Nancy Bailey is hopeful that 2021 will bring a new agenda for public schools and their students and teachers.
All are worried about the pandemic and whether there will be the resources to protect students and staff.
There will surely be a teacher shortage due to the numbers of teachers who felt threatened by returning to school when it was not safe, as well as the necessity to reduce class sizes to make social distancing a reality.
The need for social justice should be high on the agenda, and it has nothing to do with vouchers and school choice.
Students with disabilities have been seriously affected by the pandemic and need extra instruction and resources.
The pandemic threw a harsh light on the condition of school infrastructure. Many states have not invested in school facilities. Will they?
The arts were dropped in many schools during the disastrous reign of NCLB and Race to the Top. Today they are needed more than ever.
What will become of assessment? Will the new Secretary follow those who think that testing produces equity? Or will he listen to teachers and parents? Twenty years of federally mandated testing produced a static status quo, locking the neediest students into their place in the social hierarchy and denying them equality of educational opportunity.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
It is my hope that Cardona does 3 things immediately.
Cancel high stakes testing for at least 2 years.
Reassure all schools that funding will remain in place, even if they go to a 100 virtual model.
Require more emphasis on student and staff safety during the pandemic. More testing and tracking of Covid-19. Moving teachers and staff higher on the priority lest for being vaccinated.
The last thing students recovering from isolation, disruption and trauma need is to be subjected to meaningless high stakes standardized tests so testing companies can collect and sell their data.
Teachers have many different tools at their disposal to determine and meet the emotional and academic needs of students that are far superior to standardized tests. Standardized tests waste time and money, both of which are in short order this year. Schools served students for many years without the use of standardized tests, and they can certainly do it this year as well.
oh, that that sentiment could be pushed onto billboards across the nation: meaningless for the kids and teachers, lucrative only for data collectors
Well said!
How about the schools that are in terrible condition? Our school has been neglected for decades…huge amount of rust everywhere, peeling paint, cracked pavement, pitiful landscaping, ugly, ugly, shabby, demoralizing and depressing. I keep imagining the top executives of google or facebook, or any other large corporate execs. sending their kids to such such a deplorable environment day after day…
The state of many schools is a metaphor for the lack of care of 21st century society in the US for the public well being…the common good. Maybe rich schools look better.
You should take pictures of the horrible state your school is in and send them to the new leader of the DOE, Dr. Cardona. Years of disinvestment have taken a toll on buildings and resources.
How about funding the IDEA too? 40% of special education funding is supposed to come from the federal government, but it’s been only 16% since the Obama administration and the ARRA (after being cut to as low as 7% during the Clinton administration). Between the wasted money on testing, and charter schools taking lower needs students and leaving the expense to public schools, my school alone is shouldering an extra cost of $180,000 every year. Schools are being starved by the federal government and its think tank enablers.
It is time to flood Cardona’s voicemail with calls. It is also time to inform parents of their rights. I just found about about the California Teachers Association’s OptOut toolkit: https://www.cta.org/our-advocacy/opt-out-of-standardized-testing. I am proud of CTA. I am also proud of United Teachers of Los Angeles, next to Diane and everyone here one of the strongest voices against testing and privatization. UTLA and our supporting community of parents are about to act against excessive testing in Los Angeles. I just found out the details and I am excited about the muscle of the plan. The district office of excessive testing won’t know what hit them. We are strong together!
We must bombard Cardona after he is confirmed with strong statements against the spring tests.