Tuesday Open Thread

This will likely be the last thread until Friday by me.  I would like to celebrate with my family and power down for a couple of days. 

What's on your mind?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Just want to say thank you to Melissa and all of the contributors to this blog. It is daily reading for me, although I pipe in only occasionally.

As frustrating as it sometimes to keep up with what is happening in Seattle Public Schools, I appreciate hearing the opinions on the issues from other readers (whether I agree with them or not).

Happy Holidays everyone.

-GHS Parent
12/23/14, 9:11 AM
mirmac1 said…
Ditto to everyone. I believe we all care very much about the health and quality of our schools and district. That's why I like this blog and appreciate Melissa's constant perseverance.
12/23/14, 9:40 AM
cmj said…
Melissa, thank you for all the work you do. Have a wonderful holiday with your family!
12/23/14, 9:56 AM
Anonymous said…
Wishing you and yours a very Happy Holidays, Melissa. Thanks for all that you do.

--- swk
12/23/14, 11:27 AM
Anonymous said…
In Common Core news, even the GED has been aligned to CCSS. Nationwide, the GED pass rate dropped sharply with the introduction of the new test.

http://www.joannejacobs.com/2014/12/pass-rates-plummet-on-core-aligned-ged/

parent
12/23/14, 12:30 PM
cmj said…
Enrollment and headcount data has been posted on the SPS website here. Thank you, Kellie and Meg, for pushing SPS to put enrollment data back on the website.
12/23/14, 1:18 PM
Patrick said…
Enjoy your holiday, Melissa! Thank you for everything.
12/23/14, 1:39 PM
Buoy said…
Let's hope HCC gets rationalized in the new year. It need not be divisive but that requires restructuring.
12/23/14, 4:25 PM
Watching said…
Thanks, Melissa. Best wishes in the New Year.
12/23/14, 7:09 PM
Anonymous said…
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FROM A TRADITIONAL SINCE.

Less than half (46%) of U.S. kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. This is a marked change from 1960, when 73% of children fit this description, and 1980, when 61% did, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of recently-released American Community Survey (ACS) and Decennial Census data.
One of the largest shifts in family structure is this: 34% of children today are living with an unmarried parent—up from just 9% in 1960, and 19% in 1980. In most cases, these unmarried parents are single.

Rocky
12/25/14, 1:15 AM
Flo said…
so, rocy,
is the solution get people married or change society to reflect behavior?
12/25/14, 1:58 AM
Anonymous said…
story is out on VR teacher. He's been charged. Pervy texts with former female student now age 15 who he recruited to intern in his classroom.
Sounds like he groomed her while she was at VR.
Don't people understand grooming?
Perhaps a good topic for a thread.

Really Upset
12/25/14, 9:51 AM
Anonymous said…
Really Upset - I unfortunately read the detailed story right before going to bed on Christmas Eve - which resulted in little sleep and dampening a nice evening with my family. I used to think this teacher's friendliness/interest in my daughter was a genuine, but now I can't get it out of my head that it was perverted. I'm really upset too - he was a very popular teacher with a nice wife and little girls. So sad. My question is how did he start texting with her when she was younger? Did she babysit for him? I can't imagine a teacher asking for a kid's text and them just giving it to them. Is it common for teachers and kids to text now a days?? She couldn't of had him as a teacher herself based on her age and when he started at VR which makes me curious how they got to know each other too (younger sibling in his class possibly).

NE Parent of 3
12/25/14, 12:48 PM
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii said…
The mainstream press is all over this one
Principal's second school with serious pedophile
Kari
12/25/14, 4:18 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
12/25/14, 7:31 PM
Sam said…
I hate to tell you this Keri, but, statistics say that there are pedophiles amongst many children in our schools. Why are you calling out a particular principal?

Does anyone remember the principal at Whittier Elementary? He would drive along Highway 99 and expose himself to young women.
12/25/14, 8:05 PM
Anonymous said…
My minds at ease now Sam.
Thanks,

Keri
12/25/14, 8:16 PM
Patrick said…
It's hard to know what to tell my daughter sometimes. I've been encouraging her (now in middle school) to contact teachers herself, through email, if she's absent or needs something. Self-sufficiency and solving the problems of her own missing assignments etc. How to explain what emails would be over the line.

Fortunately the girl at View Ridge did report it while it was still in the talking stage.
12/25/14, 9:12 PM
Anonymous said…
emails to a district account is one thing, this was texting and cyber stalking.How many pedophiles are there inn SPS? one would hope, nay expect, that number to be zero.
They can be identified and should be removed BEFORE causing harm to young people. This has to be job one for the district. sexual abuse of children is a scourge that cannot be tolerated.If it's only coincidence with the principal, so be it. But she comes off as, well, read the article.



http://seattletimes.com/html/education/2004456273_hill04m.html

RU
12/26/14, 12:25 AM
Anonymous said…
I was leaving public swim at the Ballard Pool a couple months ago when BHS girls were going in for practice. I eavesdropped. One was talking about how she babysits for a teacher, he gave her his number (phone or text, I don't know) and told her not to tell anyone, and she was bragging about it. Other girls and I were a little creeped out. Now I feel like I should have said something - she did babysit, that part was real, and she seemed sort of like she might be exaggerating how he told her not to let anyone know (because of course she was letting people know) ... but darn it, I made a mistake. Darn it. Darn it.

Not this teacher, but I should have SAID something. They were high schoolers and it was real babysitting, but I've wondered about it frequently since then.

Signed: eavesdropper
12/26/14, 8:16 AM
Anonymous said…
Eavesdropper, I have been thinking about your comment for a few days, and I am really glad you did not say anything. I am sure this teacher just does not want his or her number out in the student population, but just wants the sitter to have it. That is exactly what I would do if I had a student sitter, and if that is creepy, that's dumb, because it is entirely reasonable. I am glad the view ridge teacher was caught before any harm was done, and I don't want kids to think basically every grown up is a pedophile. Mostly they are not, and teaching kids to be on constant alert for DANGERDANGER just creates anxiety disorders and does not, at the end of the day, make them safer. I am sure you were thinking some version of that when you let the teen brag to her friends, and I am glad that's what you went with then.

-sleeper
12/30/14, 5:58 PM
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