This is going to be a great event especially if viewpoint diversity and the outdoors are your thing.
This from Chad Aldeman in The Hill is important.
It’s an idea that apparently was too good to check. In The Washington Post, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a candidate for president, proposed a bold new federal-state partnership to raise teacher pay because of a yawning “teacher wage gap.” Yet, while teacher compensation is a problem in many states and school districts, Harris relied on incomplete data. As a result, her proposal will fail to help the teachers as it should — and might actually make their problem worse.
Here’s an interesting case. A female teacher was fired, presumably for violating the morals clause of her contract when a topless selfie picture of her was seen by students. Problem is, the teacher had no intention of sharing this content with students. Instead, another teacher, who she had shared it with in the course of a relationship, apparently left their phone unsecured or otherwise allowed students to see it. The account in the article makes it seem that the school could have handled things with more sensitivity. But, morals clauses are notoriously squishy and subjective and this is explicitly conduct students cannot engage in without consequence. There is also a complicated set of gender issues given the double standards with men and women here. She’s suing for her job and monetary damages. Her take here.
Elsewhere, here’s a teachers union leader arguing against a law that would criminalize sex between teachers and students even if those students have reached the age of consent. His argument is that in theory a teacher would already lose their job and license for doing this so the law isn’t really needed and singles out teachers. It’s not a completely meritless argument except one might argue that the student – teacher relationship is a special one so it’s less singling out than acknowledging the custodial relationship that exists and that even colleges are explicitly banning this kind of thing with even older students. Of course one might also argue that, you know, c’mon when you represent teachers it’s a really bad look to argue against a law making it illegal for them to have sex with students…full stop!
This is not, a 5th-grader being killed in a fight in school is unacceptable under any circumstance. As we discussed the other day, keeping kids safe is the core responsibility of any school.
Is statistical significance on its way out?
Ken Wagner exit interview in RI.
OK, I want to pretend to be shocked but I’ve heard about other similar stuff:
“If a parent ever feels the need to inform me or my colleagues regarding the actions of a child that is not their own — I will ask you to leave my office or end the phone conversation.”
The message seemed to confirm the vague rumors that had circulated for weeks — murmurs about parents behaving badly, even going so far as to disparage other students, presumably to give their own teens a leg up in the high-stakes college admissions competition.
Many school superintendents won’t admit it publicly, but weakened teachers unions have given them unprecedented freedom to make important decisions about the schools they oversee. The ability to offer better pay and incentives has school districts across the state competing for the best teachers.
But, it’s debatable how much Wisconsin shows what a post-Janus world is going to look like because Act 10 covered a number of elements that the Janus decision did not. More on Janus context here. My best guess on where the unions will go over time in a post-Janus world.
New report on integration from Century Foundation (includes a recommendation on transportation, but there is even more that can happen on that issue).
