Friday, June 21, 2013

UPDATE Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Juneteenth Mayoral Forum and talk of Seattle Schools

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Juneteenth Mayoral Forum and talk of Seattle Schools:


Start Time Petition

There are lots and lots of great reasons for Seattle Public Schools to swap around the start times for school so that elementary school starts earlier and middle and high school starts later.

A group called Start School Later Seattle has is looking for a resounding show of support for moving secondary schools to a later start time. They have created a petition. You can express your support for the effort by signing the petition athttp://petitions.moveon.org/sign/later-start-time-for?mailing_id=13345


Good Stuff for Kids this Weekend

Honk! Fest West.  

HONK! Fest West is a free, three-day, community-supported music festival devoted to marching bands, drum corps, samba lines, and anything acoustic and mobile that makes a ruckus. We revel in celebration of street band culture by taking mirth and music to the streets and parks of Seattle.
Always family-friendly, always free :: fanciful costumery and audience participation are *highly* encouraged!

HONK! Fest West 2013, Seattle’s free festiva

When to Talk to Kids about (Gulp!) Porn

Seattle's Child has a worthwhile article on this topic.  You can say, "Well, I haven't even talked about sex, no less porn."

My reaction is that we are growing up in a very different time than when we grew up vis a vis the access to these kinds of media.  There is a good chance that if your child has access to a computer, they may accidentally (or on purpose) view porn.  (Did you know that whitehouse.com is a porn site?  Yeah, your child is doing research, puts in the wrong letters and there you are.)

Seattle Juneteenth Mayoral Forum and talk of Seattle Schools

From the Times:

The candidates who were there had some tough talk for Seattle Public Schools. State Sen. Ed Murray said if he were mayor, he would forge a new partnership with the school district to increase the graduation rate.

“The school district has to change,” he said, vowing to make improvements in the graduation rate and how money is targeted — or, he said, “Please yell at me and vote me out of office.”
  
Usually, the school district blames the state Legislature for district problems, so it was interesting to hear that.

Ed Murray is my senator and yes, I am a bit surprised to hear him say this.  He hasn't said a lot about Seattle schools in any pre-mayor bid venue.  His advocacy has been limited (and appreciated) to the Legislature.  Without specifics, this isn't much (and I'm still waiting to interview him so we'll see).

Also, note to the Times, the district does not blame the Legislature for all its problems; just the funding ones.