City Items of Interest
From the Mayor's Office:
The Seattle Human Services Department’s (HSD) Child Care Assistance Program helps working families in Seattle pay for high-quality child care for children ages one month to 13 years old. Last year this program had 375 children on the waitlist, so I'm pleased to announce we've expanded the program. The Human Service Department has allocated $2,682,310 in 2013 for child care assistance payments, which will serve approximately 835 children of low- or moderate-income parents who are working or enrolled in job training.
These subsidies will help parents find and keep a good job. And while they are at work, their children deserve a high-quality, nurturing environment to learn and prepare for success in Kindergarten and beyond. There are currently about 300 available slots so please help spread the word to families who may have been turned
The Seattle Human Services Department’s (HSD) Child Care Assistance Program helps working families in Seattle pay for high-quality child care for children ages one month to 13 years old. Last year this program had 375 children on the waitlist, so I'm pleased to announce we've expanded the program. The Human Service Department has allocated $2,682,310 in 2013 for child care assistance payments, which will serve approximately 835 children of low- or moderate-income parents who are working or enrolled in job training.
These subsidies will help parents find and keep a good job. And while they are at work, their children deserve a high-quality, nurturing environment to learn and prepare for success in Kindergarten and beyond. There are currently about 300 available slots so please help spread the word to families who may have been turned
Guess Which One is NOT Like the Others?
Ed News
I actually have a backlog of education news stories but these two from today rose to the top. One story is about teacher evaluations and the other is about a high-profit "education summit" going on this week in Arizona.
From Ed Week:
The NEA has filed a lawsuit on behalf of several teachers in Florida against that state's education department, saying that the teacher evaluation formula being used violates their constitutional rights. They seek an injunction against the state law for teacher evalutions and three districts' policies.
“The state approved formula for measuring student growth on [the state standardized tests] is being stretched far beyond the limited purposes for which it was designed,” the suit argues.
The law requires all teachers to be judged in part on the progress of their students. This growth formula was developed for teachers in those subjects in which the state administers standardized tests: grades 4-8 in math
From Ed Week:
The NEA has filed a lawsuit on behalf of several teachers in Florida against that state's education department, saying that the teacher evaluation formula being used violates their constitutional rights. They seek an injunction against the state law for teacher evalutions and three districts' policies.
“The state approved formula for measuring student growth on [the state standardized tests] is being stretched far beyond the limited purposes for which it was designed,” the suit argues.
The law requires all teachers to be judged in part on the progress of their students. This growth formula was developed for teachers in those subjects in which the state administers standardized tests: grades 4-8 in math
Seattle Schools' Enrollment Projections
Here are the district's enrollment projections for next year.
Highlights:
High School
Most of the high schools are steady-state with a few exceptions. Cleveland will be up by the most - 44 students. And, the closest high school to it, Franklin, may be going down by 35.
Garfield is projected to go down by 40 students and Ingraham up by...39 students. Looks like the APP program at Ingraham is getting firmly established.
Rainier Beach continues to climb, up by 41 to 448.
Roosevelt continues to climb and will go over the 1700 mark (1728).
Middle School
Hamilton is taking it hard with an increase at 127. That will pop them over the 1100 mark.
Eckstein is projected to lose 46 but it is still the largest middle school at 1252. Denny, McClure and
Highlights:
High School
Most of the high schools are steady-state with a few exceptions. Cleveland will be up by the most - 44 students. And, the closest high school to it, Franklin, may be going down by 35.
Garfield is projected to go down by 40 students and Ingraham up by...39 students. Looks like the APP program at Ingraham is getting firmly established.
Rainier Beach continues to climb, up by 41 to 448.
Roosevelt continues to climb and will go over the 1700 mark (1728).
Middle School
Hamilton is taking it hard with an increase at 127. That will pop them over the 1100 mark.
Eckstein is projected to lose 46 but it is still the largest middle school at 1252. Denny, McClure and
Seattle Schools and Data Confidentiality
I found something interesting on the SPS website this morning. It's an SPS communication called "Data Confidentiality: How Seattle Public Schools Protects Student Information." Interesting that it was released while the district is on Spring Break.
I think this deserves more investigation (and indeed is on my reading/writing list as I have piled up some articles). This is becoming almost as big an issue as opting out of assessments. I'm putting this up now to get it on your radar but there will be a part two to this thread.
It's a fairly carefully worded piece but it does seem to dodge/leave out a few things.
First, they say:
As a District, we strictly adhere to the Superintendent Procedure on Student Records and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requirements to protect the confidentiality of student information.
Then they say:
The Superintendent’s Procedure builds upon the FERPA law with detail regarding how educational records can
I think this deserves more investigation (and indeed is on my reading/writing list as I have piled up some articles). This is becoming almost as big an issue as opting out of assessments. I'm putting this up now to get it on your radar but there will be a part two to this thread.
It's a fairly carefully worded piece but it does seem to dodge/leave out a few things.
First, they say:
As a District, we strictly adhere to the Superintendent Procedure on Student Records and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requirements to protect the confidentiality of student information.
Then they say:
The Superintendent’s Procedure builds upon the FERPA law with detail regarding how educational records can