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Boston leaders and state education officials come to agreement on takeover of public school system

June 28, 2022 by www.foxnews.com Leave a Comment

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Boston leaders and state education officials have reached a last-minute agreement to stave off an “underperforming” designation and a state takeover of the city’s troubled public school system.

The agreement announced Monday night by Mayor Michelle Wu and Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley includes pledges by the city to implement immediate improvement efforts in several key areas, including services for English learners and special education students, safety, and transportation.

“This agreement documents specific steps, timeframes, and clear scope for a partnership with the state that sets our district up for success, and I’m glad that our discussions ultimately reinforced that Boston’s local communities know best how to deliver for our schools,” Wu said in a statement.

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The school system, currently in the process of searching for a new superintendent, said in a statement that the agreement includes “commitments to eliminate systemic barriers to educational opportunity, build the operational capacity to implement systemic change, and support Boston’s students in achieving their full potential.”

Boston avoids takeover from the state as public school system is criticized.

The Boston Teachers Union said a state takeover would have been a disaster.

“Educators, parents, families and students have been advocating for the solutions we know our school communities have needed for years, and it is time now to redirect our energy, time and resources from fending off ill-conceived power plays into making those local democratic solutions a reality,” union President Jessica Tang said in a statement.

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The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in a report released in May found “significant, persistent challenges” in the city’s schools.

As part of the agreement, the education department pledged to hire an independent auditor to ensure the integrity of data collected by the city, and provide $10 million in financial support and technical assistance.

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The state’s largest school system has about 46,000 students in 113 schools, according to state data.

Parents Unload on Texas School District That Banned Hoodies, Dresses, and Denim

June 28, 2022 by www.thedailybeast.com Leave a Comment

Livid parents and students in Texas have accused their school district of implementing an “asinine” dress code for the upcoming year that bans hoodies, skirts, and dresses.

Forney Independent School District held a special board meeting Monday at which members could discuss the new dress code adopted the previous week. The new code bars students above the fourth grade from wearing dresses, skirts, or skorts. All students, no matter their grade, are barred from wearing a long list of items including sleeveless shirts, T-shirts, anything with visible designs, spandex and nylon, anything made of denim, and any jackets or sweatshirts with hoods. “Extreme” hair designs are also off the table.

According to San Antonio local radio station Q101.9 , district officials said the change was needed to boost the confidence of students, especially those coming from more disadvantaged financial backgrounds.

“The use of a school dress code is established to improve student self-esteem, bridge socio-economic differences among students, and promote positive behavior, thereby enhancing school safety and improving the learning environment,” the dress code reads.

However, students and parents said the district’s reasoning was BS and the code was just an archaic way to control how students socially expressed themselves.

According to Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA , Forney Mayor Pro-Tem James Traylor, whose daughter goes to school in the district, told attendees that no “man should be telling a woman what they should wear.”

One parent called the ban “asinine” while another said they shouldn’t have to ask permission for their daughter to be allowed to dress “like a girl,” WFAA reported. A student, who created a petition against the district’s dress code, protested the board’s decision by wearing a dress to the meeting. Another parent said that, far from helping poorer families, the new code meant he’d have to fork out more to buy suitable clothes.

In a district Facebook post asking for volunteers to help with uniforms, community members did not hesitate to share their disdain.

“Sounds like a cult,” Kimberly Kay wrote. Mary O’Connell jokingly questioned whether the uniforms were replacing “chastity belts.” “So Victorian,” she added.

“My child attends public school, and it is unacceptable for a school district to prohibit the wearing of dresses and skirts past the knee,” Mathew Ben-Yehuda said. “Either you change the policy, or my child can attend home school.”

Elsewhere on social media, commenters speculated that the new code had little to do with “self-esteem” or “bridging socio-economic differences.”

“Who wants to take a guess about who wears dresses, skirts, skorts, denim and hoodies?” a social media user tweeted . “This certainly seems aimed at girls and non white students.”

“It’s designed to prevent what they perceive as boys from wearing dresses and skirts,” another Twitter user speculated. “It’s transphobia and we all know it.”

Administrators noted in the dress code that students who violate the policy will be “given an opportunity to correct the problem at school” before facing in-school suspension. They said repeated offenses could result in more serious consequences but did not specify what those included.

The Forney Independent School District did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment Tuesday.

Supreme Court Backs School Football Coach Who Was Punished For Praying

June 27, 2022 by www.forbes.com Leave a Comment

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A high school in Washington wrongly punished a football coach after he prayed on the field, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, potentially paving the way for fewer restrictions on how public school employees can express their religion while on the job despite Constitutional restrictions on religion in schools.

Key Facts

The court sided 6-3 with Joseph Kennedy, a former high school football coach in Washington who was punished after praying on the football field during games, which the school said violated the separation of church and state.

Kennedy argued that the school district unlawfully violated his First Amendment rights to free exercise and free speech, which the Supreme Court agreed with.

In a ruling that split along ideological lines, the justices ruled that Kennedy was not “acting within the scope of his duties as a coach” because he was praying after the game ended and wasn’t doing any of his job duties, and thus his prayers were First Amendment-protected speech.

The school district argued that any religious speech by school officials could be “impermissibly coercive on students”—and student athletes said they felt pressured to join in the prayers—but the justices ruled that requiring school officials to have no religious expression whatsoever “would undermine a long constitutional tradition in which learning how to tolerate diverse expressive activities has always been ‘part of learning how to live in a pluralistic society.’”

Though the school argued the prayers violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause , which has repeatedly been used in court to prohibit prayer in public schools, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court that Kennedy’s actions “did not come close to crossing any line one might imagine separating protected private expression from impermissible government coercion.”

In its ruling, the court also “abandoned” its precedent in Lemon v. Kurtzman , which set a higher standard for when schools can involve religion without violating the Establishment Clause, and the court’s liberal justices argued the majority’s opinion “rejects longstanding concerns surrounding government endorsement of religion.”

Crucial Quote

“Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic—whether those expressions take place in a sanctuary or on a field,” Gorsuch wrote for the court’s majority. “Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. … The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.”

Chief Critic

“Official-led prayer strikes at the core of our constitutional protections for the religious liberty of students and their parents,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. “This decision does a disservice to schools and the young citizens they serve, as well as to our Nation’s longstanding commitment to the separation of church and state.”

Key Background

The Bremerton School District put Kennedy on paid administrative leave in 2015 after it first became aware of his praying from another school’s coach, and declined to renew Kennedy’s contract after he refused the school’s requests to find a more private way to pray. Kennedy has described his practice as saying a “brief, quiet prayer to himself,” but the school alleges the prayer was much more public—taking place on the 50-yard line and with others joining in—and students alleged they felt pressured to take part in order to get on the coach’s “good side.” Gorsuch dismissed those concerns in the court’s opinion as “hearsay,” while the liberal justices argued the majority erred by “ignoring” the fact Kennedy asked others to joined him and caused a “severe disruption to school events.” Lower federal district and appeals courts had both ruled in the school’s favor, and the Supreme Court took up the case this term after previously rejecting it in 2019 at an earlier stage in the litigation.

Tangent

The court’s ruling Monday came after the 6-3 conservative court has repeatedly ruled in favor of greater religious liberty, including a ruling last term that allowed Catholic adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex foster parents and a decision this term allowing a death row inmate to receive prayer from a pastor as he was put to death. The court ruled last week against a school tuition program in Maine that barred public funds from being used on religious schools, ruling the program must apply to non-secular schools and the prohibition on religious schools violated the “free exercise” clause .

Closure of private schools will impact two lakh students: Kashmir schools body

June 27, 2022 by www.thehindu.com Leave a Comment

Kashmir’s leading private schools’ body, the Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK), on Sunday said the government move to ban hundreds of private schools in the valley is likely to impact over two lakh students.

“Banning private schools will put the future of more than two lakh children at stake. We appeal to the government to review the decision on humanitarian grounds,” PSAJK chairman G.N. Var said.

Chief Education Officers (CEOs) in the Valley’s 10 districts have issued orders for “closing the schools operating on state or kahcharie land”. Students have been asked to join nearby government schools. However, the court has stayed the order till the next hearing in July.

Kashmir’s 155 schools with more than one lakh students face de-registration; Court stays process for now

Hundreds of private schools in Kashmir have functioned from different categories of land titles, such as Shamilat-e-Deh land, kahcharie land, State land, Ahle Islam land and masjid land, for many decades now.

Mr. Var said the tedious process of seeking No Objection Certificates (NOC), including of land title, had the potential “to collapse the education sector in Kashmir”.

“The notion that private schools run on government land is wrong. These schools run on community and public land, and many are run by trusts, mohalla and village committees. They are mostly community-based schools. The J&K Cabinet’s order of 2011 clearly mentions that such schools should be allowed to function normally,” Mr. Var said.

He said the government’s approach “is not even”. “On the one hand, land is either being allotted free or at subsidised rates to outsiders ready to invest in the education sector. Even Army installations and hotels are run from the government land. Then why are only schools being singled out?” he asked.

Mr. Var demanded that private schools should be given time to regularise land use against a fee. “Education is a fundamental right and children should be free to choose their school,” he said.

J&K’s regional parties have condemned the move. Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti accused the Lieutenant-Governor’s administration of “waging war on the education sector by issuing such diktats”.

“Earlier, schools run by the Falah-e-Aam, an affiliate of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, were banned. Is Jamaat-e-Islami a criminal organisation? Do they give arms training in schools? These schools are teaching students as per the modern syllabus issued by the government. Unlike other schools in the country, they do not train people in trishul and talwar ,” Ms. Mufti said.

Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said that the government should not punish students. “The government should talk to schools and regularise their allotments by charging money, wherever necessary,” Mr. Bukhari said.

The Hindu launches student edition

April 2, 2012 by www.thehindu.com Leave a Comment

A newspaper edition customised to the needs of the student fraternity, with a mix of syllabus-based and activity-based content that prepares young minds to become effective thought leaders of tomorrow was launched by The Hindu here on Sunday.

“ The Hindu Student Edition” was unveiled by ace shooter Jaspal Rana along with school children from different parts of Delhi. Also present were Principals and coordinators of the Capital’s leading schools. “This is a great step to keep students updated with news. I hope it becomes a milestone for the students of today, who spend more time on virtual platforms like Facebook, instead of reading,” he said.

The new edition is being released in the current academic year 2012-13, beginning this Monday. It will focus on relevant content and important news and developments to keep students informed of current events in India and the world.

Heads and representatives of several prominent Delhi schools welcomed the introduction of an edition that caters to the needs of their students. “I have been reading The Hindu for a long time. I think it [the Student Edition] will be a great help for my students, especially those in Class XII. Not only will this keep them updated but also improve their writing skills,” said Hope Hall Foundation Principal T. Srivastava, adding that the new edition would be introduced as part of the curriculum in her school.

Disagreeing with the notion that newspapers were losing their relevance in today’s fast paced world of the Internet, Neenu Singh from Bal Bharti Public School, Ganga Ram Hospital Marg, said: “Newspapers can never lose their relevance, they are here to stay. Even if a child logs in to check the news online, he will most likely go to a newspaper’s site. I think The Hindu Student Edition is a great initiative to reach out to students with its proficiency in language.”

Agreed Vira Sharma from the Amity Group: “I am glad The Hindu came up with a student-centric edition. It will give the young a platform, enabling them to express their opinions.”

The Student Edition will maintain key attributes of credibility, authenticity and coverage across a wide spectrum of subjects.