Meetings are shorter and have fewer presentations. Admittedly, agendae have been abbreviated and this meeting covered considerably more content than the first one in March.
While in and of itself this is not a remarkable accomplishment, it is remarkable to see just how quickly the Board can get through a lot of detail in two hours, instead of five or six. I'm grateful that we can get into the heart of the discussion, or to what's essential, in an efficient manner.
It's been wonderful hearing directly from so many diverse students, parents, and teachers from across the state. They bring a much-needed perspective to Public Comment, voices that aren't heard at most regular meetings in Malden. I'm grateful to Chair Craven for acknowledging that in our meetings, too. And I hope the 'new normal' will continue to have people Zoom-in for Public Comment.
The most frequent comment heard yesterday (and at last month's meeting, too) concerned educational equity (that it doesn't exist), along with advocacy for use of adaptive assessments and for the elimination of age-based classrooms.
As others have noted, CoVid has shone a spotlight on inequities that existed long before this pandemic, ability to access remote learning among them.
More than 10% of students in our public schools are English Learners (ELs) -- 10.8%, or 102,861, according to Commissioner Riley's testimony to the Joint Committee on Education. What's more, he said, "they also have one of the widest achievement and opportunity gaps in the state".
Remote learning poses particular challenges for them, as was also noted by Takeru Naguyoshi ("TK"). TK is Massachusetts' 2020 Teacher of the Year. He teaches 11th and 12th grade AP Literature in New Bedford where 1/3 of students are ELs. He raised three key questions for the Board and DESE:
- How to support internet access and tech literacy?
- How to address (missing) attendance and engagement and the skills gap in remote settings?
- How will we balance concern for equity with (lagging) motivation? He noted that students question why they should put in their best efforts for a pass/fail grade?
Commissioner Riley referred to a letter addressing Remote Learning Expectations that was sent to families on May 8, 2020. Yesterday, he announced that summer guidance is coming soon and fall guidance is coming in mid-June. He has tasked Anne Gilligan, DESE's Safe and Healthy Schools Coordinator, and Ventura Rodriquez, Senior Associate Commissioner for Strategic Initiatives, to co-chair the Return to School Working Group (RTSWG). RTSWG includes students, parents, teachers, School Committees, School Superintendents, Facilities Administrators, School Nurses, School Counselors, School Transportation Operators, School Business Officials, Fire Chiefs, Public & Private Schools, Emergency Management.
As I noted earlier today on Facebook, they seem to have all the bases covered, considerably better than the Governor, who neglected to include essential representation from everyday workers on his advisory task force.
But, I digress.
The very thought of physically returning to school classrooms for instruction THIS FALL fills me with so much concern--for the health and safety of students, staff, and families; for the gaps in educational equity; for the need to realize realistic expectations (and how to reset them?); and coordination up, down, and sideways for everything that will be needed in schools and communities for at least the next year.
There's a place to provide comments to RTSWG, along with a list of its members, at this link on DESE's website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/covid19/return-to-school-workgroup.html)
So much I'm not covering here: like the emotional toll on everyone across the system; addressing the trauma; continued support for mental health services and access to food. These should remain among our highest priorities.
Senior Associate Commissioner/CFO Bill Bell updated the Board on the education budget matters before us. Right now, CARES Act (federal) funding is the "most concrete bit of funding" and some districts will utilize it this year and next (available through September 30, 2022).
Pair that with, "It's tough to budget at the municipal level without state funding" (understatement of the year) and you have a real, dramatic sense of the funding challenges before us.
Bell further noted that the Governor's budget, introduced back in January ("pre-pandemic") is in the Legislature's hands.
I'm very concerned about potential austerity budgeting. We've been here before. We know that the way to grow revenue is to invest. While the Commissioner gave testimony at the Joint Committee on Education's oversight hearing on Wednesday, May 13 (copy of his testimony may be found HERE, video of the hearing, HERE), those at our meeting said that they haven't participated in any behind the scenes conversations when I asked about it. Bell said that those conversations were happening at the legislative level and that it's likely that we will "move forward with 1/12 budgets" (meaning that if budgets aren't in place by July 1, they will operate on 1/12 of the budget at a time in the interim).
My questions remain:
- What number is the 1/12 budget going to be based on?
- How long will 1/12 budgets be able to go on?
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Header image: Creative Commons