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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

UPDATE: In the "Huh?" Category for the Alliance Seattle Schools Community Forum: Superintendent Banda Says "Skeptics?"

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Superintendent Banda Says He Has Won Over "Skeptics":


In the "Huh?" Category for the Alliance
So we all know that the district signed a memo of agreement with the Alliance, UW's College of Education and the SEA to form the program, Seattle Teacher Residency.   The fact that this was done very quietly did raise some eyebrows but if the district wants to try to home-grow more teachers to serve low-income students, then it's a lot better than hiring TFA kids.But I happened to take a gander ov

Following Up on Recent SAO Management Letter
I just wanted to note one thing from this thread about the recent Management Letter from the SAO to the district.  It covered quite a few items like a mysterious $50K salary increase to the Native American program director (now gone) and raises for all the upper management in HR (still no explanation). There was also an issue about a couple of schools that appear to have allowed events at their sc

Superintendent Banda Says He Has Won Over "Skeptics"



From KPLU:

Taking stock of his first year at the helm of Seattle Public Schools, Banda told KPLU a divided board has a definite effect on how he does his job.

“[That’s the] reason for my taking a very strong stand with the board to say that we need to be able to do that job unimpeded. They need to have trust in the leadership team, that what we’re doing is in the best interests of the district and our children, ultimately,” he said.

Well, yes, but he's new, a lot of the leadership team is new and until everyone has shown some mettle, I'm on the side of Board oversight.

Banda said the job review process took place over several weeks, and that he believes by the end he was able to win over the skeptics.

“I believe that I have the full support of all seven members of the board,” Banda said.

Any change of heart is not reflected in the report produced by the board, and no