Please let us know if you attend the rally before the meeting. Seeing photos from Twitter; looks like a good crowd at the rally. The West Seattle Blog is there reporting. I am going to attempt to live blog so you will see abbreviations, spelling/grammar errors, etc. I will clean it up but I think it is worth trying to do. I will be refreshing the page as I go. I am sad to see that apparently President Liza Rankin is not even going to allow 10 people over the regular 20 to testify. Just five. Also, right at the beginning, the Board has stuck in, after Board comments, a Progress Monitoring presentation. They could have put it at the end but they didn't. They think - in 45 minutes - they can do Superintendent comments, Board comments and this presentation. I doubt that public testimony will start on-time. Tone-deaf doesn't even cover it with Board leadership. To note, apparently the district scheduled the NE community meeting on closures on Rosh Hashanah which is October 2. I
Comments
Who is paying him for his advocacy on this initiative?
Why are the I-1240 proponents so "slippery" with respect to facts?
Makes me want to talk like a pirate. Aaarrrrgghhh!
Oompah
As you've previously pointed out, Melissa, the pro-1240 tent is made up of a small population of folks and organizations that has a big voice only because of the dollar signs.
Does Tim Ceis really believe what he stated about I-1240? Ha! He's a smart guy. He's speaking the pro-1240 talking points regardless of what the initiative actually says - either in the fine or the big print. He's advocating for a political win on behalf of "the money".
Because, after all, at CBE Strategic "We provide our clients a comprehensive plan of action targeted to achieve their goals. The services we provide draw on our extensive background in politics, executive management, messaging, lobbying, campaigns, law and business development."
Oompah
http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2012080055
Public School Parent
Educational partnership with Seattle' s K-8 environmental school
On another note, although over $1 million for yes on 1240 did come from Bill Gates and not the Gates Foundation, there have been instances in the past where the Gates Foundation has stopped funding so-called educational (read "lobbying") efforts that were seeking to privatize public education. For example, the Gates Foundation has recently decided to no longer fund ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) based on its despicable "model legislation" to suppress the vote. I think the winning argument with Education Reform Democrats, such as Bill Gates and Tim Ceis (if he, indeed, is not being paid,) and perhaps turncoat Democrat Nick Hanauer is the fact that charter schools discriminate against people of color and the disabled. That is the winning card to play.
And back to Melissa's comments about the game--from a former cheesehead--yes, it was a horrible loss for the Packers, and not a great win for the Seahawks, but it was a fabulous win for the union refs!
Oompah
Oompah
They showed a movie about BEX III and all of the beautiful buildings it paid for. A person on the video said "This building shows these students how the community values their education." So what is the message to the Arbor Heights students about how the community values their education?
Not a sensitive choice.
- so darn over the bs
capacity@seattleschools.org
Why Kids should Grade Teachers
Yeah, my kids knew the good teachers from the not so good.
Seattle parent
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/Charter-School-Paradox.pdf
Public School Parent
We should storm the governor's office about it.
(with emails of course)
n...
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I have been talking to families from my son's class in the 2009-2010 school year regarding some bad stuff that went on with his teacher that year.
As it turns out, two out of the three 6th-7th graders whose families I contacted are now enrolled in www.k12.com/wava rather than attending public schools with their peers due to "school anxiety."
This for-profit company has a contract with the state to provide online public education. The New York Times has bad things to say about it's profit margins and educational achievement, stating that only 40% of these online schools run by K12 make adequate yearly progress and therefore, do not pass NCLB standards.
Does anyone know how many SpEd kids are no longer attending classrooms but are, instead, shuttled to online education? How can their serious needs for social/emotional learning occur online?
Does anyone think that steering SpEd kids to online learning is being done in a systematic matter to decrease costs? What are the economic incentives if SPS SpEd children are being educated online? Is SPS abdicating its duties if it directs students to this online academy yet fails to provide any other supportive services that a student might have qualified for if he stayed enrolled in SPS with an IEP?
Does anyone know of a place to get statistics on this information?
Just curious to see what people think/know.
Mary Griffin
It is AWESOME when you are talking about sensitivity. Still
-Amused.....
It seems charter is what they are throwing at us.
stuck
fyi
The deal, worth around $50 million and for a 100 percent stake in each company, will create a national school consulting group that will compete for an increasing flow of money dedicated to school improvement and preparation for the Common Core State Standards adopted by all but four states.
The gender demographics of that one are relevant too as most of the students being managed out are boys. Probably boys between the ages of 9 and 13. Does anybody have access to that kind of information? What is the gender, race, age, breakdown of special needs students who leave public school? It seems every year more parents are looking for options. I hope Banda will start managing out some of those principals instead! And that he will start asking for higher standards of excellence from the special education department and educational directors too.
reader
Student evaluation of staff (not only teachers, but Administrators, Counselors and other Support Staff) was conducted at Cleveland High School in the eighties. It was very effective according to the students and staff. The results of the surveys were only shared with the staff member being evaluated. No one else saw them. They were not used by administrators to evaluate teachers, and the teacher/staff member had the option of participating or not. A committee composed of teachers, students, support staff and parents designed the survey.
Refs For America
And where do those wannabes go? To traditional schools so the burden is borne somewhere else. Handy for a charter who wants to look good. It is ALWAYS easier to look better when you can control your population...just like private schools do.
That said, SPS has got to get a grip on discipline and frankly, it needs to start earlier.
"An arena deal can be brokered in a a very short period (despite some heavy political and wealthy naysayers) with the help of the city council, the mayor and all of the city workers at their disposal, but you won't find the same level of intensity, focus, and get it done mandate when it comes down to improving actual lives of citizens within this city."
Absolutely true. I have been so disgusted with Constantine and McGinn and the City Council for all this time for this effort. Where is their concern for real issues?