Education

Subterms

    More stories

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      US conservatives linked to rich donors wage campaign to ban books from schools

      by

      US conservatives linked to rich donors wage campaign to ban books from schools Experts say trend is accelerating as groups push for bans of works that often address race, LGBTQ issues and marginalized peopleConservative groups across the US, often linked to deep-pocketed rightwing donors, are carrying out a campaign to ban books from school libraries, often focused on works that address race, LGBTQ issues or marginalized communities.Literature has already been removed from schools in Texas, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Librarians and teachers warn the trend is on the increase, as groups backed by wealthy Republican donors use centrally drawn up tactics and messaging to harangue school districts into removing certain texts.In October, the Texas state representative Matt Krause sent a list of 850 books to school districts, asking that they report how many copies they have of each title and how much had been spent on those books.Michael Flynn allies allegedly plotted to lean on Republicans to back vote auditsRead moreThe Texas Tribune reported that the books included two by Ta-Nehisi Coates; LGBT Families by Leanne K Currie-McGhee; and ‘Pink is a Girl Color’ … and Other Silly Things People Say, a children’s book by Stacy and Erik Drageset. Krause’s list sparked panic in schools, and by December a district in San Antonio said it was reviewing 414 titles in its libraries.In Pennsylvania, the Central York school board banned a long list of books, almost entirely titles by, or about, people of color, including books by Jacqueline Woodson, Ijeoma Oluo and Ibram X Kendi, and children’s titles about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. “Let’s just call it what it is – every author on that list is a Black voice,” one teacher told the York Dispatch.Four high schools in Utah’s Canyons school district removed copies of at least nine books, the Deseret News reported, including Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe; the Bluest Eye, a book by the Pulitzer winner Toni Morrison that addresses racial and gender oppression; and Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez, a story about romance in a racially divided 1930s Texas.Groups purporting to be “grassroots” efforts have frequently led the charge, petitioning school boards or elected officials to remove certain books. Though some of these organizations present themselves as a local effort that sprang up around groups of parents united behind a cause, many of the groups involved in banning books are in fact linked, and backed by influential conservative donors.Most of the books relate to race or gender equality, at a time when some Republicans are mounting an effort to prevent teaching on race in schools by launching a loud campaign against critical race theory, an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society.Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said the number of attempts to ban books had soared through 2021.“What’s unique is it appears to be an organized effort by a number of advocacy groups to activate members in local chapters to challenge books in school libraries and public libraries in the United States,” she said.“We’ve noted that there are a number of groups like Moms for Liberty, Parents Defending Education, No Left Turn in Education that have particular views on what is appropriate for young people, and they’re trying to implement their agenda – particularly in schools, but also taking their concerns to public libraries as well.”Caldwell-Stone said ALA received 156 book challenges – an attempt to remove or restrict one or more books – in 2020. In the last three months of 2021 alone, the organization saw 330 book challenges.In most incidents there is a common format. According to the conservative groups, one parent of a child at school has spotted an allegedly unsuitable book, and has raised the alarm. But the movement is far from organic.The name Moms for Liberty might suggest a homely, kitchen-table effort. In reality, Moms for Liberty is associated with other supposed grassroots groups backed by conservative donors, who appear to be driving the book-banning effort.Moms for Liberty groups are promoted on the website of Parents Defending Education (PDE), another conservative group, and in May Moms for Liberty joined with PDE to write a letter to Miguel Cardona, the US education secretary, expressing concerns over federal efforts to include teaching about the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans in US society.Moms for Liberty did not respond to a request for comment.Asra Nomani, PDE’s vice-president for strategy and investigations, has appeared on Fox News to rail against some books, including Woke Baby and Gender Queer, being in Virginia libraries, and PDE carries a list of books it deems problematic on its website.PDE, which launched in spring of 2021, has emerged as one of the key organizations in the conservative fight for influence in public schools. The group describes itself as a “grassroots organization”, but has ties to deep-pocket conservative money and influence.PDE’s president, Nicole Neilly, was previously the executive director of the Independent Women’s Forum and worked at the Cato Institute, a rightwing thinktank co-founded by Republican mega-donor Charles Koch. The Intercept reported that the IWF has received large donations from Republican donor Leonard Leo, a former vice-president of the Koch-funded Federalist Society who advised Donald Trump on judicial appointments.PDE’s website offers templates as to how aggrieved people can get involved. The group is behind an effort to create a web of coordinated Instagram pages that highlight perceived liberal bias at specific schools, and offers a step-by-step guide to doing the same, from how to create a specific gmail address to match the mission to how to describe the instagram account. The guide advises: “For the ‘full name’ field, use ‘Woke at [school name].’ For the ‘username’ field, use ‘wokeat[school name].’”PDE, which has also railed against critical race theory, even tells parents they should spy on teachers’ online activity to seek incriminating material.“Look at the social media pages of teachers and administrators at your school. They are often quite proud of what they’re doing and sometimes post incriminating statements or materials,” PDE’s website says.Another aim, beyond banning books, is exposed in PDE’s efforts to encourage conservative parents to run for school boards – an often ignored position that wields a considerable amount of power.PDE offers a guide on how parents can run, and while also describing how to gain influence on Parent Teacher Student Associations. It even offers specific questions disgruntled parents can pose to their school boards.PDE did not respond to a request for comment.No Left Turn in Education, whose chapters are promoted on PDE’s website, is another of the groups leading the charge. No Left Turn’s website contains a list of more than 60 books it deems inappropriate.Again, the group has links to deep-pocketed conservatives. The Milwaukee Journal reported that Elana Fishbein, No Left Turn in Education’s founder, has provided free legal representation for parents wishing to challenge school districts. According to Journal, most of those lawyers are affiliated with the Liberty Justice Center and Pacific Legal Foundation, which receive funding from the prominent GOP donor Dick Uihlein, a Wisconsin-based billionaire.No Left Turn in Education did not respond to requests for comment.The banning of books about race or LGBTQ issues does not just affect those communities, said Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association. It also withholds the opportunity for all students to learn “an honest and accurate truth of our history”.“Censoring the full history of America impacts all of us as a country,” Anderson said.“If we’re not willing to embrace the beauty of America, which is that our diversity is our strength, then we weaken the core idea of America. So it’s offensive, certainly, to people of color and other Americans who have traditionally been marginalized, but ultimately we’re short-changing every single student if we don’t tell the truth.”In Texas, Krause, who was running for state attorney general when he released his list of 850 books – he has since dropped out of the race – did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about how he came up with his list of books.Krause told Education Week he chose to act after school boards began reviewing books of “an inappropriate nature”.“None of us wants grossly inappropriately material in our schools,” he said.As the conservative effort has grown, there has been pushback in many states, from authors, teachers, librarians and students. Carolyn Foote, a library advocate who co-founded the group FReadom Fighters to push back against banning efforts, said the conservative efforts represent a “danger to democracy”.“The supreme court protects young people’s right to choose library materials to read as a first amendment right. It also is growing to include more and more titles, which is concerning, and a minority of parents are impacting all students,” Foote said.The Pennsylvania ban was overturned in September 2021 after students protested outside their York County high school and outside school board meetings. In Virginia, high school students managed to overturn the Spotsylvania book ban in similar fashion, while Caldwell-Stone said the ALA will continue to highlight the book-banning efforts.“We don’t oppose the ability of parents to guide their children’s reading,” she said.“What we have deep concerns about is one parent, or one small group of parents, making decisions for an entire community about what is appropriate reading, based on their own moral and religious values.”TopicsUS newsRepublicansUS educationUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

    • 150 Shares179 Views

      in UK Politics

      Government ‘failing’ on classroom ventilation as thousands will not get air purifiers

      by

      The government’s plan to provide 7,000 air purifiers to schools falls thousands short of what is needed to ensure adequate ventilation in every classroom, according to a survey of teachers.The Department for Education said ventilation in classrooms was key to reducing the spread of Covid-19 among schoolchildren but many teachers report that they have been left unable to even monitor the quality of their air.Labour said the government was providing “just a fraction” of the ventilation support that schools need.A survey of nearly 2,000 teachers by Nasuwt, the teachers’ union, found that more than half (56 per cent) did not have access to a CO2 monitor despite a commitment by ministers to provide all schools and colleges with them at the start of the school year.Over one third (34 per cent) said CO2 levels often or sometimes exceeded 1500ppm in their classrooms, a level the government has acknowledged as unsatisfacory.Around 10 per cent of teachers said their monitors were not working properly.Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of Nasuwt, said the promise of 7,000 air purifiers “barely scratches the service”.“Ministers have consistently emphasised the importance of ensuring good ventilation in heavily populated settings as a key mitigation in reducing the spread of Covid-19, yet they have consistently failed throughout this pandemic to ensure schools and colleges can be kept as safe as possible by equipping schools with the tools to improve classroom ventilation.“Efforts to ensure good ventilation in the fight against Covid should not be a lottery for schools and colleges. Schools should be guaranteed the equipment that is needed, rather than being offered a chance to bid for an air purifier.“We repeat our call for the government to go further and ensure CO2 monitors for every classroom as well as the provision of additional air purifiers for every school and college where ventilation has been identified as persistently poor.”Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, said ministers were “falling short” of what was needed to keep children learning in schools due to “a lack of tests, only half of eligible children vaccinated and just a fraction of the ventilation systems our schools need”.She added: “Labour called for decisive action to be taken over the Christmas break to get these problems solved but the government has again failed to get ahead of the virus.“We’ve got a new Education Secretary, a new team of government ministers, but our children are still being treated as an afterthought with chaotic, last-minute announcements hampering their education. It is incompetent, complacent, and inadequate.”Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said in repsonse to a question from Ms Phillipson in parliament that the government was confident that “where schools are able to ventilate, they are doing so and therefore do not need the air purifiers”.He said that air purifiers would be sent out next week to schools that need them, “especially to special needs and alternative provision settings, which as she knows are the most vulnerable, and to all other schools that cannot mitigate the problem of ventilation in the classroom.”Labour pointed out that the purifiers would not arrive to schools until 620 days after the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) first warned about the importance of ventilation for opening schools safely.And Ellie Reeves, a Labour MP, said she had seen an email from a school in her constituency “asking for children as young as four to come to school in extra layers so that the windows can be kept open in winter.”She said: “Isn’t the government’s failure to get to grips with ventilation in our schools just another example of this government treating our children’s education as an afterthought?” More

    • 138 Shares129 Views

      in UK Politics

      Department for Education chief paid £278,000 to leave after exams fiasco

      by

      The former top Department for Education (DfE) civil servant received a payout of nearly £278,000 to quit his post in the wake of last year’s exam grade fiasco, it has emerged.Jonathan Slater was ousted as permanent secretary after Boris Johnson demanded “fresh official leadership” in August 2020.He had just months left in the £165,000-a-year role when the DfE said he agreed to step down. Official department documents have now revealed Mr Slater was paid £277,780 “for loss of office”.He took home as much as £380,000 in the last financial year, including the severance payment, salary and pension benefits, the annual report and accounts show.His departure from the DfE sparked outrage last year, with Boris Johnson accused of “throwing civil service leaders under a bus” as Mr Slater joined a list of officials to be removed. Less than two weeks after the A-level exam fiasco, the government said in a statement: “The prime minister has concluded that there is a need for fresh official leadership at the Department for Education. “Jonathan Slater has therefore agreed that he will stand down on 1 September, in advance of the end of his tenure in Spring 2021.”Earlier that month, the DfE had come under fire for its system for working out exam grades – which initially relied on an algorithm – after exams were cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. After tens of thousands of A-level grades were downgraded in moderation, the government U-turned and allowed students to take higher grades predicted by their teachers. Mr Slater told Schools Week he first heard about his departure after an enquiry from a journalist for The Times. “One of the advantages of the prime minister having had enough of me is I have more time with the family,” he said earlier this year. Mr Slater and the DfE have been approached for comment. More

    • 150 Shares159 Views

      in UK Politics

      Low school attendance ‘stubborn concern’ as Covid keeps pupils off, inspectors say

      by

      Low attendance “remains a stubborn concern” in schools in England, inspections have found, with much of this absence put down to the Covid pandemic. In a new report, Ofsted said positive cases, anxiety over the virus and poor mental health was keeping pupils off school. Its publication comes after government figures estimated 236,000 students did not attend state school in England last week due to confirmed or suspected Covid cases, isolation rules, attendance restrictions and school closures. Ofsted has accelerated the rate of its school inspections, with the government saying this would give a quicker assessment of how well children are catching up on education after facing disruption.After carrying out nearly 100 inspections on schools this term, it concluded “many” were “effectively helping children recover from missed learning”. “Despite positive progress, it is clear from Ofsted’s inspections that low attendance remains a stubborn concern,” it said, adding that schools reported “much of the absence” is for Covid-related reasons. This included: Covid-related anxiety among parents and pupils, poor mental health due to the pandemic, parents rescheduling holidays, “low resilience due to setbacks or illness” and positive Covid tests. “Many schools are still working on getting back to pre-pandemic attendance levels,” Ofsted’s report said.Earlier this week, Geoff Barton from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) warned some pupils were facing disruption to face-to-face education due to the impact on Covid.“Listening to the speculation and the news, and certainly the emails I’ve been getting from members, you are getting some pockets of very severe low attendance, partly young people, partly staff,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.“One has emailed me this morning saying 25 per ecent of staff have been off for three weeks. You can imagine if you can’t then get supply teachers that becomes very difficult to maintain the quality of education.”According to the latest government figures, 2.9 per cent of England’s state school pupils – around 236,000, did not go to school on 9 December – up from 2.6 per cent, or 208,000, two weeks before.While 200,000 of these were off with a confirmed or suspected Covid infection, thousands more were at home due to schools restricting attendance to manage an outbreak, school closures linked to Covid and isolation. More

    • 200 Shares189 Views

      in UK Politics

      Skill Up Step Up: Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi backs our campaign for jobs for young people

      by

      The education secretary has thrown his weight behind our Skill Up Step Up campaign saying he is living proof that there is no single route to a great career.Nadhim Zahawi likened himself to the “phenomenal young people” highlighted in our Christmas appeal, who are being given a chance to realise their potential and step into sustainable jobs or apprenticeships.As a child, Mr Zahawi was forced to flee his home country of Iraq with his family. He grew up in Sussex and his mother insisted he went to university and reportedly pawned her jewellery so he would not have to worry about finances.Responding to the The Independent’s joint campaign with the Evening Standard, he said: “Like the phenomenal young people highlighted in your Christmas appeal, I am living proof that there is no such thing as a linear education journey. I started school in Iraq and if it hadn’t been for Saddam Hussein, I would no doubt have happily stayed there. But under Saddam, I would have either ended up in one of his prisons or fighting in the war with Iran.“So instead, I came to this country with my family at the age of 11 without knowing a word of English. And I’m now in Her Majesty’s Government, the MP for Shakespeare’s county and the secretary of state for Education. There really is no one, single route to a great career or dream job.”He added that as education secretary he wants to make sure that all young people have the same chance to realise their potential.Our £1m Skill Up Step Up initiative, in partnership with Barclays LifeSkills, will support charities that help unemployed and disadvantaged young Londoners to be “work ready”.A special investigation by this newspaper found that youth unemployment in the capital has soared by 55 per cent since the start of the pandemic to 105,000 with 21 per cent of young people seeking work jobless. At the same time there is a record 1.17million job vacancies nationwide, especially in hospitality. Among young black Londoners the jobless rate rises to 37 per cent.Our Christmas appeal is urging unemployed young people to sign up for free employability training from one of the two charity partners we have announced so far – Springboard and City Gateway. We are also calling on employers to step up to the plate and offer these young people a job or an apprenticeship, and for readers to donate so we can support even more disadvantaged youth into jobs.Mr Zahawi said: “I strongly believe that every young person should have the best start in life so they can progress and secure a rewarding, well-paid job. That’s why we have put tackling the skills gap at the heart of our reforms to education and training.”He added: “But there is still more to do. So it is brilliant that the Evening Standard and Independent is championing young people across London getting the necessary skills to get good apprenticeships or jobs. We are committed to opening doors, offering high-quality options for young people to consider after the age of 16, to help them reach their career goals.” More

    • 163 Shares189 Views

      in UK Politics

      Government urged to appoint minister for youth employment as school-leavers face jobs ‘crisis’

      by

      The government must appoint a minister for youth employment because the situation for school-leavers is so dire, the head of a major academy chain said today.Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis chain of schools, said so many young people are struggling to find jobs that it is has reached crisis point.It comes as Sir Daniel Moynihan, head of the Harris Federation of schools, said bright young Londoners from poorer backgrounds are missing out on jobs because they lack confidence, networks and social capital. He said teachers feel “awful” seeing pupils leave school in the pandemic and failing to get jobs, adding that one business said it would not employ an intelligent girl with four A-Levels from Essex because of her accent.This week we reported how youth unemployment in London has soared 55 per cent since the pandemic to more than one in five jobless among 16-24 year-olds. Responding to the data, Mr Chalke said: “We have a crisis. We have huge numbers of young people out of work and a huge number of jobs that need filling. It’s a perfect storm. We desperately need a minister or a task force to tackle youth employment and develop a coherent strategy. We need someone senior in government who gets up every morning to look at this.”His criticism comes in the wake of a new report by the House of Lords committee on youth unemployment calling on the government to create a Young People’s Commissioner to champion the voice of people aged 16 to 24.Sir Daniel said youngsters from ethnic minority backgrounds in London – where the jobless rate rises to a shocking 37 per cent – are finding it even harder to get jobs and often face unconscious bias from employers. He called on firms to do more to solve the problem. He said: “There is an issue around unemployment in general but it is particularly affecting ethnic minorities. The social capital among many students is low, by which I mean the networks and contacts they have. Often a more middle-class family will know people who can give someone a start or an internship. Schools need to step up, of course, but firms also need to step up in terms of social responsibility and promoting diversity and inclusion.”Both Mr Chalke and Sir Daniel know well-qualified students who have been rejected for jobs because of how they came across in interviews. Sir Daniel said: “We had a bright young lady from one of our schools who was a lovely person with great A-Levels. She met all the criteria for a job but the firm said her accent was an issue for them with clients. That is an example of how firms could be more inclusive.”Mr Chalke said he recommended a student for a job with a friend who is an employer, but his friend said the candidate would not make eye contact, gave monosyllabic answers and did not smile. Mr Chalke said: “This young person is highly intelligent but lacks the social skills to engage in an interview.” He said the exam system was at fault because it does not value or teach students about teamwork and collaboration, relationships and working with others, which is what employers need. “The careers service we have is not working. The reality is that many kids have support naturally in the form of parents in the right kind of jobs, but many others are less fortunate.” He also called for a “transition service” for people leaving education and going into work. “Because leaving school is a bit like walking off a cliff.”The Department for Education said: “Young people are our future, which is why we made them a key focus of our Plan for Jobs.” More

    • 175 Shares179 Views

      in UK Politics

      Omicron: Face masks must be worn again in secondary schools and colleges, government says

      by

      Face masks should be worn in communal areas in England’s schools and colleges as part of efforts to slow the spread of the omicron Covid variant, the government has said.Pupils in year 7 and above, plus staff and visitors, are being “strongly advised” to wear a face covering under the “temporary and precautionary” measure, which will take effect from Monday. Masks will not be required in classrooms and exemptions will remain in place for those who have a medical reason not to wear one.Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said the measure was a “targeted and proportionate action as a precaution while we find out more information about the new variant”.He added: “We will continue to prioritise children’s and young people’s education and wellbeing, making sure education and childcare settings are as safe as possible and children continue to benefit from classroom teaching.“We are working with education and childcare settings to enhance safety measures where needed, including introducing isolation for 10 days for close contacts of suspected omicron cases.”Students in Year 7 or above should also continue to wear face coverings on public and dedicated school transport, unless they are exempt, the Department for Education (DfE) said, and staff and students should continue to be encouraged to test themselves twice a week using lateral flow tests.The department also said schools, out of school settings and colleges will “want to consider” whether to go ahead with any planned international trips at the current time, given the potential risk to education from the need to isolate and test when returning to the UK.The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) backed the move, saying it was a “sensible response to the risks posed by the omicron variant of Covid-19”.Geoff Barton, ASCL’s general secretary, said: “It appears that the omicron variant may result in more staff and pupil absence thereby worsening an already very grave situation.“It is therefore imperative that the government provides workforce funding to schools and colleges to help with the cost of supply cover for absent staff. “Schools and colleges are in a position of having to provide in-class teaching for some groups of students, and remote education for other groups of students, at the same time as experiencing Covid-related staff absence. They simply cannot sustain the ongoing costs of the supply cover that is required.”Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “We welcome the DfE guidance that masks must be worn by adults and children in Year 7 and above in communal areas. “We think the DfE should go further and encourage mask-wearing in secondary classrooms and also plan investment to improve ventilation and air filtration.“These steps can all help reduce the spread of Covid and thereby reduce disruption to education. Omicron makes the threat of disruption of education all the clearer: any close contacts of an omicron case, staff or pupils, will have to self-isolate for 10 days, whether vaccinated or not.” More

    • 163 Shares109 Views

      in UK Politics

      Government accused of being ‘tone-deaf’ on school catch-up priorities as Ofsted inspections accelerated

      by

      The government has been accused of having “strange ideas” on education catch-up priorities after Ofsted was told to accelerate school inspections.The watchdog has received a funding boost of nearly £24m in a bid to speed up visits to all schools and colleges in England, saying it should now take a year less to cover all settings. The government said all schools and colleges should be inspected by 2025 in order to “give a quicker assessment of how well education is recovering” from the Covid pandemic.But the boost for school inspections has been criticised by headteachers, who have cast doubt over whether it is the best way to support pupils in bouncing back from Covid’s disruption. “We have to say that the government has some strange ideas about the priority for education recovery,” Julie McCulloch from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said.“It isn’t Ofsted inspections that will help children to catch up with lost learning caused by the pandemic but ensuring that schools and colleges have sufficient funding from the government to deliver recovery programmes at the scale required.”The union’s director of policy added: “At the moment, many schools and colleges are still dealing with the disruption caused by the pandemic, and the prospect of also having to deal with a visit from an inspection team isn’t particularly helpful.”Nick Brook, the deputy general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said the announcement felt “completely tone-deaf” given the “pressure” schools are facing and calls to pause inspections this term. “We are still a very long way from business as usual in schools,” he added. Figures from the Department for Education (DfE) estimated 130,000 pupils in England were off school for a Covid-related reason last week, with over half of these pupils having tested positive for the virus. Speaking after the Ofsted announcement, Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “Government ministers are showing, yet again, that they have no understanding of the exhaustion and stress felt by teachers and leaders.“Inspection adds hugely to the stress they face coping with high rates of Covid infection in schools and college.”A former national schools commissioner said on Tuesday he was “worried about the strain being placed” on headteachers, amid pressure from anti-vaxxers, Covid absences and Ofsted. “We need these people more than ever and I fear if we don’t look out for them we may lose some brilliant leaders in 2022,” Sir David Carter tweeted. Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of Ofsted, said: “Everyone working in education must do everything they can to give this generation the best possible chance to fulfil its potential.”She added: “Ofsted will play its part – by giving parents and learners up-to-date information, and by helping schools and colleges shape their plans.”Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said: “Nobody underestimates the scale of the challenge schools, colleges and other education providers have experienced through the pandemic.”He said: “Accelerating the rate of Ofsted inspections over the coming years will provide parents with an up-to-date picture and swifter recognition of the hard work of leaders and teachers.”Additional reporting by PA More