Education Week - June 15, 2022 - 3

Vol. 41 * Issue 36 * June 15, 2022
Persistent Woes Worsen
For ELLs Learning Virtually
The pandemic has been tough on everybody-some more so than
others, of course. Take English-language learners.
A report from the Government Accountability Office released last
month finds that teachers who were teaching in a virtual environment
with at least 20 percent English-learners reported that their
students " struggled with understanding lessons and completing
assignments, having an appropriate workspace, accessing school
meals, and getting assistance at their workspace. "
The findings are based on a nationally representative survey of
elementary and secondary teachers conducted last summer.
Not that all these problems are new. " I think [the pandemic] really
just exacerbated and made more obvious gaps that researchers
have known for years, " said Jacqueline Nowicki, the director of K-12
education for the GAO.
The GAO findings include:
* Elementary teachers with a high percentage of English-learners
were at least three times more likely than other elementary teachers
to report their students regularly lacked an appropriate workspace
at home.
* Middle school teachers with a high percentage of English-learners
were about six times more likely than other middle school teachers
to report their students regularly had difficulty understanding
lessons.
* Middle school teachers with a high percentage of English-learners
were about six times more likely than other middle school teachers
to report their students regularly had difficulty completing class
assignments.
* Teachers with a large number of students who received free or
reduced-priced meals reported similar disparities.
The findings complement other researchers' insights about virtual
instruction for English-learners in particular-some the function of
long-standing issues.
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High Court Lets Florida Take
Big Slice of Girl's Settlement
Savvy Principal
The U.S. Supreme Court has come down on the side of Florida
officials who said the state is entitled to a significant portion of the
medical-care settlement received by a girl severely injured exiting
a school bus.
The state sued the parents of Gianna Gallardo, who was 13
years old in 2008 when she exited her school bus and was struck
by a pickup truck. She has been on life support ever since.
Her parents sued the Lee County, Fla., school district as well as
the truck's owner and driver. The parties reached an $800,000
settlement in 2015 to help pay her medical expenses.
The state's Medicaid program, which was not a party to the
settlement, had paid some $862,000 for the child's care. It then
placed a lien on the settlement, and under Florida law, was entitled
to recover 37.5 percent of the amount, or about $300,000
of the settlement.
Gallardo's family challenged Florida's actions in federal court,
arguing that the state was entitled to reimbursement for only a
relatively small amount, $35,000.
As the case moved up the judicial ladder, court decisions went
back and forth. When it reached the high court, though, the justices
sided with the state.
In a dry opinion for the 7-2 majority June 6, Justice Clarence
Thomas said that " Medicaid requires participating states to pay
for certain needy individuals' medical costs and then to make
reasonable efforts to recoup those costs from liable third parties. "
Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent joined by Justice Stephen
G. Breyer, said the majority read one Medicaid Act provision in
isolation and gave " short shrift " to a larger context of the statute.
" The court's holding is inconsistent with the structure of the
Medicaid program and will cause needless unfairness and disruption, "
she wrote.
EDUCATION WEEK | June 15, 2022 | www.edweek.org | 3
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4 For Principals, Prep and PD Fall Short,
New Report Finds
6 The First 5 Years in the Classroom Are Tough.
This Teacher Has Ideas to Lessen the Burden
8 Federal Special Ed. Funding Is Woefully
Inequitable, New Studies Show
9 What's Behind the Fight
Over the Biden Administration's
Stance on Charter School Funding
10 Stories of Tenacity: 3 First-Generation
College-Bound Students
Keep Their Dreams on Track
12 String of Shootings Heightens Focus
On Graduation Safety
13 The Uvalde Shooter Posted Threats on Yubo.
What to Know About the App and Others
Like It
14 A School Openly Discusses Race
In a State That Restricts It
OPINION
16 Building Empathy
Can't Be Just Another Task
17 We Can Do More to Stop School Shootings
20 How Do You Write the Story Of Your Future,
When Every Day Might Be Your Last?
DEPARTMENTS
2 Briefly Stated
5 What the Research Says
18 Letters to the Editor
19 EdWeek Top School Jobs
Liz Yap/Education Week

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Education Week - June 15, 2022

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