McCleary; It's Not Over
It may appear that way to legislators and their big "whew, we got something done" but until we hear the Supreme Court's weigh in, the issue is not done.
I just spoke to teachers at Roosevelt at the Red for Ed day. My main message to them and to you is to keep the heat on.
Legislators need to hear that YOU are not happy. They need to feel that pressure.
They also need to hear that you VOTE. There is nothing like a voter to put the fear of God into an elected officials. Certainly, if you are not their constituent, you might think they can brush it off but the power of saying you vote - out loud - surely gives all of them pause.
Here's the link to finding your legislator. Once you get there, it's a pretty easy process with a fill-in e-mail form that can go to all your reps.
Also, I know many of you have probably heard about the "Breakfast After the Bell" program; we have two schools, Aki Kurose and Rainier Beach, currently doing this. As well, four more are slated to come on-board - Roxhill, Dunlap, West Seattle elementary and the World School.) There's a bill in support of this idea, it's HB1295.
Washington State ranks 45th for school breakfast participation (and that's probably not because we are a low-poverty state.)
The legislation affects only high poverty schools where at least 70% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. One of the biggest differences is that it would not require kids to come in before school to access breakfast. Schools would have flexibility to pick among Grab and Go, Second Chance Breakfast or Breakfast in the Classroom.
Breakfast After the Bell has a coalition of at least 20 groups supporting this effort including the City, Food Lifeline, and the Washington State chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
I just spoke to teachers at Roosevelt at the Red for Ed day. My main message to them and to you is to keep the heat on.
Legislators need to hear that YOU are not happy. They need to feel that pressure.
They also need to hear that you VOTE. There is nothing like a voter to put the fear of God into an elected officials. Certainly, if you are not their constituent, you might think they can brush it off but the power of saying you vote - out loud - surely gives all of them pause.
Here's the link to finding your legislator. Once you get there, it's a pretty easy process with a fill-in e-mail form that can go to all your reps.
Also, I know many of you have probably heard about the "Breakfast After the Bell" program; we have two schools, Aki Kurose and Rainier Beach, currently doing this. As well, four more are slated to come on-board - Roxhill, Dunlap, West Seattle elementary and the World School.) There's a bill in support of this idea, it's HB1295.
Washington State ranks 45th for school breakfast participation (and that's probably not because we are a low-poverty state.)
The legislation affects only high poverty schools where at least 70% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. One of the biggest differences is that it would not require kids to come in before school to access breakfast. Schools would have flexibility to pick among Grab and Go, Second Chance Breakfast or Breakfast in the Classroom.
Breakfast After the Bell has a coalition of at least 20 groups supporting this effort including the City, Food Lifeline, and the Washington State chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Comments
Anything from Steve and Connie B to fund McCleary? Macfarlane out there begging for McCleary $$ and solutions? Not a peep. Shameful.
NoCharters
Meanwhile, we're seeing articles that charter schools are showing significant gains, but test scores have NOT been released to voting public. As well, Liv Finne claims charter schools are less expensive, but OSPI reports that Summit Sierra's per pupil allocation is $11K. I compared Summit's $11k figure to SPS and OSPI reports a $6K per pupil allocation to SPS students.
http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/charter-schools-provide-more-education-for-less-money
And how did the "walk-in" go today? From all the reporting and pictures I've seen so far today, it didn't extend (much) beyond Seattle and its schools north of the ship canal. Once again, here we have SPS bizarrely held up as representative of the entire state. SPS has severely mismanaged growth and capacity as well as its operating budget over the past several years leading to over-crowding, crumbling facilities, large class sizes, and inadequate materials and supplies --- not to mention its shameful lack of support for students with disabilities, poor students, and students of color. Now the parents (Soup for Teachers and WPD) and teachers (SEA) and administrators (Nyland and the school board) want the state to bail it out. Precious. And typical.
And you know what speaks louder than I VOTE to legislators? I have a PAC.
Citizen Kane
CT
"SPS bizarrely held up as representative of the entire state."
As per usual, Citizen Kane casts a glow of brilliant light. Seattle is leading the effort. I applaud their passion and the time they take to call attention to important issues.
"SPS has severely mismanaged growth and capacity as well as its operating budget"
I am challenging Citizen Kane to write-up challenges during the Great Recession that required the district to close an $125M funding gap, and I challenge Citizen Kane to analyze the budget and expenditures. I'm also challenging Citizen Kane to name grants that have expired and costs of the district picking up those expenditures. And lastly, I would like for Citizen Kane to do an analysis of the costs related to legislative mandates, and rising costs of electricity and other utilities.
Make the claim and you get to explain....
CK, you're going to blame SPS for class size? And you think the district is shorting schools on supplies?
You have a PAC? Go to it. Guess what? Your PAC is not going to save charters.
And yes, I think the district is shorting schools on supplies. Families, at least the ones that can afford it, are providing numerous classroom supplies.
And of course I don't have a PAC. I'm a person. And my comment had nothing to do with charters. It was a commentary on elections.
Citizen Kane
P.S. NO 1240 - All of my claims have been well-documented on this blog by many, many people including Melissa and Charlie. There's no reason to re-hash it all.
We can all see them kicking the can down the road; we all know it won't REALLY be over until the legislature actually fully funds schools.
Well, MOST of us understood Melissa's meaning... ;)