From the Facts They Don't Teach You The world spent years pushing screens into classrooms. Tablets replaced textbooks. Digital assignments replaced handwritten notes. Schools were told that the future of education was sitting behind a screen. Now some European countries are starting to reverse course. Sweden, Finland, Norway, France, Italy, and Denmark are all moving away from heavy classroom digitalization and bringing back something many schools thought was disappearing: printed books, handwriting, and traditional reading. And this shift is not happening because of nostalgia. It is happening because researchers have found that writing by hand and reading … [Read more...]
Teachers Unions and ‘ICE Out’ Day
This article comes to us from The American Thinker Across the country, teachers’ unions are increasingly urging educators to take public political positions -- even during the school day. This trend is deeply troubling for families who expect classrooms to remain politically neutral and focus on core school subjects such as reading, writing, and math. Encouraging political advocacy in the classroom undermines trust, erodes educational integrity and places students in the middle of ideological battles. A recent example from Minnesota shows how far this pressure can go. The Wayzata teachers’ union sent an email encouraging teachers to participate in “ICE Out Day,” a political protest … [Read more...]
Sweden School Tablets vs Books
Sweden has been reconsidering the role of digital tools, such as tablets, in its education system, particularly in response to concerns about declining reading comprehension skills among students. The country has historically been a leader in digital education, with tablets being a common sight in classrooms for over a decade. However, recent policy shifts have emphasized a return to traditional learning methods, such as the use of physical books and handwriting, especially for younger students. In 2022, Sweden’s Minister of Education, Lotta Edholm, expressed alarm over the decline in Swedish children’s reading comprehension skills, as highlighted by the Progress in International Reading … [Read more...]
Ridgefield School District April 2024 Capital Bond Prop 10 and 11 – Con Statements
This is what was submitted for the No or Con position on the Ridgefield 2024 Capital Bond ballot propositions. These are purely so you see exactly what was submitted: Prop 10 $70mm Con or "No" Statement We were shocked at what we found in analyzing the bond measure but only have 250 words to explain. Check www.swweducation.org for more. We believe kids should get a good education and it should be affordable. That’s not what is happening. They are hoping for a yes vote on the 6th attempt to get the same elementary school through. You get no say in the design. You just pay for it. If passed, more bonds will follow. The $70 million proposal will cost over $110 million after … [Read more...]
Modular Classrooms – Unsafe or a Smart Choice?
Student school populations are in flux. Many districts are losing students as the birth rate drops, parents move their children to private schools or home school. School districts need flexibility to shift class room space to different schools as demographics change. Building the traditional brick and mortar schools that are outdated in 20 years and are fixed in one place has given way to Modular Classrooms. Today we’ll explore Modular classrooms as an alternative to stick built. When you think of “modular classroom” what comes to mind? A box? Low quality? Damp? Dark? Are any of those things true or just a way to create a negative image? (Modular detractors will use negative words to … [Read more...]
Is it Time We Stopped Viewing Schools as the Best Parent?
So many working families either single parent or both. So little time to keep track of everything...including education. It appears there has been a trend of schools taking over some of the parental responsibilities. Today's article was originally published at Intellectual Takeout and written by Annie Holmquist. The article is 5 years old...but if you didn't know that you would think it's current. The issue hasn't gone away...it's seen by more today. When it comes to school, educators always know best, right? This assumption was challenged by Jay Matthews in The Washington Post over the weekend. After reporting on an incident at a high caliber high school where parents felt educators … [Read more...]
Big Teacher Is Watching: How AI Spyware Took Over Schools
From an article at Bloomberg written by by Priya Anand and Mark Bergen At Pekin Community High School, the teachers are something close to omniscient. Education, even in-person education, is digital in the Covid-19 era, and staff members use a piece of software to watch everything students do on school-issued laptops and to keep them off banned websites. The kids are aware. “They pretty much know that they’re being monitored 24/7,” says Cynthia Hinderliter, head of technology at the school outside Peoria, Ill. Still, class clowns persist. Hinderliter pulls up a detailed dashboard of student online activity, which reveals the identities of rule breakers. A yellow “EXPLICIT” label … [Read more...]
Homeschooling during the Covid 19 shutdown – Part 2
In Part 2 we want to explore whether parents are really thinking about leaving the public school system and if so what are their choices? In an article we published on April 21st, 2020, we explored various tools and websites that are available to help: https://swweducation.org?p=6453 Today we expand on the list and explore what parents are reported to be thinking... In a story published at WND.com on may 22, 2020: https://www.wnd.com/2020/05/homeschooling-vast-unplanned-experiment/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=wnd-newsletter&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=newsletter they said: Not everyone is viewing school closures as a disaster. For decades, schools have become … [Read more...]
The real reasons behind the U.S. teacher shortage
Article from the Washington Post ...... Kindergarten teacher Gracia Hidalgo, left, welcomes new student Valentina Tapia, 5, and her mother, Andrea Tapia, center, before the start of the first day of school Monday at T.J. Austin Elementary School in Tyler, Tex. (Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP) There’s a teacher shortage across the United States — but that’s not exactly news. The U.S. Department of Education maintains an annual list — state by state — showing the subject areas in which there are too few teachers going back to the 1990-91 school year. What’s new is the size of the shortage and the reasons for it. The official nationwide Teacher Shortage Area list for … [Read more...]