Open Thread Friday

From the Republican forum held last night: Mitt Romney thinks Barack Obama doesn't know anything about jobs because he believes Obama never had a job.

Well, Obama was a law professor at the University of Chicago for a decade so I guess we know what Romney thinks of  higher ed.  And if he thinks teaching constitutional law isn't teaching and teaching isn't a job then you can guess what he probably thinks of teachers. 

(But he also said at a rally that corporations are people so he's onboard with the Supreme Court on that one.)

This is the last weekend before the primary.  Good luck to all the candidates and get those ballots in!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Repost from News Update:

And you knew this was coming...assessments to match the Common Core Standards.

http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter/

organizations and interested stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the ELA/literacy content specifications through August 29

Round 1 of Mathematics content specifications will be released Aug 22, with coments due Sept 12.

reader
Anonymous said…
I'm sure the state PTSA will think this, too, is wondeerful. Not only will they be able to move from state to state and get the EXACT SAME CURRICULUM no matter where they go, but they can also get the EXACT SAME TEST! One size fits all. Now we'll all be standardized!

-CT
Benjamin Leis said…
Does anyone know how to pay for kindergarten in a lump sum and without giving the district wire transfer access to my bank account. I've got an ongoing email conversation with them but still haven't heard an answer.
Thanks
Ben
Anonymous said…
I would take a wheelbarrow full of pennies and ask to see the Pay-for-K office at JSCEE...

grumpy
Sabine Mecking said…
@Ben: In August last year, I just sent the monthly K amount times 10 per check to pay for the whole 2010-11 school year. It was properly recorded on the quarterly invoices that one still gets (but doesn't have pay anymore).
Ben, you should be able to send a check to either your school or the district. I would contact Kathie Technow in Accounting for the best answer.

(I had a feeling that some parents would not want to give out their routing numbers on their checking accounts to the district for Pay for K.)
Patrick said…
I guess you could send them a money order.

Do you really think the District is so messed up that they're going to continue charging every month if you've already paid in advance for the year?
Anonymous said…
Patrick,

Double dipping remittance. Gosh, will need to hire more consultants to count. Oh, the same goes for wheelbarrow full of pennies.

-the new district CCC for economic/job stimulus
Sharon Responds to RosieReader said…
Sharon Peaslee responds to Rosie Reader:


I really need to set the record straight here. Someone who posts as Rosie Reader on Save Seattle Schools and Cliff Mass' blog has publicly claimed that I had nothing to do with the rehire of Martin Floe and that I became active on this page only to promote my campaign for School Board Director. So here's the truth, for Rosie Reader and others. I wrote and managed the online petition to rehire M...artin Floe, and I think you're fully aware of that since you very likely gave feedback that I incorporated into the petition. After the peition was signed by 910 people in 3 days I sent it to all School Board members, the Seattle Times and other news outlets. I sent an additional editorial to Seattle Times which they ran. I spent several weeks asking if anyone was planning to run for School Board in District 1, in hopes that someone would. I did all of this before I decided at the very last minute to jump into the School Board race myself because no one else would or could. And if Rosie Reader is on this FB page she knows this all very well. So I have to wonder why she is publicly attempting to discredit me, and I hope she does not continue to do so. It reflects poorly on her.
Anonymous said…
Well, whataya know, NWEA has already developed a set of MAP assessments that align with the Common Core State Standards.

http://www.nwea.org/common-core-standards

As of June 2011, 45 states (and the District of Columbia) have adopted the Common Core Standards. The holdouts are Texas, Nebraska, Virginia, Montana and Alaska.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2011/06/common-standards_watch_north_d.html

reader
Anonymous said…
Alaska's reason for rejecting the Common Core:

I am David L. Jones, president ASCD Alaska. I was on a committee for DEED Alaska reviewing the Common Core Standards in Math. I reviewed the Elementary Math portion. The standards were developmentally inappropriate in many areas and completely missing some strands of mathematics. Additionally these standards are not constructed in a manner that a test could be built from what they currently have that would give data that was reliable. The state of Alaska has reviewed their original draft and now what they claim to be their final draft. It is difficult to fathom that anyone working on this test had any elementary teaching background. Alaska again has rejected the Common Core Standards. If what the Common Core Standards is trying to achieve is higher scores on international tests we have lost sight of what should be the goals of public education. [November 23, 2010]

reader
Anonymous said…
Watched the movie version of "Outsourced" last night via Netflix and was reminded that countries like India perform better on standardized tests because a big chunk of the children living in poverty do not get an education. We try to educate everyone in the U.S.—hence we may not perform as well as countries who do not.
SG
Anonymous said…
Ben,

I just had an echeck sent from my bank for the lump sum. They credited me and I haven't had a problem.

Another K parent!
SP said…
Speaking of academic standards-
On Aug. 9th the WA State Board of Ed had a special meeting and approved the following:

"Cut scores for the End of Course mathematics exams (algebra 1/Integrated 1 and geometry/Integrated 2) and the Measurements of Student Progress in 5th and 8th grade Science."

(The end of course exams are new this year. My guess would be that too many failed the test, so the passing bar had to be lowered). The results will be announced Aug 31st on the OSPI website.
mirmac1 said…
Yes, Sharon, I recall the angst right before the filing deadline when we were worried no one would file against the ineffectual Peter Maier. Thank you for stepping up.
Anonymous said…
TT Minor ?s for the group:

Originally, I had heard that Hamlin Robinson had a lease agreement with SPS for TTM through 2015. I'd also heard that there was a clause within the contract to allow for early termination w/ (?) notice.

I later heard that there was a state law that allowed school districts to be released from rental agreements (with less notice) if the bldg was needed as a public school.

Most recently I heard facilities claim that SPS would not look at reopening TTM as there is a 15 year lease.

Anyone know the details or how to find them? The conflicting second hand info is driving me nuts.

--TTM neighbor
Anonymous said…
More on Common Core/Race to the Top:

[Rick] Perry, who won election to his third term as Texas governor last year, trashed the administration’s signature education initiative, Race to the Top, and rejected the administration-backed Common Core State Standards effort (which all but six states, including Texas, have agreed to adopt).

In a letter to Arne Duncan, Perry wrote, “I will not commit Texas taxpayers to unfunded federal obligations or to the adoption of unproven, cost-prohibitive national curriculum standards and tests.... We believe that education policy, curriculum and standards should be determined in Texas, not in Washington D.C.”

from "The Perry-Obama education fight", by Valerie Strauss, 8/14/2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-perry-obama-education-fight/2011/08/12/gIQAQ65AFJ_blog.html

reader
TTM Neighbor, well, both things are true (according to what the district wants to do).

The truth is there is a clause that allows the district to get out of a rental lease IF the building is to be used for district educational purposes. However, I do believe there is a window of time for which it then becomes more costly for the district to do this.

Meaning, if the school has been closed X years, the district has to do certain things to the building to meet whatever codes are in place and have the City recertify it as for use as a school. I am not certain as to the window of time but it's probably less than 5 years.
Feelin "Sarky" said…
TTM Neighbor (and Melissa): here is some "unfounded speculation" for thought! My recollection is that Hamlin Robinson originally was one of the entities that wanted MLK (you know -- the building where the skids were all slippery and shiny and headed right for purchase by Fred Stephen's church to buy (for "free!" with state grant money). I wonder whether, state law and lease terms notwithstanding, there may not be some sort of "off the books" side agreement whereby Hamlin Robinson was shunted off to TT Minor (to keep MLK "free" for purchase by FAME) with the understanding that the District would not invoke those clauses to boot them out? Pure conjecture here. And I like Hamlin Robinson and their mission -- so I am hoping only good things for them. But it will be very curious if the District really needs space in that neighborhood and declines to retake its building.

WV says "sarky." I am wondering where the "n" went.
Maureen said…
On a completely new topic:

Am I right in thinking that it is not possible to access a High School student's past years' grades (and class rank and other info that appears on their report cards) via The Source? (Not even last year's info is available now.)

My kid needs to start filling out college applications and I don't see any way to access all of that information from The Source. It seems sort of ridiculous since that info must be in the system somewhere. Do I really have to request a paper transcript from a counselor?
Anonymous said…
Right Melissa, I understand that- I just am frustred by hearing different things about the status of the lease. Conflicting stories from friends, neighbors and even from SPS staff. Do you know where I can find a copy of the actual lease?

And Snarky, thanks for the reminder about Hamlin's interested in MLK. You may be on to something as far as HR having received special consideration for TTM. I appreciate HR too- but something feels off about the arrangement there.

Anyone know where I can look for the details on a state law that allows districts to terminate leases if property is needed for educational purposes?

Looking for facts-
--TTM Neighbor
Anonymous said…
Maureen, the Source grades are not considered grades of record, and in some cases may not be the same as the grades that appear on student report cards and transcripts, so yes, you should get an official paper transcript. AFAIK Source does not include class rank information, either. Perhaps an electronic transcript is in the future? But not currently available.

-answer
none1111 said…
Yes, Sharon, I recall the angst right before the filing deadline when we were worried no one would file against the ineffectual Peter Maier. Thank you for stepping up.

Seconded. Thank you Sharon, for stepping up to this, it's no small task. Good luck!
College app vet said…
Maureen, colleges still ask for hard-copy paper transcripts, sealed and sent directly by the school and not opened or viewed by the parent. The high schools are used to doing this and a simple request should get them sent out, but they'll probably ask you for a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

You'll probably want to check a few days after your request to make sure they were sent. But once a student applies to a college, most of them have online checklists where they can look to see what the admissions office has already recieved and what is still missing.
Maureen said…
Re The Source: I should have been more clear. I realize that my kid will have to have official trancripts sent to colleges. I am just annoyed that I have to dig out his paper report cards so he can fill out the forms all of the various test companies and colleges ask him to complete (they all ask for your gpa and rank and many ask you to fill in all of the grades you got in various subjects.) I understand that none of that is binding, but he wants to represent himself accurately and it seems ridiculous that past year's info isn't available to us on the Source. It would also be convenient to have all of their PSAT/SAT scores there since the school must receive them. I guess he'll have to put together a folder of printouts to refer to, though that seems very 20th century!

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