May Board of Ed: budget

 Bill Bell: quick update on federal and state financial resources
Senate today is debating its version of the FY26 budget proposal
$8.6B K-12 funding; bulk is the same as House 1 and House budgets
year 2 of further supports for Literacy Launch $20M
$25M for high dosage tutoring
affirms commitment to student nutrition; some differences in appropriation levels
"but that will get itself worked out"
"that's all based on claims; do our best to work that out"
social-emotional supports for students

Federal side: federal budget for this coming fiscal year (which is FY25 for fed)
have received major entitlement awards
still awaiting for adult education and Titles II, III, and IV
think it is about OMB working out final details; expect to see in next month or so
watching next federal fiscal year budget FY26, which would impact next fiscal year for state (FY27)

And ADJOURNED
Next meeting June 24 back in Everett

May Board of Ed: educator licensure

 Tutwiler: one additional change from public comment

Claire Abbott: permanently offer alternatives to the MTEL 
new endorsement in media arts
change to "comprehensive health"
bilingual as alternative to SEI endorsement
increased flexibility for 12 credit option
all emergency license extension beyond June 30, 2027

Liz Bennett: "robust set of public comment" mostly through survey tool
mostly supportive of proposed revisions
LEADS Act is separate and distinct
"working to build out these proposed alternative licensure pathways"
plan to bring proposed regulation to Board in upcoming school year

one change to expand list of CTE licenses that are prerequisite for Media Arts endorsement

Craven: have never seen this level of detail in public comment feedback

Stewart: can you say more about emergency license?
Devine (this is going over things that already happened but aren't happening anymore)

have seen real shifts in number of teachers on emergency licenses; assume shift to regular licenses

Hills: guidance for when you might not use alternative assessments
Abbott: don't have a target on a percentage
"really want to be sure that if you're interested in becoming a teacher, you have options"
"that's really the goal"
did see a higher number of emergency license teachers accessing the alternative during the pilot
as researchers noted, population of those accessing alternatives may shift over time
Hills: "just throwing in my two cents" like the idea of expanding ways of having teachers
"not just because we have a supply-side issue" but it's a good process

ROLL CALL: 9 in favor, Tutwiler abstain

May Board of Ed: competency determination

 Tutwiler: thank Curtin for him and his team for preparation of conversation; "your work is greatly appreciated"

May Board of Ed: vocational admission

Tutwiler: never been about casting aspersions on career-tech leaders or educators

Methuen High School auditorium

"has been about advancing values that reflect that every student" warrants a chance to pursue access

recommending one minor change to the middle school access, and three substantive changes to the weighted lottery
heard "loud and clear" the demand for more seats

May Board of Ed: opening comments

Today's meeting is being hosted by Methuen High (which has a stunning auditorium, and I'd quite like to have a box seat for Board of Ed meetings always, thank you). The agenda, which is regulation central, can be found here. 

If this box seat had an electrical outlet, it would be close to perfect.

updating as we go once they start...this will not start on time. 

Being honest about generative AI

 The New York Times this weekend covers students 'fending off accusations of cheating' using AI  [gift link there]:

 In interviews, high school, college and graduate students described persistent anxiety about being accused of using A.I. on work they had completed themselves — and facing potentially devastating academic consequences.

In response, many students have imposed methods of self-surveillance that they say feel more like self-preservation. Some record their screens for hours at a time as they do their schoolwork. Others make a point of composing class papers using only word processors that track their keystrokes closely enough to produce a detailed edit history.

The next time Ms. Burrell had to submit an assignment for the class in which she had been accused of using A.I., she uploaded a 93-minute YouTube video documenting her writing process. It was annoying, she said, but necessary for her peace of mind.

Of course, as we learned in April, also in the Times: 

We have the integrity to note that what students are doing is cheating, but if teachers outsource their intellectual work--and yes, creating lesson plans and quizzes is intellectual work--then somehow that is not? 
Give me a break.

I appreciate the discussion that Marcus Luther at "The Broken Copier" had with his sophomores on this topic.

I spent part of last week with school business officials, which of course is another front in the "AI can do it!" battle. As I shared earlier this month, the latest testing has demonstrated no more than a 50% accuracy rate on finances.

The interview of Colin Fraser that Benjamin Riley shared on 'Cognitive Resonance' perhaps demonstrates why: 

...what you hope for is that the model is able to take a prompt such as “what is two plus two?” and find a symbolic representation which corresponds to two plus two, and then carry out the addition, two plus two equals four. The end. That’s what you hope happens.

But whether or not that is what’s happening is just a really complicated question. It’s very rare nowadays that a production model is not going to tell you two plus two is four, and in fact they can go pretty high in terms of addition.

Yet this actually breaks down once you get to a certain size of number. I've tested this out pretty extensively. Even the best production models start to break down around 40 digits of addition. And that’s a big number to add, for sure. But at the same time, if you know how to add, you can do it. Even a kid can add 40 digit numbers—it'll take them a long time, but they can do it.

If a model gives me an answer to a 40 digit sum and it’s wrong, that means it wasn’t adding.

When I tell you that I find the prospective of generative AI in school finance terrifying, I am not exaggerating.  

 

NYC has an answer to school buses being late

 Congestion pricing, it emerges, has a positive educational outcome: 

NYCSBUS filed a legal brief Wednesday in support of the congestion pricing program, which is under siege by the Trump administration’s Department of Transportation. The first-in-the-nation toll is slated to bring $1 billion per year to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and reduce overall traffic congestion by charging passenger vehicles a $9 daily toll to enter the “Central Business District” — Manhattan below 60th Street.

Buses have been running faster since the congestion pricing toll began in early 2025, NYCSBUS noted. The effects could have a big impact in the classroom, with NYCSBUS boasting that some Manhattan students are now spending an average of about 30 minutes more per week in school.

“Indeed, since the program was implemented, students who ride NYCSBUS buses to schools in the [Central Business District] have gained, on average, approximately half an hour of additional time at school per week that otherwise would have been spent idling in traffic on a school bus,” the company claims in the 17-page amicus brief. 

Thus the Trump administration attack on NYC congestion pricing is also another way in which they are undermining education.