Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Spring break reading

I've caught my breath enough to catch up a bit some of the more national publications. These are some things I'm reading, and I'll add reflections as I have them.
  • Washington Post has an interesting piece of what it looks like to live not viewing your (white) child as the exception with the escape hatch in Washington, D.C.
“I want my kids to know they are no better than any other kids from any other background and to pull them out of their feeder school because it’s predominantly black school, that sends the wrong message,” Clapp said. 
  • Ed Build has released an interactive update on efforts across the country of predominately white, weathlier districts to secede from their predominately students of color and/or poorer school districts. There is coverage by Vox on this here.You might also read this piece in Hechinger Report by Emmanuel Felton (writing a book on METCO!), which works out where this is happening (not just the South!) and some of the reasons why.
    If you're in Massachusetts, please recall that this isn't happening here only because we have never had regionalized districts for the purposes of integration at all; it can't fall apart because they never came together. I'll also note that Felton uses Newton, MA, as an example of the sort of wealth disparities associated with school funding, as it brings in more taxes than the entire city of Detroit. 
  • I haven't read this yet, but the Learning Policy Institute has evaluated ESSA plans around equity. They focus on: 
    • suspension rates;
    • school climate;
    • chronic absenteeism;
    • extended-year graduation rate; and
    • access to a college- and career-ready curriculum.

    Three of these Massachusetts included in the ESSA current plan.

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