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Seattle Times Guest Column by Randy Dorn
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Randy Dorn, our state Superintendent of Public Instruction wrote a guest column for the Times. You'll never believe it, but he argued in favor of fully funding public K-12 education.
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The First Arnold said…
Read Senate Bill 6696. It is a bunch of Arne Duncan's RTTT crap- look around page 19.
More blah blah blah from Dorn as to why he won't be instituting the math and science graduation tests (he's talked about it a million times), a plea for money (without a particularly effective argument), and some political pr maneuvering to try to make both Ed Reform and Non-Ed-Reform parties think that He's The Man.
It was a seriously weak OpEd piece and I continue to think that he's not an especially strong OSPI head. Just a politician maneuvering. I am not enchanted.
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.)
Update on this story: As mentioned previously, the Reddit post got taken down but still a living thing via several saves. I went back and looked at it and it has over 300 comments. Gotta say, most view it as Board PR and saw it what the word salad that it is. I don't think Hampson did herself any favors with it. end of update Well, I certainly got a lot of people's attention which is a good thing. Updates: - The Seattle Student Union put out this press release in support of SEA. - The Reddit post has been deleted but as others have said, screenshots are forever (and I have them). - A story in the South Seattle Emerald pits Special Education PTSA president, Janis White, and SEA president, Jennifer Matters, against Director Rankin and former PTSA president, Sebrena Burr. Janis White, the SEPTSA president, specified why she felt the need to pressure the district with a rally at this particular moment. White wants to see parents on the Special Education Task Force “[s]o that
Several things are clear about this decision that the Seattle School Board made - not unanimously - last Wednesday night at their regular Board meeting. There is not a united front on this issue. It seemed pretty clear that Director Chandra Hampson was the driver of this initiative and, on that night, wanted a united vote. But, true to form, when she realized she wasn't going to get that, she tried to make it personal. This is exactly what President Brandon Hersey said wasn't happening (and he seemed to laugh at Director Leslie Harris for her saying her hesitation wasn't "personal"). Hampson twice insinuated that some directors had "individual wants and desires " and it was that attitude blocking progress. From the Board meeting, I got the vibe of "we gotta do something." Hersey, Rivera Smith, Hampson, Rankin - all seemedto say this. But the problem is we were never told if there were OTHER options. I tried very hard to keep up and I never
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WAY too much Federal influence.
We can't hold back this non-sense.
It was a seriously weak OpEd piece and I continue to think that he's not an especially strong OSPI head. Just a politician maneuvering. I am not enchanted.