DeVos Applauds Efforts To Keep Arizona Schools Open

AP: Virus Cases At Arizona School Send Hundreds Into Quarantine
Schools should maintain options for parents whether they prefer in-person or online instruction for their children, Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday as the state sees an uptick in newly confirmed virus cases. “We want to provide those options to our kids and families,” Ducey said after touring a Phoenix charter school with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “We think options are very important.” (10/15)

The New York Times: After 700 Students Test Positive, a College President Resigns
The State University of New York at Oneonta on Thursday announced the abrupt resignation of its president only weeks after it experienced the most severe coronavirus outbreak of any public university in the state. The departure of the president, Barbara Jean Morris, is one of the most high-profile over the coronavirus crisis, which has thrown many colleges and universities across the country into turmoil as they try to maintain some semblance of campus life during the outbreak. (Rosa, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Negotiations Stall Between D.C. Teachers Union And The City Over School Reopening Plans. 
The District’s public school system was close to an agreement with the Washington Teachers’ Union on the safety precautions the city would need to take to reopen classrooms during the pandemic, but negotiations stalled over details in the plan to ensure that the buildings were safe. After hours of virtual negotiations Wednesday, both union and city officials said they expected an agreement to be signed Thursday. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) was optimistic, saying at her news conference Wednesday that the city and the union have a “large agreement on how to reopen.” (Stein, 10/15)

Boston Globe: A Growing Crisis In Special Education 
In the meantime, the teachers union leadership has continued to press a narrative that they have been advocating for the safety of all Boston Public School children. This does not acknowledge the voice of special needs parents who have been pressing desperately for months to gain in-person education and services. This false narrative creates continual chaos for families like ours, and for those without the benefit of time and resources to press for our rights. Every day there is a new message, a new battle, a new lawsuit, and a new sense of confusion and despair felt by families across the city. By the time you read this, it will all probably have changed again. ( Michael A. Colanti and Cristina Colanti, 10/14)

KHN: Musicians Improvise Masks For Wind Instruments To Keep The Band Together
Trombonist Jerrell Charleston loves the give-and-take of jazz, the creativity of riffing off other musicians. But as he looked toward his sophomore year at Indiana University, he feared that steps to avoid sharing the coronavirus would also keep students from sharing songs. “Me and a lot of other cats were seriously considering taking a year off and practicing at home,” lamented the 19-year-old jazz studies major from Gary, Indiana. His worries evaporated when he arrived on campus and discovered that music professor Tom Walsh had invented a special mask with a hole and a protective flap to allow musicians to play while masked. (Ungar, 10/16)

In other school news —

The Washington Post: Sexual Assault Is Not Often Talked About In The Context Of Elementary, Middle And High Schools. 
The Education Department found that reports of sexual assaults at elementary, middle and high schools increased sharply between 2015 and 2018, a finding advocates say underscores the need for more schools to be prepared to handle reports of sexual violence. The finding was drawn from the Civil Rights Data Collection, a compilation of data drawn from surveys of every public school, charter school and juvenile justice facility in the nation. It was published by the department Thursday. (Balingit, 10/15)