The Coalition of Rutgers Unions recently started a petition addressed to Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway calling for the administration to pay deferred raises on time to faculty and staff.
“We demand that [Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness] Senior Vice President [Vivian] Fernández ensures that these raises are paid with the July 9th paychecks,” the petition says.…
Read more
The gaming community may have its share of cruelty and other negatives. But at the same time, “there is compassion, too, just as in other kinds of communities, whether school classrooms, town hall meetings or Facebook groups,” writes Karen “Kat” Schrier, a Marist College associate professor and the director of games and emerging media.
People from different age groups, she adds, “may be participating in civic life without even realizing it — through play.…
Read more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said July 9 that vaccinated K-12 teachers and students will not have to wear masks inside school buildings.
The CDC’s revised guidance for K-12 schools also stresses the continuation of ventilation and hand-washing, along with the importance of testing to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.
“Today’s guidance is grounded in both science and common sense,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement.…
Read more
In a July 6 post about technology integration for Edutopia, Kathryn Nieves, an educational technology coordinator in New Jersey, writes about the benefits of using Google Workspace.
“The ease of use and collaboration possibilities within Google Workspace have made it a staple for virtual, hybrid and in-person instruction,” Nieves writes.
Read her tips here.
… Read more
AFT President Randi Weingarten stepped away from AFT TEACH 2021 on July 7 to appear in a segment with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on critical race theory and how it has become part of what Wallace described as “the culture war.”
“I don’t care when the right wing goes after me,” Weingarten said. “You know, we’re big girls; this is part of the territory.…
Read more
The United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which would boost science, technology, engineering and math in K-12 and higher education, “is a good start — but it’s incomplete,” writes Mark Schneider, director of the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.
“Attention to applied education research is missing, meaning the very foundation for so much of the work that USICA will support is weak,” Schneider writes for The 74.…
Read more
Just like students, teachers also need support systems, and offering peer coaching is one that seems to have worked out well for Kyndal Easter, a co-principal in East Palo Alto, California.
“We redeployed existing team members who had been trained in social and emotional learning and wellness practices to set up weekly meetings with teachers to coach them on addressing social an emotional challenges in their classrooms,” she writes in a June 28 post for Edutopia.…
Read more
In a personal essay for Chalkbeat, Cara Schiavone, who teaches in Washington, D.C., writes that the need remains for what she calls “too nice” teachers.
“So as we get ready to throw Zoom and hybrid teaching aside in favor of a return to the classroom next year,” she writes, “let’s remember that our pre-pandemic ‘normal’ was far from perfect, and hold onto this additional level of compassion and grace we’ve extended to students during this challenging year.” …
Read more
Funding schools more equitably is one way to get more teachers from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds in public K-12 classrooms, writes Travis Bristol, an assistant professor of education at the University of California, Berkeley.
“Some states, like California, have a more progressive, equitable funding formula,” Bristol writes for The Conversation. “Other states, like New York, which are home to some of our country’s largest public school districts, have more regressive funding formulas.…
Read more
More than 70 percent of current college students say getting proper instruction from professors or instructors and being able to easily interact with them would be challenging if learning were to continue online, according to a recently released survey.
“And while students are overall satisfied with how their institutions managed the online learning transition during the pandemic, many are still doubtful about the value of their degrees and of higher education in general,” the survey’s conclusion reads in part. …
Read more
The American Federation of Teachers New Jersey during its June 28 delegate assembly meeting voted to endorse Gov. Phil Murphy and Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver for reelection this fall.
The AFTNJ is also endorsing Senate President Steve Sweeney (District 3) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (District 19) for reelection.
“Over the past four years, New Jersey’s legislative leadership team of Murphy, Oliver, Sweeney and Coughlin listened and respected the voices and concerns of working families and their unions,” said AFTNJ President Donna M.…
Read more
Bilingual special education teacher Mily Cepeda, who was born and raised in Newark, was hired in fall 2019 by Newark Public Schools to teach at the Louise A. Spencer School.
And once the pandemic hit, Cepeda quickly made the transition to teaching from her home.
“After live classes, I would spend several hours each day recording videos in Spanish and in English of lessons and telling students how to do their homework step by step,” she says in an interview with Chalkbeat Newark’s Caroline Bauman.…
Read more
Kimberly Rues, a PreK-6 librarian in Missouri, has her summer plans in place after finishing what she describes as “the longest year of my teaching career,” she writes in a column for EdSurge.
Her agenda includes “time to tend my flowers, lunch with the girls, walks with the dog.”
Rues writes, “One thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt: In order to support my teachers, in order to make a difference for kids, in order to bring my best self to the job and support my administration, I have to take time to recharge.”…
Read more
U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel A. Cardona recently fielded questions from two very different audiences, both wanting answers about Department of Education policies and plans.
“I come to you today with a great sense of urgency,” Dr. Cardona said in his opening comments during a June 24 virtual hearing before the House Committee on Education and Labor.…
Read more
The AFT has partnered with the NAACP and First Book for the campaign “Stamping Out Racism and Hate,” which officially launches in July with a special AFT edition of the Jason Reynolds-Ibram X. Kendi book “Stamped.”
“The authors lay out the pervasiveness and insidiousness of racism in our lives, even as the history and legacy of racism often are left out of what we are taught and told,” writes AFT President Randi Weingarten in a note included in the special edition.…
Read more