Stand for Children’s Litzow is at it again. This time he wants to grade schools…so they can be closed and turned into charter schools « Seattle Education

Stand for Children’s Litzow is at it again. This time he wants to grade schools…so they can be closed and turned into charter schools « Seattle Education:

Stand for Children’s Litzow is at it again. This time he wants to grade schools…so they can be closed and turned into charter schools

by seattleducation2011

Stand for Children’s Litzow is at it again. This time he wants to grade schools…so they can be closed and turned into charter schools

From the WSSDA Legislative Update

• SSB 5328 would create a pilot program school A-F grading system for the 2013-14 school year, with full implementation in the 2014-15 school year. The bill would require the accountability index being developed by OSPI and the State Board of Education (SBE) to use A-F grades, give added weight to student achievement in reading and graduation rates of all eligible “at risk” students. (At risk is defined as students scoring at level 1 or level 2 on the 8th grade reading and math MSPs).
  • The bill also would require OSPI to contract with an organization that “conducts and disseminates action research, partners with state and local agencies and organizations, and provided data services and support for school and district improvement planning to conduct an independent evaluation of the school-grading pilot program.”
  • When asked in committee which organization the bill was referring to, Chair Steve Litzow, R-Mercer Island, said he had one in mind but couldn’t remember the name.
  • The bill was sent to Rules; Democrats moved to have the bill directed to the budget committee, but the motion was not adopted.

Around the country, grading schools based on test scores is the final step taken before neighborhood schools are closed and either left abandoned with students scattered to all four corners of a district or converted into charter schools. Needless to say, these