Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

9-3-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum Teacher contract details leaked

Seattle Schools Community Forum:




SEA Approves Contract
Seattle Schools will open its doors tomorrow to all its schools for our nearly 50,000 students.Welcome back, kids.
STEM K-5 Gets Boost from Delridge Neighborhood Group
The West Seattle Blog is reporting that  Superintendent Bandahas received a letter of support from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council supporting the K-5 STEM program staying at Boren.Co-chairs Parie Hines and Kirsten Smith write, in part:Delridge as a neighborhood has felt the negative effects of having the Boren school used as a transitional and temporary school for many long years. It has b

SEA Contract: Waiting for the Vote
I'll try to keep you up-to-date as the evening goes on.  I have contacts that I hope will keep me informed.According to the SEA's Facebook page, teachers have already started signing in.

Math News Updates
 More on what works in math and science from this NY Times article, Guesses and Hype Give Way to Data in Study of Education.  Want to be data-driven?  Use real research.But now, a little-known office in the Education Department is starting to get some real data, using a method that has transformed medicine: the randomized clinical trial, in which groups of subjects are randomly assigned to get eit
Common Core News Roundup - Are Elected Officials Getting Smarter?
From Ed Week, are lawmakers finally connecting the dots between the Gates Foundation and Common Core?  Do tell.In Michigan, here is what representative Tom McMillin had to say two days ago, in response to testimony from Chester Finn, of the Fordham Institute, which can be counted among the architects of test-driven reform.McMillin points out that Chester Finn's colleague at the Fordham Institute,

Waiting for Superman Director Newest Doc: TEACH
With CBS, director Davis Guggenheim, will be showing a new two-hour documentary called Teach about four teachers.  (I note that they all look to be under 30 which I find troubling.)  The show will air on Friday, Sept. 6th at 8:00 pm.It is to be a big event with Queen Latifah hosting the show and "will pay tribute to America's teachers."The two-hour program, set to air Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS,

Tuesday Open Thread
From Seattle Education blog, news of a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 17th at 7:30 pm about standardized testing.  It's called To Test or Not to Test?  It will be a panel discussion with:The panelists will include our very own Wayne Au, PhD who is an Associate Professor at UW Bothell. Dr. Au’s research focuses on educational equity, high-stakes testing, curriculum theory, educational poli

Seattle Education Association Tentative Contract Vote - High Drama?
I've been hearing from different people (and keeping my ear to the ground) and it seems that the vote tonight  on the tentative contract -  at Benaroya Hall at 5 p.m. - may be closer than previously thought.  There was very nearly a tie in the last school rep vote.  This is worrying because even if the contract is approved, having a large number of the teaching corps coming into class feeling defe

Teacher contract details leaked

Although neither the District nor the teachers' union have released details of the tentative agreement on a new contract, KUOW's education beat reporter, Ann Dornfeld, has a copy of the agreement and reported these elements, each of which is a compromise on the primary areas of disagreement:It's a two-year contract.The pay raise will be 2% in the first year and 2.5% in the second year.Test scores







9-2-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed Reform; Surging and Faltering

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed Reform; Surging and Faltering: Ed Reform; Surging and FalteringThe push is on to expand charters, TFA, student data and yet, more and more people (including some legislators) are finally saying, "What is going on here?"A highly acclaimed charter group in NYC were found to be trying to push out a child with disabilities - it was recorded on tape. From the Daily N