Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, February 11, 2013

UPDATE: The Vote for the Levies + Seattle Schools Community Forum: Music Teachers - The Grammys Appreciate You

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Music Teachers - The Grammys Appreciate You:


House Finance Committee to Hear From Taskforce on Ed Funding

The House Finance Committee will be convening at 1:30 p.m. to receive a briefing from the Joint Task Force on Education Funding on funding K-12 public education under McCleary.

You can watch live here.  I was told by Chair Reuven Carlyle's office that the tape usually makes its way onto the log for viewing later within several hours. 


The Vote for the Levies

That deadline for that vote is now a little more than 36 hours away.  Frankly, I doubt there are that many undecided votes out there.  (I think no matter the outcome, the voting patterns will be interesting to watch as they may be an early warning for the Board elections in November.)

No matter the vote, we do need to pull together as a district.  The unity of purpose of parents is just as important as it is for the Board or district staff.   Parents and communities ARE the best voice for our district.

I think the discussion around the interim plan for next year has been interesting to view because it shows the need to find regional solutions.  To that end I would hope that PTA presidents in each of the five regions (or however many people feel is important) would join together to work for solutions.  (I know that most of the PTA presidents in the NE did indeed meet but unfortunately, it did not include all of them and decisions were made 


Music Teachers - The Grammys Appreciate You

From Citizens for Public Schools:

Something amazing happened at the Grammy tonight, a new category has been established, an award to the best music teacher of the year. Could someone with connections, please let the members of the Grammy know that due to NCLB and Race To The Top, music teachers have become extinct in most urban U.S. cities? So, maybe the Grammy could use their influence and contact our President to let him know how much more important music education is to high stake testing!

From the NY Times:


The Grammy Awards are adding a new honor for music teachers. Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, announced the new award for music educators, which will be