ICYMI: Cataract Edition (1/26)
I am halfway through the process of cataract surgery (they go one eye at a time) and so far it has been not terrible. It's one of those minor miracles of modern stuff. They slice open your eyeball and replace the lens with a lens-shaped piece of plastic and voila! the world looks less like it's shrouded in a brown cloud. If only improving the view of other things were that relatively easy.
Here's the reading list for the week.
TC Weber has a one-two punch this week because he's A) way too close to the latest school shooting and B) way too knowledgeable about the new Deputy Secretary of Ed, Penny Schwinn, yet another reformster whose gift seems to be for failing upward.
Trump Nominates Controversial Penny Schwinn for Deputy Ed Sec
If you want some more details of the mess that Schwinn has left behind her in the past, the indispensable Mercedes Schneider has the receipts.
Ensuring Florida Leads And America’s First
Oh, look. Erika Donalds, an important figure in the gutting of Florida's public school system, has landed a job with America First Policy Institute, the thinky tank that Ed Secretary-designate Linda McMahon ran.
Who is the new CEO of Teach For America?
Gary Rubinstein is a Teach for American vet who grew up to be a real teacher, and he's been the raspberry seed in their wisdom tooth ever since (that's Music Man). This post is lengthy, but manages both to put TFA in its historical context and to introduce the new TFA head honcho, who, it turns out, is loaded with red flags.
Republican Kids in Public Schools Also Lack Mittens
Nancy Bailey with some facts to remind the new administration that Republicans have poor children, too.
Mass. DESE Helps Jeb Bush Sell Out Public Education
Dark money expert Maurice Cunningham points out that Massachusetts education leaders are hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Please Don't Use Generative AI To Mimic Historical Figures
Tom Mullany argues that nobody is well-served by more AI mockeries of real humans. Meeting with an AI Anne Frank? Maybe don't.
'AI-driven' cyber charter school wants to teach Pa. kids core academics in 2 hours per day
I wrote about this last week, and it's great to see other outlets following the story of the Texas couple with a cyber-grift to see the state of Pennsylvania--and, in the meantime, a few other states and nations as well.
Billionaires Driving Science of Reading
Thomas Ultican drills down on the recent attack on LAUSD reading instruction. More Science of Reading shenanigans.
No One Wants to Raise a Little A--hole
Teacher Tom argues in favor of teaching more than just academic content, and says that parents want that something else, too.
Nancy Flanagan posts on the value of civics education, with some surprising facts about which states do or do not require such education.
Trump Endangers and Marginalizes Innocent Children in Executive Order to End Birthright Citizenship
Jan Resseger has been working overtime cataloging the many ways that Trump policies pose a threat to the health and well-being of children in this country. Here's a look at his attempt to rewrite the Constitution to do away with birthright citizenship.
Ryan Walters announces update to OSDE’s history standards to include Gulf of America, Mount McKinley
There is nobody in this country working as hard as Ryan Walter to try to attract the attention of Dear Leader. He was ready to codify these dopey name changes within 24 hours. Now will come from DC please call him up to the Big Leagues? Pleeease?
Nobody connects the dots better than Audrey Watters. This post includes a variety of mini-stories about AI in a larger context. Read.
Trump executive orders on immigrants, transgender rights could echo in American schools
Some headline writer at EdWeek is angling for an Understatement Award. Erica Meltzer wrote the story that does a decent of laying out what's on the line (so far).
How To Read The News: A 5 Step Guide
Anya Kamenetz with some useful tips for navigating the ugly times to come.
The Price of Speaking Up in Trump's America
Parker Molloy looks at the MAGA squawking over the message from Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. Here's one of the important parts:
This matters because it's a preview of how the new administration and its media allies plan to handle dissent. They're not just disagreeing with Budde's message—they're trying to destroy her for delivering it.
Trombone Emoji 'Womp Womp' Sound Created By HCPS Students To Go Global
Meanwhile, one major gap in the digital world has been filled.
At Forbes.com this week, I looked at some work from NEPC showing that red states are more dependent on federal education dollars, and an update with context for the Supreme Court's decision to go after a few of the remaining bricks in the wall between church and state by hearing about Oklahoma's proposed Catholic charter school.
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this is from Terry O'Connell Novick who worked for the MA Association of School Committees and is on the Worcester School board (our second largest city). Tracy is one of the only experts in MA on the school budgets....
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Hey, speaking of Penny Schwinn
...who is making news this morning largely because the President-elect didn't get her name right in his online announcement.
Schwinn was most recently the Commissioner of Education in Tennessee, but there's a local connection insofar as she was one of the three finalists for K-12 commissioner here in Massachusetts in 2018, when Jeff Riley was hired.
You can read my notes from her interview here, and my notes on her in general here. I'd suggest paying attention to that whole episode where she left a board to take a charter school job.
Schwinn resigned as education commissioner in TN in June 2023 to take a job with the University of Florida (remotely) under Ben Sasse, who resigned last July after 17 months in that position. During his tenure:
Since Sasse’s resignation, he has since faced bipartisan scrutiny after The Alligator first reported Monday that he had tripled his office’s spending — a majority of which was for lucrative consulting contracts and high-paid, remote positions for GOP allies.
He spent $17.3 million in his first year in office. The figure was far higher than the $5.6 million in spending during the final year of the previous president, Kent Fuchs, who has agreed to return as interim president through 2025.
Schwinn was not retained under the new leadership; the Gainsville Sun reported:
Schwinn, a Republican, previously served as Tennessee's education commissioner and was hired by UF in September 2023 to carry out a series of initiatives throughout Florida’s K-12 schools. Schwinn, who was paid an annual salary of $367,500, worked remotely from Tennessee during her brief stint at UF.
Perhaps her most controversial initiative came to the forefront in March when she recommended that UF's P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, which has a history of maintaining a student population that's representative of Florida's racial and income demographics, move to a selective admissions process. The idea behind the proposal was to help propel the K-12 school, specifically the high school, into the top 10 in the state.
Schwinn's last day at the university was July 31. She will be paid a lump sum of $91,875.
I would imagine we'll be seeing more articles scrutinizing her in the education press in the coming days.