Schools on the Frontlines

Socorro Shiels, Sonoma Valley Unified Superintendent This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Socorro Shiels, superintendent of Sonoma Valley Unified School District. In response to the killing of George Floyd and the protests for racial justice that followed, Shiels wrote a letter to the school community in which she said that “racism is not just in our past but woven deeply into the fabric of our institutions.” Cohn and Shiels discuss the reaction to the letter, as well as the challenges the district faces as fall approaches. Cohn and Shiels were both at the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence when that agency was first established as part of the Local Control Funding Formula. They bring their statewide experience as well as district leadership perspectives the conversation. For more information about Sonoma Valley Unified School District, please see: Sonoma Valley Unified School District homepageSonoma Valley Unified School District profile on Ed-Data

Fresno Unified Superintendent, Bob Nelson. This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Bob Nelson, the ukulele-playing superintendent of Fresno Unified School District. Nelson, who has been called “the Mr. Rogers of school superintendents,” has taken a hands-on approach to the job, interacting with the community via social media and even reading children’s stories on YouTube. Carl asks Nelson about his unique approach to the job. They also discuss the district’s plans for the fall and lessons learned during the ongoing pandemic. With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a unique understanding of the challenges school districts face as they try to regroup and reopen in the fall. For more information about Fresno Unified School District, please see: Fresno Unified School District homepageFresno Unified School District profile on Ed-Data

This week, Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Cristina de Jesus, the president and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools California. The non-profit is a charter school network of 19 middle and high schools, serving 11,500 students in Los Angeles. The vast majority are students of color. What sets it apart from many charter schools is that its staff belongs to a union, the Asociación de Maestros Unidos, a CTA/NEA affiliate. When the pandemic struck, three out of four Green Dot students needed devices, and 1,300 needed internet hot spots. Now, de Jesus says, 96% of students are participating in distance learning. That includes a minimum of 240 minutes of live instruction with teachers. “In the last five months, the persistent inequities and injustices that have plagued our country for centuries have been laid bare,” she says. “The pandemic has exposed for all to witness, the digital divide, resource divide, the opportunity divide.” Carl Cohn has fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. He brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in a fashion never seen before in California. For more information about Green Dot Public Schools, please see: Green Dot Public Schools information

This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn turns his focus to one of California’s least populous counties, Mono County in the Eastern Sierras. There are only two small school districts in the county — Mammoth Unified and Eastern Sierra Unified — with a combined enrollment of about 1,600 students. In the sprawling county, that is less than one student per square mile. Carl speaks with Mono County’s Superintendent of Schools Stacey Adler about the challenges of educating children in such a dispersed community. Here’s one surprise: because of its geography and economy the county was already quite prepared to offer distance learning when the pandemic hit last spring With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in the fall. Check out EdSource’s award-winning series on rural education here. For more information about Mono County’s two school districts please see: Mono County Office of Education homepageEastern Sierra Unified School District profile on Ed-DataMammoth Unified School District profile on Ed-Data

In this week’s podcast, Carl Cohn and his guests address one of the most challenging — and hidden — aspects of the pandemic: the mental health needs of students, and their teachers. Carl speaks with Dr. Jeannine Topalian, president of the California Association of School Psychologists, and Dr. Loretta Whitson, executive director of the California Association of School Counselors. Between them, their organizations represent over 17,000 professionals dedicated to the mental wellbeing of the state’s students. In California the ratio of students to counselors is 622 to 1, below the national average of 464 to 1 and far shy of the National Association of School Counselors recommendation of 250 to 1. Carl and the two leaders discuss this lack of mental health resources in our schools, and the additional challenges posed by the pandemic. Delivering services to students is no easy feat in a remote learning environment, but Dr. Topalian and Dr. Whitson explain how their members hope to get it done. With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in the fall. Looking for resources for addressing the mental health needs of students? Check out the following websites: California Association of School Psychologists Covid-19 resourcesCalifornia Association of School Counselors Covid-19 counseling resourcesCalifornia Department of Health Care Services: Services for Children and Youth

Against the backdrop of growing movement focused on eradicating racial inequities in California and beyond, Carl Cohn has a wide-ranging conversation with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond who says schools should “use education to counter hate.” With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic Thurmond has had to help guide the country’s largest public school system through what may be the greatest crisis in its history. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Thurmond remains focused on creating opportunity for all, a key part of which he says is ensuring internet and technology access for all students. Carl has fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. He brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and now increasingly move to reopening. Looking for resources related to coronavirus and the reopening of California’s schools? Check out the following websites: California Department of Education Covid-19 resourcesStronger Together: A Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California’s Public Schools

Should students take standardized tests like the Smarter Balanced Assessments during the pandemic? Equally importantly, how would they take them if some students are at home learning online — and some missing in action altogether? California’s State Board of Education has already decreed that students will take shorter, modified versions of the Smarter Balanced tests. But does that even make sense? Or will the yet-to-be-named Secretary of Education in the Biden administration give states another waiver to pass on administering these tests for the second year in a row? This week, Carl Cohn talks with Scott Marion, executive director of the Center for Assessment, who talks about these crucial questions. Tantalizingly, Marion suggests that the impact of the pandemic on academic assessments could result in long-term changes in how we view and administer tests — for the better. Carl has fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. He brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and now increasingly move to reopening. Interested in learning more about the Center for Assessment? Check out their website: The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment

Schools must reopen. But how, when and in what form? In this episode of Schools on the Frontlines, host Carl Cohn talks with Ron Williams, superintendent of Victor Valley Union High School District and the president of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA). With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a unique understanding of the challenges school districts face as they try to regroup and reopen in the fall. He asks Williams how the district is addressing the needs of students and staff in the high desert community it serves, and its plans for reopening schools. They also discuss the protests for racial justice, how the situation has created an opportunity for those in leadership positions to hear from students and the community about pain they have experienced as a result of systemic racism and how the district is responding. For more information about Victor Valley Union High School District, please see: Victor Valley Union High School District homepageVictor Valley Union High School District profile on Ed-DataAssociation for California School Administrators (ACSA): Coronavirus resources for schools

This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn shifts gears and talks with a school board member who is also attempting to combat child poverty. Jackie Thu-Huong Wong sits on the school board o Washington Unified, an 8300 student district in Yolo County east of Sacramento. She is also vice president of advocacy and policy at GRACE, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting child poverty in California. Wong describes how the financial impact of the pandemic has landed disproportionately on the shoulders of poor families, and how her work with GRACE to advocate for those families has changed as a result. And Cohn asks Wong about the work being done in her district to ensure students, teachers, and families are prepared for the new frontier of distance learning. With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in the fall. For more information about Washington Unified School District, please see: Washington Unified School District homepageWashington Unified School District profile on Ed-Data

In this week’s podcast, Carl Cohn speaks with Michael Feuer, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development and professor of education policy at George Washington University. They discuss the upcoming presidential election and what it might mean for education. Feuer weighs in on the changes a new administration might bring. While schools grapple with the short term challenges of the pandemic, Feuer argues that attention should also be given to long term solutions to the issues in the education system that the pandemic has exposed. Cohn has fifty years of education service in diverse roles including as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. He brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in the fall.

This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Orange County superintendent of schools Al Mijares whose county includes 27 districts serving more than 600 schools and nearly half a million students. In July, the Orange County Board of Education filed a lawsuit to overturn Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order barring in-classroom instruction in counties on the state’s monitoring list. Mijares spoke out against the lawsuit, emphasizing the importance of putting student and teacher health first. Cohn and Mijares discuss this and other challenges schools in the county face. With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in the fall. For more information about Orange County Department of Education, please see: Orange County Department of Education coronavirus information and resourcesOrange County profile on Ed-Data

California’s Catholic parochial schools — 700 of them serving close to 200,000 students — get little attention compared to the public schools. But they face many of the same challenges as the public school system does in coping with the pandemic. This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Paul Escala, superintendent of schools for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Its school system consists of 270 K-12 schools and an enrollment of 73,000 students. More than 90 percent of students of the 70 schools in the Diocese that receive Title 1 funds qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Carl brings a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face as they regroup and reopen in the fall. He has fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. Among other boards, he is on the Education Standing Committee of the California Catholic Conference.

Schools must reopen. But how, when and in what form? In this episode of Schools on the Frontlines, host Carl Cohn talks with Nancy Albarrán, superintendent of San José Unified, the largest and most diverse district in Santa Clara County, which boasts a graduation rate of more than 90%. With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a unique understanding of the challenges school districts face as they try to regroup and reopen in the fall. He asks Albarrán how the district is addressing the widely varying needs of students and staff in the large and diverse community it serves, and its plans for reopening schools. They also discuss the protests for racial justice, how the situation has created an opportunity for those in leadership positions to hear from students and the community about pain they have experienced as a result of systemic racism and how the district is responding. For more information about San Jose Unified, please see: San José Unified profile on Ed-DataSan José Unified resources and information during school closures

Schools must reopen. But how, when and in what form? In the first episode of Schools on the Frontlines, host Carl Cohn talks with Christi Barrett, superintendent of Hemet Unified, a sprawling district that covers 627 square miles in Riverside County, including urban, suburban and remote rural communities. With fifty years of service as a counselor, teacher, district superintendent, State Board of Education member, and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, Cohn brings a unique understanding of the challenges school districts face as they try to regroup and reopen in the fall. He asks Barrett about how the district is planning to accommodate families and students who want to return to school as well as those who will opt for distance learning. They talk about the district’s response to the protests for racial justice, school security and how Barrett communicates with the many stakeholders in her district. For more information about Hemet Unified, please see: Hemet Unified profile on Ed-DataHemet Unified websiteHemet Unified’s reopening plan

COMING JULY 1st: In his long and storied career as a California education leader, Carl Cohn has served as superintendent of the Long Beach and San Diego Unified school districts, a member of the State Board of Education and executive director of the California Collaborative for Education Excellence. In this special series of podcasts, Carl will talk each week with a leading school superintendent about the immense challenge of reopening schools amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the movement for racial justice.