Seattle Schools Community Forum:
Local/State Education News Updates
Saturday Director Community Meetings
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Local/State Education News Updates
Two Special Education stories of note.First, the Times reports that the State will accept SPS's Special Ed plan with a few extra conditions. The concern seems to be that the staffing plan seems more worried about teachers's needs than meeting student needs. The State also wants the district to spend more federal dollars on consultants to help to shape/improve services. Also, the AP is reporting
Saturday Director Community Meetings
I attended Director Martin-Morris' this morning and yes, it was all growth boundaries. It was an interesting discussion because it was so specific in some cases (and rightly so - you look at the maps and the lines and have to wonder) and broader in others. I was pleasantly surprised at some of what Director Martin-Morris said (and his tone). Unfortunately, I can't recap right (no time) but I wi
"Could a Wealthy Few Decide Seattle's School Board Races?"
That's not my title - that's KUOW's for Ann Dornfeld very good piece on the one contested school board race - Sue Peters and Suzanne Dale Estey in District IV.Seattle school board candidate Suzanne Dale Estey and her supporters are poised to raise more money than any other school board candidate in state history – even though a Washington state law passed last year put a cap on campaign contributi
Charter News
The New York Times weighs in on the discussion going on during their mayoral race over charter schools. They seem to lean towards them as good but they seem to have a negative for every positive. The key seems to be oversight and accountability. Not enough to make sure that the poor-performing ones are shut down quickly. (And I recommend reading the comments - they do not lean towards charter
Seattle Schools Work Session on Growth Boundaries
From North End Mom:Here is a link to the presentation from yesterday's Growth Boundaries work session.There is a new staff proposal to "implement full grade assignment in year one." (see slide 24 and 25).Basically, it is assigning JAMS and JAMS/Eckstein APP, grades 6, 7, and 8, to JAMS, in the JA building, beginning next fall. The APP kids living in the Eckstein SA would have the choice
Friday Open Thread
Reminder: two Director Community meetings tomorrow, Sat. the 19th - a good time to talk boundaries.Director Martin-Morris - 9:30-11:30 am - Diva Espresso at Lake City WayDirector De Bell - 9:00-11:00 am - Caffe Appassionato near Fisherman's TerminalOne FYI if your PTA or other non-profit needs help with digitizing records - there's a Data for Communities Program thru Captricity. They have an on-
OCT 17
Who Won in Government Shutdown? Skateboarders and TFA
Politics makes strange bedfellows but there you are.I am doing some tutoring at Ballard and I told two kids who are skateboarders about this and they said, "Sweet." From the Wall Street Journal:Where most people see ornate, neo-Classical federal buildings and sweeping stone plazas in this city, skaters see something else: opportunity, in the form of sturdy railings, low stone benches, r
Odds and Ends
Parents beware - Facebook has changed its policy regarding minors and their pages. From the New York Times:Facebook has loosened its privacy rules for teenagers as a debate swirls over online threats to children from bullies and sexual predators. The move, announced on Wednesday, allows teenagers to post status updates, videos and images that can be seen by anyone, not just their friends or peop
Where to go for Mann Building news
For continuing information on the situation at the Mann building, and the broader issue of the crisis of education for African-American students, interested readers can visit the More4Mann web site. There is a Twitter feed as well at @More4Mann.Other news sources include Africatown Education and Innovation Center, and Creativity Not Control.I don't know if we will report much on the ACIC or the Ma
OCT 16
The Stranger Endorses Peters, Blanford
The Stranger editorial board has come out with its endorsements for the General Election. Here's what they had to say about the School Board races (note, this is The Stranger writing so do keep that in mind when reading if you don't normally read their prose):Director District No. 4Sue Peters Dear god, it's school board time. Kill us. The Seattle School Board is the most brain-liquefying thing sh
Parallel Discussion: HC Task Force #1, Student Identification
The current advanced learning task force has been charged with reviewing the systems and processes for qualifying students for Highly Capable services and Advanced Learning programs in Seattle Public Schools. The committee is supposed to work toward a shared approach for determining which students qualify for Highly Capable services and Advanced Learning programs that best benefits students. Altho
OCT 15
Seattle School Board Meeting - Wednesday, October 16th
A couple of quick updates:- there are 25 people on the Public Testimony list; I see North Beach, Maple (6 people), Queen Anne Elementary, Montlake, Schmitz Park, Stevens, Fairmount Park and misc. "proposed growth boundaries." There are 16 people on the waitlist. I see a couple of different schools - B.F. Day, Madrona, High Point - and I would urge someone from Maple to cede a place to
One Way to Get Your Growth Boundaries Ideas to Directors
There are a LOT of concerns but ALSO a lot of good ideas out there about how to make many of the new issues arising from the "new" boundaries more palatable. Again, there is NO way to eliminate pain, no way to make everyone even just okay with these boundaries. They are far too reaching to do that.BUT, finding a way to spread the pain, share the burden and not leave just one group of ki
Education Roundup
Popped into the City Club's One-Stop Ballot Stop this evening. Not so many people but the mayoral debate was interesting. One quick-fire question: "Do you think the Seattle School Board is doing a good job?" Murray - yellow (waffle), McGinn (refused to answer - "I think they are doing the best they can at a hard job. I don't want to put them down." , crowd (mostly yellows w
Advanced Learning Taskforce Redux
From Shauna Heath:We have had several questions regarding the AL Task Force. I have included information about members and member selection below and provided more detail about the entire task force in the attached draft charter. The draft charter will be brought before the Task Force to finalize at the meeting on Oct. 23, 2013. Our Taskforce Members Baker Harvey, Bruce; Bennett, Erinn P; Bower, S
PTA Slowly Changes Its Form - What Do Parents Think?
I have been a PTA parent. I have served on Boards in nearly every postion and, I was co-president of a PTA at a large high school. I've been to Legislative Assembly and conventions. I have seen, firsthand, many, many hard-working parents - at several schools - and heard amazing stories of effort at others. (Sad to say, not every school has a vibrant PTA.)But, just like the seeming disconnect b
OCT 14
Intermediate Capacity Plan
Here's the link. Have not read through thoroughly but seems quite complicated. I am not sure of all the implications.I wrote to the Board that this was not up in a timely fashion per their own policy (which states agenda items will be available three working days before the meeting). That is not the case here.Update:I don't know about you but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the new grow
Advanced Learning Taskforce
This is an e-mail I sent to Al Interim Director, Steven Martin. I cc'd the Board, Shauna Heath and Michael Tolley.Dear Mr. Martin,As a former member of the Advanced Learning Taskforce - who served for a year and was asked to stay on for the next year (which never materialized and with no explanation) - you can imagine my surprise to learn there are TWO AL Taskforces already in place. I am very d
Seattle Schools Growth Boundaries Survey
From SPS Communications: Seattle Public Schools is updating attendance area boundaries to accommodate enrollment growth and new construction. An initial draft of boundary changes was provided in September, offering families, staff and the community time to weigh in and give feedback.After hosting five community meetings and receiving thousands of emails and suggestions, new recommended boundary ch
Seattle School Board Campaigns - What Does a "Positive" Campaign Look Like?
Ballots are to drop on Wednesday the 16th and I have two questions:1) Is politics like love and war - all is fair in order to win? As we are discovering about privacy, everyone has a different tolerance for what they believe is right/allowable. 2) Is a candidate defined by their supporters? Because this seems to be a sore point with the Peters/Dale Estey campaigns.Is it envy on the part of Pete
OCT 13
Seattle Schools This Week
Monday, Oct. 14thAs previously noted, 8 am today is the sign-up time for the Speakers list for the School Board meeting on Wednesday. They are likely to take 25 speakers as I'm sure many parents will be calling in to get onto the list.Curriculum & Instruction Committee meeting, 4-6 p.m. Agenda. This agenda has been drastically clipped since it was last viewed. Gone is discussion of AP Com
Growth Boundaries Questions
I note some running threads through the various regions and their threads on growth boundaries. For example, there seems to be confusion over how JAMS will open. Could you write one single burning question (per commenter) that you are either confused about OR seems in direct contradiction to the comments made by parents/community. I will try to get them together and send them off to Tracy Libros