BEX IV - the Battle To Come
Next week is the first of the BEX IV community meetings (Thursday, the 20th at Whitman at 6:30 p.m.). It now looks like a real battle brewing and the Board will certainly have a decision to make.
- the Downtown Seattle Association has made the unfortunate decision to continue to pressure the Board/City Council for a downtown school. To their credit, they took a meeting with me and I outlined why, at this juncture, it was bad timing. I also gently put forth that if one of the South Lake Union businesses would donate a couple of floors, the district could roll out a K-8 or K-5 one year at a time and, by the time BEX V came, then they would get a real building. (I mean it's just plain funny to ask for money for a building when there is NO land to build on.)
They also apparently do not understand the severe and pressing needs elsewhere in the city despite my efforts
DFER Tries Bullying and Shaming over Charters
For your consideration:
- the Downtown Seattle Association has made the unfortunate decision to continue to pressure the Board/City Council for a downtown school. To their credit, they took a meeting with me and I outlined why, at this juncture, it was bad timing. I also gently put forth that if one of the South Lake Union businesses would donate a couple of floors, the district could roll out a K-8 or K-5 one year at a time and, by the time BEX V came, then they would get a real building. (I mean it's just plain funny to ask for money for a building when there is NO land to build on.)
They also apparently do not understand the severe and pressing needs elsewhere in the city despite my efforts
DFER Tries Bullying and Shaming over Charters
So over at the Democrats for Ed Reform site, the one-hand band that is DFER Washington, Lisa Macfarlane, wrote a column about going to the Democratic National Convention. Coincidentally, I had just watched former President Clinton's barn-burning speech in Charlotte. It was all about a big tent and working together and, most of all, recognizing differences but remaining unified.
That is not the theme in her column. Frankly, we hear a lot of this nagging and ultimately, bullying from Dems in high places. Earlier this year, Nick Hanauer (a big Dem donor and co-founder of LEV) threatened to support McKenna over charters. Macfarlane just goes for the shaming tactic. What is confusing is this idea that one sub-topic (not the whole topic of education but just charter schools) should be their line in the sand whether you
That is not the theme in her column. Frankly, we hear a lot of this nagging and ultimately, bullying from Dems in high places. Earlier this year, Nick Hanauer (a big Dem donor and co-founder of LEV) threatened to support McKenna over charters. Macfarlane just goes for the shaming tactic. What is confusing is this idea that one sub-topic (not the whole topic of education but just charter schools) should be their line in the sand whether you