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Garfield Students: Pushing Forward on Issues
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From the Facebook page of Racial Justice in Seattle Schools (I am happy to print any response from the current officers or Garfield parents who may know more - sss.westbrook@gmail.com.)
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Anonymous said…
I'm so tired of the Garfield malcontents.
Boo Hoo
Jan said…
An articulate letter from what sounds like a collective group of caring, committed kids. I would love to know more of the back story, but in the meantime, am happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. Good for them! I can't vouch for what I don't know, but I DO know that virtually every group in history that has dared to speak truth to power has been labelled "malcontents."
And I have never been tired of any group of Seattle Public school students trying to advocate for a better world. I feel sorry for those who do. Maybe the kids are right, maybe not. But they are nearly always engaging, compelling people.
Anonymous said…
Melissa, can you share how you came by this story? Did someone send you a link to the page, a screenshot of a private page, or...? I DO know one of the youth in this group, but not the back story. I've reached out to her and sent her the link to this blog in the event she or one of the others involved would like to comment. I can't speak for all of them, but this one girl IS a caring, dedicated, studious kid who is active in both school and church in very positive ways.
As I said at the top, this is from a Facebook page.
Anonymous said…
I saw that, Melissa, but how did you come across the page? I was wondering how it came up just now, given that the date on the letter is from March. Do you just do FB searches for pages related to anything in Seattle schools, were you already following this page, etc.? In any case, hopefully someone from that group will come on here and fill us in.
Longtime Reader
GarfieldMom said…
Yeah, I am curious about the timing. I know three of these students. They are awesome. Their concerns have not been adequately addressed, and they have started a separate group.
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.)
This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong. It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
Comments
Boo Hoo
And I have never been tired of any group of Seattle Public school students trying to advocate for a better world. I feel sorry for those who do. Maybe the kids are right, maybe not. But they are nearly always engaging, compelling people.
Longtime Reader
Longtime Reader