Seattle Schools and Security
A reader put up a letter from Queen Anne Elementary principal, David Elliott, that was written in light of yesterday's Seattle Pacific U shootings (QA Elementary is fairly close by as is Coe Elementary). Mr. Elliott calmly explains what they did once the event became known to this (and this happened as school had just ended for the day).Apparently buses had left but there were many children and p
Another Column Blaming Teachers
A guest column in the Seattle Times today spread the weird idea that "Teacher Quality" is important and should be the focus of the school district's efforts to close the achievement gap.
Again, Tell Parent You Know to Enroll in SPS NOW
There was a request to open another thread about the connections between school budgets and "underenrollment." I am hearing from several schools that the district is saying their school is below the enrollment forecast and will be funded that way (even as many have had waitlists in the past and the district continues to grow).I suspect the district is playing chicken, hoping that there
The District Strikes Back, Again?
There are two unfolding situations that could have real ramifications for many schools in the fall; one is about math waivers and the other (separate thread) about school funding (and "underenrollment").In Michael Tolley's presentation to the Board about math waivers here is what his slides said:WAIVERS* Schools that have unexpired waivers can continue to use them.* Schools that submit f
Friday Open Thread
Tomorrow is the Board retreat; that should be interesting to attend. It's from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm at the JSCEE. Agenda. It appears the bell time analysis is to be presented in the morning and prioritized. After the math adoption, I'm sure there are priorities to be shifted. They have lunch at 12:30 and start work again on priorities at 12:45 pm. The rest of the afternoon is for governance/c
6-5-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Math Adoption: Thoughts and AnalysisGood morning. That was quite an evening (and I even got to leave as the Board continue to slog through the lengthy agenda). I'll try to have another thread about other items I heard about at last night's meeting.As I go thru this thread, some of these thoughts will sound familiar as I quickly went thru the 11(?) threads I wro