Education Reform Thread

[Gredival]

Obviously it's a lot easier to manage if the cap is in place beforehand rather than taking a school with classes that are 40+ and just mandating a 25 cap, but what happens if a school lacks the rooms and teachers to meet the caps? Is there protocols for how the school acquires additional teachers, etc. necessary to make more classes?

[Ksandra]

Obviously it's a lot easier to manage if the cap is in place beforehand rather than taking a school with classes that are 40+ and just mandating a 25 cap, but what happens if a school lacks the rooms and teachers to meet the caps? Is there protocols for how the school acquires additional teachers, etc. necessary to make more classes?

1. I'm not part of LAUSD public school system and obviously have not toured schools to see if they have emty classrooms, shutdown schools, land for mobile classrooms, etc.

2. I said it's a good improvement. No where did I imply I expected them to get a 25 cap size in this strike. I just meant that I hope they don't stop there.

3. I don't really care how LAUSD solves the problem, it's a problem that needs to be solved.

[Gredival]

I'm asking if you logistically have any experience with how this goes about being instituted. Class size has similarly not been a problem for my school either so I am unfamiliar with how the issue is handled.

[Ksandra]

I'm asking if you logistically have any experience with how this goes about being instituted. Class size has similarly not been a problem for my school either so I am unfamiliar with how the issue is handled.

Usually mobile classrooms. It's really the cheapest way.

[Salodin]

I'm asking if you logistically have any experience with how this goes about being instituted. Class size has similarly not been a problem for my school either so I am unfamiliar with how the issue is handled.

They repurpose rooms if they have the space, or build mobiles on the campus. If both arent an option then the area is probably too dense and they need to build another school, or move/increase the size of the current campus to accomodate.

They've been skipping the increase size/build a new school thing for awhile so I honestly dont know how they actually fix this problem. I feel like they made some fixes on paper that wont actually manifest, and well be back here in 5-10 years again. Or theyll just lower their standards cause even 39 kids a class is ludicrous.

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[Koyangi]

This mobile thing must have been going on for awhile in this country. My middle school had multiple mobile classrooms built behind the school and I remember my 8th grade Civics class and English class being in them (2 different ones). I was in middle school from 94-97 (In Virginia).

[Salodin]

Yeah but eventually you just run out of space to build them, and you gotta build a new school or repurpose a building into a school and keep expanding. New houses and homes are built on the daily, but people are surprised we have 40 kids per class when we havent built new schools for all these new places. Thank God were not ass backwards in my part of florida and class sizes hover in the mid to high teens.

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[6souls]

[6souls]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/0...college-scheme

Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) & 12 others plead guilty to the college admissions cheating scam.

Huffman, 56, was accused of paying a consultant $15,000 disguised as a charitable donation to boost her daughter's SAT score. Authorities say the actress also discussed going through with the same plan for her younger daughter but ultimately decided not to.

Michael Center, the former men's tennis coach at the University of Texas at Austin, has also agreed to plead guilty, prosecutors said Monday. Center was accused of accepting nearly $100,000 to help a non-tennis playing applicant get admitted as a recruit.

California real estate developer Bruce Isackson and his wife, Davina Isackson, who are pleading guilty to participating in both the athletic recruitment and exam rigging schemes, are cooperating with prosecutors for a chance at a lighter sentence.

Former Yale University women's soccer coach Rudy Meredith has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to help students get admitted and has been cooperating with authorities. Stanford's former sailing coach John Vandemoer also pleaded guilty to accepting $270,000 in contributions to the program for agreeing to recommend two prospective students for admission.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/0...charge-in-scam

Lori Loughlin (Full House) and 15 others who did not plead guilty get a money laundering conspiracy charge added to what they've been accused of.

Loughlin and Giannulli were among 33 prominent parents accused of participating in a scheme that involved rigging college entrance exams and bribing coaches at elite universities.

They were arrested last month on a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. An indictment brought Tuesday adds a charge of money laundering conspiracy against the couple and 14 other parents.

Amy and Gregory Colburn, a California couple accused of paying $25,000 to cheat on their son's SAT, were indicted on the money laundering and mail fraud conspiracy charges last month.

Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew team recruits, even though neither of them played the sport.

Other parents indicted on the new charge Tuesday include Michelle Janavs, whose family developed the microwave snack line Hot Pockets before selling their company, and William McGlashan, who co-founded an investment fund with U2's Bono in 2017.

It's been added that prosecutors are recommending 4-10 months for Huffman because she plead guilty. Those that did not plead guilty face up to 20 years.

[6souls]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/0...charge-in-scam

Lori Loughlin (Full House) and 15 others who did not plead guilty get a money laundering conspiracy charge added to what they've been accused of

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lori-...b0308735d546e2

Loughlin's not guilty plea was an attempt to call the DA's bluff. She's now scared that she will be facing a long prison sentence.

“She has been in complete denial and thought maybe she could skate by,” an unnamed source told E! on Wednesday. “She refused to accept any jail time and thought the DA was bluffing. She was adamant she wouldn’t do any jail time.”

They faced the original charges in a Boston federal court last week with Huffman, but Loughlin and her husband have not agreed to enter guilty pleas because any deal with prosecutors would have entailed time behind bars, a source close to the case told People. Guidelines call for a sentence of 18 to 24 months, according to the outlet.

“They weren’t ready to accept that,” a source said. “They’re really not seeing how serious this is.”

The former Hallmark actress “is beating herself up for not accepting the initial deal,” a source told “Entertainment Tonight.”

“Lori is finally realizing just how serious this is,” the source said. “She is seeing the light that she will do jail time and is freaking out ... It feels like her whole world is falling apart. She is putting all her trust in her team and her lawyers, and hoping for the best.”

https://jezebel.com/aunt-becky-reall...t-t-1833967216

They also explained that she signed autographs outside the courtroom because she didn’t know “how else to be in public”:

“She was obviously extremely nervous and the actress side of Lori came out. She doesn’t know how else to be in public. Her natural reaction was to just smile and try to be light-hearted. She’s always been so well loved and charming, that’s the part she knows how to play in public.”

[archibaldcrane]

Found this article about how to make college free without rewarding stingy states and punishing generous ones, also how to get around Republican-controlled states that won't lift a finger to take federal money (like with the ACA).

Criticizes the Bernie and Warren plans for free college as well.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/0...q9t0ls.twitter

[Gredival]

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/col...id-11564450828

Wealthy parents transferring guardianship to scheme around the financial aid formulas

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[mallister]

ol' betsy davos' dept. of education found in contempt of court for not really bothering to halt collections after an injunction to specifically fucking halt collections for a defunct college.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...Rhr9GFVTdDOzo4

[Fiye]

Oakland School Protest got pretty nasty once the police jumped in.

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...563759421.html

The school district defends police violence.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...board-meeting/

[synistar]

Ohio house passes law that allows a student's answers on exams to be scientifically wrong and not be penalized as long as the reasoning is because of their personal religious beliefs. Bill goes to the state senate.

https://local12.com/news/local/ohio-...ue-to-religion

I guess now is the time to spread the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[arus2001]

I hate Ohio.

[Salodin]

Ohio house passes law that allows a student's answers on exams to be scientifically wrong and not be penalized as long as the reasoning is because of their personal religious beliefs. Bill goes to the state senate.

https://local12.com/news/local/ohio-...ue-to-religion

I guess now is the time to spread the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I would make them explain how their religion isnt contradictory and then fail them anyways

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[Cail]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...691_story.html

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday released a sweeping new directive governing how schools must handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment, granting new rights to the accused and handing colleges a clear but controversial road map to navigating these highly charged investigations.


The new rule bars universities from using a single official to investigate and judge complaints, a popular model, and instead creates a judicial-like process in which the accused has the right to a live hearing and to cross-examine accusers.


The rule also adds dating violence and stalking to the definition of sexual harassment. But it otherwise offers a narrow definition of harassment, requiring that it be severe and pervasive, as well as objectively offensive.


“Today we release a final rule that recognizes we can continue to combat sexual misconduct without abandoning our core values of fairness, presumption of innocence and due process,” DeVos told reporters. The new regulation, scheduled to take effect on Aug. 14, falls under the federal civil rights law known as Title IX, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded schools.

[6souls]

Lori Loughlin has changed her plea from not guilty to guilty.

Edit: https://apnews.com/d0e09dde3ffe8baadb46e2d40b5c5398

She will serve two months in jail and her husband will serve five. The money laundering and federal programs bribery charges will be dropped.

[6souls]

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/19/87963...id-during-cris

The U.S. Department of Education is not allowing colleges to offer additional financial aid to students who have been affected by the pandemic calling the issue "temporary."

The department has shelved guidance that once encouraged colleges to do more to help students affected by a downturn. The guidance, a pair of letters published by the Obama administration in April and May of 2009, was written in response to the Great Recession. It allowed colleges to fast-track reconsideration of financial aid for students who had lost jobs, and it encouraged unemployed Americans to consider enrolling in postsecondary education and applying for aid.

The Department of Education quietly addressed that question in late May during a call with stakeholders. According to multiple sources familiar with the call, a top department official indicated that, in spite of the downturn, this guidance is no longer active. The official described the unemployment challenges many students now face as "temporary," unlike the Great Recession, and disagreed with the previous policy of allowing schools to fast-track help for students receiving unemployment benefits.

The department has said little publicly about this apparent shift in policy. The guidance is currently labeled "Maintained for Historical Purposes Only," though it is not clear when that label was added. The department also amended its Federal Student Aid Handbook on June 12, calling the guidance "outdated."