Open Thread

Mel usually does these instead of me. I think she generally starts the discussion with a topic.

Does anyone have a kid going some sort of Bridge thing over the summer. MESA or something else?

Comments

seattle citizen said…
There's a Bridge in South Park that will close in two days. South Park, a wonderful neighborhood that has coalesced of late into a dynamic community that has rallied to overcome various environmental issues (Duwamish, industry - including a paint facility that toxified the ground there, the issues that a crossroads always wrestles with...and a tiny riverfront slice of it is still not "Seattle," but King County!)

There are many children there, tucked by the banks of the Duwamish. I worry that this bridge closing will have multiple effects on this little corner of the city: Stores will lose business, workers will face difficulty traveling, kids will be disconnected from half the city.

Different "bridge," but as I did some work down there years ago, helping John Beal (the saviour of Hamm Creek, a feeder to the Duwamish) help some kids help the creek through town, I was struck by the tragedy of THIS bridge (the 16th Ave South Bridge) closing. It's the little things that add up for a kid - I hope the city, county and state can continue to direct funds to its replacement: They've raised quite a bit, lately (bless 'em) but we're still 60 million or so shy.
owlhouse said…
Anyone else getting the LEV postcards?
Wed or Thurs last week I got the scary statistic card...

"Only 17% of HS grads in Sea have taken classes necessary for entrance to a 4-yr college"
"Only 40% of WA's 8th graders scored proficient on national math exam"
"Almost 50% of the students in com college have to take basic HS math again."
"100% of WA kids deserve to graduate ready for life."

Saturday's follow up card said only-
"The Revolution is coming...
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
Get ready
educationvoters.org/revolution"

So. LEV is going with "revolution". Their rev page has a snappy video w/ a good soundtrack and a bunch of quotes and stats- KIPP, teacher quality and early learning are good; drop out rates are a problem, spending on corrections outpaces ed spending...

It's an impressive campaign they're rolling out. But revolution is not a word I take lightly. AERO just held their 7th annual conference and the folks involved have been working towards an ed rev for a long time now. They have a wealth of information, research and experience to share. I hope LEV and anyone else interested in revolution beyond reform connects with the people who have been working on this for decades.
seattle citizen said…
Given the growing deluge of edu-reform seed money, lobbying, key personnel placement, test developers (and test-result "reliance"), websites, "coalitions," foundations," and other hedge-fund/start-up/property managing money-makers, given THAT full court press by The Reformers, we would do well to take a breath and visit the website Owlhouse links to, that of the Alternative Education Resource.

We don't HAVE to standardize, systematize, corporatize, and otherwise privatize public education.

There ARE alternatives, no matter what pap they're pouring this week at Education Is Us.
Sahila said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sahila said…
And in the same post, see what (Broad Foundation) Detroit Emergency Superintendent Bobb has done to arts education in the city....

He's currently on trial (lawsuit filed by the Board) for taking Broad Foundation money - its considered a conflict of interest! - and for overstepping the mark by the wholesale closing of schools and firing principals without due process and transparency...
Charlie Mas said…
I got the postcard from the LEV also and I also visited their revolution web page. It looks to me like the same crap in a new wrapper.
Sahila said…
OOPs.... fingers too fast for the page- that's what happens when one is dabbling in too many projects at once... will repost with correct blog link:

Its really scarey what's happening... and its not just about education... its moving towards complete control of communities... see what Dora has posted on the SeattleEd2010 blog about what's happening in Chicago....

http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/

Scroll down to the bottom of the Robert Bobb post and see what billionaire foundations are doing to take over the city....
dan dempsey said…
High School Math Adoption now in Wash. Appellate Court:

Reply to District's brief from Appellants Porter, Mass, McLaren on 6-21-2010

HERE

The meat of this is in pages 1 through 6.
seattle said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
seattle said…
Can someone please explain the comment moderation on so many threads lately?

Thanks.
dan dempsey said…
About LEV ... found a link to an article with this:

"Washington's assessment manager, Joe Willhoft, who is leading one of the coalitions, said this is an opportunity for the states to fix a testing system too focused on meeting federal rules and to get back to testing children to give guidance to teachers and improve education."

Joe Willhoft gave us WASL madness. Is this really the guy for a 31 state consortium to guide the construction of a common assessment?

Bigger Madness in a Larger Wrapper.
zb said…
I think the main reason for the comment moderation was that the blog hosts did not want commentors to out the anonymity of other commenters.
Rabbit, I'll have to consult with the other moderators. I haven't been doing much at all so I'm not sure what is going on.
LG said…
South Shore and Orca are both getting new principals next year, so you can add them to your list. I heard that the principal of South Shore resigned (and who can blame her). I don't know what happened at Orca.
TechyMom said…
Anyone know what's happening to Orca's principal? I really liked him when I toured, and he seemed like such a great fit for that school.
uxolo said…
Anyone interested in math instruction should read the brief posted by Dan (6/28/10 7:18 PM) on this thread.
Dorothy Neville said…
Melissa, your posts and only your posts are showing up with comment moderation. You need to adjust your settings to turn it off.
dan dempsey said…
So I want to know what the predictions are for the voting on MGJ's contract extension.

I am figuring it passes 4-3.

Three directors have been somewhat consistent in opposing certain MGJ madness and the "Rubber Stamping Four" seems to be solid as ever.

What do others see?
Sahila said…
No Confidence in MGJ

I still have it in my sights to get to more PTA members at individual schools to spread the word in school communities to consider signing the No Confidence Declaration - we covered elementary schools but still need to get to middle and high schools... (if anyone wants to help with sourcing email addresses off PTA websites and sending the letter that went out to the other parents two weeks ago, let me know...)

The community declaration of no confidence stands at 374 signatures - would love to get that to 500 before July 7th (please spread the word) http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?S3B62010

12 schools have voted no confidence - not sure where the others are at...

From an SEA staff member:
"The Seattle EA has a position opposing the extension of the superintendent's contract and that position has been conveyed to membership last week. The new VP will likely speak to it next week at the Board meeting. Until we have a School Board who is not in the Supe's pocket it mostly falls on deaf ears though!",

to which I replied:
"It doesnt matter that it falls on deaf ears as much as it matters that the position is put out there and the Seattle community see that many, many people, teachers and citizens, feel the same way, so that the School Board will look silly (at the least) for ignoring us and going forward regardless.... and some of us are looking at ways to ensure the... See More Directors who are rubber stampers get unseated at the next elections....why doesnt the SEA join us in that... put forward some money to support non-corporatist board candidates... communty and teachers - two legs of the three legged stool that is SPS... we need to work together, not separately.... we have a lot of interests in common and one common threat - the Super and the reformist agenda she's implementing here in Seattle for the Billionaire Boys Club."

and the media are still interested - did an interview with the Capital Hill Blog reporter yesterday and sent her off to Meg Diaz in search of hard data to back up our assertions about poor management and decision making....

Interview is supposed to be posted July 1...

Who wants to help make an impact on July 7th? Who wants to help write emails to the Board etc and connect with the press and local neighbourhood blogs?

Let me know if you do:
metamind_universal@yahoo.com
ArchStanton said…
I'll echo the concern about comment moderation.

I have had one post not show in a moderated thread. I don't believe there was a technical error on my part (though it is possible), which makes me suspect it was rejected. The thing is, I have no way of knowing - especially without any kid of feedback telling me that I posted something against guidelines.

Another post that I made didn't show up until three days later. If someone is going to moderate a thread, at least check and approve posts frequently, otherwise just declare that your locking/killing the thread ('cuz that's effectively what it accomplishes).

I don't believe any of this was intentional or punitive, but in the absence of other evidence, I am left to wonder...
Anonymous said…
I've had posts go missing as well. Other posts by other people that would seem to have come AFTER mine was made show up, while mine's in limbo. I just today replied again to one I thought simply hadn't made it through (Wordpress sometimes has issues with my AIM ID) and now I have two nearly identical comments, that were written on two different days, but show up just one comment apart.What gives?
seattle citizen said…
Maybe it's Word Verifier. Maybe WV has become smarter, and is editing us. Maybe WV wants to control policy by selectively allowing our words.

Open the pod bay doors, Word Verifier...Word Verifier? Word Verifier?

WV merely replies: "Unsides." As IF it's still neutral, ha!
MathTeacher42 said…
I am NOT complaining -

I've dragged the wife to work twice since last Wed, and we've put in 3 hours and 2 hours cleaning up. I've also gone in on my own, and now I'm up to 16 hours.

(I've only put in a few hours a day for 2 reasons. 1. I kind of tweaked my tweaky back on Friday the 18th !!! 2. After a year of new ambush math curriculum, a few hours of thinking ... whew, I'm done. )

WHAT have I accomplished? I have appx. 30 milk /storage crates of stuff ! appx. 12 of those milk crates are stuffed with stuff I used this year, and which I want to paw through organize. Appx. 6? 10? crates have stuff to get me (160+ students) going for several weeks regardless what kind of start-of-the-year insanity the district throws at us / me. So that leaves 8 or 10 crates of junk I just use. What I've accomplished is that the 3 different sets of junk are in 3 different places, 1 place locked up so it doesn't disappear in summer school. **

So, is it the end of year head cold AND the tweaky back AND the end of year fatigue which has me COMPLETELY out of patience with unpaid for idea$ from arne's alliances of leagues of the credentialed and the clueless?

(HINT - naw!)

What would happen if, in our society and on our planet, what would happen IF senior people got advanced degrees which actually helped them run things better - What would happen IF senior people could ONLY get those jobs, and could ONLY get that advanced training, IF they had PROVEN success in performance and management?

We the U.S., and we the globe would have education systems which worked for 99+% of our kids, we'd have health care systems which got people back being useful, we'd have retraining and unemployment programs which got people back to contributing ...

instead of armies of charlatan consultants.

BM

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