Oregan Bans Online School Operator for Life
In one of those likely "it's only a matter of time" stories, The Oregonian reports that Tim King, who is a charter school chain operator in Oregon was recently banned - for life -in a court settlement from ever "running, advising, or otherwise getting financially involved with any charter school in Oregon." He and a partner also must pay the state of Oregon $475k and dismantle
Seattle School Board Retreat Wrap-Up
The Board retreat was last Saturday. I was one of two observers along with reader Cecilia.As I previously mentioned, I felt a lot of good energy and reason for hope from this new team. There were a couple of people around the table that felt the need to point out how many new people there were but there is nothing to be done except regroup and move on. Rapid turnover is not good for any organiz
Education News Roundup
A great story from Huffington Post on the "Buddy Bench." Second-grader Christian Bucks, of York, Pa., knew that some of his classmates felt lonely during recess, and he decided to do something about it. His simple, utterly heartwarming solution was to install a playground "buddy bench." As reported by the York Daily Record, a buddy bench is a designated seating area where st
Clarity around the title "interim"
Seattle Public Schools bureaucrats love to play word games. Their favorite word game is to re-define words. They do it for a variety of reasons. They have re-defined "task force" and "advisory committee" to evade control by Board policy. They have re-defined "program" and "service" to expand superintendent authority. They have changed the definition of "
12-10-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open ThreadSo no snow in my area so here's hoping yours is dry as well. I received my Seattle Public Library newsletter and wanted to alert readers with high school students about a new scholarship opportunity. It's the Stim Bullitt Civic Courage Scholarship. (This is a bequest from the late Stimson Bullitt who supported public libraries.) High school sen