Friday Open Thread

Primaries done and onto the general election.  I think after we see a couple of debates, it might be a good discussion of what might change/happen depending on who wins. 

Following up on our own discussion about the mission of schools, an interesting read from Ed Week by James Hoffman, Ed.D. , the Superintendent of the Averill Park Central School District (Averill Park, NY).  He ends with "Should schools be the agency of first resort?"

What's on your mind? 

Comments

mirmac1 said…
Reposting on this thread, for Teacher:

The district is trying to increase class sizes by two students in grades 4-12.

If you want to email Mr. Banda and the school board about this, use this link.

Teacher
8/9/13, 10:33 AM
Anonymous said…
Bob Vaughn's job has been reported on the district's HR website - open until 8/13. Guess they won't be starting those task forces for awhile.

Lynn
8/9/13, 12:27 PM
Jon said…
That is a great Ed Week article. The lack of a social safety net in the US is a real problem for the schools. There is a question of whether the schools should be providing that missing safety net for kids, if it is possible to teach kids who are hungry and sick if they don't, and how schools are supposed to provide these things without much more funding.
8/9/13, 1:10 PM
mirmac1 said…
Some good news here. Neighbors and families were very contented at the BEX AH presentation this Wednesday. The WS Blog has a thorough (to the gnat's behind) write-up here. : )

New Arbor Heights Elementary preview: ‘Community cornerstone’
8/9/13, 1:20 PM
Anonymous said…
The ACLU is suing the Ann Arbor Public Schools for charging fees for a 7th period.

Ann Arbor Public Schools Sued Over Charging Tuition

Not that far off from what they are doing here in Seattle charging for full-day kindergarten is it? Although they are only charging $100 per semester and Seattle is charging $3,110 per year.

SPS Full Day Kindergarten | Accounting

GMG
8/9/13, 1:44 PM
Anonymous said…
mirmac1 - is the childcare classroom in the AH drawings actually space for a Special Ed preschool program?

Lynn
8/9/13, 3:01 PM
Unknown said…
Seattle Times is hiring a 1 year K-12 education reporter. This looks like a different position from the blogger position and I wonder if it is funded through the Solutions Journalism Network funding (from the BMGF.) Here's the application.
8/9/13, 3:11 PM
Anonymous said…
This is from Feb. 9 but am just now reading it. It may have already been linked here. It's a great piece.

I wonder if pieces like this will be allowed once Bezos takes over.....

A warning to college profs from a high school teacher

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/09/a-warning-to-college-profs-from-a-high-school-teacher/
8/9/13, 3:13 PM
mirmac1 said…
I don't believe so Lynn. Every time they referred to that part of the floor plan they specifically said preschool.

It was evident to me that the designers were not attuned to the needs of special education (or they were purposefully evasive). As a mom, I wasn't happy with the whole separate loading and entrance thing for our students. What the heck! Is that where the exclusion begins?! At elementary?! The answer is apparently yes.

The wing were the preschool is presented is part of the 650 expansion option.
8/9/13, 3:48 PM
Anonymous said…
Thanks mirmac!

I wonder why they would need childcare space? Schmitz Park's plans have it too.

Lynn
8/9/13, 4:14 PM
Anonymous said…
Duh! It's far after-school care.

Lynn
8/9/13, 4:16 PM
Anonymous said…
*for not far. I'm going to have to give in and get reading glasses.

Lynn
8/9/13, 4:18 PM
middle and high school parent said…
I would gladly pay $100/semester for a 7th period at high school. Sounds like a bargain!
8/9/13, 4:33 PM
Charlie Mas said…
Editorial in the Seattle Times that manages to say almost nothing and still get it wrong.
8/10/13, 4:54 PM
Maureen said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
8/11/13, 11:11 PM
Maureen said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
8/11/13, 11:20 PM
Maureen said…
I'm not sure how many readers this will apply to (quite a few, I guess). But I'm interested in hearing your response to this NYT piece
The Opt-Out Generation Wants Back In.

Some of the School Board Race Discussion here has touched on this, but I'm more interested in a more general discussion: How do we balance supporting our families with reaching our full ("professional") potential? How do partners balance family needs and professional aspirations?

8/12/13, 12:49 PM
AOL customer service said…
I wonder if pieces like this will be allowed once Bezos takes over.....

A warning to college profs from a high school teacher
1/2/18, 10:50 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more