Day: June 2, 2023

We’ve all seen the headlines – about book bans, school board shoutfests and new laws to limit how teachers can talk about gender identity or racism. America is deeply divided, and those fissures are ripping through classrooms – with teachers trapped straddling the chasms.
But are parents, teachers and the public feeling as divided as the headlines make it seem?
A pair of new, nationally-representative NPR/Ipsos polls reveals division, to be sure: A majority of Republican parents worry broadly about what children are being taught, compared to a minority of Democratic parents. There’s also division within the Republican Party around how to address that worry and whether banning books or restricting teachers is appropriate.
But there’s a surprising consensus among the general public too: a sweeping respect for teachers and broad agreement that they’re overworked and should be better paid.
One poll, of the general public, included 1,316 respondents with an oversampling of K-12 parents ..

If you haven’t heard about the Black girl who won the first national spelling bee in the U.S. 115 years ago, you’re not alone: even many in her family didn’t know about Marie C. Bolden’s feat until after she died, decades later.
“It’s astounding to me” that she never talked about winning a gold medal in front of thousands of people, Bolden’s grandson, Mark Brown, told NPR.
But back in 1908, Bolden’s victory made national news and upended racist stereotypes, less than 50 years after the Civil War. The 14-year-old did it by being perfect, spelling 500 words flawlessly to lead her hometown team, Cleveland, Ohio, to victory in the city’s then-new Hippodrome Theater.
“She never talked about this award, this amazing accomplishment,” Brown said. “But even Booker T. Washington mentioned [it] in his speeches.”
Bolden’s win was a national sensation Boleden’s win was dramatic and unprecedented: Cleveland’s team was trailing in a field that included teams from New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Erie,..