226 school districts in Washington join application for federal money
At least 226 of Washington state's 295 school districts have signed on to the state's application for $250 million in federal funding for education reform, state education officials said Monday.
The Associated Press
At least 226 of Washington state's 295 school districts have signed on to the state's application for $250 million in federal funding for education reform, state education officials said Monday.
A little more than a month ago, Gov. Chris Gregoire asked the districts to join her campaign for Washington to win a grant from the highly competitive federal Race to the Top program, saying, "everybody has to be part of the game for us to qualify."
Monday was the deadline for districts to say whether they would participate, but the governor and the state's education department were expecting more partnership agreements to trickle in over the next few days.
In Seattle, for example, the teachers union didn't vote on the matter until Monday night — and decided to sign on, as long as the district sticks to its agreement that any changes to the teachers' contract be negotiated.
The Seattle School Board had already agreed to join, as had the school district's principals association and
Seattle school district tries to make room for siblings
Seattle Public Schools is trying to make room for all incoming kindergartners who want to attend their older brother or sister's schools, but 148 are on waiting lists, causing consternation among those parents.
Students irked by Eastside Catholic layoffs
When Andrew "A.J." Rehn heard administrators at Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish had laid off some of his favorite teachers, the Eastside senior walked out of class in protest. About 200 students joined Rehn in the private school's courtyard Monday morning in a protest of the layoffs.
