The awesomeness that is cyber schooling:
While the Pittsburgh Online Academy has had 144 students in grades 6-12 since it opened last fall, only 47 are still enrolled. That includes only 17 of the original 55.
"I think it has to do with fit," said Mark McClinchie, district coordinator of virtual learning. "I think in Pennsylvania we're in an environment where we've oversold the idea of online learning, and this is coming from someone who runs one."
But don't worry! They're going to tweak the cyber school model to make it suck incrementally less! They hope. And here's a way to see the bright side of all those kids leaving the cyber school: According to McClinchie, anecdotal evidence suggests that of the kids who transferred back to brick-and-mortar schools, "Most went back with a renewed sense of commitment that the grass was not greener on the other side."
And more:
- How did the Boston shutdown affect worker paychecks?
“Most low wage workers can’t afford to lose a day’s pay, and there’s no doubt this lockdown will adversely impact the city’s working poor,” said Jessica Kutch, a labor activist who co-founded the organizing site coworker.org, in an email to Salon. “I’d really like to see employers state on the record that their hourly workers will be paid for the time they were scheduled to work today — but I suspect that most employers will place the burden of this shutdown squarely on the backs of people who can least afford it.”
Some workers may be forced to use their paid time off or vacation time for Friday, labor activists fear. An employee of Boston Children’s Hospital tweeted that HR was requiring employees to use their vacation time during the lockdown, but eventually backed down some internal pushback.
It would be good to see some naming-and-shaming here.
- Meet some of the 8 percent of American households—and 20 percent of African American and Latino households—without bank accounts.
- Chicago teachers forced to work a longer day have gotten a settlement giving them back pay for the extra time.
- New York City public advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio is calling for an investigation into Eva Moskowitz's Success Academy.
- Charter school teachers organized a union at Ivy Academia in Los Angeles.