Early news reports indicate that the Trump-DeVos Commission on School Safety is leaning towards “social-emotional” learning as the best antidote to gun violence, combined with a heavy emphasis on religious training in religious schools. We will see.
Meanwhile, here is a 20-Second video from North Texas that demonstrates excellent social-emotional learning at no cost. Student-centered, interactive, constructive, human to human.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I don’t think the attendees at these meetings should go along with what seems like a clear effort by the Trump Administration to disallow discussion of weapon’s regulation.
It isn’t a real debate. Don’t validate it by participating.
It was doomed when DeVos set the agenda. She doesn’t want a real debate. She wants to release a report and say she did something without reaching the issue of guns.
That’s not a debate. It’s an agenda. I would not allow myself to be used like that, and I don’t think public school leaders have any duty or obligation to be used like this.
I smiled when I saw she’s using this to push her private school preference. Just shameless. Fake debates won’t produce anything worthwhile. She’s wasting their time.
How did I know that any debate that came out of the DC ed reform echo chamber would end up as “this is the fault of public schools”?
They can all call it a day’s work when they dump the entire problem on public schools.
One more stick to beat them with.
A big part of the ed reform political narrative is that public schools are “dangerous” and charter and private schools are “safe”- it runs all thru the marketing.
The commission can go home. I predict the problem will be “public schools”. That’s where DC dumps every problem they’re too corrupt or incompetent to address- everything from income inequality to suicide to drug abuse.
Now all US violence is a public school problem. Just add it to the list.
You really understand why ed reform is so popular among politicians when you realize it lets every single one of them off the hook for addressing any problem.
Apparently the entire United States has chosen public school teachers as the only people who are responsible for every social problem in the United States.
No wonder they fill convention halls – it’s the best dodge ever.
You name the problem, and I’ll tell you why public schools have to fix it- poverty, lack of health care, “social and emotional health”, gun violence, drug abuse.
It’s a wonder they’re able to carve out any time to take the standardized tests these people love, what with schools being solely responsible for everything under the sun.
Social/emotional learning is extremely important, but religious education in the public schools is an unholy (no pun intended), illegal reach into our tax dollars and a violation of the First Amendment. Socialization of children begins at a very early age, lliterally in the first few months of life….read Ratey/Pica/Hannaford/Jensen/Blayedes-Moize/Medina among many others. The neural networks for critical thinking are well established in the brain by the end of the 18th month, certainly prior to the 24th month, so allowing small children and pre school children free play and interaction with each other is critical to the development of these skills and in teaching children at the youngest age the give and take, problem solving of life.
I would like to see more study of the various world religions in our publicly-operated schools. The Supreme Court ruled in Abingdon v. Schempp (1963), that the Holy Bible, (and other religious texts) can be studied as literature, history, etc.
I am particularly interested in seeing additional study of Islam, the religion of 20% of this world, and the third largest religion in the USA. You can go through K-12, and never learn of the Prophet Mohammed(PBUH), and never read the Holy Qu’Ran.
I feel that having a basic understanding of the major world religions, is part of being a “whole person”. The Holy Qu’Ran is considered to be one of the finest examples of early Arabic prose, available.
“We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will surely perish as fools” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize winner.
To add elective courses so it is the child’s choice to study the history of religion can’t happen without more funding. When funding is cut. electives are also cut. The schools don’t add electives when funds are cut.
From Reuters (an EU news agency):
“Religious freedom has always been a given in American life, but religious education has had a different road — a path rarely without controversy as it tries to find a place in a secular and worldly democracy.” …
“Ironically, it was fear of Catholics, not court rulings on the separation of church and state, that did the most to secularize public schools, said Haynes.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-religion-schools/religion-and-controversy-always-part-of-u-s-education-idUSTRE75829R20110609
Civility is in short order today. With a focus on scores on tests, teachers are not able to establish the type of strong relationships with their students. that will promote healthier social and emotional development. Depression and suicide among young people are on the rise. Our culture is too driven by competition.https://www.myajc.com/blog/get-schooled/what-schools-focused-improving-relationships-rather-than-test-scores/EGWNqCQI3A5QeGH0QkUEtJ/
AMEN!
retired teacher: good points.
If I may, I would modify your last sentence: “Our culture is too driven by an emphasis on the kind of destructive competition that encourages winning no matter the cost to everyone involved, including the putative winners.”
😎
Diane, do you have a link to the report or on what is being done?
Which report, Duane?
You are on a link with a cute kindergarten video
“a heavy emphasis on religious training in religious schools” translates into pray to God for your salvation and make sure to donate through a living will that leaves everything you own and are worth to your already wealthy religious leaders, that have private jets (and one is never enough), before you get shot and are dead.
The social workers in the NYC school system are in ATR status. This means that the NYCDOE chooses to not use their social workers but rather punish them by moving them from school to school and not really utilizing their skills to help students with social emotional issues.
The city of New York under the crack leadership of the Mike Bloomberg regime, opted to excess hundreds of guidance counselors and social workers because they are making to much money. So, Bloomberg opted to punish these social emotional workers and just keep them in the teachers lounge doing not much.
Why you say? Who knows but the NYCDOE continues this policy not using their guidance counselors and social workers. The fake news press bides in and claims they are inferior workers but these are highly educated experienced professionals….hardly the case… Consequence….kids running wild with no social emotional guidance, no place for kids to confide their secret deepest issues….get the point….So no Devos and Trump want to hire all these social emotional workers in the schools…..again politics gets in the way of education for the love of money.