On Our Final Journey On the "Virtual Route 66" For January 2023: #RandomThoughts

 Please enjoy the following curated #RandomThoughts:

Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): On #MLK2023

 

It is Martin Luther King Day here in the United States Today.   We present the following to reflect upon this courtesy the team at Bloomberg:

Boston is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday this year with the unveiling of a monument that adds a new dimension to the civil rights leader's legacy. The Embrace, a massive bronze sculpture designed by artist Hank Willis Thomas, depicts King's hands clasping the arms of his wife, Coretta Scott King. The piece is a tribute to the couple, who met as students in the city in 1952. Rising two stories tall and weighing 19 tons, The Embrace is based on a photograph of MLK and Coretta Scott King clutching one another at a news conference after he learned that he'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  The Embrace was unveiled at Boston Common on Friday.  Photographer: Lane Turner/Boston Globe At a glance, The Embrace looks like the kind of mid-century modernist abstract sculptures found in public plazas across the US. But the message of the piece is intimate and unique. The sculpture celebrates notions of support, care and vulnerability that aren't usually associated with monumental depictions of heroic men. It marks a radical departure from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC, which shows the figure of the man, defiant, emerging from the face of a mountain. The MLK Memorial statue in Washington, DC.  Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America The design, a collaboration between Thomas and Mass Design Group, was selected by the nonprofit Embrace Boston as part of a new plaza commemorating civil rights leaders for Boston Common.  The Embrace expands on the idea of commemorating MLK by including Coretta Scott King, who was a leader in the nascent civil rights movement even before she met her husband. The new Boston monument also prefigures the idea that great figures rarely act alone but rather with powerful support networks. "Love is such a powerful force," Coretta Scott King once said. "It's there for everyone to embrace — that kind of unconditional love for all of humankind." — Kriston Capps This MLK Day, revisit our stories on the legacy of King and the civil rights era. The Night MLK Died, Washington Burned Remembering Resurrection City and MLK's Final Dream Why Did U.S. Cities Resegregate? Biloxi's Fight to Celebrate Martin Luther King The Remaking of Martin Luther King Streets The Other Side of MLK Boulevard 2018 Was Just 1968 All Over Again Remembering Beaches as Battlegrounds for Civil Right More on US monuments from CityLab

The National Mall Is Hosting a Pop-Up Exhibit for New Monuments Six monument-makers tasked with “telling stories that haven’t been heard” will bring temporary memorials to Washington, DC, in August.  A Monument to the Enslaved ‘Mothers of Gynecology’ Rises in Montgomery Artist Michelle Browder’s statues honor African-American women subjected to medical experimentation — and highlight racial health disparities that persist today.   How to Mark an American Atrocity At the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, the pain and horror of racial violence assume physical form. Can Cities Design Better Monuments? The Chicago Monuments Project is leading a city-wide dialogue in search of ways to resolve its landscape of problematic statues, and make room for a new, different kind of public memorial.  What It's Like To Be the Only Black Art Commissioner in a City It’s an interesting time to be an African-American city official with authority over whether racially controversial statues and monuments should remain standing.

What we’re reading Coretta Scott King quietly blazed trails of her own before meeting her future husband in Boston (GBH News) Q&A with "King: A Life" author Jonathan Wig on the civil rights leader’s year in Chicago (Chicago Tribune) Allies, educators, seek a national park to celebrate Rosenwald Schools for Black children in the segregated South (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) The new ways teachers are talking about Martin Luther King Jr. (Time)

On Our "Virtual Route 66" While on the Education Beat: On the Week That Was

 As 2023 kicks into high gear, we present the following snapshot :

California education issues to watch in 2023 --and predictions of what might happen By John Fensterwald and Yuxuan Xie, EdSource 2023's big questions: How much will TK-12 state funding be cut? What will the final math framework look like? Will districts find tutors, after-school staff? Will the Newsom administration act decisively on early literacy? Read more

Cal state teaching assistants and other student employees could follow UC to a strike By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource Struggling with living expenses, 11,000 CSU student academic workers prepare to bargain Read more

Predictions for California education in 2023

It’s January, time to reflect on the past months and look ahead at the coming year. At EdSource that means veteran reporter John Fensterwald is making predictions.  Every year, John gets out his crystal ball and tells us a fortune – what he thinks might or might not happen in California education in the new year. We also check in with some other reporters about what stories they will cover this year. Guests: John Fensterwald, Editor-at-large, EdSource Carolyn Jones, Reporter, EdSource Emma Gallegos, Reporter, EdSource Ashley A. Smith, Reporter, EdSource

LISTEN

California education news: What's the latest? 28-year Marin County Schools Superintendent praised for pandemic leadership as she leaves office Mastermind of college admissions scandal sentenced to prison, ordered to forfeit millions of dollars  Pasadena Unified sued by Latino civil rights group over school closures

Our picks from other sources

California campuses try to lower college costs with free transit By Carmen Gonzalez, Calmatters, Jan. 5

Should class participation be graded? By Susan D'Agostino, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 4

Former Riverside County school counselor arrested on suspicion of sexual assault By Cindy Von Quednow, KTLA, Jan. 2

Are college e-scooter bands an overreaction to safety concerns? By Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive, Jan.5

Marin's departing schools superintendent lauded for leadership By Keri Brenner, Marin Independent Journal, Jan. 1

What is ChatGPT and how is it used in education? By Mark Lieberman, Education Week, Jan. 4

4-year-old boy leaves Sacramento-area school for hours before staff realized he was gone By Jonathan Ayestas, KCRA, Jan. 4

Also of interest The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is hosting webinars on Tuesdays in January from 3-4:30 p.m. ET. The series includes "Learning How States, Districts, and Educators are Strengthening Kindergarten," and "Closing the Gap: Improving Attendance for Our Youngest Learners." Register here. New America and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) will host a webinar titled "Bright Spots: Strategies and Success Stories on Building a System for Full Access to ECE for Birth to Five" on Jan. 18 from 2-3:30 p.m. ET. Register here. Linked Learning Alliance will host an in-person conference titled "Our Golden Opportunity: Creating Coherence in College and Career Readiness" in San Diego from February 14 to 17. Register here. Edition #687 Wednesday, January 4, 2023     Making the Case for Community College Baccalaureates Community College Baccalaureate degrees should be offered where there is compelling evidence that they can benefit current and future students.  Based on data from a recent research, Debra Bragg and Tim Harmon offer methods to identify when more bachelor’s degrees are needed and why community college baccalaureates can meet that need.              What Can We Learn about Adolescent Black Girls’ Use of Social Media for In-School Learning? In this new brief, Jimmeka Anderson  explores Black girls’ use of informal literacy practices on social media and the implications of this use for in-school learning.          What Can We Learn from Rhode Island’s New Data on Students Experiencing Foster Care? A growing number of states have implemented data-sharing agreements to better track and assess the unique needs of students in care. What can we learn from this new evidence? An article by Dr. Mauriell H. Amechi.         Online Short-Term Pell Could Open the Floodgates to Predatory Actors Expanding short-term Pell to online programs creates even a greater risk of abuse by predatory actors, argues Wesley Whistle.          Online Short-Term Pell Raises Concerns Further About Quality and Value Wesley Whistle explains why expanding Short-Term Pell to online programs heightens the equity concerns of enacting short-term Pell.         Community Colleges Have a Completion Problem Alarmingly, 57% of students who entered community college in 2016 had not completed any degree within six years. Here, Chris Geary shares recommendations to ensure more students can access the economic benefits of college completion.         Nothing Has Changed with Financial Aid Offers. Congress Must Act. Despite extensive guidance, a strong code of conduct, and best practice consumer research, a new report by the GAO shows that nothing has changed with financial aid offers.  Rachel Fishman explains what can be done.