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What We’re Reading This Week: October 18, 2019

A weekly sampling of articles, blogs and reports relevant to TT educators.

Demanding Better Wages, Smaller Class Sizes and More, Chicago Teachers Go on Strike 

Colorlines 

“We have not achieved what we need to bring justice and high quality schools to the children and teachers of Chicago. We need to have the tools we need to do the job at our schools. We need pay and benefits that will give us dignity and respect. We are on strike until we can do better.” 

 

Teen Suicides Rising Sharply, Federal Data Show 

Education Week 

“Suicide rates for teens between the ages of 15 and 19 increased by 76 percent between 2007 and 2017.  And the suicide rate for 10- to 14-year-olds nearly tripled over that same time period, according to CDC's data.”

If you or someone you care about are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For more resources on supporting students, see the National Center for School Mental Health, the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement and the Stigma-Free on Campus campaign from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

‘Segregated City’ (Video) 

The New York Times 

“Two teenagers — one black, the other white — growing up a few miles apart have had two very different experiences in the New York City public school system. The gap in the quality of their education has likely put them on unequal paths for the rest of their lives.” 

 

The Giant Life of Elijah Cummings

The Ringer

"He worked until his last breath because he believed our democracy was the highest and best expression of our collective humanity and that our nation’s diversity was our promise, not our problem."

 

Racial Disparities in School Discipline Are Linked to the Achievement Gap Between Black and White Students Nationwide, According to Stanford-Led Study 

Stanford Graduate School of Education 

“‘This is the first study to document this relationship [between discipline and standardized test performances] at the national level.’ … The researchers found that a 10 percentage point increase in the black-white discipline gap in a school district predicts an achievement gap that is 17 percent larger than the average black-white achievement gap.” 

 

Five Black Men raided Harpers Ferry with John Brown. They’ve been forgotten. 

The Washington Post 

“Four were free men of color. The fifth had fled from slavery in Charleston, S.C., and was said to be African royalty. He went by Shields Green, and his nickname was ‘Emperor.’ Two were from Oberlin, Ohio — Lewis Sheridan Leary and John Anthony Copeland, who had attended Oberlin College’s preparatory department. … Anderson was from Chester County, Pa. … The fifth, Dangerfield Newby, was born enslaved in the Piedmont of Virginia.” 

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