Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

6-24-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:











Example of how SPS Staff Can't Get it Right
Tomorrow is the public hearing on the budget.  This is a state-mandated requirement.  There are rules about it.But I noticed that the SPS website - the home page, the Board's home page, the Calendar page - none of them explained how to give input (other than showing up and THEN finding out). No info on length of time at the hearing, no info on giving written comment - either e-mail or snail mail -
Summer Safety
I just saw this article in Slate about drowning and what it really looks like.  It's not someone bouncing up and down, yelling, "Help!" Important reading for parents as we go into the summer months.
Tuesday Open Thread
I attended (and spoke at) the City Council meeting yesterday where the two pre-K for all programs were discussed and voted on.  Boy, you want to see a president of a group control the conversation, look at the master, Tim Burgess.  I'll have a thread on this but it is astonishing the City did not work with pre-school teachers and their union on this issue.  Both measures will be going before voter

YESTERDAY

Seattle Schools and Leadership: What the Fundamental Problem Is
Charlie wrote this elsewhere and it absolutely reflects what I believe.  (Emphasis mine and this is partial.) The Board and the staff have a fundamental disagreement on the role of the Board. The staff believes that the Board should function as a rubber stamp. They don't believe that the Board has anything positive to add at all and should just show up twice a month to approve whatever is placed b


6-22-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mythbusters: Seattle can't keep a superintendentOnce again Seattle is looking to hire a schools' superintendent, just two years after hiring the current one. So you're going to read and hear a lot of people saying stuff like "What the heck is wrong with Seattle that it can't keep a superintendent? There must be something wrong with that school district/school