Education Week - September 22, 2021 - 2

Education Groups Join
T0 Resist Prohibitions
On Racism Instruction
Enough is enough is enough. So say some prominent
education organizations that are pushing back against
efforts to restrict teaching students about racism and
oppression.
Amid a flurry of state actions to ban discussions of
" divisive concepts " and months of charged debates at
school board meetings over critical race theory, a coalition
has formed to help educators respond to community
critique of curricula or anti-racism initiatives.
The Learn from History coalition, put together by the
Stand for Children Leadership Center, a nonprofit
advocacy group, plans to publicize " first-person accounts
of the harm and costs of efforts to restrict what
is taught in classrooms across the country. "
" Unfortunately, rampant misinformation about what
is taught in schools is forcing teachers to omit difficult
parts of our history and not teach students that racism
is wrong and is adding yet another stressor for teachers
at the worst possible time, " the coalition website reads.
The group identifies as bipartisan and names a wide
range of partners, including AASA, the School Superintendents
Association; the American Federation of
Teachers; the American Historical Association; the
Education Trust; the National Council for the Social
Studies; and the National School Boards Association.
Its website provides separate toolkits for school
board members, school system leaders, teachers, and
parents that outline how to combat accusations that
schools are teaching critical race theory and sowing
division among students.
Opponents claim that schools are teaching critical
race theory, an approach to legal studies which holds
that racism is systemic, and that even laws and policies
that are race-neutral on their face can have racist
outcomes. In public discourse, critics have misinterpreted
and misappropriated the term, using it to refer
to a host of educational priorities, from history lessons
on the civil rights movement to diverse classroom libraries
to culturally responsive teaching.
Twenty-seven states have introduced bills or taken
other steps to restrict teaching CRT; 12 have enacted
bans via legislation or other avenues.
The Learn from History coalition is also offering
guidance on messaging in its new resources.
" We believe that the opposition's narrative has been
unanswered for much too long, " said Cesar Cardenas,
the coalition's national communications lead.
Hard Lesson
Preschoolers from
Logansport Learning
Academy wave
American flags during
the funeral procession
for Marine Cpl.
Humberto Sanchez last
week in Logansport,
Ind. He was one of 13
U.S. military members
to die in an explosion
during evaculation
efforts in Afghanistan.
Schools in Desperate Need of Facilities Upgrades,
But Democrats' $82 Billion Plan Won't Be Enough
If you've spent much time in schools, you know many aren't
in great shape-quite the contrary. Dated ventilation systems,
leaky roofs, lead in pipes. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
House Democrats have proposed doing something about it:
$82 billion in federal grant funding along with a requirement
that states provide 10 percent in matching funds to improve
the nation's school buildings. All that could change, of course,
if the bill passes at all.
Despite that huge number, schools will need far more than
that, two new reports emphasize.
In the meantime, needs are growing, according to the " State
of Our Schools " report from a coalition of organizations including
the National Council on School Facilities, the 21st
Century School Fund, and the International Well Building
Institute.
Schools currently spend roughly $110 billion per year on
facilities. The report, following up on a similar 2016 study, asserts
they are collectively investing $85 billion less per year
in construction and improvements than would be needed to
achieve full modernization. That number reflects a $25 billion
increase, adjusted for inflation, over the gap identified in 2016.
Thousands of buildings are in disrepair thanks to minimal
state and federal investment in school construction over the
last few decades. Some states contribute nothing to districts
for facilities work, leaving them to raise money from local
taxes if they can or languish if they can't. On average, 77 percent
of funding for schools' facilities projects comes from local
sources, according to the report.
Districts have been saddled with crushing debt. In fiscal
2019, they collectively spent $20 billion on interest for longterm
debt-more than the entire annual federal Title I allocation
for disadvantaged students, the report says.
There's plenty of evidence, though, that the Democrats'
plan would fall short of transformative change. That second
report, released this month by the North Carolina education
department, identifies $13 billion of urgent facilities needs in
the state-the equivalent of 15 percent of the entire proposed
nationwide federal investment.
History of Rejection Seems to Be Better Predictor
Of K-12 Shooters Than a Sudden, Acute Rebuff
Students who commit shootings in K-12 schools are more likely
to have a long history of rejection and lack a sense of belonging
than are mass shooters in college and adult settings-but they are
less likely to have experienced a sudden breakup or showed bad
behavior that can serve as a red flag for administrators.
That's the conclusion of a new study in the Journal of Social
Psychology, which compared the characteristics of 57 shootings
on K-12 campuses with 24 college shootings and 77 mass shootings
in other places since 2001. The findings come amid a rise
in school shootings that coincides with the return to in-person
schooling. According to Education Week's shooting tracker, 15
shootings have occurred on school campuses since the start of
2021, with seven since the start of August. (Unlike the study, Education
Week also tracks shootings on campus or buses during a
school-sponsored event.)
" These [shooters], in particular in K-12, are not necessarily loners;
they're failed joiners, so you're not necessarily having a lot of
disciplinary problems, " said Robin Kowalski, a psychology professor
at Clemson University, who led the study.
Kowalski and her colleagues found some commonalities across
all kinds of shooters, who were more likely to have mental-health
issues, problems with rejection, and a fascination with guns or
violence. But K-12 shooters were more likely than adults to have
had a long-term history of rejection, often as victims of chronic
bullying or parental neglect. Adult shooters, by contrast, were
more likely to have had a sudden intense rejection, such as losing
a job or spouse, before the shooting.
While the combination of psychological problems and a fascination
with guns and violence could be a red flag, Kowalski noted
that for K-12 shooters in particular, chronic rejection could be an
even more common sign that a student could be at risk than a sudden,
dramatic rejection.
" You can sort of see who's sitting alone at lunch, who's standing
on the periphery with nobody to talk to, " Kowalski said. However,
she cautioned that administrators should focus on building social
supports, rather than profiling students as " potential shooters, "
as many students can have strong feelings of rejection-or even
mental-health issues-without causing violence to others.
BRIEFLY STATED CONTRIBUTORS: Catherine Gewertz, Mark Lieberman, Sarah Schwartz, Sarah D. Sparks, and Andrew Ujifusa. Edited by Karen Diegmueller.
2 | EDUCATION WEEK | September 22, 2021 | www.edweek.org
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Education Week - September 22, 2021

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