Fireworks Coming as Parents/School Staffs Clamor for Attention
Tonight is the second of the Superintendent's regional meetings about the Strategic Plan at 6:30 p.m. at Hale High School.
I suspect that this particular meeting - coming on the heels of pushback from staff on later start times AND the brewing rebellion by schools over cuts to their budgets - might prove to be larger and more contentious than the one earlier this week. And Hale - having had a later start time for 10 years - is perfect backdrop for this discussion.
That said, the district loves its Powerpoint presentations and I suspect they will make whoever shows up wait for any questioning beyond issues around the Strategic Plan. But the district press release does say attendees can question district leadership so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Also to note, next week's School Board meeting should be a barnburner as several groups - Start School Later-Seattle, school staffs and NW Center parents - could show up to "express" their opinions of how SPS is doing.
From Start School Later - Seattle:
Thank you for your outreach to get more petition signers! Our numbers are growing, keep it up!
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/later-start-time-for?mailing_id=20645&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=396885
RALLY at the March 19 school board meeting from 4-6pm at the John Stanford Center (2445 3rd Ave, S.) to protest delays and urge passage of a resolution to work on later starts for fall 2015, not 2016. Dr. Maida Chen of Children's Hospital will speak. We hope to pack the meeting room with signs and supporters for later starts. Wear blue to show we are sick of the delays.
Teachers will be holding a rally to protest budget cuts and will wear black.
To support later starts and oppose budget cuts, wear black and blue to show we're tired of mistreatment and are fighting for change.
SSL will not disrupt the meeting but will show our resolve to align school start times with the learning, health, and safety needs of students.
I suspect that this particular meeting - coming on the heels of pushback from staff on later start times AND the brewing rebellion by schools over cuts to their budgets - might prove to be larger and more contentious than the one earlier this week. And Hale - having had a later start time for 10 years - is perfect backdrop for this discussion.
That said, the district loves its Powerpoint presentations and I suspect they will make whoever shows up wait for any questioning beyond issues around the Strategic Plan. But the district press release does say attendees can question district leadership so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Also to note, next week's School Board meeting should be a barnburner as several groups - Start School Later-Seattle, school staffs and NW Center parents - could show up to "express" their opinions of how SPS is doing.
From Start School Later - Seattle:
Thank you for your outreach to get more petition signers! Our numbers are growing, keep it up!
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/later-start-time-for?mailing_id=20645&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=396885
RALLY at the March 19 school board meeting from 4-6pm at the John Stanford Center (2445 3rd Ave, S.) to protest delays and urge passage of a resolution to work on later starts for fall 2015, not 2016. Dr. Maida Chen of Children's Hospital will speak. We hope to pack the meeting room with signs and supporters for later starts. Wear blue to show we are sick of the delays.
Teachers will be holding a rally to protest budget cuts and will wear black.
To support later starts and oppose budget cuts, wear black and blue to show we're tired of mistreatment and are fighting for change.
SSL will not disrupt the meeting but will show our resolve to align school start times with the learning, health, and safety needs of students.
Comments
http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/11299/162769/1/Impact%20of%20Later%20Start%20Time%20Final%20Report.pdf
-switcheroo
“Even schools with limited resources can make this one policy change with what appears to be benefits for their students,” Dr. Miller said.
--FedMomof2
Wait. Nevermind. It turns out that I do know why he hasn't made any real connections with the community.
It's pretty hard to find a Banda supporter these days. The board majority votes will no doubt keep him employed near term, but beyond a year or two, given that parents are getting restless again, there's no money from the state, JSCEE seems as bad as ever and area politicians and business people don't like the guy, it's hard to see a longterm progress or a steady hand at the helm of Superintendent or board for that matter. This district never ceases to disappoint. It doesn't have to be this way either. But I've been saying that for 10 years and nothing changes.
DistrictWatcher
Get Jessee
He has no one but himself to blame. I've told him heads ought to have rolled after the last sh*tstorm. But he places loyalty over competence. At the expense of kids and families.
We have a board that is loyal to a superintendent who is loyal to lieutenants who are not accountable. Is it a wonder the storms keep coming?
Well, Get Jessee,we don't really know what all the efforts were. I think there were solutions out there but they would have come at a cost.
Sure, replace people, cut positions, trim it all. I'm all for scaling down the behemoth, but I like to know who do you want left? And who do we replace with? Do you have names?
get jessee
Yes, the water at W-P has been bad for years. Either you have never been to Wilson-Pacific to see how truly bad it is (in comparison to most buildings) or you're making light of it.
get jessee
HP
I merely used W-P as Banda's latest bimbo eruption. As his "cabinet" grows, the messes seem to only get worse.
Look, I don't want to have to go searching for yet another Supt. Not at all. It just seems that the means to control this stuff is within his grasp.
My family have had ups and downs dealing with SPS, certainly with spec ed issues. At one point, I didn't work as much in order to volunteer more time in the resource room, working with the spec ed team. People used to complain about the old sped teacher as being old school, slow to new techniques. That was true, but she was empathetic and cared a great deal about her students and she really advocated. We had a succession of new principals and each had ideas of doing things a certain way along with more testing requirements, new teacher eval threats which combined with personal reason, she decided to leave SPS entirely. Since then, the school has had several replacements. One was younger, with fresh ideas, tech savvy, said all the right stuff, but interestingly didn't make the connection with the students, probably still hasn't achieve that comfort teaching zone. The ideal teacher would have been the combination of the two. But even with the ideal teacher, that person had to work within the confine of that building, its politics, the parents - with all facets of human nature on display. Add district policy and admin personnel into the mix, and I don 't think doing right by all would have been possible.
That's just an illustration. The majority of SPS families are far more quiet. Even within AL, a vocal group, there are many students who did get tested and notified. At some point, we all hit bumps. I think it's great to discuss flaws and failures, but I also want to weigh that against the big picture. I want to be careful of echo chambers. Careful of distractions and swirling agendas. Careful where I need to focus my energy, even if it's anger, careful to hit a pause button so I don't get carry away.
get jessee
(I use this sign off because He's a quick fix it guy in a world where the solution is anything, but a quick fix.)
Speaking of perspective, though, I did get a chance to talk to the new head of technology, and he seem fantastic. Very energized, excited about the role technology can play in educating our students, and how to reach our diverse population and how to better engage with communities through technology. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of his leadership.
-sleeper
MAP Boycott, start times, Equitable Access Framework, Growth Boundaries, NWC/CPPP, the Mann Building, Special Education, McLeary, teacher evaluations, Advanced Learning, Downtown school, transportation, Center School race curriculum, halal breakfasts, etc. The list of his failure to lead on issues is exactly the same as the list of issues.
Can anyone - anyone - name a single instance in which Mr. Banda provided clear direction and leadership on any issue? Help me out here.
Seriously, whether he was right or wrong, has he ever taken a position, stuck to it, argued for it passionately, and pushed it forward? No. Not ever. Not once.
Every single time he has straddled the fence by either saying all of the right things but doing none of them or saying all of the wrong things and doing none of them. He has been blown around and bent in every direction. That may be a lot of things, but it isn't leadership. It isn't even consensus building because he is never the person who brings people together.
He jerks people around by promising them action but refusing to deliver - take a look at how he handled the Mann Building.
He never pushes anything forward. Everything just stalls and then drops.
He never states a position and sticks to it. He hops back and forth from one position to another. He doesn't so much settle on a final position as get caught in one when time runs out.
I wouldn't mind so much, but isn't leadership his job?
Gen Ed Mom
When I was part of a negotiating team at my work, we placed many ideas on the table. There were moves and countermoves, they said, we said stuff going back and forth. You can report all of that as being washy washy. It sure sounds like the ground was shifting. Thing was as a negotiating team we had clear boundaries of no-nos, objectives, and softer goals. We also had to be ready to discuss and hear things from the other side, including surprises. Thank goodness, no one was reporting all of this stuff during negotiation to the public in bits and pieces and with different POV slants. You would think we were all wet noodles.
The main challenges for this district admin wil be managing capacity, managing budget to meet the needs of transportation, programs, personnel turnover, federal and state mandates all the while under intensive public scrutiny highlighting all its steps and missteps.
Other districts face similar challenges. But what other districts don't have to face is the level of public scrutiny and interference SPS must operate under. Just do a quick search on SLOG, crosscut, ST, local ed blogs, ed think tanks, non profits, billionaire backed initiatives, UW research as starters, it's as if SPS is the favorite well trodden play field for every wanna be educational rock star.
Criticism just to make a satisfactory hit may be great for one's ego. But it's not necessary an effective strategy. You lose your bite and people will turn deaf.
get jessee
At last Friday's BEX Oversight Committee meeting I called this Seattle's "Everybody's the Smartest Person in the Room" Syndrome.
It's a real thing, and it can hinder the public process.