Mea culpa and it happens sometimes.
I didn't read through the MOU for Creative Approach Schools thoroughly and I missed a key point. It cuts out ANY oversight by the Board.
This is unacceptable.
We elect a School Board to have people accountable for decisions made about our public schools and our public school dollars. While I think it is fine for district staff and SEA leaders to okay a proposal, the final decision must be the Board's.
I think my tip-off was when the question was asked about the passage about bringing in groups to help with these changes and when Asst. Superintendent Thompson was asked about who they might be, she shrugged.
This won't fly.
As I said in my testimony this cannot be a backdoor for astro-turf or charter groups to get their foot in the door of SPS with no oversight by the district AND the Board. Lack of oversight by the Board could lead to exactly that.
I don't really care if it is only a "might lead to..." - we cannot give up the oversight of our public schools by elected officials. That's why I don't like charters - most of them are not overseen by elected officials.
I urge all of you to ask the Board to table this motion and/or consider writing an amendment to make sure they are part of this important process.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Getting Desperate over at LEV
Every week, LEV's leader, Chris Korsmo does a column at their webpage. She tries pretty hard to be funny but it usually falls somewhat flat. (If you are not a naturally funny writer, efforts to be funny just don't work.) This is part of what she had to say this week on charter legislation:
I don’t know about you, but if one more person tells me that they wish we could do something about the achievement gap, but bringing public charter schools to Washington will only help a few kids, somethin’s gotta give. I swear I’m going to go buy every copy of Schindler’s List I can find and hand them out like a human Pez dispenser.
Here's my reply:
Well, as LEV has itself pointed out, only 17% of charters do better than traditional public schools so yes, there is a very real chance that if charter legislation passed, it would only help a few kids.
What does the holocaust have to do with public education in Washington State?
It is a bit baffling that she chose Schindler's List to illustrate her point on closing the achievement gap with charter schools (and, Pez is a candy so it would be used to hand out books?).
She goes on:
As in previous years and iterations, the issue is not without its controversy. Goodness knows change doesn’t come without its dissenters. But even of those who support the issue, some think it has no chance. They are wrong. But we have to act now. We must push to get these bills voted out of committee over the next five days. While we wouldn’t be completely sunk if they didn’t it would be optimal if we could get the bills out of the house and senate committees by the Tuesday, January 31 cutoff.
The bill doesn't have "no chance." From those I know who know the Legislature, it has little chance. Word is that it won't make it out of one (or both) committees.
Mostly, I think it's about timing. This is just not the time to bring on more spending and more bureaucracy that isn't going straight to the classroom. And, of course, if we aren't fully-funding existing schools, how is bringing on more underfunded schools going to help?
Between the lack of funding and the low rate of success for charter schools, I wouldn't be surprised if this legislation fails.
However, Ms. Korsmo is right about one thing; it's not over until it's over. We do have a link on the homepage (to the right of the blog threads) to the Legislature. Let your legislator know what you think.
I don’t know about you, but if one more person tells me that they wish we could do something about the achievement gap, but bringing public charter schools to Washington will only help a few kids, somethin’s gotta give. I swear I’m going to go buy every copy of Schindler’s List I can find and hand them out like a human Pez dispenser.
Here's my reply:
Well, as LEV has itself pointed out, only 17% of charters do better than traditional public schools so yes, there is a very real chance that if charter legislation passed, it would only help a few kids.
What does the holocaust have to do with public education in Washington State?
It is a bit baffling that she chose Schindler's List to illustrate her point on closing the achievement gap with charter schools (and, Pez is a candy so it would be used to hand out books?).
She goes on:
As in previous years and iterations, the issue is not without its controversy. Goodness knows change doesn’t come without its dissenters. But even of those who support the issue, some think it has no chance. They are wrong. But we have to act now. We must push to get these bills voted out of committee over the next five days. While we wouldn’t be completely sunk if they didn’t it would be optimal if we could get the bills out of the house and senate committees by the Tuesday, January 31 cutoff.
The bill doesn't have "no chance." From those I know who know the Legislature, it has little chance. Word is that it won't make it out of one (or both) committees.
Mostly, I think it's about timing. This is just not the time to bring on more spending and more bureaucracy that isn't going straight to the classroom. And, of course, if we aren't fully-funding existing schools, how is bringing on more underfunded schools going to help?
Between the lack of funding and the low rate of success for charter schools, I wouldn't be surprised if this legislation fails.
However, Ms. Korsmo is right about one thing; it's not over until it's over. We do have a link on the homepage (to the right of the blog threads) to the Legislature. Let your legislator know what you think.
One More Piece to the PTA Fundraising Discussion
Brian Rosenthal had one more small article on this subject and it, again, is about McGilvra.
In 2000, SPS and McGilvra had a contract to allow McGilvra a way to hold the line on their class sizes. To whit:
The oddity started in 2000, when parents at the small and then-low-performing school in Madison Park negotiated a unique contract: The PTA would buy two portable classrooms for about $120,000 and pay $200,000 per year to put teachers in them. In return, the district would keep the school's class sizes low or provide extra programs for the next 20 years.
It was an agreement unlike anything District Attorney Ron English had ever seen, he said.
And it worked for a decade.
But last year, amid implementation of a neighborhood-based assignment plan, overcrowding at some schools and pressure about the fairness to other schools, the district opted out of the contract, paying a $60,000 buyout fee.
I knew this was happening but I didn't know its status since the NSAP. Smart of McGilvra to make sure if anything changed, they got some money back out of it. But then, money does talk.
What is telling is a comment from the first article:
"Of course it's unfair. Of course it is," said Bill Crawford, president of the Roxhill Elementary PTA, which typically raises less than $5,000 per year. "That's the way the world is."
I agree with Mr. Crawford; that's life. That's what puzzles me about the charter school push for choice. State governments, in their role of providing public education, are not doing it to give parents choices. They simply do not have the money to provide choice. That most urban areas offer different schools beyond neighborhood schools - call them magnet, option, alternative, whatever - is a function of economies of scale, not because they believe parents deserve choice.
So this idea that we need charters because we need choice seems false to me (especially given the state of the economy). If a school is consistently low-performing and district efforts fail, then the state should take it over (and indeed the bill has this aspect in it).
As adults, we know the world isn't fair and really, we can advocate for better but we can't change how others view it. McGilvra operates more on the end of a private school than most public schools in this district but the parents there are able to create that model. I don't see it as good or bad; it just is.
In 2000, SPS and McGilvra had a contract to allow McGilvra a way to hold the line on their class sizes. To whit:
The oddity started in 2000, when parents at the small and then-low-performing school in Madison Park negotiated a unique contract: The PTA would buy two portable classrooms for about $120,000 and pay $200,000 per year to put teachers in them. In return, the district would keep the school's class sizes low or provide extra programs for the next 20 years.
It was an agreement unlike anything District Attorney Ron English had ever seen, he said.
And it worked for a decade.
But last year, amid implementation of a neighborhood-based assignment plan, overcrowding at some schools and pressure about the fairness to other schools, the district opted out of the contract, paying a $60,000 buyout fee.
I knew this was happening but I didn't know its status since the NSAP. Smart of McGilvra to make sure if anything changed, they got some money back out of it. But then, money does talk.
What is telling is a comment from the first article:
"Of course it's unfair. Of course it is," said Bill Crawford, president of the Roxhill Elementary PTA, which typically raises less than $5,000 per year. "That's the way the world is."
I agree with Mr. Crawford; that's life. That's what puzzles me about the charter school push for choice. State governments, in their role of providing public education, are not doing it to give parents choices. They simply do not have the money to provide choice. That most urban areas offer different schools beyond neighborhood schools - call them magnet, option, alternative, whatever - is a function of economies of scale, not because they believe parents deserve choice.
So this idea that we need charters because we need choice seems false to me (especially given the state of the economy). If a school is consistently low-performing and district efforts fail, then the state should take it over (and indeed the bill has this aspect in it).
As adults, we know the world isn't fair and really, we can advocate for better but we can't change how others view it. McGilvra operates more on the end of a private school than most public schools in this district but the parents there are able to create that model. I don't see it as good or bad; it just is.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Money, our Schools and PTSAs
Another fine article by Brian Rosenthal in the Sunday Seattle Times, this time about PTA fundraising and our schools. He certainly did his homework and here's some interesting information:
There is no districtwide database documenting PTA fundraising by school, but it is clear that parent groups in wealthy parts of the city collect hundreds of thousands more than those in poor areas. The money — raised through everything from sales of baked goods or Christmas trees to black-tie auctions — can go toward almost anything, from classroom teachers to building maintenance, as long as the school principal accepts it.
Two things. One, I think the district is loath to collect data because, well, then they would have to admit how much money parents drive into the district. The Seattle Council PTSA should flex its muscle based on this issue. Parents are pumping money into this district.
Two, I really agree with the Washington State PTSA that parents should not be able to fund employees. It's too much pressure to sustain, it's inequitable and it allows the state to continue not fully funding education.
Bellevue, Lake Washington and Issaquah already ban the practice.
A similar shift is unlikely in Seattle, said School Board President Michael DeBell and Lauren McGuire, president of the Seattle Council of Parent, Teacher and Student Associations. They each cited the issue's political sensitivity and a reluctance to do anything that would limit donations in the current budget climate.
However:
Still, some are hoping to start the conversation. Among them is School Board member Betty Patu.
What is interesting is how other districts are handling this:
Portland Public Schools: One-third of all parent donations are pooled into an "equity fund" run by a foundation, which distributes the money to schools that can't raise their own funds.
Eugene (Ore.) School District: Five percent of all parent donations are pooled into an "equity fund" that is divvied up essentially equally among all schools. Parents are also allowed to donate directly to the equity fund.
Bellevue, Lake Washington, Issaquah: These districts do not pool donations but do prohibit contributions from being used to fund the salaries of certified teachers. It was in that spirit that Bellevue Public Schools — after a long and contentious debate — decided in June to enforce a long-neglected prohibition on using parent donations to fund staff positions.
And this paragraph is a great summary of the issue:
Indeed, as large as fundraising amounts are at schools such as Hay, they rarely come close to offsetting the differences in the district's weighted formula, federal Title I funding and other programs benefiting poor schools.
But advocates for low-income schools point out that those funding sources come with strict requirements. So while poorer schools have little control over how to spend the extra money, parents at wealthy schools get to choose what will be most beneficial for their children. And schools in the middle get neither higher district funding nor large fundraising.
One of the comments struck me:
I have long been disturbed by how Seattle parents can so easily rationalize such a blatant inequality in their public schools. That other school districts have already dealt with this issue, and yet the Seattle school board president and PTA district leader refuse to even put a discussion on the table, is yet another piece of the unethical milieu that plagues this district.
Once again, Betty Patu is way out in front in terms of wisdom, candor and fairness.
I don't know what the answer is. I can never fault parents for supporting their child's public school and wanting it to be the best. But eventually, these kids all meet up in middle and high school. It would be great, at least from an academic standpoint, if they could have had something of a level playing field in elementary.
- McGilvra Elementary raised over $390K last year. They have about 240 students. You do the math.
- So far this school year, four of the district's nearly 100 schools make up more than one-third of the expenditures. They are all elementary schools in wealthy areas: McGilvra, of Madison Park ($240,280); Queen Anne's John Hay ($215,077) and Coe ($180,000); and View Ridge ($195,000) in Northeast Seattle. Other elementary schools at the top include Adams, John Stanford, Laurelhurst, Loyal Heights and Stevens.
- At the same time, dozens of Seattle schools, mostly in the South End, don't appear on the list because they don't have PTAs or don't raise enough to go through the central office.
There is no districtwide database documenting PTA fundraising by school, but it is clear that parent groups in wealthy parts of the city collect hundreds of thousands more than those in poor areas. The money — raised through everything from sales of baked goods or Christmas trees to black-tie auctions — can go toward almost anything, from classroom teachers to building maintenance, as long as the school principal accepts it.
Two things. One, I think the district is loath to collect data because, well, then they would have to admit how much money parents drive into the district. The Seattle Council PTSA should flex its muscle based on this issue. Parents are pumping money into this district.
Two, I really agree with the Washington State PTSA that parents should not be able to fund employees. It's too much pressure to sustain, it's inequitable and it allows the state to continue not fully funding education.
Bellevue, Lake Washington and Issaquah already ban the practice.
A similar shift is unlikely in Seattle, said School Board President Michael DeBell and Lauren McGuire, president of the Seattle Council of Parent, Teacher and Student Associations. They each cited the issue's political sensitivity and a reluctance to do anything that would limit donations in the current budget climate.
However:
Still, some are hoping to start the conversation. Among them is School Board member Betty Patu.
What is interesting is how other districts are handling this:
Portland Public Schools: One-third of all parent donations are pooled into an "equity fund" run by a foundation, which distributes the money to schools that can't raise their own funds.
Eugene (Ore.) School District: Five percent of all parent donations are pooled into an "equity fund" that is divvied up essentially equally among all schools. Parents are also allowed to donate directly to the equity fund.
Bellevue, Lake Washington, Issaquah: These districts do not pool donations but do prohibit contributions from being used to fund the salaries of certified teachers. It was in that spirit that Bellevue Public Schools — after a long and contentious debate — decided in June to enforce a long-neglected prohibition on using parent donations to fund staff positions.
And this paragraph is a great summary of the issue:
Indeed, as large as fundraising amounts are at schools such as Hay, they rarely come close to offsetting the differences in the district's weighted formula, federal Title I funding and other programs benefiting poor schools.
But advocates for low-income schools point out that those funding sources come with strict requirements. So while poorer schools have little control over how to spend the extra money, parents at wealthy schools get to choose what will be most beneficial for their children. And schools in the middle get neither higher district funding nor large fundraising.
One of the comments struck me:
I have long been disturbed by how Seattle parents can so easily rationalize such a blatant inequality in their public schools. That other school districts have already dealt with this issue, and yet the Seattle school board president and PTA district leader refuse to even put a discussion on the table, is yet another piece of the unethical milieu that plagues this district.
Once again, Betty Patu is way out in front in terms of wisdom, candor and fairness.
I don't know what the answer is. I can never fault parents for supporting their child's public school and wanting it to be the best. But eventually, these kids all meet up in middle and high school. It would be great, at least from an academic standpoint, if they could have had something of a level playing field in elementary.
BEX IV Planning
There was a BEX IV planning work session on Wednesday (before the School Board meeting).
Folks, this is going to be one heck of a challenge. Once I get this charter monkey off my back, this is where I'm going to focus next because there are so many moving parts. I despair a little at how it may all come out but I can only urge you to KEEP UP and let the Board know what you think.
Folks, this is going to be one heck of a challenge. Once I get this charter monkey off my back, this is where I'm going to focus next because there are so many moving parts. I despair a little at how it may all come out but I can only urge you to KEEP UP and let the Board know what you think.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Eckstein Bus Driver Attacked by Dogs
From the Times' Brian Rosenthal:
Two dogs attacked a school bus driver at Northeast Seattle’s Eckstein Middle on Friday morning, which led to a brief lock down at the school.
The bus driver, who was taking a walk around the school before heading to another school, suffered puncture wounds to his hands, according to a recorded message sent to all Eckstein families. All students and staff were told to remain in their classrooms out of concern the dogs would strike again.
Police detained the dogs, said Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Lesley Rogers, who did not know what type of dogs they were.
The school has since been reopened.
I am so sorry this happened to this poor bus driver but thankful the police were able to round-up the dogs before they hurt anyone else.
Two dogs attacked a school bus driver at Northeast Seattle’s Eckstein Middle on Friday morning, which led to a brief lock down at the school.
The bus driver, who was taking a walk around the school before heading to another school, suffered puncture wounds to his hands, according to a recorded message sent to all Eckstein families. All students and staff were told to remain in their classrooms out of concern the dogs would strike again.
Police detained the dogs, said Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Lesley Rogers, who did not know what type of dogs they were.
The school has since been reopened.
I am so sorry this happened to this poor bus driver but thankful the police were able to round-up the dogs before they hurt anyone else.
Open Thread Friday
I'm thinking that KUOW is likely to talk about the School Board and policy 1620B on their weekly news-roundup at 10 am. Might be interesting.
Director Patu has the only community meeting tomorrow morning. Her's is at Caffe Vita, 5028 Wilson Ave. S. from 10 am -noon.
What's on your mind?
Director Patu has the only community meeting tomorrow morning. Her's is at Caffe Vita, 5028 Wilson Ave. S. from 10 am -noon.
What's on your mind?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Former Aberdeen Student Wins Harassment Suit
From our friends over at The Stranger Slog, comes this story of a young man who won a judgment against the Aberdeen School District for unbated harassment against him by classmates in both middle and high school. The lawsuit was filed with the help of the ACLU. He won $100,000 from the district.
The harassment sounds like crazy town (some kids went so far as to create a mocking website of him). He and his parents repeatedly reported the incidents, in person and in writing, and never got help from administrators. There were harassment over his perceived sexual orientation and his race.
“Public school officials must be held accountable when they fail to meet their responsibility to act decisively when a student is subjected to harassment by his peers," said Sarah Dunne, ACLU-WA legal director in a statement released today. "This settlement sends a message to school districts statewide to take strong action as soon as they learn that a student is being bullied."
I hope this message is received in districts everywhere.
The harassment sounds like crazy town (some kids went so far as to create a mocking website of him). He and his parents repeatedly reported the incidents, in person and in writing, and never got help from administrators. There were harassment over his perceived sexual orientation and his race.
“Public school officials must be held accountable when they fail to meet their responsibility to act decisively when a student is subjected to harassment by his peers," said Sarah Dunne, ACLU-WA legal director in a statement released today. "This settlement sends a message to school districts statewide to take strong action as soon as they learn that a student is being bullied."
I hope this message is received in districts everywhere.
A Question of Scale
A lot of the work in education appears to be focused on small things that make little difference instead of big things that make a lot of difference. All of the fights are over the small stuff that doesn't much matter. These are distractions that keep us from taking the battle to the big stuff that really does matter.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Board Tables Policy Decision, 4-3
Other stuff did happen at the Board meeting. But this was quite fascinating (and confusing). It was like watching a long tennis volley, back and forth with different points.
I will say that I think everyone made good points but clearly, the policy is being viewed through different lens. I'm not sure anyone is wrong in this case.
I will say that I think everyone made good points but clearly, the policy is being viewed through different lens. I'm not sure anyone is wrong in this case.
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