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Alex Freidus

@alexfreidus.bsky.social

1.1K followers 820 following 970 posts

schools, race, & inequality | author of "Unequal Lessons: School Diversity and Educational Inequality in New York City" | momming & cooking & running & reading romance & mystery | she/her | personal account www.alexandrafreidus.com

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · May 28

Y'all, I'm pretty excited that @publisherswkly.bsky.social called my book "an urgent wake-up call" and "a must-read for educators!"

www.publishersweekly.com/9781479827817

Pre-order here and get a 30% discount using NYUAU30:
nyupress.org/978147982781...

Screenshot of Publishers Weekly review of Unequal Lessons reading: "Classroom diversity, specifically the integration of more white students into predominantly Black schools, does not lead to better outcomes for Black students, according to this disquieting debut study. Education scholar Freidus focuses on New York schools that, due to gentrification, are experiencing an influx of white students. Drawing on interviews and her own immersive ethnographic observations conducted over nearly six years, she finds that diversity and integration—especially via an increase in the proportion of white students—are treated by teachers, administrators, and parents as a de facto solution for racial inequality, and yet this is emphatically not the end result. Instead, Freidus observes that Black students’ experience of diversity entails a “hidden curriculum” that “reinforces deeply rooted [racial and class] assumptions about [them] and their families.” For instance, she notes several instances in which Black and white students with similar behavioral problems received disproportionate treatment, resulting partly from educators’ assumptions that the white student was more likely to be from a good family. At the same time, diversity does offer benefits for students—mostly in terms of enrichment, or new experiences—but as Freidus persuasively demonstrates, solving inequality is not one of them. This urgent wake-up call is a must-read for educators. (Aug.)"

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 16h

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

I like these ideas! It won't work in this particular situation (remembering to go to meet a teacher at lunch, so no textbook to prompt and he's so new to the school that he doesn't have a friend to ask for that yet). But I think they all could work in the future and will store them for later.

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

Well, he's 4 weeks into 9th grade, so seems likely he will need some kind of system. I like this as an idea - thanks! Will give it a few weeks (and his OT session tomorrow) to see if he can figure out an alternative that works.

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

Yes! I think it's really funny that we are resorting back to the 1980s for these strategies...

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

Problem is they need to remember to go during their lunch period. And they don't eat lunch so we can't write it there.

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

Had that thought for sure. I guess I need to set an electronic reminder to have kid write it on their hand. 🤣 Which he might or might not actually look at, but does seem like the only options?

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

Friends, how do people remember to things without electronic reminders? Serious question.

My 9th grader with ADHD needs to remember to talk to a teacher. No cell phones in school (yay!) so he can't set a reminder. Note to self would require seeing it at the right time which is... not a sure thing.

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Jodi Cohen @jodiscohen.bsky.social · 2d

🚨Come work with me at @propublica.org!
We are hiring a reporter to cover higher education — the best beat there is. 🏫

job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

Higher Education Reporter, National

New York City, United States

job-boards.greenhouse.io

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

Wait do they have arch support? This is why I have never even tried....

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 2d

We are so lucky: my younger son received EI services from amazingly skilled, experienced therapists. We know many families who could not find the same. I'm horrified they are not being paid for their crucial work - both for the sake of the professionals and for the sake of the kids.

Sarah Carr @sarahelizcarr.bsky.social · 2d

My latest: Why early interventionists -- who provide critical therapies and care for developmentally disabled babies and toddlers -- may be the only professionals in America who haven't gotten an absolute pay raise in 30 years: www.the74million.org/zero2eight/3...

30 Years Without a Real Raise: New York’s Early Intervention Pay Crisis

New York’s early intervention providers haven’t seen a substantive raise in three decades — and vulnerable young children are losing out.

www.the74million.org

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Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 4d

Stop lying. Your state cops attacked protesters alongside ICE yesterday. I was there. I and others were violently attacked by ICE agents. Your state cops acted in concert with them during the attack.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 4d

State, county, and local law enforcement have been working together and coordinating to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people’s ability to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights.

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 5d

IDK, my younger kid is not quite 10 and he's already getting past this stage... I truly hope he's moved on before he's 12.

Shawn @shawnhils.bsky.social · 5d

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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 5d

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the atonement that will be required of us?

Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 6d

Shelters that house unaccompanied minors are bracing for "Freaky Friday," the start of an ICE operation that will first issue letters to children, seeking to pressure them to return to the countries they've fled in exchange for a cash payment. If they decline, their parents will be targeted by ICE.

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 5d

Truly one of the first things I thought! And then I saw that it ran on The GOLDEN Bachelor and I was almost tempted to write something myself.

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 8d

Avoiding the news by ploughing through a large pile of manuscripts to review. 2 reviews down, 3 to go.

(PSA: Please do not ask me to review any more manuscripts right now. Please do not ever ask me to review manuscripts which are not related to any of my areas of expertise.)

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 9d

All of this, and also a lot of the people framing this news coverage attended elite institutions and simply don't understand how public universities work, period.

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 9d

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 9d

30% drop year over year!

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 12d

I would just really really like someone to ask him publicly what he thinks that term means, where it comes from, and why it's appropriate to use it in this context.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 12d

JD Vance is now using the term "blood libel" to describe criticism of ICE, saying, "The Democrats and the media — because they so hate the idea of a real border — are engaging in a kind of blood libel against ICE agents."

Somewhere, our ancestors wept.

"VP Vance tells The Ingraham Angle: "The Democrats and the media — because they so hate the idea of a real border — are engaging in a kind of blood libel against ICE agents. They're accusing them of engaging in crimes, they're accusing them of being part of the Gestapo. They're actually inciting violence against our law enforcement. They know exactly what they're doing, and now it's time to stop.""

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 12d

I cannot even articulate all the ways that the past week has nauseated me, as the mom of an autistic kid, as a woman who struggles with chronic pain, and as a, you know, human being.

Jake Wright @bcnjake.bsky.social · 12d

Let me add to this. These are LIES. Prenatal Tylenol saves maternal and fetal lives, MMR saves lives, and neither is actually associated with autism.

But if we grant this crap simply for the sake of argument:

TRUMP'S RHETORIC SAYS IT'S BETTER TO RISK DEATH THAN AN AUTISTIC CHILD.

Just disgusting.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 12d

Setting aside the bad science, these recommendations will amplify the personal and professional burden that women face as family health managers. Because kids will need more medical visits and be more likely to get sick and very sick, meaning more time that moms will have to take off from paid work.

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 12d

Oh, something unethical like falsely listing your address?

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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 12d

Fortunately, history does not work as Hegseth seems to believe. It is never "settled" and the government cannot (at least for now!) impose its interpretation of events on the rest of us--especially an interpretation so at odds with the historical record. 6/

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 14d

I mean, I emailed my kid's teacher last year about a serious mental health concern and she replied using AI and I absolutely noticed the signals (and maybe misread, what do I know about her inner thoughts) what she did/did not value.

Reposted by Alex Freidus

Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 14d

CHOTINER: And when was that?
MY CAT: I mean at least 14 hours ago
CHOTINER: Well hold on. You're telling me you haven't been fed at all today but if I look in your bowl here I see a-
MY CAT: An untouched serving, I know, but if you'd let me finish-
CHOTINER: Yeah, of course.

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 15d

Starting out 5786 right and emailing the many teachers the 9th grader has said he likes to thank them for everything they've done to help him like high school.

Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 23d

Because we all should pay attention when teachers do wonderful things, I want y'all to know that my kid's 9th grade ELA teacher sent us a lovely email detailing all the things my kid did well in the first week of classes. He closed with "we love this and we encourage it."

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Alex Freidus @alexfreidus.bsky.social · 16d

I spent today as I spent much of the past 3 months - quite uncomfortable, without access effective medicine, unable to focus on my work, and considering the individual and collective costs of ignoring women's pain. But usually the normalization and minimization at least comes with some disclaimers.

Screenshot of NY Times reporting "President Trump is now repeating striking comments from earlier in this event, when he suggested that pregnant women had a responsibility to endure pain instead of using Tylenol, one of the few safe options they have."