Garfield Students: Pushing Forward on Issues

From the Facebook page of Racial Justice in Seattle Schools (I am happy to print any response from the current officers or Garfield parents who may know more - sss.westbrook@gmail.com.)


Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm so tired of the Garfield malcontents.

Boo Hoo
5/20/16, 6:01 PM
Jan said…
An articulate letter from what sounds like a collective group of caring, committed kids. I would love to know more of the back story, but in the meantime, am happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. Good for them! I can't vouch for what I don't know, but I DO know that virtually every group in history that has dared to speak truth to power has been labelled "malcontents."

And I have never been tired of any group of Seattle Public school students trying to advocate for a better world. I feel sorry for those who do. Maybe the kids are right, maybe not. But they are nearly always engaging, compelling people.
5/21/16, 12:46 AM
Anonymous said…
Melissa, can you share how you came by this story? Did someone send you a link to the page, a screenshot of a private page, or...? I DO know one of the youth in this group, but not the back story. I've reached out to her and sent her the link to this blog in the event she or one of the others involved would like to comment. I can't speak for all of them, but this one girl IS a caring, dedicated, studious kid who is active in both school and church in very positive ways.

Longtime Reader
5/21/16, 9:20 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
As I said at the top, this is from a Facebook page.
5/21/16, 9:38 AM
Anonymous said…
I saw that, Melissa, but how did you come across the page? I was wondering how it came up just now, given that the date on the letter is from March. Do you just do FB searches for pages related to anything in Seattle schools, were you already following this page, etc.? In any case, hopefully someone from that group will come on here and fill us in.

Longtime Reader
5/21/16, 10:58 AM
GarfieldMom said…
Yeah, I am curious about the timing. I know three of these students. They are awesome. Their concerns have not been adequately addressed, and they have started a separate group.
5/21/16, 2:35 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
I believe I may have seen via the Soup for Teachers Facebook page. I did not search it out and I was not following that group's page.

5/21/16, 3:10 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