Seattle Schools Community Forum

By the way, there is a new message on the SPS Growth Boundaries page (thanks to an APP reader for this tip): "An updated recommended plan will be presented to the board on November 6 . The proposal will be released with the Board agenda at 5 p.m. on November 1 and posted here by 7 p.m. (The information from the September 17 draft and the October 16 proposal shown below is now obsolete.")"  The Board will vote on it November 20th. When that proposal is live tomorrow,  we'll put it up. Update :  From SPS, The recommendations below go to the Board on November 6 for action on November 20. (The information from previous proposals is now obsolete.) Two Types of Recommendations Long-range boundaries that will be phased in as construction is completed by 2020.  Map showing long-range boundaries to be phased in  through 2020 Recommendations for specific components to implement next year.  Map showing recommedations to implement for the  2014-15 s

I have consistently stated that Suzanne Dale Estey appears to have a great resume.  She seems to have broad policy experience at different levels of government.  But, based on attendance at and viewing of some videotapes of various campaign events, I realized that she has this tendency to embellish what her resume says she did.  So I decided to check some of what is on her resume AND what she has been saying at campaign stops.  Here's what I found: Working for Governor Locke Here's what her campaign website says: Federal Legislative Analyst for Washington State Governor Gary Locke Her LinkedIn resume goes further: Federal Legislative Analyst Washington, DC Office of the Governor of Washington State 1998 – 1998 (less than a year)Washington, DC Monitored Congressional legislation and federal agency activities on behalf of the Governor and the State of Washington. Worked with Congressional staff, White House and federal agency officials, national associations and oth

Sadly, no Halloween for me this year - going to be at a 3-hour class in the evening.  Hard to think about missing all those little faces (although I never get more than 25 kids in an evening). Remember parents - do check that candy.  It's important to make sure there's nothing bad in there (like candy YOU really like).   Do your kids keep it forever or eat it all in one weekend? (My guys could nurse a bag for months). Here's beautiful Halloween photo to send you and your kids out the door (from I Acknowledge That Beauty Exists ) Tetris pumpkin ! Pumpkin mania in NYC!

Contact me at sss.westbrook@gmail.com.  Anything you might wish to say could be said anonymously but contact me first. Thanks.

From the APP Advisory Committee (bold mine), Tuesday, October 29, 1013: Dear Superintendent Banda and Board Directors, Each version of the Growth Boundaries plan presented to the public has contained proposals that will dramatically affect the Accelerated Progress Program. Since the release of the first version of the plan on September 18, the APP Advisory Committee (APP AC) has collected feedback from parents and community members. On October 24, the APP AC held a meeting specifically designed to gather input; the feedback from that meeting is provided in the attached document. Based on our review of the multiple Growth Boundaries plans, reflection on the plan in light of the Guiding Principles for APP (also attached) and input gathered from APP stakeholders across the District, the APP AC believes that: This plan does not demonstrate a long-term vision for Highly Capable Learners. Program integrity is paramount, and we believe the District plan places APP program integrity a

I am very disappointed to have miss the Pinehurst public hearing last night.   Did anyone attend and could you let us know what was said?

From SPS Communications: KCTS 9 announced that Kristen Bailey Fogarty is a winner of the 2013 Annual Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education. Bailey-Fogarty, a reading intervention teacher at Eckstein Middle School , was one of nine educators across the state honored for making a positive difference in Washington state education from early childhood through high school. From Seattle Magazine: Among their picks for most Influential People for 2013 were (number one: Macklemore, yay!) and Garfield teachers   Jesse Hagopian and Mallory Clarke for their efforts around the MAP boycott.

Let me begin by setting a foundation. EVERYONE agrees that African-American students have been mis-educated by Seattle Public Schools and by public school districts across the nation. Black students have been presented with inadequate and inappropriate academic opportunities, they have been denied equitable access to programs and services, they have been disproportionately disciplined and disproportionately referred to Special Education. The outcomes have been academic under-performance, the "school to prison pipeline", and the continued economic and political disenfranchisement of a significant portion of our nation's people. It has been a tragic shame. It has been happening since the start and it is continuing. It is an ongoing emergency that urgently demands a response.

Last I read, King County Elections has only about 10% of the ballots back and, in an off year, may only get 30% back, so naturally, every vote counts.  It counts even more for School Board elections as the number of people who actually vote for School Board candidates is even smaller than say, for Mayor.  Proud to say, our household has cast four solid votes for Sue Peters in District IV.

When the Silas Potter incident was exposed, naturally I was following it very closely.  But when Potter took a plea, I was less interested and so forgot that one of his co-conspirators was going to trial.  According to the Times Potter and David Johnson are turning on each other.    Mr. Johnson is on trial for 42 counts of theft. What is slightly amusing is that Potter testified that he forged Johnson's signature: On the stand, Potter testified that he occasionally forged Johnson’s name on contracts. He said that made it hard for him to say definitely whether it was he, or Johnson, who signed certain documents admitted into evidence. Well, that ought to make dropping some of those 42 counts easy for Johnson's lawyer if no one knows who signed the contracts.   It looks like each could receive between 4-5 years in prison. On a happier note, Diane Ravitch will be on The Daily Show tomorrow - Wednesday, the 30th.  I'm going to love watching that.  What's on

Real Kindergarten worksheet shows we're preparing youngest to be great test takers, not learners. (from BadAssTeachers).  When I was a student, I remember learning this...in high school.

Will have a more full report later but there is one new item to the agenda (but sadly, no handout): Columbia Annex and Mann Portable Lease Agreements Resolution This should be interesting.   Also quite the discussion about students who bring/show weapons at school and how they should be treated.  There is an RCW around this (one year required suspension for a firearm) and they are trying to proceed from there.  There is both a School Board policy and Superintendent procedure around this issue. Update: As I said in the first post, a lot of talk around weapons brought to school by students.  I found this a baffling discussion but it has to do with the concern around suspended students and what happens to their education.  Director DeBell drily pointed out that if a student brings a firearm to school, he probably is going to be more concerned about the other students (and staff) and their safety. The issue also is that for students who get suspended (for all reasons), t

Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy told his district's top leadership that he would be leaving in a few months.  He came from the Gates Foundation and is yet another Broad superintendent to get exited or who left a job.  He has been on the job since 2011.  Into this issue wades Robin Lake of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (basically a local think-tank for ed reform).  She lauds Deasy for leaving "a comfortable job at the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation."  Then she goes all in: In nearly any other sector, a man like Deasy—who is able to articulate a strong vision of change and pursue it relentlessly—would be able to get people to follow him and accomplish most anything. But this was LAUSD, where for decades strong leaders were eaten alive by the politics of race and unions and poverty and rampant district dysfunction.  Note that ed reform jargon: dysfunction (again), politics of race and unions and poverty.  Then she explains what  School Boa

Following up on my analysis/thoughts on the Peters/Dale Estey race in District IV, I had promised a thread on this issue of so-called School Board "dysfunction ." As I have pointed out, in the Board evaluation, not a SINGLE member of the Board called the Board dysfunctional.  One Board member said if they didn't trust each other more, they would become "the poster child for a dysfunctional Board."  That's far from saying that they are.  (One senior staff member did call them dysfunctional.) Now if you read the whole evaluation, you can see there are issues.  No denying that.  BUT, what the Times and Dale Estey and all these people leave out are all the pages of comments - by both the Board and senior management - about the good things said about the Board as people and as Board members. Also, as previous reported, the Board voted in unison or 6-1 about 98% of the time.  That's not a dysfunctional Board.   This lack of balance in the election na

 Updated with Pinehurst news Monday, October 28th Operations Committee meeting from 4-6 p.m.  Agenda .   It includes the policies on weapons prohibition for both students and adults/visitors, data sharing (clarification on opting out procedures) and discussion of the green resolution impact on policies and procedures.  Pegi McEvoy will also report on transportation service standards. SPED PTA meeting at 7pm at JSCEE .  Tracy Libros of Enrollment Planning as well as Sped Director Zakiyyah McWilliams will be there.  Everyone is welcome.   Tuesday, October 29th Performing and Visual Arts College Fair from 7-9 p.m.  List of colleges/programs at this fair.  This is not a district event but sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Final Hearing for Pinehurst K-8 from 7-8 p.m. at the Pinehurst building.   Apparently, Thornton Creek principal, John Miner, will be there to speak on the feasibility of Pinehurst co-locating with their program. Wednesd

In some ways, it's been a disappointing School Board election season.  With no challenger for Betty Patu and no real challenger for Stephan Blanford, neither have really been heard from.  For whatever reason, more forums have only featured Suzanne Dale Estey and Sue Peters.  This is something of a disservice to voters because, while I like Betty Patu, I think anyone running to retain their seat should be questioned.  Ditto on any new candidate like Blanford. But to the marquee race that is Peters versus Dale Estey.   Money : Dale Estey's own campaign has raised a little over $124k (spent $70k). Peters' campaign has raised  just under $31k (spent $13k). PAC for Dale Estey's campaign (Great Seattle Schools) - $102k (spent $52k). Blanford's campaign has raised just under $31k (spent $22k). So Dale Estey's supporters have raised about $226k.  There has NEVER been that kind of money raised before in the history of Seattle School Board elections. An intere

Did you know the district has an extensive archive (complete with a trained archivist)?  They do and it's a valuable resource.  They have all manner of memorabilia - bound volumes of School Board minutes, uniforms, yearbooks, letters to the School Board, newspaper clippings - you name it.  Archivist Aaren Purcell would be more than glad to look at what any school, group or individual has to offer the archive.  I asked her about limits and she said, "I'll look at anything."  She recently received boxes of materials from Ingraham that had been sitting in some closet for years.   I myself helped to organize the archives at Roosevelt High and they have some pretty amazing artifacts. I put out this information for a two-fold reason.  One is that rarely are these items being stored properly at schools and will deteriorate much more quickly if stored improperly.  Two, you have no idea how important any one item might be historically. Even though the district has a great

I'm thinking it was a lot of smoke and mirrors on the part of BOTH the "tenants" and the district, these so-called negotiations.  Because that building is wide open, being used in multiple areas, has advertised activities and classes and well, just doesn't look like a building that is shut down in preparation for being renovated.   I checked and I took photos.  Not closed by any stretch of the imagination. I'm thinking it was a lot of smoke and mirrors on the part of BOTH the "tenants" and the district. I've asked and asked the district staff about this and read various Facebook pages and webpages and my conclusion is that there is much more going on here than anyone wants to admit.  When you see people make an "enemies" list that includes the district, the City, and the contractor who is to do the renovation, it makes you wonder. I have asked but have not seen any kind of temporary lease agreement (but now, it's onto public dis

It appears that the Washington Charter Commission must have gotten a flurry of submissions because the final count is 28 letters of intent to apply to become a charter school. (I spoke to Spokane School district - the only school district authorizer in the state - and they received three letters of intent .  They say they have one unused building in their district currently so that may be up for grabs among the three applicants, if they follow thru on applying.) I would be surprised if half of the letters of intent applicants follow-thru, given the heavy lift that is the charter application.  So I'm guessing there will be about 16 applications for 8 charters.   Newest entries to the Charter Commission:

Friday, foggy Friday - be careful.  There has already been a major accident on I-5 South. October enrollment numbers released . We now have the adjusted October 1 enrollment data. Enrollment grew by 1,146 students over last year, for a total enrollment of 51,010(181 lower than projected). Changes since last year: - 913 more K-5 students than last year, including:    -1035 more students in grades 1-5    -122 fewer kindergarten students -  - 313 more middle school students - 80 fewer high school students This is all they have on the report but I'll see if there is more data available. Community meeting with Director Patu at Cafe Vita tomorrow from 10 am from noon. The Times is reporting that a Hale student, returning from a 3-day suspension, assaulted Principal Jill Hudson in the cafeteria on Thursday morning.  The student was arrested and cannot come back to Hale.  Ms. Hudson was not injured. What's on your mind?

 Update: I accidentally got the second-to-the-last paragraph of the letter to the Superintendent transcribed improperly.  I corrected it and it is the last paragraph in red in this thread. End of update. Quite the throwdown from the Seattle Council PTSA and good for them for stepping up (albeit a bit late).  It will be interesting to see the response from the district.  I note that this letter is not at their website so thank you to one of our great readers who forwarded it to me.  (Color emphasis mine.) October 23, 2013 Dear PTA Presidents & Leaders, Attached is a copy of the formal letter sent by the Seattle Council PTSA to Superintendent Banda and the School Board regarding our position on the Growth Boundary Change process. We met with Superintendent Banda today, and we still believe that providing parents a real opportunity to participate in this process is the only way to ensure that the proposed changes are both reasonable and equitable for all of our s

If you live in West Seattle and have thoughts on Advanced Learning in that area of the district, weigh in here .

It's true - when I want a smile or even a guffaw about Washington state public education, I go to the Times.  I can always be assured of some odd omission of facts, brevity of context or just a nudge to the ed reform side.  And that's just their reporting.  Better to say little to nothing about their editorial writing which is generally shallow and uninformed.  But now comes their Education Lab Blog (remember when they were advertising jobs for this)?  They are going to have no fewer than 5 reporters on this (so that's where Linda Shaw went) and an intern(?) manning their blog "to help foster constructive dialogue online and in-person."  Sounds a lot like what LEV used to do when they had blog (now gone) so you better be on your best behavior and play nice at the Times or they won't print your thoughts. (There's a Solutions Journalism Network they are to be affiliated with and their definitions about "reporting" are pretty funny.  So in ca

Wear Red for Ed shared Susan Smith 's photo . FLORIDA from Susan Smith Last Night Jeb Bush's foundation and Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst group hosted a showing of the pro-parent trigger propaganda movie "We the Parents" in Jacksonville. Apparently, these are the Florida parents who support parent trigger. From Fund Education Now!, the story of the parent trigger law in Florida in 2012: We are here today to go on record: Not one legitimate Florida Parent Group has asked for this Parent Trigger/Parent Empowerment legislation. We do not support this corporate empowerment bill that uses a parent's love to "pull the trigger" and pass all that they hold dear into the hands of a for-profit corporation eager to peel off a chunk of every child's per pupil funding dollars for themselves. We will not be silent while our legislators use our money to fund three separate, unequal and unfair systems of education. We do n

It's going to be a very tough time in the neighborhood.  There is no way it will not possibly affect Roosevelt and its community. I just attended a community meeting at Roosevelt High School about the building of the light rail station that will be directly west of the school. First, as a resident, it is definitely NOT going to be fun.  In fact, despite promises about mitigation, I (and many at the meeting) believe it is going to be a traffic nightmare.  Despite, several good suggestions about trying to help the traffic situation, we were told "we'll see how it goes" and "Ask SDOT."  Not so reassuring. The real down and dirty work starts in late spring/early summer 2014.  It will continue until the station finally opens in 2021.

As some of you may have heard, there was polling done on the upcoming elections by Strategies 360.   They state:  None of the firm's clients paid for the survey, and Strategies 360 is supporting neither client.    (Yes, but someone thought up those questions and I can guarantee it wasn't all Strategies 360.)  The poll was 400 likely voters, 78% white, skewed to the north and highly educated.  Nineteen percent have children in public schools while 11% have children in other schools. Sad to say but in this poll, the School Board ranks only above "Republicans in Congress" and below Obama, Inslee, Democrats in Congress, Ed Murray, the City Council, and Mayor Mike McGinn.  The totals were favorable-37%, unfavorable, 32%, ouch. They asked a number of interesting questions about Seattle Schools, the School Board and the role of the Mayor.   They asked about which of the following items " will be most important to you in deciding who to vote for?" for M

The deadline for letters of intent to file a charter school proposal in Washington State was 5 p.m. today.  Checking the Charter Commission website , I count 15 but Seattle Weekly is reporting 24 (I suspect SW called and asked and that the Charter Commission just doesn't have all of them up yet). Those 24 do NOT include whatever letters of intent that Spokane School District received as it is the only school district in the state to be a charter school authorizer. All full applications must be in on November 22nd. Seattle Weekly had a good story on Puget Sound hopefuls who are getting a boost via the Washington State Charter Schools Association (and, of course, the money coming from the Gates Foundation).  Three different women each received $100k for their charter school planning. A second charter group out of California, Summit Public Schools that runs high schools, has filed (joining Green Dot). The newest entries are signalled by a *. Academy of Continuing Educati

For your calendar, SPED PTSA General Meeting on Monday, October 28th from 7-9 pm at JSCEE. Tracy Libros will be coming to answer questions about boundaries and SPED.  There will be an update on C-CAP as well. What's on your mind?

The Times is reporting that First A.M.E. Church operated a daycare at Seattle Central Community College - rent-free - for 16 years .  (Yes, I know - how is that possible?)  The daycare was allowed to do this by a program at SCCC called Seattle Vocational Institute whose students' children were to have first-in enrollment.  The daycare ran from Sep. 1997 to June 2013. From the Times: First A.M.E., which closed the daycare in June, paid no rent to the Institute - a value the school estimates would have exceeded $650k over 16 years.  It also paid no utilities or janitorial costs, worth an additional $158k or so.  SCCC president, Pual Killpatrick, said the college had identified this problem contract and that the church was notified in Jne they would need to vacate.  The church did end up paying for utilities and janitorial services from Sep. 2012 to June 2013. Troy Niemeyer, the auditor's whistle-blower manager, stated, " It amounts to the state giving money away to a

From CNN: A student opening fire with a handgun he took from his parents. Screaming students running for cover. A teacher, trying to help, shot dead. Two students wounded. As authorities investigated, details were still trickling out hours after a deadly shooting Monday at a Nevada middle school. An official used one word to describe the scene at Sparks Middle School: chaos. The shooter used a handgun taken from his parents, according to a federal law enforcement source who was briefed on the situation. The shooter then used the handgun to shoot and kill himself, the source told CNN's Evan Perez. The victim who was killed was math teacher, Michael Landsberry, who had served in the military, including in Afghanistan. And once again, a teacher, Mr. Landsberry, put himself between students and a gunman.  He saved lives. Please, remember that tomorrow when your children go off to school.   The staff in your child's building will put themselves between you

Called "Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks", a very interesting map of income/rent across the U.S .  Zeroing down to Seattle, you can clearly see the delineation of income in our city. You may have heard that there is work going on around the city for new low-power FM stations for different regions.  One might be coming out of Ballard High via science teacher, Eric Muhs,  (a la the mighty C89.5FM at Nathan Hale High). At one school in NYC, for children K-2, 80% of the parents opted out of testing , effectively shutting it down.  From the New York Daily News : Students at the 36 “early education” schools are too young to take the regular state reading and math exams, so the littlest kids are sitting down for different tests As the Daily News reported earlier this month, such exams, given to kids as young as 4, require students to fill in bubbles to show their answers. In one of the more "let's just stir the pot" columns from Education Week , teacher and

Have you noticed that just about any time Melissa or I write something about APP or Spectrum or advanced learning in almost any way two things happen: the thread gets about a hundred comments and the comments get nasty. Have you noticed that school board candidates - like all other politicians - prefer to speak in vague platitudes and evade any discussion of specifics? It's a funny thing, but in their pursuit of a decision-making job they appear incapable of making any decisions at all. That's because having positions on any issue will alienate the people who have the opposing view. To prevent alienating anyone, they don't espouse any position at all. Sure they will assert their strong stance in support of motherhood, the flag, and apple pie, but the more contentious and heated the issue, the less likely they will take a stand on it. So we shouldn't be surprised that the School Board would prefer not to take a position on advanced learning which, according to the ev

Also next week on Tuesday, October 29th  at Kane Hall on the UW campus at 7:00 pm- 9 pm Accountability at a Crossroads: Using Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teacher Effectiveness A panel of leading educators at the forefront of testing and teacher evaluation will share their differing perspectives on the questions: Is this a sound/effective policy?  What is to be achieved, if anything, in holding teachers accountable for their students’ test scores?  What tests should be used?  What’s ultimately at risk for the students, the teachers, the community? PANELISTS DR. JOE WILLHOFT – Executive Director, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium* JUSTIN FOX-BAILEY – Teacher, Snohomish School District; Member, WEA Executive Committee CHRIS KORSMO – Executive Director, League of Education Voters MICHAELA MILLER – Director, State Policy and Outreach, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Moderator - Brian Jeffries, State Assessment Program Director at Data Recogniti

Here's a link to the SE Chamber of Commerce event in early October.  Note: the lighting was harsh and does not flatter either candidate.  The video is also a little low. The first question seems to have gotten cut off - it was something to the effect of how many SE schools each candidate has visited. Also, the City Inside/Out show had a panel interview about Seattle schools and the races.  The panel included Lynne Varner of the Times, President Kay Smith-Blum, Tre Maxie of Powerful Schools and Phil Gore, the head of Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA). Notable quotes from the City Inside/Out show: - Smith-Blum noted that the Board evaluation NEVER said that the Board called itself "dysfunctional."  She said there were some trust issues but that they had voted 98% in unison or near unison. - Mr. Gore chimed in that 4-3 votes can be a sign of problems but that the Seattle School Board's voting record doesn't show that happening much. -

Wednesday, October 23 Work Session: Strategic Plan Performance Measures from 4-5:30 p.m.  No agenda available. Work Session:Distribution Services from 5:30-6:30 p.m. (hard stop at 6:30 pm as they have an Executive Session at 6:30 p.m.)  Agenda Thursday, October 24th Road Map to College event from 3-6 pm at Chief Sealth Int'l High School District IV School Board candidate forum at Lawton at 6:45 p.m., featuring Suzanne Dale Estey and Sue Peters. Saturday, October 26th Community Meeting with Director Patu from 10 am to noon at Cafe Vita. iCollege event with Washington State University faculty, staff and alumni, from 10:30 am- 1:30 pm. at Seattle City Hall. No registration needed, free lunch for the first 300 students who show up.  Looks like a great opportunity to learn about WSU and get help with the college application process with multiple workshops.  They are raffling off a free iPad mini as well.  Also to note on your calendar:

Two Special Education stories of note. First, the Times reports that the State will accept SPS's Special Ed plan with a few extra conditions.  The concern seems to be that the staffing plan seems more worried about teachers's needs than meeting student needs.  The State also wants the district to spend more federal dollars on consultants to help to shape/improve services.  Also, the AP is reporting that Bainbridge School District has to pay the family of a student with Asperger's who was bullied $300,000 in damages .  The lawsuit started in 2010 when the student was then 14 and at Bainbridge High School.  The parents had gone so far as to get a restraining order against four male students as well as contacting the Bainbridge Island police.   The students were found guilty of criminal conduct relating to their actions towards the victim. Another STEM school with an aviation twist has opened in south Seattle.  The school, Raisbeck Aviation High School opens Thursday in

I attended Director Martin-Morris' this morning and yes, it was all growth boundaries.  It was an interesting discussion because it was so specific in some cases (and rightly so - you look at the maps and the lines and have to wonder) and broader in others.  I was pleasantly surprised at some of what Director Martin-Morris said (and his tone).  Unfortunately, I can't recap right (no time) but I will try to do so soon. But I put this up as an open thread in case anyone went to Director DeBell's community meeting and would like to report back. Update: Meeting Minutes There were about 15 people there, all impatient to talk with Harium. Issues discussed:

That's not my title - that's KUOW's for Ann Dornfeld very good piece on the one contested school board race - Sue Peters and Suzanne Dale Estey in District IV. Seattle school board candidate Suzanne Dale Estey and her supporters are poised to raise more money than any other school board candidate in state history – even though a Washington state law passed last year put a cap on campaign contributions in school board races. There’s a catch: Although campaign contributions are capped, donors can give to political action committees that support the board candidates. That has raised questions about whether a handful of rich donors could sway the school board races this year. How much money: The Great Seattle Schools PAC is not the first in the state to fund school board races. But it is the most flush. Campaign finance records show that t he PAC has brought in $100,405 so far. Almost all of the money raised came from just a few people, including retired M

The New York Times weighs in on the discussion going on during their mayoral race over charter schools.   They seem to lean towards them as good but they seem to have a negative for every positive.  The key seems to be oversight and accountability.  Not enough to make sure that the poor-performing ones are shut down quickly.  (And I recommend reading the comments - they do not lean towards charters.) Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that Moody's says charter schools are hurting urban public districts.  Philadelphia is one of several urban public school districts where the rise of charter schools poses a threat to district finances, according to Moody’s, the credit rating agency. In 2003, the Philadelphia district spent 7.9 percent of its general fund on charters. By fiscal 2012, the schools ate up 23.7 percent of the fund. “While the vast majority of traditional public districts are managing through the rise of charter schools without a negative credit impact,

From North End Mom: Here is a link to the presentation from yesterday's Growth Boundaries work session. There is a new staff proposal to "implement full grade assignment in year one." (see slide 24 and 25). Basically, it is assigning JAMS and JAMS/Eckstein APP, grades 6, 7, and 8, to JAMS, in the JA building, beginning next fall. The APP kids living in the Eckstein SA would have the choice of going to Eckstein as GenEd or going to APP at JAMS. JA K-8 is relocated to John Marshall, so no co-location with JAMS for the K-8. Wilson Pacific would start up (grades 6, 7, and 8) in John Marshall 2016-17. They give enrollment numbers for all the north middle schools, and it looks like the building utilization would be pretty good, if everyone does what they want them to do. End of NE Mom post.  (Thanks!) Here's what the agenda looked like: Work Session: Growth Boundaries–Presentation Discussion of major issues: •T. T. Minor •Washington Middle SchoolBoundary •Acce

Reminder: two Director Community meetings tomorrow, Sat. the 19th - a good time to talk boundaries. Director Martin-Morris - 9:30-11:30 am - Diva Espresso at Lake City Way Director De Bell - 9:00-11:00 am - Caffe Appassionato  near Fisherman's Terminal One FYI if your PTA or other non-profit needs help with digitizing records - there's a Data for Communities Program thru Captricity .  They have an on-going grant program to help organizations and projects with up to 10,000 pages of digitization.   One of their areas of focus is K-12 education. And in the "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" category of school punishments , this story came out this week. about a teenaged girl in the Boston area who got a call from a friend from a party who was too drunk to drive and needed a ride home. From CBS Boston: Two weeks ago, Erin received a call from a friend at a party who was too drunk to drive. Erin drove to Boxford after work to pick up her friend. Moments after she arrived, the

Politics makes strange bedfellows but there you are. I am doing some tutoring at Ballard and I told two kids who are skateboarders about this and they said, "Sweet."  From the Wall Street Journal : Where most people see ornate, neo-Classical federal buildings and sweeping stone plazas in this city, skaters see something else: opportunity, in the form of sturdy railings, low stone benches, ramps—ideal "obstacles" for skateboarding stunts. And now, after years of ducking the national park police that patrol these plazas, this week's closure of public buildings and easing of surveillance offered skaters hope of revisiting their favorite spots. It was, said one, "on." But from the lighthearted to the downright wrong, it appears that TFA continues to be the darling of Congress.  From The Washington Post's The Answer Sheet: Unobtrusively slipped into the debt deal that Congress passed late Wednesday night to reopen the federal government

Parents beware - Facebook has changed its policy regarding minors and their pages.  From the New York Times: Facebook has loosened its privacy rules for teenagers as a debate swirls over online threats to children from bullies and sexual predators.  The move, announced on Wednesday , allows teenagers to post status updates, videos and images that can be seen by anyone, not just their friends or people who know their friends.  They’re hitting kids from a neurological weak spot. Kids don’t have the same kind of impulse control that adults do,” said Emily Bazelon, a journalist and author of the book “Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy.”  Two stories from The Stranger on Suzanne Dale Estey.  One about the public disclosure e-mails a nd the other a story they did when Suzanne Dale Estey worked as a lobbyist for WaMu .  I was wondering when they would get to this and the last paragraph in

For continuing information on the situation at the Mann building, and the broader issue of the crisis of education for African-American students, interested readers can visit the More4Mann web site . There is a Twitter feed as well at @More4Mann. Other news sources include Africatown Education and Innovation Center , and  Creativity Not Control . I don't know if we will report much on the ACIC or the Mann building going forward, so folks should rely on these other sources for news.

The Stranger editorial board has come out with its endorsements for the General Election.  Here's what they had to say about the School Board races (note, this is The Stranger writing so do keep that in mind when reading if you don't normally read their prose): Director District No. 4 Sue Peters Dear god, it's school board time. Kill us. The Seattle School Board is the most brain-liquefying thing short of embalming fluid. No matter what interesting outsiders and concerned parents and magic space aliens we send to the school board, the board somehow absorbs them into a giant blob of uselessness and continues operating like the tone-deaf, institutionally racist, mathematically illiterate shit-stain it's been for years. Despite being fed up with that, and despite most of us believing that having children should be illegal anyway, we endorse in these races because children are technically our future, etc. Here's what you need to know in this race: Sue

The current advanced learning task force has been charged with reviewing the systems and processes for qualifying students for Highly Capable services and Advanced Learning programs in Seattle Public Schools. The committee is supposed to work toward a shared approach for determining which students qualify for Highly Capable services and Advanced Learning programs that best benefits students. Although it is not stated anywhere in the charge to the task force, the members have been told that their goal is to increase representation in advanced learning programs by under-represented groups. It's unclear why this goal is not overtly stated in the charge document. We should discuss it as well.

A couple of quick updates: - there are 25 people on the Public Testimony list ; I see North Beach, Maple (6 people), Queen Anne Elementary, Montlake, Schmitz Park, Stevens, Fairmount Park and misc. "proposed growth boundaries."   There are 16 people on the waitlist.  I see a couple of different schools - B.F. Day, Madrona, High Point - and I would urge someone from Maple to cede a place to one of these people to allow as many schools as possible to speak. - allow I note that there are "edits" to the attachments to the Growth Boundaries.   I took a quick look and one edit was to correct the date (they had October 6th instead of 16th) and a couple of corrections to the draft side.  I saw nothing major but check to see if you see any others.  They also shifted the maps to align with feeder patterns.  If you are not planning to attend the Board meeting, do try to make the Maple Leaf Community Council Candidate and Issues Night which is also Wednesday evening.  It

There are a LOT of concerns but ALSO a lot of good ideas out there about how to make many of the new issues arising from the "new" boundaries more palatable.  Again, there is NO way to eliminate pain, no way to make everyone even just okay with these boundaries.  They are far too reaching to do that. BUT, finding a way to spread the pain, share the burden and not leave just one group of kids (I'm looking at the 3rd grade APP kids at Lincoln who come from the Whitman area) out on a limb. So I propose this: If you just have a concern (but no real solution), then I'll take those from the thread where I asked for them.  I'll make a list and send it to the directors and explain this is what we are hearing here. But, if you have an idea or solution , what I think would help is if each idea were laid out in a flowchart fashion so that Directors could see it in one fell swoop without a lot of explanation.  (Please add a paragraph or two of explanation before and