Friday, March 15, 2013

UPDATE: Words of Wisdom on Ed Reform Seattle Schools Community Forum: Friday Open Thread

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Friday Open Thread:



Words of Wisdom on Ed Reform

It is sad that we had such a plethora of smart people in the last School Board election who didn't win.

One who comes to mind is Jack Whelan who would have been the thinking person's Board Director.  He wrote this comment at the thread about Ron Sims and it's worth reprinting in case you missed it.  His words are the canary in the coal mine to what I believe will happen when the weight of ed reform starts to collapse on itself in about 10 years.

He doesn't mention Obama but he might have been speaking of him.  I love that he mentions Jerry Brown who has been one of the hardest-working public servants in our country.  (Bold mine.)

Every politician presents him or herself as an agent for change, but we're living in a time when almost everything 


More Food for Education Thought

Fran Lebowitz in an interview with Mirabella in 1994:

When asked what she would do as President she said:

I would be the education dictator.  First, I would federalize the public school system.  

(She was speaking of getting kids into educational setting as early as possible.)

I would make them wear uniforms.  I think there's nothing more unattractive than fashion-consciousness in children.  

I would teach the 3Rs, give or take arithmetic.  I'd also teach them how to eat.  People will think table manners are a stupid thing to talk about if you're running the world, but civility is, after all, the key to civilization.  

It used to be that school reinforced things that you heard fifty thousand times at home.  

From What I've Learned: Neil Young

Our education system basically strives for normal - which is too bad.  Sometimes the exceptional is classified 


Friday Open Thread

First up, there are community townhalls tomorrow for legislative districts.  Go weigh in and talk to your legislators about education issues in our state.  I'm going to mine in the 43rd.

What education bills are still alive in the Legislature (from the Times):

Grading schools: The Senate has advanced a measure to assign A-F grades to schools based on factors including improvement of student test scores. Supporters say parents could get a clear sign of how a school is doing. Opponents insist it would be punitive and often unfair. (SB 5328)

Third-grade reading: The Senate has advanced a measure to require third-graders with inadequate reading skills to repeat a grade, attend summer school or otherwise improve their reading before enrolling in fourth