Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS Communications: Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is excited to announce that starting in fall 2016-17, families will be supported with expanded childcare options in West Seattle. SPS in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation will be providing new childcare options in the Schmitz Park building as well as in the Genesee Hill and Lafayette Elementary buildings.

Board Policy 3208, Sexual Harassment, calls for an annual report from the Superintendent. There never were any such annual reports until two years ago. The first one, delivered in August of 2014, was completely inadequate and utterly failed to meet the requirements of the policy.

The Friday Memo of August 26 includes this FAQ sheet on the new Superintendent Procedure 2190SP and the waiver request from Thurgood Marshall for blended HCC/General Education social studies. The FAQ sheet includes some strong points. Among them:

I was told by SPS Communications that transportation letters went out this week.  If you do NOT get yours by Thursday, they ask that you call Transportation. I received an e-mail from a parent that Dr. Nyland appears to have an Instagram account.  SPS Communications tells me he does not have one.  So if you get a friend request from that account, just know - it's not him. Garfield was to have a 9th grade (parent) orientation on Thursday.  There was a terse announcement that it had been cancelled and will be rescheduled.  (When? Friday? Tuesday? That's all that's left.)

Update : well, there is a firestorm of thought on this issue.  Jones has some very passionate supporters and yet there are people who are uncertain/not happy and they fall into two camps. 1) People worried about her stances on LGBTQ issues. 2) People who find her lack of clarity and updating of her positions unnerving. She led a chapter of Young Life, a high school Christian group, in Spokane for a couple of years. That's fine but some chapters are homophobic but she says hers wasn't. I did check with the regional YL and their leaders all have to sign a "faith and conduct" contract for their own lives which is to embracing their teachings and reject "the gay lifestyle." They also said all kids are welcome and not questioned about their views and the leaders are not there to try to change anyone. She also said - at her campaign Facebook page - " When I answered "NO" I was referring to both the sexual orientation being a choice ...

The Times is reporting that John Muir Elementary's PTA is buying school supplies for all the children at that school this year.  They had taken a survey and parents said this was a big issue for them.  Buying in bulk allowed the cost to drop from $75 per child to $15 per child. Across Washington state, schools are dropping their supply lists or trimming them down amid increasing costs of supplies — and an increasing number of families in need.  The PTA also asked the John Muir teachers what they needed for their classrooms for the upcoming school year and then ordered all those supplies, too.  The Times is also conducting its own annual drive for school supplies for low-income students.  Bravo to the Muir PTA for listening to its membership about how to spend that hard-earned fundraising pot of dollars. 

I want to note the passing of two people in our city who were activists.  I applaud anyone who takes on advocacy work, whether it be for community needs, schools or government.

Mainly just the calm before the storm of school starting up but there are several happy events; namely, the ribbon-cuttings and tours of new schools.  (I am going to try to go to all of them). Thursday, September 1 - Thornton Creek K-5 - 11am-noon - Hazel Wolf K-8 @ Pinehurst School - 1-2 pm Friday, September 2nd - Seattle World School @ T.T. Minor School -11am-noon Saturday, September 3rd  Community Meeting with Director Peters Magnolia Library, 2801 34th Ave. W 11 am-12:30 pm   Tuesday, September 6th - Arbor Heights - 11 am - noon - Genesee Hill - 1-2 pm Update: story from SPS Communications on the new Arbor Heights school.

From Minneapolis: statement from Lacey Lander Elementary principal Mauri Melander (bold and color mine):

Washington's Paramount Duty is organizing a trip down to Olympia on Tuesday, September 6th to address the Education Funding Task Force that is working on McCleary funding issues. Yes, I know that's the first day of school but if you can't come, please DO weigh in anyway. E-mail Tali Rausch, who is the head of WPD, with your funding thoughts. She will be compiling these e-mails to present to the committee. A huge stack of statements from parents and communities really would send a message to these legislators. Her e-mail is: tali@paramountduty.org

I recently interviewed the head of a great group, FOCs , (Families of Color), which is kind of a PEPS for those families.  Amy Pak is the Founder and Executive Director of FOCs. This is their mission statement: Families of Color Seattle (FOCS)  is dedicated to exploring racism, and engaging in anti-racist work in ways that are accessible to all people and ages. Families of Color Seattle is a safe space for families of color. Anti-racist work is often approached academically – FOCS incorporates art, play, music, food, and community building in their programming, parent groups and community dialogue series to engage parents, educators, and the broader community in anti-racist work. They offer parenting groups, arts classes and a bilingual pre-school.   I interviewed Ms. Pak earlier this summer about her work and FOCs.

 Last week the district had a "community" budget meeting (I was not invited and had only seen it as a one-line note on the district calendar.)  They invited 400 people and 8 came.  Maybe next time they might just invite anyone from any school community. Luckily the good people from Soup for Teachers sent a rep and here is Jason Rankin's write-up (thank you to him.)  He asks some good questions for the next meeting and hopefully, this thread will generate some more.  (I have to smile as Jason reports that the next meeting is on September 26th from 4-5 pm but it's not even on the district calendar right now.) I'll just note that on page 17, it states that the district had carryover funds of $31M. I'm sure those are restricted in some way but that seems like a lot of unspent money when there is need in all directions.  As well Sped spending has gone up 10% in three years. Page 31 has all the groups paid thru collective bargaining but I see no slide for the...

You've been following the Epi-pen story, right?  How the price has gone up and up (just as the CEO's salary went up and up?) Here's a local side to it from KUOW : One solution to the soaring price of EpiPens: Build a replacement that costs a fraction as much. Jim Duren of King County Emergency Medical Services told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm that his agency did just that in 2013, building its own injection kit.

 A truly compelling article from two researchers on what is happening with closing the opportunity gap. (bold mine) The enormous gap in academic performance between high- and low-income children has begun to narrow. Children entering kindergarten today are more equally prepared than they were in the late 1990s . From 1998 to 2010, the school readiness gap narrowed by 10 percent in math and 16 percent in reading. The gaps that remain are still vast. But even this modest improvement represents a sharp reversal of the trend over the preceding decades. It’s worth noting that the gap in school readiness narrowed because of relatively rapid improvements in the skills of low-income children, not because the skills of children from high-income families declined. 

From SPS Communications: Kyle Kinoshita, Ed.D has been selected Chief of Curriculum and Instruction for Seattle Public Schools (SPS). Kinoshita comes to the position after serving as the Executive Director of Learning and Teaching for the Marysville School District for the past nine years. The SPS Chief of Curriculum and Instruction position is critical to students’ success. The position provides the district expertise and innovative leadership for all phases of department services, including professional development, standards, and assessments, as well as development of a curriculum and instructional delivery service model for schools to ensure direct and system-wide services to students. Kyle was selected from a field of 21 applicants through a rigorous interview process that included principals, union partners and central office leaders. One of the most important reasons Kyle applied for the position is that he is a product of Seattle School District’s centr...

Happy Birthday to the National Parks Service on their 100th.  Free admission to all national parks thru Sunday, August 28th. A lot of news about schools around Puget Sound.

Are you glad summer is ending and school will start soon?  Or are you dreading that getting back to the school routine?  Combination of both?

I don’t know about you all, but I’m pretty tired of every discussion devolving into a non-productive back and forth about highly capable services. The discussions have not been very productive because we have been talking to personalities instead of policies. I would like to try addressing policy. Here’s the idea: it’s not enough to rail against a policy or procedure. Offer a workable alternative. You think something is done wrong? Tell us how it should be done right – and please be thoughtful enough to consider the costs (if any) and some of the unintended consequences of the change. We’ll try it for HC services first and, if it goes well, we’ll try it for Advanced Learning.

From OSPI: For the 13th straight year, Washington students scored above the national average on the ACT exam, according to results released today.

Besides the hilarious (and true) account of charter school mishaps across the country from John Oliver, there's this news:

In our Aug. 16 press release on statewide test scores, OSPI incorrectly reported some numbers.

This is my summary and I use only partial quotes from the State's response.  Its tone is respectful and I think that is because of our Attorney General Bob Ferguson.  I suspect if they had left it to some members of the legislature that I would not have the same tone.  What the State says.     

You might be thinking, "Gee, Melissa, not much notice." My thought exactly. I had seen this on the district's calendar at the end of last week but thought it might be something internal.  But no, it's this:

As I previously reported, there are to be ribbon-cuttings at each new building that is opening this school year.  I checked and right after the event, there will be public tours of the buildings.

From SPS Communications: School Choice has ended and waitlists have been dissolved for the 2016-17 school year. 

Interesting story at Politico on how the Rust Belt is losing teachers.   It finds that top performers in high schools are more likely to move away — and end up living in an “innovative” labor market, marked by a higher share of college-educated residents driving growth and attracting ever more highly skilled workers. Another finding? Among those who move away, one’s high school and college coursework predicts whether one will move longer distances. “The best and brightest for Austin might or might not stay. The best and the brightest for Seattle might or might not stay. But they always land on their feet in the sense that they always land in the places that have other best and brightest,” Chandra Muller, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin who was lead researcher for the work, tells Morning Education.

The video of the day getting a great amount of attention (and it's great that it is) is John Oliver on Last Week Tonight.   He takes on charter schools in his imitable fashion. The main thing he does is take on both sides. Kinda.  He says he doesn't want to examine the "principle" of having charters but their "outcomes."  What he does say is that charters are in 42 states and D.C. so obviously they are here.  This is at three minutes into the program and the segment is 18 minutes long but luckily, there are many abysmal charter stories from all around the nation. Amazing how the NAACP and Black Lives Matters have both recently come out against corporate charter schools (which are most of them) and now this from John Oliver.  The stars seem to be aligning but to see the scrambling of charter supporters to try to figure out how to say the NAACP is wrong without saying, well, they're wrong, is fun to watch. But it's fun for about those 18 minutes...

Update: here's the State's reply .  I have not read it thru ye t. end of update From Summer Stinson of Washington's Paramount Duty's Facebook page: The State's brief responding to the Supreme Court's questions is due today.  Such anticipation! What do you think the State will say?   My belief is that the State will say: 1) look at all we HAVE gotten done  Which basically, was backfill for money lost during the recession, a point that gets lost all the time. Districts have not really moved forward with current McCleary money because of the cuts they took during the recession. 2) trust us With no evidence as to why anyone should 3) Dear Court, you're a bunch of idiots so leave us alone. (That would be if Rep. Matt Manweller and Rep Chad Magendanz wrote the response.)

That's what the Huffington Post thinks.  Maybe the schools are but it seems quiet on the parent front.  Have you talked to your high school kid about this?  Is it a smile or a shrug?

One school's message to parents.  So what say you: Yay or Nay?  I was trying to remember if I had done this much but not really.  If one of my sons had forgotten an important report, maybe, but I certainly wasn't going to bring their regular homework.  (Also, we didn't quite make it to the age of kids with cell phones so I'm not sure the office would have allowed them to call me.) 

There seems to be some misunderstanding about the use of quote marks when you writing about what another person has written. You should only use them if the writer - be it me, Charlie or any commenter - said EXACTLY what you are quoting.  Otherwise, please do not use them.  The reason should be obvious but I will state it: others may then read your comment and believe the other person said exactly what you are quoting.  And they didn't. Now you are free to say: - I think I'm hearing you say .... - Sounds like you are saying... Or something along those lines. If every single time someone quotes someone else, I have to go back and check the quote, I will be annoyed.  I don't have time to do that nor should I have to. There is something of an honor system here and if you can't write in a respectful manner, don't comment at all.  If I see this to be a problem, I will just delete the comments from those people who will not follow a rule of common dece...

Here's the agenda that I previous reported on with one key omission:  they have removed the Principals contract from the Action part of the agenda.  Until September 17th.  After school has started. Something's up and it can't be good.  Month after month of not approving a contract?  I don't think there will be a principals' strike but it's odd to start the year with no contract. There are two other items being pulled from the Action portion of the agenda; one IT (purchase of Cloudbooks) and one capital (waterlines at Ingraham.)

Parents: Does your child's school have a long list of back-to-school supplies that includes things your parents never had to provide (like a year's worth of kleenex, glue sticks and markers for the class)? Teachers: I'd love to hear your thoughts! I'm working on a story for KUOW Public Radio. You can comment or email adornfeld@kuow.org. Thanks!

 Before starting this thread I want to acknowledge that long-time (and beloved) staffer, Joe Bland, died on August 11th.  From the Garfield PTSA Facebook page: Joe was a cherished presence at Garfield High School for almost 30 years where he worked as a teachers assistant in the gym (basketball, volleyball and wrestling), with the kids in detention and the incoming freshmen in the Bridge Program. His warmth and kindness touched so many. I went to this meeting truly not knowing what to expect.

I attended the 100 Black Parents meeting last night; quite interesting.  I'll try to have a write-up today.  As I previously reported, the parents have a survey going and presented their early results.  One of their top items was no more suspensions with other ways to address behavior issues.  I recently read this two-sides to the issue article on this topic from the conservative American Enterprise Institute.  As well, the Daily News had an op-ed about what Mayor de Blasio is doing on this issue from the president of the teachers union, Michael Milgrew. Too often, Tweed adopts policies without understanding how they will play out in schools and then ignores its responsibility for turning policy into reality. Past promises for training and support have not arrived at many schools. I agree. Teachers need the supports that would allow them to get help for a student AND protect the learning in the classroom.  Suspension should only be for violence iss...

In advance of the meeting tonight at Mt. Zion Baptist Church at 6 pm with Garfield principal Ted Howard and black parents at GHS,  I thought I would put up their short survey. I'm putting it up for two reasons. One, if there are any black Garfield parents who haven't seen it, they might want to weigh in. Two, I note the list of items that is their wish list of 17 items.  Know what's NOT on it?  Blended classes.  It's a long list and that's not on it.  What they do say on honors is this:

New and clarified information on kindergarten enrollment from the district: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL – September 12 The first day of school for ALL kindergarten students is Monday, September 12 . The three-day delayed start enables teachers to launch “Family Connections” and meet with each family on September 7 , 8 or 9 to answer questions families may have and better support our youngest learners as they join our school and classroom communities. These teacher-parent visits will be available at every elementary and K-8 school, are an opportunity for teachers to hear families’ hopes and dreams for their children and shape instruction accordingly. Your conference will be scheduled by your child’s school. JUMP START, August 22-26 It is not too late to get a jump on the school year! This free transition-to-kindergarten program is offered at most Seattle elementary and K-8 schools. Jump Start offers children a chance to get comfortable in their new school, meet teach...

I'll just start by saying that I'm not surprised. You cannot have a district policy and/or a procedure about a program that does NOT clearly define all the elements/parts of that program.  If you are going to have ill-defined parts of a program, then at least the policy and/or procedure should say, "At this time and place, we are allowing principals to define the Spectrum program and/or ALO program at their school as they see fit for their community." Because that seems to be exactly what is happening.  Advanced Learning, as an office, seems now to only exist to test.  That's it.

OSPI released the SBAC scores today.  Scores increased but then again, you have to see where they started. The high school scores for LA went from 26 to 76% which is quite a wild swing but the scores for math are dismal.

I believe the waitlists dissolved yesterday.  Any thoughts?  Any successes?  I will have to ask the district the question about space at schools.  If there is any space at a school, can a parent ask to have their child there?  Or, are any open spaces to be held for anyone new who moves into the district?

Throw like a girl. Swim like a girl. Jump like a girl.

Seattle Schools This Week: Monday, August 15th

What's Next for Black Students at GHS? A Talk With Ted Howard. Parents of African American students at Garfield High School will be meeting with Principal Ted Howard to present a proactive platform of goals and expectations for the 2016-17 school year. This platform will be a living, guiding document that will be a tool to enhance the Black Student Experience at Garfield.

I remember these last weeks of summer before school started for my kids.  You get the stuff from the teacher's supply list, new shoes and yes, have hope that your child AND your child's teacher both have a great year together. A wonderful video and a great idea.

There are many who are unhappy about the new lawsuit against the new charter school law.  This includes several editorial boards across the state with some exceptions.  What's quite telling about their arguments are three things. Their arguments seem to be on the notion that this is a frivolous lawsuit and we should just leave the charter schools to do their thing. 

Yesterday, Rep Reuven Carlyle had an opinion piece at Publicola .  He says that Sound Transit and public education funding cannot be done at the same time.  In 2015, he says he supported the financing for the light rail system.  (partial) And yet, as I review the updated financing plan in more depth, I continue to grapple on a deeply personal level with the genuine burden the Sound Transit proposal places on public education . It is unsettling at best to serve as a state legislator while Olympia is under a contempt order by the Supreme Court for failing to meet the state’s paramount duty of fully funding public education. This is historic and unprecedented and we are recreating our educational finance plan for the next generation in real time. After putting an additional $2.5 billion into K-12 funding over the last three legislative sessions since the McCleary ruling, Democrats and Republicans are struggling to find a final path forward for the last $3.5 billi...

I tried to watch the meteor shower last night but I didn't see anything.  Hoping to try again tonight.  Story here from KUOW. One early item I can report from the Charter Commission meeting yesterday is that nearly all the charters the Commission oversees are full but only one has a waitlist (meaning only one had to have a lottery - that would be Rainier Prep ), Soar Academy will be the most overenrolled, while the Summit schools report very good MAP scores but neither has a waitlist. Important reading from a Teachers College survey of parents on opting out .

Corporate Education Reformers may have a lot of business expertise, but that knowledge and skill does not translate to public education. They don’t seem to realize that almost nothing they have learned from the private sector is applicable in the public sector. Competition doesn’t work the way they think it does. They don’t seem to understand that schools have finite capacity. They don’t seem to understand what it takes to start a school. They don’t know what drives academic achievement. They don’t seem to understand the needs of students. Their focus on productivity is misplaced. They don’t recognize teachers as professionals. They don’t seem to understand that all teachers need the union to protect their jobs. They don’t seem to understand which school costs are fixed and which are variable Their first and fundamental mistake is that they have trouble understanding is that the profit motive, which is the force that drives everything in the private secto...

I'm off to the Washington State Charter Commission meeting this morning.  I'm most interested in the discussion about the latest lawsuit against the latest law.  I'm also interested to learn more about how Green Dot is going to provide free management services to Excel Charter School. I'm unlikely to stay for the entire meeting but I do want to learn about the Commission's funding and appropriations so I'll be there until just after lunch.

It's not entirely surprising to see this slippage happening in the ed reform world; indeed, with the deep and moneyed pockets they have, it's almost a surprise. But my theory is that they tend to believe that they 1) know all the answers and so 2) they exist in an echo chamber.  As I read my Twitter feed daily, I'm astonished at the same 10 subjects, rehashed and repackaged over and over. All of what I want to discuss in this thread will be leading to another thread on what the new "story" is for ed reform and it comes around "equity." Here's the latest news on this front.

We ask for leadership from Washington that celebrates the glories  of what we can accomplish rather than unrelenting dirges. I am going to send this post to the two candidates for state superintendent of public instruction - Chris Reykdal and Erin Jones - and ask them some questions about it. From Diane Ravitch:

From OPSI: State Superintendent Randy Dorn will release spring 2016 state testing results at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 16, at the John L. O’Brien Building in Olympia.

Interesting article from The Washington Post on boys and sleep.  Thank you to reader, Dan D. For much of history, of course, most girls couldn’t even get a decent education. But as soon as girls joined the classroom, they revved ahead. These charts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development  show that in developed nations, girls started outpacing boys in educational achievement starting in the 1960s. These days, girls earn 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees, and 51.8 percent of PhDs.

The news is not good.  In fact, there's quite a lot of rumbling across charterland.   Get a cup of coffee because there are many stories to read.  These stories create quite the crazy quilt of the landscape of charter schools. Let's start with the NAACP and the resolution brought forth at their national convention recently.  When you see the NAACP saying things like:

From the Cloaking Inequity blog (it references a convention in late July):

To note, the Seattle Times has brought on former AP reporter, Donna Gordon Blankenship, as a member of their editorial board. Ms. Blankenship's reporting for the AP was largely around education so she may inform their editorial writing (for better or worse - I always found her reporting less-than-balanced on education with a leaning towards ed reform.) Last summer week for the district with just one meeting this week.  Friday, August 12th, there is a meeting of the BEX Oversight Committee from 8:30-10:30 am at JSCEE, Room 2750.  No agenda yet available.  Next week will see a real pick-up of activity as there all four of the Board's committees will meet plus the first meeting of the Community Engagement Task Force. Also worth putting on the calendar are upcoming ribbon-cuttings for the following schools: - Thornton Creek K-5 - September 1 - 11am-noon - Hazel Wolf K-8 - September 1, 1-2 pm - Arbor Heights - September 6 - 11 am - noon - Genesee Hill -September 6 -...

My only comment at this point is that, sans the technology, this sounds a lot like what Nova does.

At the Tuesday Open Thread, I noticed a discussion going on over this Facebook post from some members of Soup for Teachers (partial): We need your help. We are a small group of parents with kids in public elementary schools in Seattle who are seeking some data from parents from all public elementary schools in the Seattle School District.

From Seattle Schools : Community Engagement Task Force Community stakeholders are invited to participate on the SPS Community Engagement task force hosted by SPS School Board Director, Leslie Harris and Chief Engagement Officer, Carri Campbell.

From Reuters: Just months after the College Board unveiled the new SAT this March, a person with access to material for upcoming versions of the redesigned exam provided Reuters with hundreds of confidential test items. The questions and answers include 21 reading passages – each with about a dozen questions – and about 160 math problems. 

The Associated Press is reporting that a lawsuit has been filed in King County Superior court over the new charter school law passed by the Legislature in the spring. Teachers unions, parents and other groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday over Washington’s new charter school law, a measure that was enacted last spring after the state Supreme Court struck down the old law.  The group includes the Washington Education Association, League of Women Voters, El Centro de la Raza and several labor unions.

 This column appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal (that fount of public education knowledge) and was written by Bob Wallace, a columnist at the PSBJ.  It is called, "Education Union Holds State Hostage."   Mr. Wallace dissects the issues around McCleary and it would probably have served him better to bone on issues before commenting on them.

In election results related to education, it looks like it will be Erin Jones versus Chris Reykdal in the general election for state superintendent of public instruction.  I think it will be an interesting race as they both are qualified and yet seem to be coming at the job in different ways.  There was not a huge difference between first and second place so it's a very competitive race.

I wish the Seattle Goodwill was doing this but at least any teacher can go to the locations they do have open for this event. 

The race for Supreme Court justices continues to heat up with the news that yet another billionaire has teamed up with a legislator to target Justice Barbara Madsen .  From KPLU :