Highlights from today’s 802 Ed newsletter, published by Steve Berbeco:

Open Meeting Law Updates – Act 78 of 2022 temporarily permits school boards and other public meetings to be held entirely remotely. Those provisions expired yesterday, on January 15. A bill new to this legislative session, H.42, may extend until summer, 2024 the permission to hold meetings without a staff member physically present at a designated location. (Link .htm)

Ringers Off, Please – A recent article in Edutopia suggests that it’s better to lean into the presence of smartphones in the classroom, even providing chargers for students to use, instead of fighting a losing battle against them. (Link .htm)

Just How Broken is Child Care? – Alison Novak from Seven Days goes deep into the dysfunction of the child care system in Vermont, with its under-supply and over-demand of slots, as well as many of the advocates who are optimistic about positive change. (Link .htm)

Just How Challenging are Schools? – Recent testimony to the Senate Education Committee from the VSA highlighted mental health as one of the highest priorities for schools: “Long wait times, or no service availability at all are common-place observations by school administrators and are having real consequences for students and schools systems.” (Link .pdf)

Go, Rutlands! – In a move that some hope will end a debate started in 2020, the Rutland school board voted recently to change the name of its mascot from the Rutland Raiders to the Rutland Ravens to, well, actually they voted to have no mascot at all. (Link .htm)

Student Access to Counseling – A bright spot in the news feed comes from the American School Counselor Association, which recently published a list of student-school counselor ratios across the country for 2021-2022. Vermont has the lowest ratio at 186 students to school counselor, while Indiana came in at the highest with 694 students to school counselor. (Link .pdf)

Blocking the Robo-Students – Technology enthusiasts and futurists alike are abuzz at the prospects of ChatGPT, a computer program that generates high-quality writing. The NYC Education Department doesn’t like what they are seeing, though, and has already blocked access to the program from all its devices and networks. (Link .htm)

Getting a Degree with Cash in Hand – A recent article in Diverse Education highlights an innovative Vermont partnership meant to support early childhood education, where classes are not only tuition-free but students are paid to learn. (Link .htm) This was a popular item in last issue, so we are including it again for readers who may have missed it.

“This High School Course Changed My Life” – A recent alum from Winooski High School offers high praise, in a VT Digger commentary, for a personal finance class from freshman year and its teacher who made using spreadsheets “super fun.” (Link .htm)