Tuesday Open Thread
Betsy DeVos was confirmed by the Senate as the next Secretary of Education. The 50-50 tie vote was decided by Vice President Mike Pence.
What else is going horribly wrong?
What else is going horribly wrong?
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.)
Comments
#1 ESSA has stripped the power from the US Secretary of Education to bribe, coerce, extort, and intimidate the states.
#2 Her nomination and confirmation has created a major focus on her views. She will have a more difficult time screwing things
up than Arne Duncan had.
#3 Perhaps a larger number of citizens will be watching not just Betsy DeVos but many of the other major players in the "Ed Game".
-- Dan Dempsey
Inside the high-stakes chess match over school funding
"“There are about half a million kids in this state that … after implementing the Republican plan, would not have more money in their schools,” said Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island.
The plan’s architect, Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, said it would offer a more responsive model for funding schools."
---
"Which baseline gets used for comparison makes a big difference. Compared to current funding levels, all but 16 of the state’s 295 school districts would see an increase. But compared to the funding schools would receive in 2019 if the current funding regime, including local levies, were extended until then, just over half the districts in the state would see a cut."
-- Dan Dempsey
about time
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2017-02-07/lessons-from-betsy-devos-bitter-confirmation-to-be-secretary-of-education?src=usn_fb
For years, Democrats have been pushing privatization efforts. Now- the outrage.
Democrats shoot themselves in the foot- again.
Cliff Levy
Queen Anne Mom, also a gardener
-McClureWatcher
HP
http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/even-when-it-comes-to-charter-schools-devoss-ideas-far-from-whats-in-place-here/
I recall that right after 9/11 some guy tried to set it on fire and was caught. Community members spent the night patrolling the area to protect the mosque and many of us took flowers there to show that we support the mosque and did blame them or their religion for the attack. It was the neighborly thing to do.
asdf
Mr Rogers would have been the person we needed to talk with Donald Trump about attitudes and behavior. It would have been fabulous to see Mr Rogers interview Mr Trump.
-- Dan Dempsey
The comments section that accompanies the article was also quite good.
-- Dan Dempsey
The Every Student Succeeds Act explicitly bars the education secretary from influencing states' decisions about standards. So right now, neither Trump nor DeVos can bar states from using the common core. Absent a change to federal education law that bans the common core outright or in some way relaxes those prohibitions on the secretary (neither of those possibilities appears at all likely right now), their hands are tied.
So it seems that Congress got the message from the public in regard to the Obama/Duncan manipulation of funding to coerce states into adopting Common Core and passed ESSA, which now prohibits federal coercion.
Now Kellyanne Conway needs to get the message and inform Mr Trump.
-- Dan Dempsey
North of 85th
Bellevue would see a property tax increase of $926.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-property-taxes-would-rise-under-gop-school-funding-plan-state-analysis-shows/
It would be the answer regardless of the type of tax. A lot of you would prefer an income tax, but that would still fall more heavily on Seattle, Mercer Island and Bellevue and shift money to other regions.
I do, however, have a better idea. Introduce triple property taxes on anything owned by foreign investors. Or perhaps a legally easier means to the same end: triple property taxes on any residence not occupied at least 180 days per year. That would both fund schools and lower the cost of housing.
i would go after those industries that rely on skilled work forces. like all of them! and tax them. not one doesn't benefit from the roads, the livability of the city and the established culture here.
i hate city taxes on businesses. they have really no idea and enforcement is also none existent (not to mention they stall innovation). but some modest corporate income tax increase would pay for it all.
good luck getting dino and his clan to pay for that though - they want to be a trumpet some day.
no caps