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Sunday, February 14, 2016

Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington Post

Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington Post:

Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty

Three-year-old Saria Amaya waits with her mother after receiving shoes and school supplies during a charity event in October to help more than 4,000 underprivileged children at the Fred Jordan Mission in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. Children from low-income families now make up a majority of public school students in the nation, according to a new report. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.
The Southern Education Foundation reports that 51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2012-2013 school year were eligible for the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches. The lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty, but the explosion in the number of needy children in the nation’s public classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials and researchers.
“We’ve all known this was the trend, that we would get to a majority, but it’s here sooner rather than later,” said Michael A. Rebell of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College at Columbia University, noting that the poverty rate has been increasing even as the economy has improved. “A lot of people at the top are doing much better, but the people at the bottom are not doing better at all. Those are the people who have the most children and send their children to public school.”
The shift to a majority-poor student population means that in public schools, a growing number of children start kindergarten already trailing their more privileged peers and rarely, if ever, catch up. They are less likely to have support at home, are less frequently exposed to enriching activities outside of school, and are more likely to drop out and never attend college.
It also means that education policy, funding decisions and classroom instruction must adapt to the needy children who arrive at school each day.
“When they first come in my door in the morning, the first thing I do is an inventory of immediate needs: Did you eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job is making them feel safe,” said Sonya Romero-Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew Wallace Elementary School in Albuquerque. Fourteen of her 18 kindergartners are eligible for free lunches.
She helps them clean up with bathroom wipes and toothbrushes, and she Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington Post:

Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued Again | deutsch29

Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued Again | deutsch29:
Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued Again


On January 29, 2016, Diane Ravitch posted a piece about New York City charter lightening rod, Eva Moskowitz, demanding that NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio give her Success Academies a grant for pre-K– without signing the required contract for the money.
Included in Ravitch’s post is a copy of an email that Moskowitz sent to her “team” (SA staff) in an effort to rally them to push for the pre-K funding without the required contract.
In that email, Moskowitz tells SA staff that she and 24 parents have filed suit against NYC (bolded text below):
Team Success:
I am writing to update you about Success Academy pre-k for next year. This first year has been one of tremendous growth for our youngest scholars — and for Success as well, as we challenged ourselves to develop a magical curriculum that engaged and delighted 4-year-olds. The response from families has been so positive that we made plans to expand our pre-k to our Union Square and Bensonhurst schools.
Unfortunately, in the case of Success Academy, Mayor de Blasio does not 
Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued Again | deutsch29:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/14/16



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