Friday Open Thread
Two Community meetings with Board directors tomorrow, Sat. the 6th (I note that Blanford's was likely added in the last couple of days.) They are so spaced out, you could conceivable go to both.
Director Blanford, 10 am-11:30 am, Capital Hill Branch Library
Director Peaslee, 3:30-4:30 pm, Northgate Branch Library
A student at a Seattle public school in Wallingford was hit by a car this morning after the car ran a red light. The boy was taken to Harborview with a cut to the head. SPS is providing counseling at his school as several other students were with the victim at the time.
According to the Times, the state's GET plan (for parents to save money for their child's college education) is doing well and is "fully solvent" according to the State's Actuary, Matt Smith. He's saying the uptick from the recession combined with a freeze on state tuition rates made it happen. The program had not been expected to be solvent until 2021
The price now, per unit, is $172; this is the same rate as the last two years. Enrollment opens in November.
Pre-k in NYC? Not going so well.
What's on your mind?
Director Blanford, 10 am-11:30 am, Capital Hill Branch Library
Director Peaslee, 3:30-4:30 pm, Northgate Branch Library
A student at a Seattle public school in Wallingford was hit by a car this morning after the car ran a red light. The boy was taken to Harborview with a cut to the head. SPS is providing counseling at his school as several other students were with the victim at the time.
According to the Times, the state's GET plan (for parents to save money for their child's college education) is doing well and is "fully solvent" according to the State's Actuary, Matt Smith. He's saying the uptick from the recession combined with a freeze on state tuition rates made it happen. The program had not been expected to be solvent until 2021
The price now, per unit, is $172; this is the same rate as the last two years. Enrollment opens in November.
Pre-k in NYC? Not going so well.
What's on your mind?
Comments
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/09/boy-hit-by-car-in-wallingford/
Boy hit by car in Wallingford
Posted by Jennifer Sullivan
Update 10:04 a.m.:
Seattle police now say that a boy struck by a car in Wallingford Friday morning is 12.
According to police, the boy was walking north on Wallingford Avenue North with a group of older kids when a driver heading east struck him. The boy rolled onto the hood of the car and struck his head on the windshield; the driver stopped the car after hitting him, police said.
Seattle police spokesman Patrick Michaud said the boy suffered a cut to the head and was taken to Harborview Medical Center.
The department’s traffic collision unit is investigating as well as a drug recognition expert.
Police say Seattle Public Schools is making counselors available to students at the boy’s school.
Drive_w_care
Meantime, re: GET: I would love to have every one of this blog's readers email or mail a copy of the GET news to (resigned) state Sen. Rodney Tom who blatantly and callously tried to defund one of the most useful tools for the middle class to send their kids to college. He was not only morally wrong, he was factually wrong and I hope the public remembers.
EdVoter
Nobody should drive faster than he or she can see, in fog, rain, snow or shine.
The high grade of the street's elevation decline further east, plus the tall trees arching over the street, allowed me to see the traffic and other traffic calming half-circles and circles. :-)
Again, don't go faster than you can see, even if you're going 16 mph in residential areas.
"The 45 programs cited on Tuesday by the city represent a small percentage of the roughly 1,100 private sites that are scheduled to open on Thursday."
I'd say that's impressive considering NYC's public schools host a population larger than most American cities. Unfair shot!
Among the most interesting: A profile piece of Bill Gates trying to introduce a new curriculum that could replace the traditional high school World History course. It is written by fantastic reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin and touches on Gates' efforts at other areas of school reform, his personality, and specifically whether World History should be revised. Fascinating piece and whether you are pro or con "Gates" you will learn something.
Also in the issue is an argument that testing is an efficient way for the brain to retain information as well as a recap of the charter battles between DeBlasio and Moscovitz.
Enjoy your weekend reading!
EdVoter
My kids are way past preschool age, but I have a Seattle-area friend with a child who started kindergarten this week without benefit of preschool because she couldn't afford a private preschool but makes too much for a subsidized program. This child started at a disadvantage because the people in her life didn't know enough to teach her the things she should know by age 6. Wouldn't a "preschool for all" program only help children like this?
You folks seem almost gleeful when these programs don't go well. I don't understand.
Wondering
Universal preschool is a wonderful idea, but the devil is in the details.
“Pre-School for All” in Seattle, student information sharing, Jump Start and more
Wondering, I say good things about this district all the time and indeed, did so this morning.
You want to paint with a broad brush, that's your right. But it's disrespectful to say I am gleeful. I'm not. And I believe that we do a lot of things well in this district, mostly in the schools.
Yes, preschool is a good idea (and again, I've said that over and over.)
But as Carolyn points out, it's the details.
What is even more upsetting is the number of people who have complained that the over-stuffing of schools have consequences. Hamilton was just not designed for the number of kids going there and there just isn't anything close to the infrastructure needed to support the number of kids getting there on foot.
There are many schools that are even worse. The traffic and safety nightmare that they are making by putting a 700 student K8 on a tiny traffic island like Pinehurst is a danger.
Plus all the construction on 35th is detouring the cars through the school zones.
Is there anyone at SPS in charge of the safety of getting to and from school?
It seems like, to an uniformed reader like me, that universal preschools (if that's the right term?) are no good ANYWHERE. That there's a lit bit of "gotcha" in the headlines and links you put up about them. I did say "Almost" gleeful.
All I can tell you is that I know a little girl who is quite bright, but can't spell her last name, doesn't know all of her letters, and can count out loud but cannot write all of her numbers. But she can tell you the latest plots of her babysitter's favorite TV shows. Those kids NEED to be somewhere that even not ideal, is better than nothing.
Wondering
Please come with a sign to counteract Seattle School Board President's misinformation campaign at her community meeting. Her discriminatory rhetoric is antithetical to students' rights /Title IX and has caused outrage in the media.
Northgate Library 10548 5th Ave NE 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM TOO ANGRY TO SPEAK? Then BRING SIGNS! Bring signs anyway! Send us photos for national media on the east coast.
Peaslee continues to be falsely fixated on the failure to prosecute as justification for the District's failure to act on the report of rape. Remember the District's strategy: if there was no rape, then the deplorable chaperoning was not an issue. No liability.
Peaslee again (below) distorts the information she has had for over a year:
Subject: re: update
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 07:30:00 -0700
From: Smith, Colin
To: REDACTED PARENTS
As I've said before, the US Attorney has not determined that no sexual assault occured [sic], but that we do not have a case that can be successfully prosecuted in court.
Colin Smith
Chief Ranger
Olympic National Park
360 565-3110
Local attorney who may be at the rally:
From: Theresa Schrempp [mailto:theresas@lawyerseattle.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2014 11:17 AM
To: 'SchoolBoard@seattleschools.org'
Subject: Peaslee Should Resign
For the welfare of Seattle students, Sharon Peaslee (and probably others) should resign. She has demonstrated what could be charitably called irresponsible leadership regarding the rape which occurred during a Garfield High School trip. The fact that no prosecution was pursued is irrelevant. The perpetrator was not exonerated. The entire event was covered up, and would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the courage of the child’s parents and a handful of others. Does Ms. Peaslee care nothing about the safety of her students? Apparently not.
Theresa Schrempp
Sonkin & Schrempp PLLC
The pitch forks come out if there is even a hint that funds will be redirected away from current SPS students (immediate needs) towards longer term solutions that attempt solve underlying structural problems . Recently Pre-K, Charter Schools, Mayoral control of SPS, and attempts to fund longer term plans designed to meet the capacity needs of future students have all fallen into this category. I don’t necessarily support any of these, but I wish there was room on this blog for more balanced debate. At some point drastic changes are going to be needed to break the vicious cycle of short term fixes, leading to longer term issues, leading to more short term fixes, leading to longer term issues.
-Anonymous Today
Kids, it was a silly one-off comment.
I have never said I don't like preschool and trying to paint that way is wrong.
Completing the paperwork was a bit of a drag, but PTO Today has an excellent resource that was incredibly helpful, and I would volunteer to help any other school that wanted to claim its independence.
For the curious, we bridged the gap using an Alliance account, which allowed us to take advantage of their tax exempt status. But which, in turn, did limit our flexibility.
I'm voting yes.
Jennifer
Get Real
That's not what the Mayor or the City have said. They have all said bad pre-K doesn't help.
"By the logic of some the district should close until there is a better plan for running it."
Who said that? No one here.
Nope, I didn't have pre-K (and I didn't finish kindergarten).
All told, one of the best SPS responses to an incident I've seen.
When I first read this, I thought the negligence was on the staffing and chaperoning side, and on the District for failing to accept responsibility and take any meaningful action. Am I not on the same page as everybody else? What's changed?
I view the district/board president's attempt to make this a semantical argument as further obfuscation of SPS' "business as usual" approach to Federal and State laws. Namely, deny deny deny until everyone goes away.
Not so sure that will happen this time...
These documents were for a FEL funded Student Health Center at my daughter's school, and were optional. They made it clear (to me in English) that this was optional, that my child would still be eligible for treatment by the nurse.
Why does SPS want me to sign away my FERPA rights to the Source and automated data retrieval to ANY FEL-funded entity? Hell NO!
I think Peaslee has issues for some because she has been protecting the district rather than taking a balanced approach. It has not served her well, in my opinion.
I am not of the opinion that she should resign but she might want to consider the whole landscape and how her words come across.
I have to agree with mirmac and Mrs. Falbo. I think your rage and your energy are legitimate but misplaced. If you really want to stop further sexual assaults and you really want to raise awareness about the obligations of that all school districts have around Title IX, you should stop using your venom on Sharon Peaslee. She's not your enemy. I would say that she could use some further education, but she's not the villian you are painting her as. Continuing your attacks on her makes you look immoderate.
If you want to get some action, I am willing to stand up and say that the district needs to go a lot further and that all districts need to pay attention to these issues. But I am not going to demand Sharon resign nor am I calling on the district to fire the principal of Garfield.
Have demonstrations around the issue that is important to you and you will get support. Look for people to join you on a witch hunt and you will fail.
I agree with mirmac1, that if anyone's head should roll, it should be legal, who does a lousy job informing the district of its obligations in the first place and then builds a defensive posture afterwards that prevents response in a compassionate and human way.
Seriously, think about it. And your attorney? You can do a lot better.
Ms. BeenThere
NE Seattle Mom
2 I meant by extending the logic , not that anyone wrote such an idea (it's called hyperbole)
3 I meant a roll out of preK that's less than perfect, like say NYC's
Jennifer
She has been fired and lawyer-ed up.
Sped Parent
During the Great Recession the district lost $125M per year. We've lost elementary school counselors from some funding formulas, drug and alcohol counselors etc. IF and when, the legislature decides to fund McCleary, we still will not have achieved pre-recession funding. Why would anyone want to take additional funding away from K-12 to support something that isn't funded by the state. To be clear: he city DOES have funding. Voters approved the biggest levy in history $232 to support low income students and part of these dollars are being reserved for pre-k efforts.
SPS staff DID present a funding formula to the city. Guess what? The city thought it was too high. Where was the board in all of this? Totally UNAWARE that staff was working with city on this initiative.
Wondering, I hear you. Be aware: There is nothing "universal" or pre-k for "all" in the city's proposition. The amount of slots available do not meet the needs of the city. As a matter of fact, it is quite possible that your friend could end-up subsidizing daycare and preschool for a family making $150K.
Let's remember: Full day K is not fully paid.
I also disagree that a "bad" school is better than none at all. IT is time to turn attention to I 107. There are 4500 caretakers taking care of children. These children are VERY vulnerable and educating these caretakers would prove beneficial.
I also have to question the city's assertion that educating 4500 caretakers costs $100M. Keep in mind- the public has not seen this document. The union claims cost of educating 4500 caretakers is somewhere around $1M-$2M. The city could use Family and Ed. dollars, if cost around $1-$2M. A very good investment..in my mind.
"Jump Start was created by Aaron Lieberman who also founded Acelero, a for-profit company that is taking over Head Start programs and is staffed with none other than Teach for America, Inc. recruits. See A for-profit approach to Head Start."
When is the city going to tell the public that they are working with the CEO of Acelero to lead the preschool initiative?
You are all being taken for a ride, what is he goal of Seattle? I think it to force everyone to move to shoreline. What a POOF.
PC BLOGGER
Gads, Anonymous today. SPS's budget policy reflects needs for both immediate and long term needs. FWIW...the district is already funding long term needs such as the Urban Teaching Residency and each recruit costs $30K. We don't need to destroy our classrooms to fund many many long term solutions.
Until we hear official news about the disposition of Ms. McWilliams, I think it's better to keep the rumors at a lower simmer. With the state of things in SPED, this is pretty difficult--we're all very frustrated--but it just doesn't do anybody any good to say that someone has been fired when there is no official word.
KT
NE Mom
Check yourself.
Sped Parent
I have heard no definitive word on her disposition (and I have fairly recent word as of Tuesday). NE Mom, you must have a greater insight because she had greater impact than any recent SpEd director in damn well ten years, but, y'know...
http://www.themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/badteacher.html
Sped Parent
Below FYI is a link to SPS' 2014-15 Transportation Standards. Middle and high school students must live more than 2.0 miles (by the street grid, not as the crow flies) from their school to qualify for transportation - yellow bus to attendance area/linked school, ORCA card otherwise.
http://hamiltonms.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/transportation/2014-15%20service%20standards.pdf?sessionid=ccfb6a6a382ccea9a0b771fe63aa20c9
If you look at the Hamilton boundary here - http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Maps/boundarymaps/pdfs/AA_MS_Hamilton.pdf?sessionid=b3123432c52bcec30530d99bad9f5c3e - about 80% of it is in its walk zone. Shrinking Hamilton to 800 or so students is what we need to work to but it isn't going to shrink the walking cohort.
http://www.nycsca.org/Community/CapitalPlanManagementReportsData/Demographics/2012-2021StatisticalForecastingReport.pdf
A buddy of mine teaches middle school math in the Bronx. Schools enrolled to 125-150% of what we would call "right-sized" capacity are very common.
Algebra mom
I searched for that info, too, and found it here:
http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/statetesting/ScaleScores.aspx
-North-end Mom
1) OSPI publishes testing statistics for all state tests (2104 statistics have yet to be posted, so just check out the 2013 results). You can look up the scale score and translate it to a percentile ranking.
OSPI testing statistics
2) The Washington State Report Card links to a graph showing the breakdown of scores for a particular test/grade/school. You can look up your child's school, click on the specific test, and see how your child scored in comparison to other students that took the test. The following link shows the Algebra EOC score distribution for all Seattle Public School students:
Algebra EOC scale report
fyi
Thanks,
MMVM
I don't know where you can find enrollment for this year. Given the data difficulties at SPS this past year, I have better luck getting data from OSPI. The P223's for last year are available on their website at http://www.k12.wa.us/safs/rep/enr/1314/17001h.pdf.
Ms. Schrempp is NOT the family's attorney. She wrote the school district and STOP SEXUAL ASSAULT in HIGH SCHOOL.
Here is the same opinion from the chief ranger associated with the investigation.
Subject: re: update
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 07:30:00 -0700
From: Smith, Colin
To: REDACTED PARENTS
XXXXXREDACTED
As I've said before, the US Attorney has not determined that no sexual assault occured [sic], but that we do not have a case that can be successfully prosecuted in court.
Colin Smith
Chief Ranger
Olympic National Park
360 565-3110
mother
One more thing. Two distinguished journalists, one an awarding winning national reporter, is interested in speaking with parents and victims of school assaults. If you are interested, please message stopsexualassaultinhighschool on FB and we will connect you or others. You don't have to give your name to us or the journalist. This is all to benefit exposing the tremendous deficits that have taken down lives.
mrs. miller
I also know that more people want to get into Franklin but are being told no (in order to fill RBHS).
Enrollment Planning is your resource for all data of this type. Ask for Brent Kroon, Natasha Rivers or Jay Freistadt.
Algebra mom
Whatever happened to the C-CAP? It was such a burning issue - not getting it done for a year and a half, that they've decided to leave it off all agenda for another 18 months while they bother to hire somebody - anybody, or rehire/retain somebody- anybody.
Imagine that they keep McWilliams. How in the heck would that work? Would anybody work for her, or do what she wanted, or anything? How can you lead a whole department, when everybody either wants you gone, or wants your job.
Sped reader
Another sped reader
She bad mouthed her boss , Dr Gill and others to the head of the TIERS group then attempted to influence the TIERS proposal to include favors to her.
She openly passed on internal information to TIERS group giving them an advantage in the bidding process.
She never disclosed a personal relationship with TIERS group staff to her employer SPS.
She asked staff and TIERS group to use private email services in order to avoid public disclosure laws.
In conclusion McWilliams acted unprofessional and unethical.
New SPED
Actually some rules are enforced sometimes against some people and some rules are actually enforced all the time.
You can screw over the students, the families, the communities, and the front-line staff pretty much all you want, but don't mess with contracts unless you have powerful friends and never mess with money.
As for deliberately evading public disclosure, she should be exalted like DeBell and Enfield.
Messing with money? She should get words of solace and support from the board like McEvoy after messing with $500K of fed funds.
McWilliams grossly mishandled a procurement, not to enrich herself, but to get the district out of level 4 status with OSPI and the feds.
The associated defense of "this is purely political," might ring more true if there wasn't the proof of behavior that seems intended to dodge laws around ethics.
Mirmac1, while I have great sympathy for the teachers and the parents as it seems that the constant turnover of directors leads to churn and chaos, I can't stomach the thought of having someone in that position who seems to have such disdain for parents as well as ethics. It's such a shame.
New Sped