleging it botched an investigation that led to her termination after spirit squad members attended a Las Vegas burlesque show with a prominent athletics booster. The lawsuit, filed late last month in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Mollie Vehling, seeks a repeal of the investigative findings that deemed Vehling was responsible for the sexual harassment of several spirit squad members, even though she was not present at the “Absinthe” show at Caesars Palace. She was dismissed in May 2019. Ms Vehling said she would like her old job back and to once again represent her alma mater.
Los Angeles Times
CLASSROOM Studies suggest that students benefit from classroom discussions on race Recent research studies have shown that students are more engaged in school after taking classes that frankly discuss subjects such as racism, bigotry, colonialism, Reconstruction, and LGBTQ history. “These experiences where [students] grapple head-on with issues of identity and race and racism…does something to their level of engagement,” said Emily Penner, a professor at University of California, Irvine who has studied courses that include discussions of racism. “That process is really useful to them in an academic sense, probably in a personal sense as well.” An ethnic studies course developed by the San Francisco school district increased participating ninth grade students’ attendance, course completion rates, and grades, according to a 2017 study coauthored by Penner. Researchers compared nearly 1,500 participating students at three high schools to similar students who didn’t have the chance to participate in the class. Ninth grade GPAs increased by 1.4 points among students who took the course. A similar effect was seen in Tucson, Arizona, where participation in a Mexican American studies course appeared to boost test scores and high school graduation rates, according to a 2014 paper. a number of states have recently passed laws attempting to ban “critical race theory," which Penner says is making it even more challenging for educators to take sometimes-uncomfortable issues on. “The current climate is going to make it hard for teachers to have the time and space needed to develop that skill set,” she said. “And that means students might miss out on the chance to have important conversations.”
Chalkbeat
HIGHER EDUCATION Ed Dept cancels additional $55.6m in student debt The Department of Education canceled an additional $55.6m in student loan debt for 1,800 students who were victims of a for-profit college fraud, bringing the total amount of canceled student loan debt by the Biden administration to $1.5bn. The latest loan cancellation is for students who attended Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty and the Court Reporting Institute. This is the first time the department approved loan forgiveness to students who attended schools other than Corinthian Colleges, ITT Technical Institute and American Career Institute since 2017. The government is using the “borrower defense to repayment” rule, also known as “borrower defense,” to provide this forgiveness. Under the Higher Education Act, the Secretary of Education has the authority to discharge the debt of borrowers who were defrauded or lied to by their college or university. With the additional 1,800 students, the Biden administration has canceled student loans for nearly 92,000 people.
USA Today
Forbes
TECHNOLOGY Advocacy groups call for ban on Eproctoring A coalition of 19 advocacy groups is urging school administrators to ban the use of "eproctoring" apps over concerns that the systems are invasive and can be harmful for students. Software that uses AI-powered systems to monitor students as they take tests, often through required webcam recordings and facial recognition technology, is known as eproctoring. The 19 signatories to the letter include human rights and youth advocacy organizations including Fight For the Future, AccessNow, Encode Justice, Parents Together and Media Alliance. The groups liken the tracking software to "spyware" and argue it raises significant issues that perpetuate racism and ableism while failing to serve its purpose to prevent academic dishonesty. The open letter follows a scorecard Fight For the Future launched in June detailing how prominent colleges and universities plan to use eproctoring in the upcoming school year. According to Fight for the Future’s scorecard, most of the schools asked said they are or “might be” using such software systems.
The Hill
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