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EduClips is a roundup of the week鈥檚 top education headlines from America鈥檚 15 largest school districts, where more than 4 million students across eight states attend class every day. Read previous EduClips installments here.

Miami-Dade County 鈥� For Second Straight Year, Miami Schools Get an A: Standing near two giant cardboard cutouts of the letter A, Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho recently celebrated good news from the Florida Department of Education: For the second year in a row, it was named an A-rated district. In what is likely an even greater accomplishment, for the third year, no schools in the district, traditional or charter, received a failing grade. Only one traditional school and five charter schools received D grades. The Miami Herald reported, 鈥淐oupled with a graduation rate of almost 90% for traditional high schools, Carvalho called Thursday鈥檚 announcement of grades his proudest moment.鈥� ()

New York City 鈥� Officials Deny Rumors that Embattled Chief Carranza is Leaving: With Chancellor Richard Carranza facing criticism for his performance and for some of his racial integration policies, district officials offered an unusual public denial that the schools chief鈥檚 resignation was imminent. As reported by Chalkbeat, at a monthly meeting of parent leaders, Chancellor鈥檚 Parent Advisory Council member Sheree Gibson asked Deputy Chancellor Hydra Mendoza if Carranza was leaving. The deputy chancellor was 鈥渟urprised and emphatically stated that鈥檚 not true,鈥� according to Gibson, who added that Carranza 鈥渋s a fighter.鈥� The flurry of concern about Carranza鈥檚 fate came amid pointed criticism of his performance by city leaders, who said he should be fired if he 鈥渃ontinues to divide this city鈥� with 鈥渃ontentious rhetoric about race,鈥� Chalkbeat reported. ()

Clark County 鈥� Las Vegas Schools Have Paid Half a Million Dollars to Fight Abuse Cases Against Former Teacher: The Clark County School District has spent $500,000 defending two cases against a former special education teacher who is accused of abusing autistic students and depriving them of food and drink. The teacher, Kasey Glass, once taught at Las Vegas鈥檚 Kirk Adams Elementary School but now teaches in Nye County, Nevada, according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal. One suit claims that Glass repeated pushed a child鈥檚 head down with his foot, and another says a child repeatedly returned home with injuries that he told his mother had been caused by Glass. Both suits claim the district failed to report and take action on the allegations. A lawyer for Glass declined to comment on the suits. ()

Los Angeles 鈥� Complaint Alleges Failure to Adequately Address High-Needs Students: L.A. Unified鈥檚 plans for high-needs students 鈥渦ndermine basic notions of transparency and equity鈥� and are failing to adequately ensure that more than $1 billion annually in state funds goes to this group, according to a complaint filed on behalf of two district parents. The complaint is brought by two law firms that won a similar case in 2017 alleging that the district misallocated $450 million annually in funds for high-needs students. L.A. Unified receives about $1.1 billion each year set aside for boosting services for low-income students, English learners and foster youth. The complaint claims that the district鈥檚 required annual plans for these students are 鈥渙paque鈥� and 鈥渞ife with fundamental errors.鈥� (Read at 麻豆精品Million.org)

Orange County 鈥� Florida Teachers Offered Bonuses to Work in Struggling Schools, Orlando Sentinel Reports: Teachers with 鈥減roven records of success鈥� under the state鈥檚 merit pay law will be eligible for one-time bonuses of up to $15,000 if they work in the state鈥檚 neediest schools. The state Department of Education announced that teachers who work in schools that received Ds or Fs under the state鈥檚 grading system 鈥� 172 schools this year 鈥� would receive the bonuses from a $16 million federal grant designed to help improve long-struggling schools, according to the Orlando Sentinel. To receive the bonuses, teachers would have to be rated 鈥渉ighly effective鈥� or 鈥渆ffective鈥� for three years under the state鈥檚 value-added model, which evaluates teachers鈥� impact on student performance. Eighteen percent of state teachers were rated 鈥渉ighly effective鈥� and 54 percent were deemed 鈥渆ffective鈥� under the system at the end of the 2017-18 school year. ()

National 鈥� Online Teachers Bear Witness to Child Abuse: It began in 2018, when a teacher logged on to her account with a Beijing-based company that connected children in China with native English-speaking teachers for live, online video lessons. As reported by EdSurge, the teacher witnessed a mother repeatedly hitting a 4-year-old boy during one English lesson. After the lesson, the teacher logged on again and saw the woman continuing to repeatedly strike her son with a plastic coat hanger. As far as the teacher knew, the company had no systems in place to address what had happened. After reporting the incident to the company, she drafted a post in a private Facebook forum. She soon learned that her experience was not unique. According to EdSurge, 鈥淚n the Facebook group she posted in, and others like it, new reports of parental abuse surface nearly every week.鈥� ()

Noteworthy Essays & Reflections

EDLECTION 2020 鈥� Stewart: Hey, Bill de Blasio, I Was Once a Charter School Parent 鈥� and I Don鈥檛 Deserve Your 鈥楬ate鈥� (Read at The74Million.org)

RESEARCH 鈥� EdBuild, nonprofit that highlighted funding disparities, plans to close next year ()

DEVOS 鈥� Trump Picked His Perfect Education Secretary in Betsy DeVos ()

SCHOOL LUNCH 鈥� Does lunch have to be 45 minutes? Rethinking school schedules to support innovation ()

TENNESSEE 鈥� Tennessee school turnaround models either haven鈥檛 worked or are stalling out, new research finds ()

Quotes of the Week

鈥淚magine if we published student grades and even 鈥� student work. How about nurse reports and private health information? What would the parents have to say about this? What sort of lawsuits would they begin?鈥� 颅鈥攍etter sent to the Columbia Falls School District in Montana that signaled a massive ransomware attack. Such events are becoming increasingly common in schools. (Read at The74Million.org)

“I DONT [sic] NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS!” 鈥攁 text message from Christian Sobrino, former chief financial officer of Puerto Rico, referring to the island鈥檚 teachers union. The release of the messages, in addition to corruption charges against former education secretary Julia Keleher, are threatening to unravel the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rossell贸. ()

鈥淎nyone who does what we do knows it鈥檚 happened not by chance but by deliberate choice by those who embrace and embark on this work.鈥� 鈥�Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade superintendent, on the district getting an A grade from the state education department two years in a row. ()

鈥淭he blood-curdling sobbing, the screaming. I have him in my ears. It was bad. Honestly, it was traumatic.鈥� 鈥�Jordan, an online English instructor, describing a mother in China beating her 4-year-old son during a video lesson. Online teachers report that parental abuse is far from uncommon on some platforms that cater to international students. ()

鈥淪chools in north Baton Rouge for 100 years have been getting less. I firmly believe the St. George movement is rooted in racism. Look at the boundaries. You go down Florida Boulevard and it鈥檚 like the Mason-Dixon line. South of Florida, it鈥檚 white; north, it鈥檚 black.鈥� 鈥�Tramelle Howard, new member of the school board in East Baton Rouge Parish, which is facing a secession attempt from a mostly white and affluent enclave. (Read at The74Million.org)

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