I don't even know what's satire anymore

 Per CNN: 

Trump transition co-chair Linda McMahon is expected to be named as secretary of the Department of Education, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

While McMahn did serve as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, she is of course best known as former executive and founder of World Wrestling Entertainment. More recently, she has been chairing the America First Policy Institute. 
Please do not claim she has education experience by citing the single year she served on Connecticut's Board of Education.
And yes, she also has a sexual assault scandal alongside her ex-husband.
Per The Guardian, she donated $814,600 to Trump's campaign.

November Board of Ed: vision

 Johnston: 
I cannot read these slides at all and there is no shared backup
advancing student learning
high dosage tutoring: saw in Waltham
what makes high dosage tutoring work
use and development of technology
scheduling is huge "every day, ready to go"
investment to take root

Moriarty: only one district hasn't answer in K-8 range
"sometimes 'see something say something;"
(it was charter schools he was calling out last month)

Johnston asked why they didn't answer: don't have the infrastructure "larger districts do"
and the smaller ones?

Virtual meeting the evening of December 16 (we don't know why yet)
Next regular meeting December 17 back in Everett

ADJOURNED

November Board of Ed: Commissioner search and budget and virtual schools funding

 holding Felix Virtual School item for future meeting
updating as we go

November Board of Ed: on Holyoke

 on to Holyoke

but first a student performance; a section of "Miss Nelson is Missing" which Holyoke High performed this past week

updating as we go

November Board of Ed in Holyoke: opening comments

 Coming to you live today from Holyoke High School, home of the Knights, making a nice change from the last time I was at a Board of Ed meeting in Holyoke when they were voting on receivership.

The agenda for today is here; don't expect it to start on time.
The high school (not uncommonly!) has social media blocked, so I am going to update here rather than try to update on social media.

updating as we go...

There's a certain Worcester symmetry

 

...to the first of the city of Worcester needing to cover Polar Park payments coming at the same meeting as the first round of borrowing for a new Burncoat. While the memo regarding the stadium is full of assurances that all will be fine, the one from the Manager on Burncoat closes:

Borrowing for this project will potentially increase the municipality’s current debt by 25%. The municipality must carefully consider ways to reduce borrowing and increase both revenues and reserves to mitigate the potential impact on the City’s taxpayers. 

Framing is an interesting thing, isn't it.

 There's also an interesting note in the free cash allocation:

$7,585,935.00 to the Worcester Public Schools:  For FY25, I am proposing that the Worcester Public Schools and municipality divide the remaining funds to support operating and capital expenses.  As you know, FY25 was a difficult budget year for Worcester Public Schools due to increased students and rising City of Worcester obligations. While the municipality provided more than $1.8 million at the close of FY24 to address Net School Spending shortfalls, the Superintendent and I have been in communication about additional Worcester Public Schools costs that we believe will not meet Net School Spending requirements and therefore will exacerbate the existing shortfall. This appropriation should bring the City above the required Net School Spending amount of $127.7 million, as long as the funds are used to support Net School Spending eligible activities. I am working with the Superintendent to determine the highest and best use of these funds that will ensure the City meets its financial obligations to public education. 

The flag that goes up in my mind from the first quarter report is out of district transportation, as transportation doesn't count towards NSS, but it would be interesting to know. In any case, Worcester appears to once again be walking the line on meeting minimum obligation, though at least now it is being attended to. 

We could, of course, not minimally fund schools and then we wouldn't have this issue.

Because we have to take our joy where we can

 ...I do want to be sure others appreciate the "pick me" energy coming from Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, one presumes in pursuit of the Secretary of Education position. 

It's no good pointing out that if there is no Department of Education, there will be no Secretary of Education; this isn't a crew that thinks this way. 

In any case, last month, it made news when Oklahoma's Department of Education issued bid documents for Bibles for every classroom that could only be answered by Trump Bibles, a bid which within the week then was amended, as that would violate state bid laws. Walters has since announced that 500 Bibles have been purchased for AP Gov classes, which I'm sure those students will find not at all useful for their classes.

This week, Walters announced the creation of a new Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism (it's always a tell when the state page features a photo of the head of the department), and then sent a video of his announcing this and then praying for President-elect Trump to every school district in the state, ordering them to show this video in every classroom. The Oklahoman reports that they've counted seven superintendents refusing, and they're backed by the state Attorney General whose spokesman said: 

Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents' rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights

So that's amazing!

Walters, of course, is being sued by teachers and parents seeking to overturn his mandate that the Bible be taught in public school classrooms. He's also been under several rounds of investigation. 

Note: I am sharing this in part because this week, there is a meme going around which compares Massachusetts to Oklahoma in terms of education, voting record, and other things. It is frequently being shared with a sneer.
Knock it off.
The resistance to Walters is coming from IN OKLAHOMA! That's local superintendents facing off against their state department, local parents and teachers suing! This stuff matters a lot.