tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post1314499278188432164..comments2024-03-28T23:38:22.511-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Budgeting and Figuring Out PrioritiesMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-58483488135571611582016-02-01T19:34:30.177-08:002016-02-01T19:34:30.177-08:00I have to agree with Eric B. $250K is sofa change ...I have to agree with Eric B. $250K is sofa change for SPS.<br /><br />We've got a program that is revitalizing an under-enrolled, historically poorly performing school. It's a program that was meant to help disadvantaged kids succeed and we know that it's working. So is SPS going to continue funding it? Of course not. Why would they bother funding a program that's closing the achievement gap, one of their stated priorities, when they could spend the money on more administrators for JSCEE?cmjnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-42491699312662646322016-01-29T15:50:14.237-08:002016-01-29T15:50:14.237-08:00Well, as someone who has consistently voted for th...Well, as someone who has consistently voted for the FFEL levies (but may never do so again after the fiasco and dishonesty of the City's early ed program), I would LOVE for my FFEL dollars to go to support those three programs. If Mayor Murray would pull his head out of the ed reform sand for a minute, maybe he would realize that he would garner FAR more good will by throwing the city's support behind the three IB programs than anything else he could do with those monies.Jannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-23354168776836045422016-01-28T15:40:09.789-08:002016-01-28T15:40:09.789-08:00$250K to fully fund the RBHS IB program sounds a l...$250K to fully fund the RBHS IB program sounds a little bit high to me, but not too far out of the ballpark. The difference between the real number and that is pretty much sofa change to SPS budgets. Eric Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-87474784483101811472016-01-28T13:09:18.409-08:002016-01-28T13:09:18.409-08:00Ingraham has more community resources than the oth...Ingraham has more community resources than the other two programs, but the reality is that even there, fundraising only pays for things like textbooks and subsidies for low income student test fees. Staff FTE are coming directly out of the building budget, so to the extent IB requires more staff (i.e., the coordinator) that comes at the expense of the school as a whole. IHS has had IB for a long time (over 10 years), so what ever seed money SPS provided for books and materials is long gone. The program is also much larger than that at either Sealth or Beach. The only IB specific fundraising we do is to pay for test fees (an alum family set up a foundation for that.) All other IB program requests go through the same Friends of Ingraham process as all grant requests at the school. Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-34054748126042489212016-01-28T09:49:36.261-08:002016-01-28T09:49:36.261-08:00I absolutely wrote this thread because the distric...I absolutely wrote this thread because the district needs to support the programs THEY start. All of them.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-13900554119700780472016-01-27T21:50:07.222-08:002016-01-27T21:50:07.222-08:00@CSIHS parent - thank you for pointing out that Ch...@CSIHS parent - thank you for pointing out that Chief Sealth does not have the resources to support IB. So true. SPS should support all three programs. At Sealth, the school funds a .8 IB Coordinator position. This is FTE that could be going to create much-needed classes for students (to reduce class sizes, to offer electives or support classes). Chief Sealth has made IB as inclusive as possible as opposed to a school within a school. With the exception of some SPED and ELL students, ALL 11th graders take IB English. The numbers of students taking IB History has increased. Starting next year, there will be a section of IB History of the Americas taught in Spanish as part of the Immersion Continuation Program (another program that has had no district support). Sealth is scraping by - there are no levy funds to dip into. Enrollment went down this year. Please don't advocate for supporting only RB's IB program. Support all three. A good first step would be to fund the coordinator positions centrally as most other districts do. <br /><br />Support IBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-6997461036006834382016-01-27T18:52:05.431-08:002016-01-27T18:52:05.431-08:00I'd like to respectfully disagree with the com...I'd like to respectfully disagree with the comment that the Chief Sealth parent community has the means to raise funding for its IB program. That may have been the case when the IB program was first established at Chief Sealth, but the student population has dramatically changed in terms of family incomes since then. In 2014-15, 63% of Chief Sealth students qualified for free/reduced lunch. Not as high a percentage as Rainier Beach but the Chief Sealth community doesn't have enough deep pockets -- or access to deep pockets -- to fund IB.<br /><br />- CSIHS parentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-16106414166096504312016-01-27T16:15:52.174-08:002016-01-27T16:15:52.174-08:00Well, the article cited $250K but I don't know...Well, the article cited $250K but I don't know for certain.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-89698763022842739742016-01-27T14:36:26.706-08:002016-01-27T14:36:26.706-08:00Any idea how much it would cost to fully fund the ...Any idea how much it would cost to fully fund the program at Rainier Beach?<br /><br />-Fedmomof2Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-9844847516571873272016-01-27T13:22:15.746-08:002016-01-27T13:22:15.746-08:00The only reason there is an IB program at Rainier ...The only reason there is an IB program at Rainier Beach is a small group of moms insisted on investment in the school and higher expectations for the school at a time that the wrongheaded opinion of Goodloe-Johnson was 'close the school'. The school succeeded in spite of downtown not because of it. Massive community and not-SPS political pressure forced downtown to capitulate. In the past year the city poached arguably the school's strongest principal in years. Bad for RBHS.<br /><br />Time to get busy activists. To expect downtown to find a solution without a public push is unlikely.<br /><br />DistrictWatcherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-88998173299668740332016-01-27T11:18:59.458-08:002016-01-27T11:18:59.458-08:00The Seattle Times just loves, loves, loves the IB ...The Seattle Times just loves, loves, loves the IB program at Rainier Beach High School. They love to use it as both a way to talk about what's working in the district and, as in this case, as way to talk about what's wrong with the district.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.com