EEU Working Out Plan with SPS

The official joint statement from EEU and SPS:
The Seattle Public Schools and the Experimental Education Unit had an extremely productive meeting about funding for the EEU kindergarten on Thursday, January 28th. With the help of the Washington Governor’s Office of the Education Ombuds and OSPI we have reached a tentative agreement about a new structure for funding the EEU kindergarten program for the 2016-17 school year and beyond. SPS will be exploring, based upon the agreement currently in development, next steps for an appropriate enrollment process for enrolling students for the EEU kindergarten. We will continue to communicate updates in the days ahead.
 From the Change.org petition page:
Jan 29, 2016 — EEU leadership met with representatives of SPS and OSPI yesterday and reached a resolution. Details are in progress, but the main components of the resolution are:

- SPS will continue to partner with EEU to provide publically available, fully inclusive kindergarten.

- EEU kindergarten services will be available for students and families for the 2016-2017 school year.

- The new agreement will specifically consider how EEU’s innovative model can be replicated across the district.

We are optimistic that this new agreement will not only secure more stable funding for the EEU kindergarten but also make inclusion a reality for more and more children.

Thank you all once again for your incredible support, relentless advocacy, and courageous stories. We truly did this together – everyone contributed their time, energy, and unique strengths to a common vision in which ALL children learn together, ALL children are embraced. This journey has exemplified the power of community – ordinary folks coming together and making a positive difference in the world that we all share.

This is exactly why #inclusionmatters.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
1/30/16, 8:39 AM
Watching said…
I'm thrilled for the families of EEU. EEU needs to be expanded. The proposed cuts to EEU elevated EEU to a different status, which reached the Governor's office. Let's hope that this is the start of something good.

I agree with Next. Tolley is famous for cutting effective programs. Shameful.
1/30/16, 9:21 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm glad that this worked out for EEU. It is a great program. I get concerned, though, when I start to see that "all children learn together". Inclusion can be great for many students, maybe even most, but not for all. In Special Education, I see the pendulum swinging heavily in one direction or the other based on the current thinking at that time. Right now in our district, it is inclusion. I believe the reality is in the middle and that the deciding factor is what the parent envisions for their child and what an IEP teams decides is best based on the child's need. As a district, we need to have options.

Special Educator
1/30/16, 9:34 AM
Watching said…
I recall an administrator making a FALSE assertion regarding EEU and an audit finding. This, is worth remembering.
1/30/16, 9:35 AM
Anonymous said…
You are kidding Special Educator. Sps hates inclusion so much, they can't even say the word. They have to invent new terms like "access" to appease the inclusion haters everywhere. And they'll do anything to avoid it, including lying and stealing. Lying as in not telling families where programs are, how you sign up, or making up false barriers to inclusion. If you've been in special ed a while, you've heard them all. Stealing as in "supplantation" of general ed funds with special ed ones. Right, Special Educator, it's supposed to be an iep team decision.

Next
1/30/16, 8:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Special Educator here is one way "the pendulum" isn't swinging at all: if your student has ANY behaviors that the school views in only a disciplinary manner you can bet that your student will be shoved into a self contained setting before the sun sets. Building administrators have no idea their obligations to IEPs and Behavior Plans, though they are "evaluating" staff who are supposed to make good on the legal obligation of SPS on both. I feel that our students in GenEd are in constant jeapardy. Our students' access to INCLUSIVE public education is so tenuous in Seattle Public Schools. Nobody really wants them. I don't know where you get your data on the grand embrace of inclusion, maybe another district somewhere else in Washington State?

#inclusionmatters
1/30/16, 10:20 PM
Anonymous said…
And really. All the audits and program evaluations over the last 10 years. Did a single evaluation anywhere (evaluating special ed services in sps)conclude "There's just too much inclusion going on. SPS needs more self contained placements." No. They didn't. Every study and evaluation found too much segregation and limited mainstream opportunities for students with disabilities. What do parents all over the district complain about? Lack of inclusion. Lack of ownership, when there is inclusion. Special Educator, you need to sally forth from the room more often.

Next
1/30/16, 10:42 PM
alex said…
Such good news!
1/31/16, 2:42 PM
nhuthuy said…
Thanks for sharing, nice post! Post really provice useful information!

An Thái Sơn với website anthaison.vn chuyên sản phẩm máy đưa võng hay máy đưa võng tự động tốt cho bé là địa chỉ bán máy đưa võng giá rẻ tại TP.HCM và giúp bạn tìm máy đưa võng loại nào tốt nhất hiện nay.
1/6/20, 8:05 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more