Wayland Union Schools Early Childhood Nights – 2019-20 PreK & Kindergarten Registration

Families who would like to learn more about Wayland Union Schools’ Preschool and Kindergarten programs can attend the Early Childhood Nights scheduled for Tuesday, February 19 at Dorr Elementary and Wednesday, February 20 at Baker Elementary. Both schools will have a presentation for parents from 6:00 – 6:30pm where they can hear an overview of all of the district’s early childhood programs. From 6:30-7:30pm, parents and children can visit classrooms, meet teachers, tour the building, visit various information booths, and register their child for preschool or kindergarten.

The district offers very low tuition rates for three and four year old preschool due to cash in lieu of taxes from the Gun Lake Casino. Rates for in-district residents have been reduced by nearly 50% from previous years. Free preschool is also available for families who qualify through Head Start and Great Start Readiness programs.

For 3 & 4 year old preschool, children must turn either 3 or 4 on or before September 1, 2019. Kindergarten/Young Five students must turn 5 on or before September 1, 2019.

The preferred enrollment period for tuition preschool and Kindergarten is February 19 –March 8, 2019. Families can also complete their pre-registration online which is found on the WUS district website. This will not guarantee placement/enrollment until final paperwork is turned into the office but will provide the district with basic family information. Please bring your child’s birth certificate, proof of residency and deposit for preschool to the Early Childhood Nights or to the school office.

To learn more about the various preschool options in the district, including free preschool options for Head Start or GSRP, email Family Coach, Laurie Zywiczynski at lauriez@waylandunion.org or visit the district website at http://www.waylandunion.org under Departments -Early Childhood:

Baker Elementary School
507 W. Sycamore Street, Wayland
269-792-9208

Dorr Elementary School
4159 18th Street, Dorr
616-681-9637

Congress: Stand up and say, “I’m public school proud!”

The second annual Public Schools Week will take place from March 25 – March 29.  Now is the time to motivate your representative and ask her or him to stand up and say,  “I am proud of my public schools.”

Here is a first request. Ask that they sign on to this Resolution

 that declares March 25-29 Public Schools Week.

Make that request by clicking here.

In the weeks to come, we will share more ways in which you can spread the word about Public Schools Week and let the nation know you are #PublicSchoolProud! And feel free to download the Congressional resolution and use it as a model for your local school board or government to pass.

The Network for Public Education is a 501 (c)(3) organization. You can make a tax deductible donation here.  You can follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook

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Trump Endorses Teaching Religion in the Public Schools. What Can He Be Thinking?

“Students in a public school classroom could, of course, study the Bible as the product of the societies where the stories emerged from an oral tradition into written text and examine changes in the world since those times, along with considering the implications of various translations over the generations, and, of course, their style, including the poetry which Gophik loves. At the end of our long and emotional meeting, members of the National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy agreed that any study of religious literature in public schools ought to include the study of the history and texts of the world’s religions, a sort of comparative religions course. But we suspected the creators of the text we had been asked to review did not have that kind of curriculum in mind.”

janresseger

In the Washington Post, John Wagner reports that legislators in six states—North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, West Virginia, Virginia, and Florida—have introduced bills to permit public schools to teach the Bible as literature.  President Donald Trump endorsed this effort last week in a tweet: “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible.  Starting to make a turn back?  Great!”

The President advocates teaching about the Bible to “make a turn back”—to Make America Great Again.  He wants to appeal to his base.

I suspect the promoters of teaching “about the Bible” also have something else in mind.  Their purpose is obscured by some vague language that very likely tries to hide a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  Some promoters of the “teach about the Bible” movement describe wanting their schools to teach Biblical literacy, and some say they are interested…

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4 Must Haves for Black Lives Matter at School Week!

Black Lives Matter at School means ending the school-to-prison pipeline, funding more counselors than cops, hiring more Black educators, and teaching Black history and ethnic studies. The Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action begins on February 4 and we want you to be ready!

Be a part of the amazing work that is going on around the country to transform education. Here are 4 ways to show your support:

✔ Grim Jackson breaks it down for us – check out and share this video. #edjustice #blacklivesmatteratschool

✔ Download & Display the Black Lives Matter at School poster

(share a pic on social media)

✔ Follow and post to the hashtags #blacklivesmatteratschool and #edjustice

✔ Learn more ways to take action – get the toolkit here

Join the movement to bring critical reflection, honest conversations, and systemic change on the issues that impact racial justice in education.

In Solidarity,

Stephanie & The NEA Ed Justice Team

NEA EdJustice
1201 16TH STREET NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
United States

OPENSECRETS NEWS: A look back at Roger Stone’s ‘big league scam’ super PAC

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

• By Karl Evers-Hillstrom and Raymond Arke
• January 25, 2019

Indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller and arrested by the FBI in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning, notorious political operative Roger Stone may be facing the end of a decades-long political career. Stone denied the charges and said he will plead not guilty.

One of the more unusual chapters in his recent political history was the short-lived Committee to Restore America’s Greatness super PAC. Despite being a single-candidate super PAC in support of Donald Trump, the group shelled out just $16,000 of its $587,000 fundraising haul on independent expenditures supporting Trump.

The lack of pro-Trump spending is unsurprising, as Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told The Hill the super PAC was a “big league scam” shortly after it was launched.

Learn more here – https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/roger-stone-big-league-scam-super-pac/

OPENSECRETS NEWS: Democrats’ money-in-politics reform package draws praise — and strong objections

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi performs a ceremonial swearing-in for US House Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY), incoming House Judiciary Committee chairman. (Alex Edelman / AFP)

By Raymond Arke January 29, 2019

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee held its hearing on the For the People Act (HR 1), which promises numerous election reforms from voting rights to campaign finance. Six expert witnesses appeared before the committee testifying both in favor and against aspects of the proposed legislation.

One of the witnesses, Adav Noti, senior director of trial litigation and chief of staff for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center supported the efforts of the legislation which includes sections which add more “dark money” disclosure — the DISCLOSE Act — and introduce controls on digital spending — the Honest Ads Act — among other things.

“Limitless spending is a threat,” Noti said in his testimony. He argued that corporate spending is “drowning out” the voices of regular people in elections.

Learn more here – https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/democrats-hr-1-draws-praise-and-strong-objections/

From OPENSECRETS NEWS:Dark money coming from a shell company near you

A truck leasing company in a small Iowa town is one of several companies linked to nondisclosed “dark money” contributions during the 2018 election cycle. (Photo by Wes Clowers)

• By Karl Evers-Hillstrom and Kietryn Zychal
• January 29, 2019

So-called “dark money” contributions come from a diverse cross-section of the American landscape. Suburbs, big cities and even small towns are home to corporations created primarily to conceal the true source of money flowing to super PACs that spend millions of dollars to influence elections.

One dark money trail leads to Carter Lake, Iowa, population 3,785. An obscure Carter Lake limited liability company (LLC) named DRT, LLC made a $250,000 contribution to pro-Trump super PAC America First Action in April 2018. The company made another contribution — $10,000 to the Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) — two weeks before election day.

Learn more here – https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/dark-money-coming-from-a-shell-company-near-you