Friday Open Thread
I was unable to attend the first BEX IV meeting last night at Whitman. Did anyone attend and have feedback? I think a separate thread may be in order to suss out this issue. From my eyes, I don't see a clear plan here and I'm not sure the district is thinking of all the things they could do instead of what they have laid out.
The NAEP writing scores came out with interesting results. From their website:
What's on your mind?
The NAEP writing scores came out with interesting results. From their website:
- first NAEP computer-based assessment in writing
- about 27 percent of students perform at or above the Proficient level at both grades
- about 80 percent of students perform at or above the Basic level at both grades
- female students score higher than male students in both grades
What's on your mind?
Comments
-- Pro-Teacher Parent
I went to Whitman last night but had to leave partway through the question period. Lots of people from Bagley wanting to get back on the levy, some from Jane Addams, and some wanting the JA building turned into a new middle school. Current plan is a $655M levy, and the staff recommendation is to make the new Wilson-Pacific elementary the new home for North End APP.
Putting Bagley back on the list is a tough sell to me. It's basically the cost of a new elementary school (500-650 seats) and only adds another 150 seats or so. You might be able to do it by making North Beach a wing addition only and using the savings for Bagley repairs.
The 500-650 seat elementary capacity was explained. They'll basically build the building core (restrooms, cafeteria, gym, etc.) for 650 students since that's relatively cheap to do at the outset. When they go out to bid, they'll have two packages for contractors to bid--a 500 seat school and an add-on wing that brings the school to 650 seats. If the whole enchilada is too expensive in the initial construction phase, they could come back and add the wing later at a relatively low costs, since the core is big enough.
The inconvenient truth about charter school Initiative 1240.
Dora
Our Schools Coalition is where The Alliance and LEV are getting a bunch of 'diverse' groups (in fact, most of them are funded by LEV which is funded by Gates and thus is just one big ball of Gates reformistas) to minimize the power of the Teacher's Union during contract negotiations.
It seemed like they tried to recruit a huge amount of believers as well as unsuspecting 'ordinary folks' and politicians to attend the event.
I was told that Knapp, SEA head, spoke at the event and stuck it to Our Schools - told them to quit hating on teachers. But I am hoping for a first-hand account from some non-LEVite who was there.
DistrictWatcher
They all but officially announced that APP will end up at Wilson-Pacific. I really hope this works out for them. SNAPP has been treated disgracefully. If SPS can't find a home for its gifted student program, it should be ashamed.
With the new mega-school at W-P, there's no new NE middle school on the proposal, but that could change when they decide which demographic projection numbers to go with. As a Jane Addams K-8 parent, this was obviously my main concern. With JA K-8 enrollment potentially getting to over 800 students in a few years if things are allowed to proceed, it seems like the NE will need a new building, whether it's a new MS or a new home for JA K-8.
Some pushback against the new school at Thornton Creek. Nobody likes the new model of bigger K-5 schools (500-650 students), and the TC neighborhood is fighting it. (Personally, I think we're all going to have to get used to the idea of bigger K-5s.)
Speaking of, I can't remember if it was on the last proposal, but Olympic Hills is slated to be replaced with a large K-5.
The Bagley community showed up in force to get their crumbling building back on the proposal. Those guys deserve better too.
SLU got boos and hisses, but McEvoy defended the decision, saying they're projecting growth there.
Great then they can get on the next levy.
This is levy is to manage the existing student population.
- Make a Decision
It was wonderful to hear that their *intent* is to put these students at Wilson Pacific, but I want it in writing. And I want to know what the model looks like 5 years from now.
Pegi McEvoy mentioned that Wilson-Pacific could be an "anchor" program - what does that mean? That sounds like having an APP program at WP with smaller, "satellite" programs elsewhere in the district.
So, they plan to put small APP programs in various neighborhoods so parents have the option to keep their children closer to home? We sort of already have that option - Spectrum and ALOs are supposed to be the neighborhood-based options for advanced learning.
Why would this APP/anchor model be an improvement? Why aren't we investing in the infrastructure we already have and making sure that the Specturm and ALO monikers mean something, that they provide a viable option for families who want to stay close to home?
This really shouldn't be so complicated. Either the district understands how to meet the needs of its outlier kids or it doesn't. They either recognize the opportunity we have to be a leader in this field or they don't. They either grasp how important it is to expose outlier kids to as large a group of like-minded peers as possible or they don't.
Now's the time to put it all into writing for all to see. No more "we're waiting to see what a committee says" or "we want to understand what best practice is." Best practice is already known. We don't have to recreate the wheel. We need to commit to the self-contained model that is proven to work for outlier kids and bolster the advanced learning options available in neighborhood schools. Anything short of that indicates a lack of commitment to providing appropriate educational opportunities to a sizable proportion of the district's children.
Even if there is a baby boom in SLU, it's entirely possible that once these kids reach school age, or the second or third sibling is born, these families will migrate away SLU for other neighborhoods, making the supposed need for a brand spanking new school in the urban corridor of SLU less convincing.
Has anyone done any demographic studies on these kinds of trends here in Seattle?
It almost sounds like Amazon and Gates or whichever business interests are backing this idea want to build a self-contained compound in South Lake Union from which their workers will never leave...!
The only ones who've done demographic studies are the Gates/Amazon boosting Downtown Seattle Association.
Like I said, let them buy or build their own school.
If SLU is on BEX I WILL cut off my nose to spite my face. I'll vote no and encourage everyone I know to do the same. Think the Port CEO's mixed employment can't pass the straight face test? This is 10 times worse. A major stinker that shows the district can't change its behind-the-closed-doors stripes.
-skeptical-
* There was a story in the Seattle Times about the Alliance for Education and their advocacy regarding the teachers' contract. Is no one else discomfitted by political advocacy by the organization that is a fundraiser for the whole district? How can people give money to support district initiatives or public education without that gift supporting political efforts?
* I didn't hear anyone report that superintendent Banda was any more candid or provided any more real answers to questions at the Rainier Beach community meeting than he did at Mercer. That's bad.
* The District is now claiming that they project growth for the downtown school even though they didn't predict that growth before. What other growth numbers are they correcting? I know that a lot of people are saying that the downtown students can enroll at Lowell - where there is tons of space - or the district can re-open TT Minor. But the District is going to move the World School into TT Minor, so it won't be available for downtown students. And I'm not all that sure that Lowell is as close at it would need to be - if there actually were any public school students downtown. I would still like to know why downtown only needs an elementary school - and not a middle school or a high school.
Interesting. Where I attended elem school, in the lake Washington school district the school was first built without either a cafeteria or a gym. Elementary schools had combination gyms/cafeterias. Are you saying the new building will have both separate facilities?
(And when I said we'll all probably have to get used to bigger K-5 schools, it was just a general observation. I didn't intend for it to sound like the TC community should just suck it up or something.)
- another confused NE parent
- Wedgwood dweller
This event provides a chance for middle and high school students to learn more about a variety of exciting careers they might work toward, while meeting people who can help them get there.
See it. Be it. will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on September 29 in the Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms. Students can meet with an animation industry representative, a scientist, performers, doctors, and others who will share information about their careers, and showcase hands on demonstrations of their work.
This event is hosted by the Seattle College Access Network in partnership with the Seattle Center’s 50th Anniversary celebration, the Next 50. It is my vision that together we will build student success across the entire district by fostering a culture in which all students see a successful future filled with opportunity.
Is it to replace outdated buildings like the previous BEX? The BEX 3 was the high school BEX with the notion that BEX 4 would be the middle school BEX.
Is it to replace failing buildings like much of the previous three BEX levies, particularly BEX 1 where lots of elementariness were replaced and to honor the promises to building in horrible shape that we tentatively promised to be on the "next BEX" once they were bumped off of a previous BEX (Arbor Heights, John Rogers, Laurelhurst, Bagley, etc)
Is it to provide additional capacity where there is already proven need for assignment schools as demonstrated by schools that are taxed beyond sense with ludicrous extended portable villages (Schmidz Park, Eckstein, etc)?
Is it to provide for the vision work of what could be possible with SPS - additional language schools, stem schools, performing arts schools, k-12 IB schools, community schools, etc?
Is it to provide for true neighborhood schools and add somewhat nearby assignment schools in neighborhoods where
- there hasn't been a school because it was not a traditional family neighborhoods. (SLU, Belltown, etc)?
- the nearby school is a full option/magnet school. (Eastlake, Delridge, Wedgwood, etc)
- there simple isn't a nearby school because of previous school closures and land sales. (QA/Mag high school, etc)
IMO, that is simply too many goals for one levy. I would guess that the price tag to do the entire wish list of what could or should be done is closer to $2 Billion and simply not possible.
My question is always - how to your triage such a list and is there a way to get money for something on this list from sources other than BEX.
I absolutely think there is money available in SLU to help build/finance a school if they really want one. It would be great if the big money behind ed reform would put their money into dirt, bricks and mortar, all of which are useful things, rather than poorly vetted "accountability" projects that end up damaging schools.
Lori: they will never put what you want in writing, I think, because they want maximum flexibility to deploy resources in whatever way they think they need to. And frankly, even if they DID put it in writing, they would renege on it if they needed to. All it would take is a staff recommendation, and a board vote -- and any written plan can be changed as easily as any oral commitment. SNAPP is (through bungling and mismanagement, but oh well -- whatever works) FINALLY located north of the ship canal. Now it competes in an overcrowded part of town for space (AND -- NEW space at that -- if they do put APP at tne new WP building, just wait for the anti-APP people to howl about all the special privileges the "gifted" kids (their air quote marks, not mine) are unfairly getting). Unfortunately, the best chance APP has of getting a home for its entire community is to turn out, in force, at every community meeting, every committee meeting, every chance it gets. Take notes on everything. Forget nothing. Have your "best practices" research available at all times. And, advocate for all the good stuff -- not just the APP good stuff. There are people out there who will never like APP and its families, but there are also many predisposed to support APP kids as well as their own non-APP kids, and they appreciate it when APP families do the same for them.
The Seattle Public Schools (SPS) 2012 Facilities Master Plan will serve as the platform for project selection. The Board has developed policies and guidelines that direct capital planning staff to prioritize potential projects:
• Health and safety (seismic mitigation)
• Capacity
• Building Condition
I don't see helping business development or someone's mayoral campaign on the list.
Zeno, formerly known as Explorations in Math, has re-launched our Math Matters blog. Zeno is a local non-profit working with schools and community organizations to change the negative attitudes towards math that are pervasive in our culture. We try to make make fun and engaging for families so that they enjoy it and do it more. Some of you on this blog may be familiar with us via MathFest which is our annual (free!) math carnival we host each year.
Anyway, we hope to host weekly conversations about math (education, attitudes, experiences)and would love for parents, students, teachers and community members to weigh in.
Here's a link to our blog: http://zenomath.org/2012/09/20/the-math-matters-sandbox/#respond
Hope to see some of you there!
Mary C.
Call me Ishmael
The management problem is either the boundaries are incorrect (insert silly, self absorbed, ridiculous or any of the other words parents used during the NSAP community meetings) or people are avoiding the school for academic reasons.
Sac is empty because people avoid it. There are lots of other schools in this category and the district knows exactly who they are but ignores this information.
Laurelhurst has room because it is an artificial island. Bryant and Sandpoint to the North feed to Eckstein and so to go to Laurelhurst is to put yourself in a different cohort. McDonald to the West has BF Day as the paired school if you don't want language immersion. So Laurelhurst is under capacity because the district made it very very challenging for anyone to go there.
So two cheap capacity solutions. Get new leadership at Sac. Get Laurelhurst connected to its neighborhood.
- ne parent
The school district needs to have the courage to say no to these powerful interests, including the Alliance for Education which is essentially a subsidiary of the Chamber of Commerce.
Regardless of what they do with Bagley or WP, it's a poor use of taxpayer money to let Bagley crumble. If they close it, they will have to pay a fortune to reopen it again, and the neighborhood surrounding it is crawling with kids so we will have a capacity issue. If they don't close it but neglect it, they will end up getting sued for negligence when a child or staff member gets seriously hurt.
Keep in mind too, most estimates of Bagley's functional capacity is around 350-380. We are bursting at the seams. We have had to cut back on health and fitness time, the physical plant is overtaxed, there aren't enough bathrooms for all the kids, and instructional time is being lost because of how long it can take to do simple things like lunch and bathroom breaks. Personally, I believe we need to remodel Bagley and build an elementary at Wilson Pacific for APP (they really deserve a home!), and I live equidistant from both sites. However I am concerned about the Indian Heritage School. I don't feel like their voice is being heard at all.
An I admit, there is no way I will support this BEX if they put a downtown school on the levy.
I was at the BEX meeting last night. It was bad for my blood pressure. We at Bagley had a fair showing, will probably be remembered as the school with the falling ceiling tiles, and got no answers. Melissa, we weren’t cute this time, just vibrating with anger. Great turn out from APP – more power to them - they are absolutely right. Their kids who spoke were adorable and absolutely right.
The SLU option makes me FURIOUS. I don’t trust their projected growth there and as has been said above, we are unfortunately in a situation where the District should not get to be proactive about future kids when we have overcrowded schools and classrooms now.
I think Bagley and APP should start co-advocating for APP at wilson pacific and some sort of remodel for Bagley. It’s not in Bagley’s interest to have a much larger neighborhood elementary school a mere 10 blocks from it. We fear being shuttered if WP is designated as a neighborhood assignment elementary school (we can simply dust off our “Save Bagley” t-shirts from previous years of closure threats and show up at meetings in those). Also, I think APP has 500+ kids now and there are likely plenty of families with qualified kids who would more strongly consider moving their kids if APP seemed the least bit stable. Meaning, with a new building more children will come, so APP should shoot for a home that can hold much more than their current amount. If Bagley doesn’t get a remodel and some bit of expansion due to our current lack of capacity and increasing demand, the boundaries will be redrawn and some of our neighborhood will get peeled off and go to wilson pacific. If APP is also there, neighborhood kids who could have gone to Bagley will be competing with APP kids for space. Not good.
Eric B, we at Bagley never got to pick the previous price tag. I’m not sure where they got the 26 million. We’d certainly settle for a much more basic remodel. Our building score from the facilities master report is worse than half the elementary schools that remain on the current BEXIV list and we do also have capacity issues. We’ve got all kinds of negatives that qualify us for BEXIV! We are also an important part an aurora corridor and its safety increase. I support APP at wilson pacific, but I don’t think a school that draws from all over as APP would is as good a stabilizing and improving force on a neighborhood (not that I’m suggesting another focus of BEX funds – that is, neighborhood improvement. Agreed, kellie – it’s too much).
Speaking of neighborhood, weren’t we supposed to be excited about neighborhood schools, SPS? Oh, wait, not now, we’re on to shared site mega elementary schools. Whip lash.
Meanwhile, Amazon is likely to get permits for its new Denny Triangle complex in December. The developers aren't waiting for SPS to build a school. Seems wise for SPS to be planning ahead for once.
Just sayin'....
The district should tell them to get in line just like they tell everyone else.
HP
- ne parent
HP
I'm against the charter initiative - but I'm starting to wonder what it's going to take to get APP students stability in a permanent location.
Also, was there any discussion of a middle school also at the W-P site? APP is going to outgrow Hamilton any year now.
Jane
"If the District won't put in writing a commitment to house APP at Wilson Pacific, then if the charter initiative passes, maybe the APP parents should form a charter school."
Jane
fyi
Truly adequate planning would eliminate/minimize waiting in line rather than moving it from Bagley to Lowell and/or Hay and/or TOPS and/or Gatzert...There will be lots of families downtown one way or the other.
Just sayin'..
The Writing Revolution
a reader
But that would have to be one well-prepared and organized group because I suspect the "charter commission" will know exactly which groups/companies they want to allow in. There will be very few home-grown charters.
It is clear from census data and building permit info that the XX units planned for construction in SLU are studios and 1 bedrooms. Don't know too many young families in the overpriced market for smallish bach pads near the Belltown bar scene.
Your anecdotal observations are not worth $5M-$30M.
The problem with having cafnasiums (cafeteria/gym combined) is that it really restricts the PE schedule. A school with 650 students is going to have 2 PE classes occurring at the same time approximately 4 half-days a week. Having to block out 2 hours for lunch and a half hour at the beginning of the day (presuming kids don't eat in their classrooms) makes scheduling an absolute nightmare.
Plus, when they're separated, the 2 rooms are often connected with a folding wall so that there's room for the entire school for assemblies.
Question which no one probably knows the answer for: For these large schools, are they accounting for the fact that there will be multiple music and PE classes happening simultaneously? This requires both space AND budget. Speaking from the perspective of the "other" music teacher, I can say that teaching 6th graders in the staff lounge or 1st graders in the cafeteria with no budget or supplies (because the supplies are being used by the full-time teacher, and even if I had my own supplies, there's no place to store them) SUCKS, not just for the teacher, but the students as well.
Signed,
It really was AWFUL!
The project map and list was organized by middle school service area, instead of broader regions (North, Central, South, etc...).
The interim sites listed in the handout did not have schools assigned to them.
World School is now a "to be determined" high school (wasn't at TT Minor in the Sept 11 scenario?).
It was mentioned was that replacing the athletic fields at Eckstein was on the BEXIV list. The field is relatively new. Does anyone know why it would need to be replaced?
Links to the presentation are up on the District website ("Funding Our Schools" article).
Kim
These impact fees go to pay for the municipal infrastructure costs of the growth: things like streets, streetlights, traffic lights, sewers, water lines, power lines, parks, and schools.
It's a common practice elsewhere, why not here? Is it because the Seattle city government is owned and operated by and for real estate developers?
You're somewhat correct about existing residential units, but the next surge is expected to be
multiple-bedroom condos and apartments because there aren't enough in the current market. Already have seen the two bedroom units in my building (condo)turning over quickly this year since Amazon announced their plans in February. And it's families that are moving in. Amazon expects to start building early 2013 and employ 17,000 people there by 2017 or 2018....This is the largest single downtown development in Seattle history. The impact will be huge.
Just sayin'
Finally, maybe I am just being a wuss, but if they manage to put together a "downtown interim school" for a mere $5,000 -- I would not vote no on BEX for just that reason (now, throw in no help Bagley and a few other things -- and, well . . .)
NW sardines
[End of answer to #30] The current BEX IV proposal does not include moving the Jane Addams
program/community to Cedar Park,
or establishing a comprehensive 6-‐8 middle school program at
the current Jane Addams site.
31. How is elementary capacity going to be addressed without adding to Thornton Creek or expanding Jane Addams?*
The current BEX IV proposal includes a new K-‐5 school of from
500 to 650 seats on the west end of the Thornton Creek site. The capacity of the proposed new middle school at Wilson Pacific has been increased to 1,250 seats (original proposal was 1,000 seats)." [The asterisk denotes material added to the September 20 update]
The Recommended Projects chart has APP leaving its interim space the same year that the elementary at WP opens -- so it sure seems to support a plan to move APP to that site (I know, Lori -- hardly the same as getting it in writing!). Unless somehow the opening of the new school at Thornton Creek or the increases in size at North Beach and QA create some space somewhere for Bagley, I see no relief for them in the current chart.
Where is the promised Creative Approach Schools thread?
My Creative Approach entry was deleted on the Charter Schools thread and I thought there was a promise to do a separate thread.
Nothing yet, and the Board vote is coming up.
Why the delay of a thread on this incredibly important topic, with family compact agreements, loyalty oaths, etc? It will be too late very soon to educate people about this topic, and expose the city power players and usual suspects that are influencing this intiative.
Please hurry. Or don't delete our off-topic comments if there isn't going to be a specific thread.
I think it's legitimate to ask if this proposed SLU school for hypothetical children is going to be another taxpayer-funded ride to nowhere.
I hate how the district sets this up so that it seems schools are competing with each other. The truth is we all share needs. Many former Bagley students are in APP, some current families are split between the two schools. I'm sure many other schools share this situation as well. Our school is officially in the Whitman service area, but due to our boundaries and central location our students feed into Eckstein, Hamilton, and Whitman. The same is true for the North End high schools.
Bagley will continue to advocate for itself. This in no way means that we, as a community, want anything less for other schools. It would be ideal if we can figure out a solution to address all the issues in the North End with regard to capacity.
I don't trust the district on the APP at WP issue. They may be planning it right now, but I do think the community deserves it in writing. If they ignore Bagley now, they will reach a crisis point and possibly renege on any "plans" for APP and move us to WP. The physical conditions at Bagley are really that bad.
Eric B - thank you for refining your statement. Adding 150 additional seats to Bagley would make it a 560 seat school, as large as WP. While our "functional capacity" is listed as 350, we have been at 380 to 410 for the last 4 years. 410 + 150 = 560.
I hate how the district sets this up so that it seems schools are competing with each other.
And let the congregation say AMEN.
Pitting parents, schools or advocates against each other may not be the Board's or District's intent, but it is certainly the impact in many cases.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019227494_amazon22m.html
But according to this Oct. 2011 Publicola post, it does get full, but only at rush hour, and packed primarily with Amazon employees. (Elsewhere I've read that UW and Hutch workers use it too.)
http://publicola.com/2011/10/04/guess-who-likes-the-south-lake-union-trolley/
Paragraphs like this are troubling: "According to the city, city hall still owes an unanticipated $8.65 million in outstanding capital and operating debt on the streetcar that it was never supposed to pay. There’s a provision in the upcoming city budget to extend the loan. Meanwhile, the city has to cover 25 percent of ongoing operating costs (about $2.5 million) and King County Metro covers 75 percent, for which we already gave up 16,800 bus hours in Seattle."
How this relates to BEX is, would an 'Amazon Elementary' be yet another boon to one SLU company at taxpayer expense?
It just seems hard to justify when there are so many existing school needs throughout the district that concern a broader group of families.
And I second the concern about the future of the American Indian Heritage School currently at Wilson-Pacific. How do they feel about all the W-P plans? What is the plan for them?
City and state government have always given incentives to large companies for creating local jobs. Local jobs = tax revenue
What is the difference between the state providing tax cuts and other incentives for Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, whoever to get them to create or keep jobs in this state and the proposed partnership for a SLU school?
Just asking
We passed the levy.
-puzzled
My cousin teaches at the American Indian Heritage School and she and a lot of the kids have moved to Northgate mall and the middle college there. She said there is only one teacher left at WP helping the kids with online courses.
HP
We also have to pay $50 per semester for most of the after school programs at HIMS (academic programs are the only exceptions).
HIMS parent
Note: I'm not saying ALL Hamilton families can afford to pay for afterschool programs. I'm saying that we shouldn't subsidize ALL Hamilton families since many of them can pay.
Hamilton mom
Back around 1890-1930 when real estate developers wanted trolley lines to make their developments more attractive, the developer had to pay for them. Now they pull some strings and get the public to pay for them.
HP
I wish I could find the article/info on this, but I can't at the moment. However, I do remember reading in the time leading up to the F&EL vote that the money being doled out to middle schools for OST (Out of School Time) activities would only be for programs with an academic focus, ones for which the results could be measured. I know at our MS, that cut out funding for a few arts/music/performance activities. One of these activities was folded into the music program so it was not lost completely, but I don't know about the others - looking at this semester's offerings, they're almost all academic. I'm assuming this is due to the more stringent criteria for funding written into the levy this time around.
SO-CALLED CREATIVE APPROACH, CREATIVE APPROACH, CREATIVE APPROACH. What a misnomer!!
The "creative approach" plan requires ALL teachers and staff to sign a LOYALTY OATH to continue teaching at the school.
Result? You will LOSE the BEST, most confident teachers because those are the ones who know they can get another job in a second. They have PRINCIPLES and will NEVER sign such an oath.
WHO WILL SIGN SUCH AN OATH?
TFA, OF COURSE!
TFA recruits will be WILLING to SIGN WHATEVER, do whatever, to get a professional position without the necessary certification.
The Creative Approach MOU is a DISASTER and plays right into the TFA PLAYBOOK.
I call it the GROVER NORQUIST clause. Pledge your loyalty or we have TFA recruits who will.
What an absolute abomination.
SO-CALLED CREATIVE APPROACH, CREATIVE APPROACH, CREATIVE APPROACH. What a misnomer!!
The "creative approach" plan requires ALL teachers and staff to sign a LOYALTY OATH to continue teaching at the school.
Result? You will LOSE the BEST, most confident teachers because those are the ones who know they can get another job in a second. They have PRINCIPLES and will NEVER sign such an oath.
WHO WILL SIGN SUCH AN OATH?
TFA, OF COURSE!
TFA recruits will be WILLING to SIGN WHATEVER, do whatever, to get a professional position without the necessary certification.
The Creative Approach MOU is a DISASTER and plays right into the TFA PLAYBOOK.
I call it the GROVER NORQUIST clause. Pledge your loyalty or we have TFA recruits who will.
What an absolute abomination.
Yes, I attended the Our Schools Coalition lunch. There were a lot of speakers - a couple from their organization(s), Jose Banda, principal of South Shore, Jonathan Knapp. Then a breakout session where everyone voted on a priority.
Their main focus was teacher evaluation. Actually it was their only focus. They declared victory the last deal with the union. As proof, they had a whole bunch of posters up showing that many schools had moved from one level to another, postulating the teacher evaluation methodology as a reason. Of course, there was no mention of demographic shifts at the schools due to the NSAP or anything like that. Additionally, and most tellingly, they didn't seem to know that the new evaluation scheme hasn't even really taken effect.
Banda got up, and was completely unmemorable. In fact, I can't remember anything he said. The south shore principal was actually pretty good. She said the new evaluation scheme was motivating to her to do a better job of evaluation. And Knapp also spoke. He was pretty bumbling. After a whole lot of nothing, his message was that people needed to work with teachers because they are doing the work.
There was some audience q and a. Not very memorable. And a breakout session where feedback on priorities was gathered. Tables were asked to vote on a priority from a list of 6 or 7 apple-pieish values. My table voted for "accountability". How not? I think most of the others did too.
-reader
Check it out: How Chicago's Teacher Strike Explains the Education De-Revolution".
Some points we've all seen made before, but made succinctly and well.
-dollars and cents
I know, right? The nerve of those public school teachers, desiring a pension! Allowing them a roof over their head and some food on the table in their retirement years would cut into Gov. Romney's 20,000,000 yearly income, for shame! Don't they know it's the job creators who should be able to retire? They work so hard at it...
I know, right? The nerve of those public school teachers, desiring a pension! Allowing them a roof over their head and some food on the table in their retirement years would cut into Gov. Romney's 20,000,000 yearly income, for shame! Don't they know it's the job creators who should be able to retire? They work so hard at it...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-standing-up-for-teachers/2012/09/17/ad3ee650-00fd-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html
Public School Parent
At least that is what we are being told. The exception is if you are a venture capitalist or a well connected developer who want a brand new sport arena, a new school, a 1 mile trolley, or a tunnel, then there is always public money and to finance such projects.
-dollars and cents
Sped staffer
SPS parent
Clementine
The District's Home School Resource School is still @ WIlson- Pacific for one more year. There are kids there!
WIlson - Pacific is also the temporary location of the new MCHS - Seattle University until the snafu concerning the memorandum of understanding between the District and S.U. is over. This means that there are MCHS-S.U. students at W-P.
HP, the actual MCHS-American Indian Heritage (AIH became a MCHS program roughly 10 years ago after having been a separate high school) moved to Northgate mall , yes.
However the name AIH was *NOT* allowed to go to Mall.
You are correct that there is now a MCHS- "AIH" program with one teacher working with kids doing mostly online courses.
This new development came as a result of concern expressed from members of Seattle's Native American communities about the ending of MCHS-AIH, Supt Banda made the decision in July to keep a MCHS -" AIH" at WP for just one more year.
Hope that helps. I think the letter about MCHS - AIH is on this blog. If not, it can be.
--Old School Music