School Board Meetings

Apparently last night's school board meeting continued the recent trend of very emotional public testimony, fueled by issues of race, and obvious conflict among School Board members.

Read Seattle School Board meeting turns unruly for details on last night's meeting.

Then read A new spirit at School Board meeting, a hopeful article written in 2003 about how wonderful the new School Board members were and how the tone of the meetings and Board collaboration had changed.

The change is too depressing for words.

So, instead of thinking about the dysfunctional School Board, the inept Superintendent, or the issues of race and class that won't go away no matter how much people want to ignore them, I'll think about the talented and amazing teachers who make a difference for kids every day despite all these problems.

Read Education prize spurs tears of joy at Thurgood Marshall. Congratulations Cassandra Baddeley for your prize, and thanks for the wonderful work you do with children.

Comments

Anonymous said…
It is so unfortunate that good news is overshadowed by all the negative stuff (and there is a LOT of negative stuff). At the beginning of the meeting last night, there were a couple of recognitions made and in addition to announcing the Milliken Award, Raj & Carla recognized 6 teachers who have earned national certification (a big deal). Of course hardly anyone was paying attention because everyone was holding their protest signs and waiting for the public testimony to begin.
10/5/06, 9:00 AM
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