Please let us know if you attend the rally before the meeting. Seeing photos from Twitter; looks like a good crowd at the rally. The West Seattle Blog is there reporting. I am going to attempt to live blog so you will see abbreviations, spelling/grammar errors, etc. I will clean it up but I think it is worth trying to do. I will be refreshing the page as I go. I am sad to see that apparently President Liza Rankin is not even going to allow 10 people over the regular 20 to testify. Just five. Also, right at the beginning, the Board has stuck in, after Board comments, a Progress Monitoring presentation. They could have put it at the end but they didn't. They think - in 45 minutes - they can do Superintendent comments, Board comments and this presentation. I doubt that public testimony will start on-time. Tone-deaf doesn't even cover it with Board leadership. To note, apparently the district scheduled the NE community meeting on closures on Rosh Hashanah which is October 2. I
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Thus, it bothers me that Starbucks and the other 40 companies are making it easier for these kids to find jobs—minimum wage, I'm sure, and possibly taking a job away from an adult.
NOTE: The info makes a point that the youth should NOT be in school: Coalition of 40 Top U.S. Companies Set to Launch Long-Term Hiring Effort in Seattle to Bring Jobs to Opportunity Youth – 16- to 24-Year-Olds Who Are Not in School or Employed
Does this bother anyone else, or am I alone here?
It's not taking a job, it's giving a new opportunity to someone that doesn't have one. Thought we don't want kids to be taken advantage of, we do want them to have good life experiences.
If a 16 year old isn't going to school, it's good that they are getting life skills and contributing to the community!
I don't think you are the only one opinion, but I hope this helps you see the other side a little more!
What struck me is that the business person she spoke to said that many of the 16-24 unemployed youth are low-income and/or minority and that they're often not offered encouragement about being able to get work. He said something like, "They hear that they'll never get anywhere," and that this is the first time some of them have ever been given positive messages that they can succeed.
So no, I don't think this was a bad thing, and I don't feel that they are taking jobs from adults. Since I work with low-income minority youth, I can tell you that many of them, in or out of school, have the responsibilities of full adults, sometimes responsibilities that would crush adults with a good job or education. I'm happy to see companies willing to take a chance on some of them. Would you rather they remain unemployed and on welfare, or their struggling family go without heat, power or water? That's what some of the working teens I know are helping to provide.
Tenn Advocate