'FAR TOO FEW' DISTRICTS CAPITALIZING ON SUMMER SCHOOL: Researchers at the Center on Reinventing Public Education analyzed dozens of publicly available summer school plans and found that the lessons, where offered, are mostly review, optional and online. — Many students received "just a sliver of typical instruction" during the spring, and they're not likely to get makeup support during the summer as schools focus on fall instruction, the researchers wrote in a blog post. Summer is the "perfect time" to try out new strategies and approaches to remote instruction, but researchers said districts aren't taking advantage of that flexibility and are tending to provide programs "similar to years past." — Most districts that say they're offering summer school are focused on reviewing content to meet course and grade-level standards for elementary and middle school students and on credit recovery for high schoolers. That's pretty much the same approach as usual when this summer "is not the same reality" as in previous years, said Bree Dusseault, one of the CRPE researchers, in an interview. — "What we see is districts more or less replicating a similar [learning] environment rather than trying to create a better or different environment in response to unique circumstances this year," she said. "You want to see a system being responsive when circumstances change." More from your host. GROUPS ASK CONGRESS TO PREVENT CREATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS FROM RELIEF FUNDS: Dozens of groups, led by the National Coalition for Public Education, urged congressional leaders to include language in the HEROES Act, H.R. 6800 (116), that would block emergency funds from being used for private school voucher programs. — "This unprecedented pandemic should not be exploited to promote unaccountable, inequitable, and ineffective private school vouchers or otherwise divert public funding for private schools," the groups wrote. "We urge you to support every effort to prevent funding for private school vouchers allowing for school privatization into the next COVID-19 relief package." — The groups also challenged Education Secretary DeVos' pressure on states to divert a greater share of CARES Act, H.R. 748 (116), funds to private school students. They also said DeVos' Rethink K-12 Education Models program discretionary grant program, which allows states to offer families "microgrants" for technology and public or private remote learning programs, "would be rife with accountability problems." — Worth noting: The House-passed HEROES Act isn't expected to go anywhere in the GOP-controlled Senate, and the chamber still doesn't have a timeline for taking up another round of federal pandemic relief. | 
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