Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, September 6, 2013

9-6-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:



What Americans Think About Public Education
I did link the latest Gallup poll on what Americans think about public education but it deserves an updated reprint.First, from Gallup itself, the highlights:Common CoreMost Americans don’t know about the Common Core and those who do don’t understand it.To note:  Of those Americans who had heard of the Common Core, many said — erroneously — that the standards are based on a blending of state stand

Horace Mann issues, solutions, and obstacles
There were two issues discussed at the third meeting of the Horace Mann-African American Community Partnerships Task Force. The two issues are not closely linked. The immediate issue is about the Mann building, but that is actually the smaller issue. The Mann building issue was created to bring urgency to the big issue: the failure to educate African-American children in Seattle Public Schools. Th

Seattle Schools Technology Updates
SPS Communications explained this about the technology issues on the first day of school:We needed to make the switch from our old computer system to Power Schools as the old system was failing. It began failing more quickly than we anticipated, so what was supposed to be an 18-month transition was compressed into six months. Our Department of Technology staff has been working around the clock all
Friday Open Thread
What a week but school started on-time. What's on your mind?

"There Will Be Blood on your Hands"
Yup, it got that incendiary at the Mann Building Taskforce meeting this afternoon.  Charlie and I attended along with Joanna Cullen, a long-time Central resident and public education advocate.I honestly hesitate to put this up but I am because pressure needs to come to bear to end this situation (at least at the Mann building - there are other real and valid issues that the Taskforce is completely
9-5-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Fixing the District's Governance ProblemSeattle Public Schools - the District, not the schools - is poorly governed and poorly managed. Let's not pretend otherwise. The evidence is all around us. The routine violation of policy and regular violation of state and federal law are ample evidence of poor governance. Seriously, read the auditor's reports, read the polic