Tuesday Open Thread
Big night for Seattle for election results. We could see a major shift in the make-up of both the School Board and the City Council. Any predictions?
It is also a hugely important election for Colorado and, in specific, Jefferson County, where a recall election of several school board members is being attempted. From Aljazeera America:
But this battle has ramifications far outside the school district, and it’s drawing attention on a national scale. It is a battle pitting heavy hitters like AFP, the small-government advocacy group founded by billionaire businessmen Charles Koch and David Koch, against teachers’ unions and their supporters.
It’s a battle being closely watched by educators and political operatives across the U.S. because JeffCo is the ultimate swing county in the key swing state of Colorado. That means success — or defeat — there could be replicated across the U.S.
Interesting article about tweens/teens and use of digital projects from the NY Times, "The Digital Disparities Facing Lower-Income Teenagers." This is scary:
This would involved coordination with the Office of Education and Early Learning. I believe that SC PTSA Board member (and professional whirling dervish) , Eden Mack, was involved in getting this to happen.
Have you seen these Star Wars in the style of NW Coast Indian Art? Pretty cool.
Also, hilarious news - Amazon is opening its first bricks-and-mortar bookstore at U Village today.
What's on your mind?
It is also a hugely important election for Colorado and, in specific, Jefferson County, where a recall election of several school board members is being attempted. From Aljazeera America:
But this battle has ramifications far outside the school district, and it’s drawing attention on a national scale. It is a battle pitting heavy hitters like AFP, the small-government advocacy group founded by billionaire businessmen Charles Koch and David Koch, against teachers’ unions and their supporters.
It’s a battle being closely watched by educators and political operatives across the U.S. because JeffCo is the ultimate swing county in the key swing state of Colorado. That means success — or defeat — there could be replicated across the U.S.
Interesting article about tweens/teens and use of digital projects from the NY Times, "The Digital Disparities Facing Lower-Income Teenagers." This is scary:
Black teenagers spent a
daily average of eight hours and 26 minutes on screens for
entertainment purposes, according to the report. That was two hours and
eight minutes more than their white peers. Within that screen time,
black teenagers spent most of their time — an average of about four
hours daily — on smartphones, compared with about three hours for
Hispanic teenagers and two hours for white teenagers.
And teenagers in
lower-income households typically spent about eight hours on daily
screen media use compared with less than six hours for those from
higher-income families, the report said.
The Seattle City Council Budget Committee is considering a bill that involves amending:
the proposed bill reorganizing DPD into a new office (OPCD) and a new Department (SDCI) to add a function to work with Seattle Public Schools when planning for growth.
5. In coordination with the Department of Education and Early Learning and in partnership with the Seattle School District No. 1, OPCD will develop planning strategies that support the District’s public school facility needs for anticipated student population consistent with adopted comprehensive plan policies and growth forecasts.
Have you seen these Star Wars in the style of NW Coast Indian Art? Pretty cool.
Also, hilarious news - Amazon is opening its first bricks-and-mortar bookstore at U Village today.
What's on your mind?
Comments
Citizen Kane
It is not exactly Maddux/Johnson but in Olympia we have:
Johnson & Maddox Construction Co., Inc.
Excavating Contractor
Septic Server
I just checked and my ballot is not at KC elections and I mailed it last week. I have to wait until they open to ask.
What I have read elsewhere about these standards is that they promote ineffective reform math. Vicki Phillips of the Gates Foundation is mentioned in the article and I remember her as an advocate of poor math. No wonder SPS is weakening its own efforts in math to prepare for Common Core.
S parent
She's apparently "considering offers"
reader47
Interesting article in the Wall St. Journal on the high costs of implementing Common Core Standards.
Five years into the biggest transformation of U.S. public education in recent history, Common Core is far from common. Though 45 states initially adopted the shared academic standards in English and math, seven have since repealed or amended them. Among the remaining 38, big disparities remain in what and how students are taught, the materials and technology they use, the preparation of teachers and the tests they are given. A dozen more states are considering revising or abandoning Common Core.
full text Financial Woes Plague Common Core Rollout
reader47
Among the seven Seattle Council districts, District 6 has the highest discrepancy between rank of voter population and early ballot return. Predicting Mike O'Brien wins here.
Of the School Board candidates, Jill Geary is the one who's posted onto The Stranger's site her party announcement: Varlamos Pizzeria 3617 NE 45th St, Seattle, WA 98105 206-522-8515
Goodspaceguy is not going to be Port Commissioner.
(How do you make Craps Shoots? You go to bed with a megadose of Natural Calm magnesium powder...)
I don't think Kshama is going anywhere but it will be interesting to see all the final vote counts.
Citizen Kane
Geary/McGuire may be close on election night, but late ballots will favor Geary (though I wouldn't be surprised if she did well among the early ballots too).
He spoke to Leslie Harris about the changeover in elementary math. She called it insubordination by the staff members to overturn MiF and replace it with Scope and Sequence. Burke is also in favor of fundamentally sound math.
My husband came away thinking the candidates will move aggressively to improve relationships between the public and SPS. New sheriffs are coming to town.
S parent
SPED Parent
"The Gates Foundation’s education reform strategy is in the midst of the most catastrophic failure since the Annenberg Foundation blew $500 million in the 1990s. The wheels are coming off Common Core, the center-piece of the Gates reform strategy. Today’s front-page Wall Street Journal article documents how states and districts are abandoning the standards and their aligned tests and/or backing away from making the necessary expenditures to implement the new standards. At this point only 23 states are still using one of the two Common Core assessments, putting me clearly in the lead on the Greene-Polikoff Wager. The WSJ article paints a devastating picture of Common Core’s collapse.
Even local efforts by the Gates Foundation to implement its teacher quality strategy are falling apart. Gates pledged $100 million to the Hillsborough School District in Tampa, Florida to make it the model of its reform strategy. As the district is running out of Gates money and discovering the unsustainability of its own financial commitments, the whole effort of using new teacher evaluation methods, mentoring, and merit pay is about to be dismantled.
Despite all of this investment, Hillsborough is getting lousy academic results."
... and more
======
Ed Week: Drop in U.S. NAEP Math, Reading Scores Prompts Blame Game ..(Serious CYA game begins)
Blame Laid on Economy, Demography, Standards
With U.S. students' math and reading scores showing statistically significant declines on a national test for the first time in more than two decades, advocates on all sides have begun pointing fingers. It is the CYA game that is really beginning.
.... U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a separate media call about the results that this sort of "implementation dip" is fairly common. He pointed to Massachusetts, which saw a temporary drop in test scores in the early 2000s after changing its standards. "This is the ultimate long-term play," he said.
But Brookings' Loveless dismissed the idea of a post-implementation drop being the norm. "I don't buy it," he said.
Arne Duncan is leaving this crap shooting soon but the nation's children are stuck with it.
The president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Mr. Michael Petrilli, says wait two years until 2017. So when grade 3 students are in grade 5, then we can think about changes. You must be kidding. Right?
Perhaps Tolley, Heath, and Box would care to comment on the K-12 Math Scope and Sequence at this time. Shall we wait until 2017?
-- Dan Dempsey
https://islandwood.org/seattle-foundation-presents-patsy-collins-award-excellence-education-environment-and-community
-Hooray!
Thanks!
-Interested Party
I clearly heard him definitively target central administration as the main problem with SPS. As he said, the SPED problems touch every facet of SPS, effecting operations and the budget. I thought he was clear in pointing out those issues by integrating his personally experience and spoke to how things haven't improved since he graduated from SPS many years ago.
He clearly understands creative approach schools, having said his own children attended one.
We strive to serve all students and have a lower budget than every other school of our size. We use fewer IAs than any other school with a similar SPED population.
He brought and shared with us several compelling documents he obtained through public information request. These documents showed some of the tricks the district has used against alternative schools like QAE.
No other candidate bothered to do this for us.
QAE family
This new deputy superintendent is a Student Civil Rights Compliance Officer. Any blog reader knows this function is needed downtown. But as another Deputy Supe? C'mon. Title and salary inflation at JSCEE - on our students' dime - knows no bounds. Nyland is the buck stops here guy on compliance. As is in-house counsel. We need a body to do the work not another powerpoint generator. Basta!
DistrictWatcher
DistrictWatcher
It looks like Harris, Geary, Pinkham and Burke are in.
Burke, Harris, & Pinkham are all in the 75%+ range.
-- Dan Dempsey
reader47
This board is really trying to do a last minute push.
That is very disturbing. Nyland has done NOTHING to earn an extension. He is a placeholder.
Vote no on Nyland.
Half Full
No. Just no.
I need to think of something pithy to put in the reader comments. Maybe other blog readers are more creative than I am today. I am worn out by the asinine student enrollment 'updates.'
DistrictWatcher
I hope to see another foundation rise up to be a true partner to the district AND to the schools.
Here's another 6 figure job up for hire
Business Analyst Senior - Student Systems
Or maybe this one?
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Prog Mgr
Or this one
SAP - Business Analyst Senior -1.0 FTE- Department of Technology
Or, just in case,this one
Title IX Coordinator - 1-0 FTE
Which is not to say that maybe they don't NEED some of these positions, but man, does the salary have to be so high in a time of budget issues?
reader47
Yes, there was a posting, just a bit ago and it's still there at this link, which is what should have posted above but didn't.
http://agency.governmentjobs.com/seattleschools/job_bulletin.cfm?jobID=1219773&sharedWindow=0
reader47
Momof2
House Bill 2 will improve oversight of the publicly-funded, privately-operated schools, some of which have suffered poor student performance and financial mismanagement, writes Randy Ludlow for The Columbus Dispatch.
Kasich said the bill would “profoundly benefit our children.” Broad bipartisan support ensured the bill would pass, and in 90 days it will take effect. Ohio has approximately 120,000 students in charter schools and spends about $1 billion each year to support the alternative educational organizations.
Details of the new law include more public accountability from sponsors, the elimination of conflicts of interest in operations, and the creation of tools to address school problems. It will also prohibit sponsors of low-performing schools from opening new schools; tighten the rules surrounding poorly-performing schools shopping for new sponsors; and ensure that any property purchased with public monies remains the property of schools and not the school’s operator or management company.
-- Dan Dempsey