1. Kindergarten NOT The New First Grade Kindergartners should be treated like the four and five-year-old students that they are and not pushed to be first graders. The activities and instruction for this age group are well established. Real educators should take charge and ensure that there’s much free play and age appropriate activities. 2. […]
A Student’s Mental Health Could Depend on Putting the Arts Back into the Public School Curriculum
Safety commissions, school districts, PTAs, and other groups and individuals have discussed school safety. One smart move would be to ensure that every school has a legitimate arts program including visual arts, music, drama, and dance. Students who struggle with mental health problems might benefit from the arts. Every child should have access. Students should […]
School Safety: Include Teacher and Student Support!
What’s being done to improve school safety? There’s much discussion about school violence and “core values,” and dealing with horrific events once they occur. Suggested solutions are often controversial. Reducing class size isn’t mentioned. Yet how teachers carry out school safety training would seem to be contingent on manageable class sizes. By supporting teachers as […]
What Have DeVos, Trump, Congress, and the Wealthy Oligarchs Done to Improve School Safety?
Children are entrusted to us. Students rely on parents and adults in the community to keep them safe. That’s still the case as children grow into teens and beyond. There have been 288 school shootings since 2009. That’s 57 times any other industrialized country. Some question how many shootings actually take place as in this recent […]
The School Safety Commission’s Troubling Ties to the Border Crisis
School safety is simmering in everyone’s minds during summer vacation. But looking at the individuals on the Federal Commission on School Safety should give us pause. How do they view children? There’s cognitive dissonance when they say they want safe schools, yet they thought it fine to separate babies and children from their parents in the […]
On this Memorial Day: Remembering Protectors of Children and Public Schools
On this day, Americans rightfully remember those who fought and died for our freedom. Maybe they will have a barbecue. Perhaps they will make use of the sales and go shopping at the mall. But when they hang the flag, they will thank those who made our country safe, so we can say what we […]
Smaller Class Sizes and REAL Personalized Learning are Needed for Safer Schools
Once again families and a community are in mourning—this time in Santa Fe, Texas. Policymakers must address gun control, mental health services, and school safety. There’s another solution for schools. One that few education reformers entertain. Smaller class sizes and providing students with real personalized learning. Not sitting kids in front of screens for all […]