tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post4298636242230780370..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Loyal Heights Parents Fired Up Over StaffingMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-33539608950427938392016-09-26T18:25:33.767-07:002016-09-26T18:25:33.767-07:00Is there a sped program with several hundred stude...Is there a sped program with several hundred students that is losing staffing next week? The amount of disruption this October shuffle is going to cause one school is extraordinary. It's unconscionable to say several hundred students deserve to lose a month of education because their parents are able to bring it to our attention.<br /><br />-sleeperAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-64389963458656597332016-09-26T18:17:35.728-07:002016-09-26T18:17:35.728-07:00All I said was money is limited and if LHE gets mo...All I said was money is limited and if LHE gets more than their share because they're noisy, other kids gets less.<br /><br />Do any other schools need the money? I'd say they could all use more money and it would help the students. <br /><br />For example, I don't think Special Education kids who could do better with higher staffing levels are imaginary.<br /><br />T'PringAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-56523571592420811722016-09-26T18:09:24.739-07:002016-09-26T18:09:24.739-07:00You're the one making up an imaginary school w...You're the one making up an imaginary school with a more dire staffing crisis coming up this week. If there is one, let's hear it. Otherwise, several hundred LHE kids are about to lose a month of education to disruption, and I think we should fund another teacher instead. <br /><br />-sleeperAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36767561989428852892016-09-26T18:06:36.930-07:002016-09-26T18:06:36.930-07:00You tell me.
T'PringYou tell me.<br /><br />T'PringAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-42021686761691643112016-09-26T18:03:57.053-07:002016-09-26T18:03:57.053-07:00Is there another school that will be required to r...Is there another school that will be required to reshuffle every class in their building?<br /><br />SleeperAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-80910416507797040412016-09-26T16:37:48.363-07:002016-09-26T16:37:48.363-07:00"Also, there is no one, under our Constitutio..."Also, there is no one, under our Constitution, who gets to decide who gets to speak up. Again, trying to shame others for free speech is wrong."<br /><br />In the immortal words of NOMAD, the hybrid deep space probe,<br /><br />"Non sequitur"<br /><br />As for your argument, sleeper, if the money is available, why shouldn't some other school with parents who can't and/or won't protest get it?<br /><br />T'PringAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-38734803035163116702016-09-26T14:17:32.328-07:002016-09-26T14:17:32.328-07:00Terribly sorry about the missing u.
The bureaucra...Terribly sorry about the missing u.<br /><br />The bureaucracy is being ruthless, though, because there are other places the money can come from that aren't such a heavy cost to student education. LHE does not have to be taking away money from another school. SPS will tell you it is so because they don't want to fire a principal coach or new communications middle manager to spend even another dollar in the classroom, but we don't actually need to be budgeting teaching staff so close to the bone that an entire school needs to reshuffle every classroom in the building over a couple missing 4th graders. If we are staffing so leanly that that is the case, then we are staffing too leanly. Get rid of an executive director. Heck the board just arbitrarily decided to give 2 million for middle school math- use some of that.<br /><br />-sleeper<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-61424660373320266062016-09-26T14:15:34.320-07:002016-09-26T14:15:34.320-07:00How is protesting "a finger on the scale?&quo...How is protesting "a finger on the scale?" Just to note, I would be for ANY school that this happened to. <br /><br />Also, there is no one, under our Constitution, who gets to decide who gets to speak up. Again, trying to shame others for free speech is wrong.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-26065270765248862712016-09-26T14:07:36.412-07:002016-09-26T14:07:36.412-07:00"victimized by ruthless bureacracy(sic)?"..."victimized by ruthless bureacracy(sic)?"<br /><br />Quite the characterization of SPS. Didn't the district say before the protest even started that staffing corrections were going to be announced today?<br /><br />The LHE parents could have waited to see what happens. They are trying to put their finger on the scale and other kids' parents can't or won't, but are equally deserving of district resources.<br /><br />I love protests but not for scarce financial resources in a zero sum situation like this. If LHE gets extra money as a result of their protest it comes at the expense of students at other schools.<br /><br />Even if the LHE parents don't get any extra, they cost the district money and hurt students by taking up staff and board time.<br /><br />bottom line<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-20326886304981542872016-09-26T10:34:43.153-07:002016-09-26T10:34:43.153-07:00Shutting down any protest is wrong and this kind o...Shutting down any protest is wrong and this kind of shaming is exactly what the district wants to see to ward off any complaints.<br /><br />You do see how it plays into their hands, right? And if you believe in institutional racism, that does exist at the hands of the people who run the district? <br /><br />You can come at change from many directions but shutting down voices that could help prevent this kind of thing from happening at other schools is not the way to do it.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-51381317883936985772016-09-26T09:18:23.713-07:002016-09-26T09:18:23.713-07:00So all schools should speak only at the level the ...So all schools should speak only at the level the least able to speak school can? Which means not questioning district actions at all? You honestly think allowing the district to run roughshod over every school in the district is better than schools speaking out when they are being victimized by ruthless bureacracy?<br /><br />I agree that our current system is too politicized. I don't think we always end up with fair results- the JAMS opening and the start times from 2014 are great examples of the system not working. I would prefer a more bureaucratic system, which uses data and numbers and treats schools and families fairly. But we really don't have that. What we have is quite broken, privileges downtown staff and consultants over children, and lets its own arbitrary rules wreck the education of hundreds of kids at a swoop. I think people have to speak up. I wish they didn't, but I really think in our current district things would be even worse if nobody spoke up. I am hoping someday we can get to the point where you are right, and it would be better if we just trusted the district professionals to do right by kids. I think that would be better, but I don't think we can get there by just putting up and shutting up right now.<br /><br />-sleeperAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-77040903485035011522016-09-25T23:29:39.295-07:002016-09-25T23:29:39.295-07:00CM,
I reread my post and it's a little salty a...CM,<br />I reread my post and it's a little salty and trolly but the point is accurate.<br /><br />Here's my logic on protests:<br /><br />Only some schools will have a group like LHE to protest. Should LHE have an advantage in fund allocation?<br /><br />It's analogous to the siting of the Interagency school in the QA high school gym. Some heavy hitters weighed in and tried to stop the district or complain about the process. <br /><br />It's like being able to afford lawyers, good expensive lawyers to try and move the needle.<br /><br />LHE parents aren't that privileged, but it's the same concept.<br /><br />If any kid's parents can't or won't protest it shouldn't affect the child one way or the other.<br /><br />So the protesters are flexing the privilege they possess, and they should stop.<br /><br />Green LakeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-34124050138397328522016-09-23T13:07:53.817-07:002016-09-23T13:07:53.817-07:0050 questions and a tirade! Bonus Friday.
JJ50 questions and a tirade! Bonus Friday.<br /><br />JJAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-87198432095214821482016-09-23T09:25:56.055-07:002016-09-23T09:25:56.055-07:00"The lack of money from the state" For S..."The lack of money from the state" For SPS that not the root cause.<br /><br />Reality BitesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-7532724191256971902016-09-23T08:58:01.714-07:002016-09-23T08:58:01.714-07:00It seems like there should be better planning in t...It seems like there should be better planning in the school administration to prevent these changes so many weeks after the start of the school year. There has got to be a way to ensure these changes happen earlier in the summer so the school year can start with the right amount of teachers in each building.<br />NWmomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36503096911235069932016-09-23T08:45:44.107-07:002016-09-23T08:45:44.107-07:00"I have to wonder."
Me too"I have to wonder."<br /><br />Me tooAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-29187247283087835832016-09-23T08:32:02.044-07:002016-09-23T08:32:02.044-07:00Good points, Catfood.
I have to wonder at readers...Good points, Catfood.<br /><br />I have to wonder at readers who make everything personal. We can all benefit from being careful in our responses but if you have nothing more to add than to attack me or Charlie, I have to wonder.<br /><br />Priorities, again, did you work in a school where every single classroom, save kindergarten, was split 3 weeks into the school year? You have no sympathy for the work that the teachers will now have to double-time to do in order to teach that split class? It's just that easy to walk in and start? <br /><br />No one is saying it cannot be done. I'm sure LH teachers are professionals. But it does not serve the teachers, the school or the community to do it in this slap-dash manner and I think it will likely slow learning down. <br /><br />The ire should be directed at the district, not the school.<br /><br />Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-29654856158155080832016-09-23T07:53:06.320-07:002016-09-23T07:53:06.320-07:00Charlie wrote: "the District officials who m...Charlie wrote: "the District officials who made it necessary" THIS.<br /><br />To those criticizing the LH families, take in that statement written by Charlie. The LH situation is NOT an "act of god," something that came from nowhere. This is a human-created problem, the kind of which happens over and over and over in this district.<br /><br />The lack of money from the state, coupled with the poor decisions of JSCEE, creates situations like this all the time. It does not have to be this way, and we shouldn't be resigned to it.<br /><br />-catfoodAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-58687920470552464782016-09-23T07:35:20.947-07:002016-09-23T07:35:20.947-07:00I love when Mas pulls the skirt up over his head i...I love when Mas pulls the skirt up over his head in his usual histrionics about someone who disagrees with him. HEELARIOUS. Does Mas still even live in Seattle?<br /><br />- Laugher Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-59921005100725372132016-09-23T04:17:49.464-07:002016-09-23T04:17:49.464-07:00Its one thing for Priorities to suggest that the t...Its one thing for Priorities to suggest that the trouble caused to the Loyal Heights community - students, teachers, and families - is small and bearable. Of course, that's up to the Loyal Heights community to decide for themselves. Priorities suggests that while it isn't anything that anyone might choose (including the District officials who made it necessary), the community can accept it and make the best of it.<br /><br />It's something else for Green Lake to call them selfish in a illogical, self-contradictory, and sneering comment that offered only contempt for all advocacy. It's something else for Green Lake to say that anyone with the time to make a protest has it too easy to have anything to protest about. It's something else for Green Lake to characterize not just the Loyal Heights community as privileged, but all who advocate for their children as privileged. In this context "privileged" means "undeserving, pampered, and spoiled".<br /><br />And Mike, if you think Green Lake was "ridiculed and belittled", then I suggest you re-read what Green Lake wrote. If Green Lake can dish it out, then Green Lake can take it. Sometimes things are mocked because they are mock-worthy. I didn't have to belittle Green Lake's comment, I only had to point out how little it was to begin with.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-90504381981525004712016-09-22T23:59:40.260-07:002016-09-22T23:59:40.260-07:00Clearly Priorities doesn't get the HUGE disrup...Clearly Priorities doesn't get the HUGE disruption this will have on families. If we should assume our children will be subject to this, and other diruptions like NOT being grandfathered into their current schools, than what if any rights do our children have in public school? Is it too much to ask that a child be able to stay in the same school for the duration of their time? Is it too much to ask that a month into school they don't get a new teacher with new classmates? Our children aren't ID numbers without thoughts and feelings. Regardless of race or income these decisions do not help children learn. And I don't think what the parents are asking for is unreasonable<br />Seattle should have a student bill of rights because without it, the district will run over any child in their way.<br />-Hit and RunAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-29798891897924638472016-09-22T21:37:49.762-07:002016-09-22T21:37:49.762-07:00Huzzah, Priorities, huzzah.
apple pie
Huzzah, Priorities, huzzah.<br /><br />apple pie<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-88504158386723314272016-09-22T21:07:50.199-07:002016-09-22T21:07:50.199-07:00Wow. Just wow. Protesting what? Are these kids r...Wow. Just wow. Protesting what? Are these kids really getting "shafted?" I have over 20 years experience as an elementary teacher (Not Seattle but a neighboring district in a high needs school). Classroom re-configurations happen all the time, due to enrollment, boundary changes, etc. It's public ed! These things happen! Do you think your elementary-aged kid is really going to be traumatized because they have to go to a different classroom after 3 weeks or be in a split? Charlie M says, "shafted?" Give me a break. Maybe assume positive intent instead of thinking the district is out to make things miserable. It's a large district. Seattle has absorbed a huge influx of people. If the school doesn't have to ship any teachers away and can re-configure grade-levels to preserve the current staff, then you should feel fortunate. What is the big deal if teachers have to move teach a different grade level or a split classroom after a couple weeks? It's happened to me! It survived! It ended up being fun! Look at it as an opportunity to do something new, positive, different, whatever. The teachers are all certified to teach elementary, so they should be able to handle it. You should feel fortunate if staff don't have to leave the building. Look at schools like Daniel Bagley, in which a majority are splits. If you really want to put your energy into something positive that will actually make a difference, drop your signs and head over to a high-needs school and volunteer your time reading with kids.<br /><br />Priorities Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-48577988796009086582016-09-22T14:13:37.614-07:002016-09-22T14:13:37.614-07:00This story is about Loyal Heights. Even ST used L...This story is about Loyal Heights. Even ST used Loyal Heights. It's an easier story to write about. It's out there and organized, ready to be interviewed and heard. It has heroic, generous parents who can donate 70,000 dollars. Makes work easier for the reporters. Writers can use this case to embrace all of Seattle or Seattle metro facing similar problems- large class size, teacher shortage and growing enrollment. It might not be the most accurate way of reporting. It might even be stretch and scratch the surface reporting. <br /><br />Oh, the shortfall of profiling. The pesky details. Pickets and emails, knee bending and sitting it out and violence taking over the coverage. Fascinating how news media and people respond to each act of protest. <br /><br />News Reader<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-51840240517182131362016-09-22T13:35:02.345-07:002016-09-22T13:35:02.345-07:00vigilante- a member of a self-appointed group of c...vigilante- a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.<br /><br />I believe when a building is enforcing good policies or driving change then the need for vigilance is minimized or hopefully eliminated. Do we want to count how many examples of a building wanting to follow policy and do right by it's students only to be stepped on by JSCEE administrators?<br /><br />When school principles and staff are free to do what's best and have the funding to do so then I believe we will see better outcomes for everyone. <br /><br />TheGoodFighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11307127019210864810noreply@blogger.com