Seattle Schools Community Forum:
About Race
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Highly Capable Services Delivery Model Task Force Nominations Open
The District is forming a task force to make recommendations to the superintendent on delivery model(s) for Highly Capable Services. This group will meet, investigate, discuss, and recommend the structure for the services that the District currently provides as APP.Here is a link to the form for nominations for the Highly Capable Services Delivery Model Task Force.Here is a link to the charge for
The Latest Re-Definition of "Curriculum"
Seattle Public Schools has re-defined the word "curriculum" no fewer than six times in the past four years. It seems to change with each new Chief Academic Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, or Executive Director of Curriculum. It also changes anytime the District needs to weasel or make other people (the Board or members of the public) appear ignorant.Here is th
Odds and Ends
Several items I thought might interest you.Frida Kahlo, a favorite of mineOne is a new video from Dove soap, straight from the Sundance Film Festival where it "premiered." It's an 8-minute video about an experiment with teen girls, their mothers and cell phone photos called "Selfie." Worthy viewing, I think. My favorite line, from a girl, "Social media is widening the de
About Race
There's an article by Joel Connelly in the PI that there was some irony that one of the first acts of our new mayor, Ed Murray, was to go to see the Race exhibit at the Seattle Science Center. (It has now ended.) (Thanks to Johnny Calcagno for the heads up.)The irony is that just across the way at Seattle Center is Center School where Seattle Public Schools allowed one family to upend a vital c
Please Take this PTA Survey
From the Seattle Council PTSA:Dear Seattle Council PTSA Members, As you probably know, our state constitution requires ample funding for education. The Washington Supreme court has directed the legislature to show real and measurable progress by 2018--the McCleary Decision--, and yet, our schools are still underfunded. Please take a few minutes for kids and complete this quick survey . Your surv
Friday Open Thread
A class size bill, HB 2589 is making its way thru the Washington State Legislature. Interestingly there is a column at The Olympian by Dick Cvitanich, the Superintendent for Olympia Public Schools, who advocates for spending McCleary money on smaller class sizes. A story of contrasts between that bill and Bill 5246 for teacher evaluations which would no longer allow districts to use years of te
Keeping this Blog Alive
Among the many unusual things I've done in my life (not many but some), one was working as a volunteer investigator for one the Seattle public defender offices. It was fascinating work and I got many insights to both sides of the law.One thing that troubled me, though, was that we were told not to bother to look up any record of our clients. We could look up the victims or the witnesses but we w
JAN 20
Want to Keep Those After-School Activities?
I wanted to pull this issue out from the Seattle Schools This Week thread because I believe this could affect many, many schools and their after-school programs.Amending School Board Policy #4260, Use of School Facilities. It has come to my attention that the district wants to create a change in usage of facilities. The district says it is "working with SCPTSA" over using facilities and
JAN 19
Note to B. Gates - Education is NOT a Business
In a classic "aw shucks, we tried and keep in mind, education, if run like a business would do a lot better" interview, Bill Gates spoke with the Wall Street Journal. He somewhat humbly says, "It's been about a decade of learning." Kind of true but it's also been a decade of experimenting with other people's children. (But I think Bill, like a writer at Forbes who had writte
Seattle Schools This Week
Monday, January 20thNo School in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. DayWednesday, January 22ndSchool Board Meeting, starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda. Note: there is to be an Executive Session after the Board meeting for 30 minutes. Action Items- removal (basically) of open choice seats in high school from the New Student Assignment Plan Transition Plan for 2013-2014. I think this would be the beginni
JAN 18
The Internet and Free Speech
Gentle readers, The last couple of months have been something of a strain for me. I was busy fighting a petition in court for an order of protection against me, claiming I had harassed someone via this blog and this person feared loss of their job because of the alleged harassment. I will go into some detail about this case in another thread but suffice to say that, of course, it was without meri
Saturday Food for Thought
From The New Yorker, a thoughtful article by Mark O'Connell, "First Thought, Worst Thought," about thinking before you hit send. I would think that includes Facebook, e-mail, texts or Twitter. Something to talk to the kids about, perhaps.On the one hand:As Roxane Gay put it in an essay on her ambivalence about the public shaming of Sacco: “The world is full of unanswered injustice and