News Update

Salmon Bay student, Leo Pfeifer, won the middle school competition of C-SPAN's national student video competition.  He wins $3,000 for his first place finish for his video, "Who Owns Free Speech?"   There's a link to the video at the Times.

Also, there are no Board director community meetings tomorrow. 

Best wishes for Easter and Passover  - I wish I had a child small enough to take to an Easter egg hunt.  And, enjoy this beautiful weather; I was able to get to the Quad over at UW and all the cherry blossoms are open.  We live in a beautiful place.

Comments

mirmac1 said…
Good for you Leo! Just remember to take anything Frank Blethen says with a grain (or million) of salt!
4/6/12, 4:41 PM
Anonymous said…
It is a very impressive video and everyone at Salmon Bay is very proud and excited! Way to go Leo!
beth
4/6/12, 5:19 PM
Michael H said…
http://cascadepolicy.org/news/2012/04/05/seattle-school-board-considers-expelling-bright-new-teachers-from-the-city-of-goodwill/

Discuss
4/6/12, 10:07 PM
Michael H said…
http://cascadepolicy.org/news/2012/04/05/seattle-school-board-considers-expelling-bright-new-teachers-from-the-city-of-goodwill/

Discuss
4/6/12, 10:07 PM
seattle citizen said…
The Seattle Times today has an odd little guest column about the job of an education ombudsman, by the state's ombudsman, Adia Simmons, that seems to be saying that an ombudsman can help end the polarization of people regarding larger educational issues:
"the contentious nature of our modern discourse has devolved into having winners and losers. Either you are for (insert educational issue) or you are against it...It is time that we stop with ideologies and focus on real and practical solutions to some of our most pressing educational issues. Ombudsmen can start the dialogue of a 'third way' of building consensus as opposed to entrenchment."

Hmm. I thought an ombudsman helped individuals navigate difficulties they experience as...individuals in the system, rather than serving as a "third way" on divisive eduational issues....Very strange column.
4/7/12, 7:41 AM
Anonymous said…
Well, as they say, SC, "Blessed are the peacemakers".

-tangled web indeed
4/7/12, 11:31 AM
seattle citizen said…
I'm with you on that, tangled web. I'm all for ombudsmen, I just thought it strange that their job description might include mediating betwixt "reformers" and those who are suspect of them.

I'm suspect of mediation between those two parties (if they can so neatly categorized) because I fear it's often the case where THEY say, "Let's compromise! Just TEN charter schools!" or "Why don't we meet in the middle, standardized tests will be only a part of a teacher's eval," or "The spam, eggs, suasage and spam...that's only got a little bit of spam in it!"

Any spam is too much: Give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile; bad things aren't better if you just have a wee dram of 'em...
4/7/12, 5:07 PM
Anonymous said…
That seems/feels disrespectful. If we don't agree, we need a third party to help us? We need a mediator? Sorry, not the job of an ombudsman. Perhaps more objective journalism might help?

n...
4/7/12, 6:26 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

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.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more