STATE NEWS CTA votes to defend Gov. Newsom against recall The California Teacher Association has voted to get behind Gov. Gavin Newsom in an upcoming recall election. “California educators stand in strong opposition to the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom,” union president E. Toby Boyd wrote in a statement. “From our classroom vantage point during the pandemic, we didn’t always agree on approach, but we’ve never questioned his commitment to California’s students and public education.” In his statement, Boyd credited Newsom for driving down California’s COVID-19 rates with the state’s vaccination efforts. The vote by the governing body of the state's largest teachers union comes as Newsom and lawmakers work out details of next year’s budget, including how much virtual schooling to allow. Last month, Newsom proposed withholding billions of dollars from schools that don’t return to full in-class instruction in the fall after the pandemic waiver allowing schools to move online expires June 30th.
Sacramento Bee
California schools move ahead with fall distance learning plans California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he expects schools to fully reopen after the distance learning statute expires on June 30th and that students who want to continue with remote learning can pursue existing independent study plans. Nevertheless, some parents, education and civil rights advocacy groups are urging Newsom to extend and strengthen the 2020-21 distance learning provisions for the upcoming school year. “Pandemic recovery isn’t happening in a uniform way. There’s a much larger impact on low-income communities, and we want to make sure they have high-quality distance learning opportunities if they need it,” said Victor Leung, director of education equity at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. “We have had lots of folks in independent study (pre-pandemic), and it hasn’t provided high-quality instruction. It’s seen as a way to push students out of school.” California lawmakers are currently discussing options for remote learning as part of the 2021-22 state budget. The latest budget proposals would create additional requirements for districts offering independent study, including providing the necessary technology and curriculum students need, recording daily participation and interaction with teachers and creating processes to re-engage students who fall behind academically. Schools would also have to provide live interaction between independent study students and teachers at least once per week, plus document daily participation. Current law does not require schools to verify whether students completed independent study coursework each day, but they must verify whether the assigned work was completed by a set date. But advocates say that the proposed changes to independent study fall short of the robust distance learning programs they think districts should be able to offer students.
EdSource
Modesto High student will help govern California education for a year Modesto High School student Rana Banankhah will serve for a year on the California Board of Education. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed her to the student seat on the 11-member board, starting Aug. 1. She will have full voting rights. “I’m looking forward to focusing on rebounding from the pandemic, reducing the achievement gap and supporting student mental health,” she said. “I also plan to ensure that historically underrepresented students have a voice and a say in shaping the education system.” State board members earn $100 per meeting day and must be confirmed by the Senate.
The Modesto Bee
NATIONAL NEWS Ed Dept seeks feedback on school discipline policies The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a Request for Information asking members of the public to submit written comments on the administration of school discipline in schools serving students in pre-k through grade 12. This information will assist OCR in determining what policy guidance, technical assistance, or other resources may help schools improve school climate and safety, and ensure equal access to education programs and activities, consistent with the civil rights laws that OCR enforces. The OCR's Civil Rights Data Collection has shown persistent disparities over time in the use of exclusionary discipline. The data from the 2017-18 school year survey show that Black students represented 15% of student enrollment but 38% of students who received one or more out-of-school suspensions, and students with disabilities represented 13% of student enrollment but 25% of students who received one or more out-of-school suspensions. "Our nation's civil rights laws require fair and nondiscriminatory school discipline practices," said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Suzanne B. Goldberg, "yet we have data that show concerning disparities based on race, sex, and disability in the administration of discipline. We want to hear from educators, students, parents, and other stakeholders about how the Department can support schools in addressing disparities and eliminating discrimination in school discipline and fostering positive and inclusive school climates."
US Department of Education
Government opens review of federal sex discrimination protections for students A sweeping review of one of the nation’s key education civil rights laws that ramps up this week could lead to new policies on some of the most sensitive issues schools have faced in recent years: responding to reports of sexual assault and harassment, protecting LGBTQ students, and ensuring students are treated equally, regardless of gender. Federal enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 shifted dramatically between the last two presidential administrations. Schools have been left to navigate changes in complicated directives about their responsibilities to students, and a corresponding threat of federal enforcement if they don’t meet them. Five days of virtual public hearings begin today, during which sexual assault survivors, groups concerned about due process for accused students, LGBTQ rights groups, educators, and others are expected to weigh in, voicing passionate and sometimes conflicting opinions about the law.
Education Week
DISTRICTS LA teachers union to vote on urging U.S. to cut aid to Israel The leadership body of the Los Angeles teachers union is expected to vote in September on a resolution that would urge the U.S. government to end all aid to Israel. The declaration, which was brought forward during the recent deadly conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants, urges United Teachers Los Angeles to “express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for Israel to end bombardment of Gaza and stop displacement at Sheikh Jarrah” — a site where Palestinian residents face forced removal. In addition to the cutoff in aid, the resolution asks members to endorse “the international campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.” Critics say the resolution is one-sided, insensitive to Jewish students and school employees, and inappropriate for a teachers union. “It is inappropriate and unacceptable for UTLA to promote a one-sided position on a complex geopolitical issue that is far removed from the day to day public education in our schools, among our teachers, our students and their families,” The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said in a statement. The resolution “knowingly alienates an entire population of their members, and intentionally makes all LAUSD schools feel unwelcome and unsafe for most Jews and their allies.”
Los Angeles Times
Newhall appoints new Director of Instruction The Newhall School District has appointed Kate Peattie as its new Director of Instruction, Assessment and Accountability, who is expected to start next month. Prior to her new position, she served as a Board member of the Santa Clarita Valley Association of California School Administrators, according to NSD officials. She earned the Santa Clarita Valley Association of California School Administrators Charter Leadership Award in 2020, and was nominated for Administrator of the year,
KHTS
OTHER Twenty-five states introduce personal finance education in 2021 So far in 2021, 25 states in the U.S. have introduced legislation that would add personal finance education to their high school curriculum. Bills in Arkansas, Hawaii and Nebraska have been passed this year and signed into law, while measures in four more states, Colorado, Nevada, Rhode Island and Texas, have passed and are awaiting governors’ signatures. Seven states - Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Utah, North Carolina and Mississippi - have what Next Gen Personal Finance, which carried out the review, refers to as the gold standard of personal finance education: a standalone half-semester course that focuses on only personal finance. Beyond that, some 21 states require some personal finance education, but say it can be incorporated into another course. “In recent years, I haven’t seen this many [bills] that have been significant and that have made it to the governor’s desk,” Next Gen co-founder Tim Ranzetta said. “There’s a sense that some folks are being left behind, and the pandemic kind of exacerbated some of those structural issues,” he added. “And while financial education isn’t the silver bullet, or isn’t the panacea for those issues, it’s an important skill for young people to develop.”
CNBC
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