Duncan Offers Olive Branch (to teachers), and Carrot (to states)
Secretary Arne Duncan issued a statement today as schools start up around the country. Rather than saying how poorly our schools are doing, Duncan said this:First, the thanks. America’s students have posted some unprecedented achievements in the last year – the highest high school graduation rate in the nation’s history, and sharp cuts in dropout rates and increases in college enrollment, especia
My Plea to Superintendent Nyland
I spoke at last night's Board meeting. My remarks were about the MOU with the Alliance for Education (more on that in another thread as the Board discussion with Charles Wright was telling) and to welcome Superintendent Nyland and ask for his help.My remarks to the Superintendent:I want to say welcome to Superintendent Nyland. Please understand, you may truly be the guy in the white hat who just
Downtown School for Seattle Schools - Some New Twists
(This is going to be an excerpt from the Audit&Finance Committee meeting held on Tuesday. I note that this information is likely to be again discussed at today's Operations Committee meeting from 4:30-6:30 pm. Also at the Operations Ctm meeting, there will be a bell times analysis update, a Facilities Condition Assessment and Study and Survey by the group, MENG, 2015-2016 proposed growth bou
Gaps in the Garfield Case
This is a lengthy post and has new information so I urge you to read to the end. Gaps abound in the Garfield case. You can see this just from the Times' story this morning on last night's School Board election. (And welcome Times to this story - very late to it, no?)Some have suggested that the Times article is slanted? I would say it is underwritten and has several parts wrong. I can say that
8-20-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Common Core; Slip Slidin' AwayPoll results on public education including Common Core from two sources.Education Next - No Common Opinion on Common CoreFor example, the share of the public that say it favors the Common Core State Standards slipped noticeably between 2013 and 2014. Establishing a common set of standards across states is a new policy proposal that eme