Light posting this summer — a lot of time on the road, for both work and play. Last weekend I rode my bike from Worcester to Provincetown in the Pan-Mass Challenge, raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and its research. (I also do a 50-mile gravel ride through the Berkshires each fall for the same cause, so if you support me, you’ll get your money’s worth.) One of the presentations I saw covered the tremendous progress being made against pancreatic cancer — work that’s bringing seasoned oncologists to tears. Don’t buy the cynicism that progress isn’t possible. If you want to support this work, learn more and get in the fight here.
Coming Attractions:
On August 18th I’m hosting a discussion with Reed Hastings and Mike Goldstein about what we should really expect from AI tutoring. You can join and ask questions via Linkedin Live here:
One of my absolute favorite colleagues is Jenny Dubin, a fantastic TV and media producer with a keen eye for trends and what’s going on — also a great hang as they say. I got to know her doing some consulting for her at 60 Minutes. She’s put together what will be a great panel for SXSW with Dana Peterson from New Schools for New Orleans, Brandon Brown from The Mind Trust, and me, to discuss what New Orleans has to teach the country about downsizing districts in a way that supports student learning. Please consider voting for it to be included at SXSW here, and while you’re there, please consider supporting all the Bellwether panels and panels featuring our work.
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Don’t Roe Plyler
The law of the land in this country, since Reagan was president, is that schools must educate students whether they are here legally or not. That wasn’t Reagan policy, but it stems from a Supreme Court case in 1982, Plyler v. Doe.
For a long time it also just became sort of an institutionalized understanding. George Bush would say that we needed a secure and regulated border, but once kids were here, no matter how they came, they should be in school. That’s common sense. There are myriad reasons you want kids in school. Not the least of which is so they assimilate and become great Americans. But George Bush couldn’t win the Republican primary today, nor probably could Reagan for that matter.
And now people are nibbling around the edges of this consensus — for instance Iowa is applying pressure. Oklahoma flirted with some changes before backing off in the face of bipartisan resistance. Or, in some cases, they’re coming straight for it.
Here’s the thing. Plyler is not on strong constitutional footing.
So you have a precedent that is not on firm ground and a place where advocates should be building consensus. Sound familiar? It’s where we might learn from Roe and Dobbs. There you had another precedent, Roe v. Wade, that was not on strong legal footing but was a rough political consensus. Polling shows Americans overall are skeptical of late-term abortions, OK with first-trimester abortions, and split on the second trimester. Proponents of abortion rights had four decades to convince people that, at least insofar as early-term pregnancies are concerned, this was a matter best left to individuals to decide. Instead, they made it about legal standing, fetishized Roe v. Wade, the court, and the precedent, attacked anyone who questioned it, and didn’t do persuasion politics. It was a precedent even people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg said was on flimsy legal ground. In the end they failed with Dobbs, with real costs to people’s lives.
Let’s not make that mistake again. The arguments for the rough consensus Plyler represents are important to make, irrespective of any legal action. People who have their kids in school are, generally speaking, not problems in their communities. They are trying to build lives — the kind of Americans we want and need more of. Kids are better off in school in many ways. And kicking them out, even if you disagree with their parents’ decisions, is simply cruel. Also, given how public finance works, the idea that this is a simple cost is inaccurate.
This issue, though, is unfortunately coming, especially post-midterms. Don’t make the argument about Plyler itself. The lawyers can debate that. Let’s make it about the consensus that’s worked for decades: Yes, we need a sensible and orderly border policy, but once kids are here, they ought to be in school.
Period.
And even if Plyler is overturned, nothing prevents states from doing this anyway. Nothing except some persuasion about why it matters and is the right thing to do.
What They’re Saying
James Traub in The Times on the new Texas curriculum:
Fish Porn!
It’s a Friday in the summer, here are ya go:
Reading and standards expert Barbara Davidson with a notable Pinto Bass off the coast of Mexico.
In this one of a kind archive you will find hundreds of pictures of education types with fish. Send me yours!
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View the original article and our Inspiration here