In Case You Missed It – August 5, 2024

Here are links to last week's^† articles receiving the most attention on NEIFPE's social media accounts. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Studies of student performance under school voucher programs not only showed that they don’t help them, but that they could actually have harmful effects. Results from a 2016 study of Louisiana’s voucher program found “strong and consistent evidence that students using an LSP scholarship performed significantly worse in math after using their scholarship to attend private schools.” In Indiana, results also showed “significant losses” in math. A third study of a voucher program in Ohio reported that “students who use vouchers to attend private schools have fared worse academically compared to their closely matched peers attending public schools.”

We aren’t against private schools. But we are against taxpayer money going to private schools at the expense of public schools." -- The Governors of North Carolina and Kentucky quoted in Diane Ravitch's blog post, Governors Roy Cooper and Andy Beshear: Real Democrats Support Real Public Schools! (emphasis added)

VOUCHERS CHIP AWAY AT PUBLIC EDUCATION

Governors Roy Cooper and Andy Beshear: Real Democrats Support Real Public Schools!

By the time you read this, Vice President Harris may have already chosen her running mate for the upcoming presidential election, but it's good to remember that there are some Democrats who are still fighting for public education.

From Diane Ravitch

Voucher programs chip away at the public education our kids deserve

This is their strategy: Start the programs modestly, offering vouchers only to low-income families or children with disabilities. But then expand the giveaway by taking money from public schools and allowing the wealthiest among us who already have children in private schools to pick up a government check.

CITIZENSHIP BUILDING IS A CORE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

I am a Patriot

Public schools serve all our students -- those with a variety of religious beliefs, Christians, Muslims, and others, and those with no religious beliefs. That is the value of having a First Amendment protecting the right to free exercise of religion and prohibiting the state from establishing one religion over another. Nancy Flanagan writes about the error made by the State Superintendent of Public Schools of Oklahoma and others who would impose their beliefs on others.

From Nancy Flanagan in Teacher in a Strange Land blog

I love the idea that it took decades of discourse for the early, 18th century Rebels (by no means a majority) to organize in resisting colonial rule, fighting the imposition of taxation without representation (which still resonates today). I think all children in America should know the truth about our Founding Fathers, and their multi-racial legacies. I think elementary schools should hold mock elections and HS Social Studies teachers should organize voter registration drives. I think flying the national flag—right side up—is everyone’s prerogative.

I also think the Superintendent of Schools in Norman, Oklahoma, who declared “We’re not going to have Bibles in our classrooms”—after a memo from Ryan Walters, their moronic State Superintendent specifying that all OK classrooms will offer Bible-based instruction—is a patriot.

A patriot who understands our foundational principles–the separation of church and state, for example. Perhaps even a patriot who sees citizenship-building, not just job training, as a core purpose of public schools.

TRAINING YOUR SCHOOL BOARD UNDER PROJECT 2025

The Heritage Foundation Wants to Train Your School Board.

The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 has directions for school board members. Would you want your school system run by people who want to destroy public schools?

From deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Given the Heritage Foundation’s push for outsized, ubiquitous influence in casting America in its own far-right-conservative image, it should come as no surprise that the Heritage Foundation even offers its own “school board training”:

The status quo in your school system wasn’t working. You saw the need for new leadership with a different vision for education. You stepped up to the plate and ran for school board—and you won! Now your role as a school board member brings a new set of challenges and opportunities—and the learning curve can be steep. But you don’t have to navigate this new territory alone.

The Heritage Foundation is pleased to offer training designed especially to help you succeed in your new role as a school board member. Experienced schoolboard leaders and education policy experts from across the country have teamed up to share the knowledge and information you need for immediate effectiveness. Designed for busy board members and parents, this training is available on demand so that you can learn at your convenience and at your own pace.

Okay.

So, who’s instructing these “on-demand” lessons on behalf of the Heritage Foundation?

STATE AND LOCAL NEWS

‘Back to school’ brings new education laws to Indiana classrooms

Most of the new policies took effect July 1, though some changes are still a year or two out from full implementation.

From Indiana Capital Chronicle (emphasis in original)

IREAD and third grade retention
Among the most debated legislation of the 2024 session, Senate Enrolled Act 1 seeks to remedy Indiana’s literacy “crisis” by requiring schools to administer the statewide IREAD test in second grade — a year earlier than previous requirements — and direct new, targeted support to at-risk students and those struggling to pass the exam.

But if, after three tries, a third grader can’t meet the IREAD standard, legislators want school districts to retain them. That number could reach into the thousands, according to 2023 data. New IREAD results for tests taken in Spring 2024 are expected to be released next month...

...Religious instruction
Although an option previously existed for Hoosier students to receive religious instruction during regular school hours, House Enrolled Act 1137 requires schools to approve parental requests for students to leave class during the day.

The change tightens previous Indiana law that permitted students to leave school for up to 120 minutes a week for voluntary religious instruction, as long as it takes place off school property, and private transportation is provided.

Purdue president: New Indiana high school diplomas won’t meet admission requirements

Herein lies the danger of having legislators, the vast majority of whom are non-educators, micromanage our state's school curriculum.

From WFYI (Indianapolis)

Purdue University’s president says Indiana’s proposed changes to high school diplomas do not meet the school’s admission standards in math, social studies and world languages.

In a letter sent to top state education leaders last week, President Mung Chiang said several changes to the diplomas do not meet what have been the entry criteria at the Big Ten university.

High school curriculum is an important factor in college admission, Chiang said in the letter.

“Not all students will attend college,” Chiang wrote. “However, all students should clearly understand college admission requirements and be offered the coursework needed to be admitted to and succeed in college.”

See also: Indiana's new high school diplomas spark concerns among university leaders


East Allen County Schools administrators gather as new year nears

EACS and FWCS prepare for the new school year.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

East Allen County Schools expects to begin the academic year with no unstaffed bus routes – an achievement that had the superintendent smiling Monday as administrators gathered for a back-to-school tradition.

Marilyn Hissong also announced at the annual Administrators Academy that the district has only two new administrators, both of whom were promoted from other roles.

“That’s an exciting year, not to have the turnover – to have our people all back,” Hissong said.

About 50 district and school leaders – including principals, department directors and central office staff – gathered at the EACS Annex in New Haven for the annual professional development session held days before classes begin Aug. 7.

Hissong said the tradition is an opportunity to work on leadership skills and ensure that all administrators have the same information as they prepare for a new academic year.

“We also unveiled our strategic plan for the district,” Hissong said. “This one contains curriculum, community, culture – all of that.”

FWCS to have weapon detection systems in high schools for upcoming year

From 21Alive News

Last school year South Side High School took on a pilot program for the Open Gate Weapon Detection systems.

Now with data collected from the school, officials with FWCS are ready to implement the system into other schools.

JOIN US

An Evening with Jennifer McCormick

NEIFPE is proud to co-sponsor this event featuring Jennifer McCormick, candidate for Governor of Indiana. We hope you can attend.

Click HERE to register for the September 25th event:





**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both are available with a subscription. Staying informed is essential; one way to do that is to support your local newspaper. For subscription information, go to fortwayne.com/subscriptions/ [NOTE: NEIFPE has no financial ties to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette]

^†Note: NEIFPE's In Case You Missed It is posted by the end of the day every Monday except after holiday weekends or as otherwise noted.

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