Tuesday Open Thread
Ah, the first day of summer vacation and, of course, it's overcast.
Checking the PDC for school board candidate contributions, I see this:
District IV: Eden Mack, $6K
District V: Alec Cooper, $2K; Andre Helmstetter, $835; Zachary DeWolf, $4K and Omar Vasquez, $8K
District VII: no contributions to any candidate
Story in the Times about the possible closure of Fircrest School in Shoreline puts a spotlight on how we serve students with developmental issues.
Here's what I'm seeing from posts (from readers, not the WPD) at the Washington's Paramount Duty Facebook page on budget/McCleary negotiations:
Rumor has it that:
From noted public policy expert, Robert Cruickshank:
What's on your mind?
Checking the PDC for school board candidate contributions, I see this:
District IV: Eden Mack, $6K
District V: Alec Cooper, $2K; Andre Helmstetter, $835; Zachary DeWolf, $4K and Omar Vasquez, $8K
District VII: no contributions to any candidate
Story in the Times about the possible closure of Fircrest School in Shoreline puts a spotlight on how we serve students with developmental issues.
Here's what I'm seeing from posts (from readers, not the WPD) at the Washington's Paramount Duty Facebook page on budget/McCleary negotiations:
Rumor has it that:
**Teachers will lose bargaining rights around salary and benefits.
**Teachers will lose opportunities for salary advancement for advanced degrees and professional development hours.
**Students will lose voter approved protections on overcrowded classrooms.
**Property owners will see increased property taxes.
**Voters will lose respect for their decision making around additional funding for their local schools.
From Senator Reuven Carlyle:**Teachers will lose opportunities for salary advancement for advanced degrees and professional development hours.
**Students will lose voter approved protections on overcrowded classrooms.
**Property owners will see increased property taxes.
**Voters will lose respect for their decision making around additional funding for their local schools.
We appear to be moving toward a state budget and the largest reform of education finance in our state's 128 year history. #waleg Regardless of how it unfolds, I'm grateful for the enormous dedication of budget writers working 7x24 for a responsible agreement. And yet outside of politics, on a deeper, more structural and institutional level, we should all be unsettled that we have come within days of formal floor votes and yet have no public bill, no public data, no public analysis and no visibility into the historic implications on taxpayers and our 295 school districts serving 1.1 million students. We are better than this as a state.Kinda like the state GOP reps are echoing the actions of the Senate GOP on the health care bill.
From noted public policy expert, Robert Cruickshank:
Hey Seattle! Do you want a massive property tax increase? The legislature is considering doing exactly that to fund public schools, rather than raising taxes on the rich and on big businesses. Negotiations are going down to the wire. If you don't want to make our regressive tax system even worse, and if you don't want to make gentrification and displacement even worse, call or email your legislators now! Tell them "no property tax increase - tax the rich and big business instead." Our Seattle legislators in particular need to hear from us. We must let them know we do not and will not accept using property taxes instead of taxing the rich and big corporations to fund our schools.I perceive from all this that the GOP has been stalling and stalling and is now pushing Dems to get the budget done to avoid the partial state government shutdown that looms on Friday.
What's on your mind?
Comments
Notax
Medicaid only pays a small portion of the caregiver hours actually needed for safety in the community, and the remaining hours must be made up by family... or is just not provided and severely disabled are often neglected.
Realistic housing costs are not paid by Medicaid and severely disabled are "warehoused" in the worst community nursing homes that do not specialize in care for this population, or homes are gifted by family, or disabled are left homeless. (Homelessness is a huge issue for DD folks, ask ARC).
In the community food is not provided. Severely disabled have to qualify for and manage EBT or food banks, or have someone do this for them? No one gets reimbursed for this in the community, big savings!
Severely disabled are left to their own devices to schedule and attend medical appointments, which only happens if there is a guardian present and actively engaged. in the community this care coordination is not reimbursed or is simply not provided.
Transportation costs increase as medical and therapy appoints are remote in the community... guess what, transportation is Out of a different state budget, so that gets off booked although this cost increases significantly in the community.
Then if the severely disabled are in crisis after not managing to coordinate all preventative care and transportation on their own, they may end up in the ER which certainly doesn't count, or in prison which is a different budget, or shot by police.
See how it is so much cheaper to close institutions and sell land (probably to cronies at a discount for a kick-back).
If you account for all these expenses, communal care like Fircrest begins to look like a real bargain, and should be expanded, as an option for families, or those without family.
Bargain Hunter
I am not confident Seattle Public Schools is going to see a lot of state funding. Defunding the state's largest school district would be a mistake.
Of course, Seattle has many more students to serve.
Is it the beginning of the end for Blaine?
-- Dan Dempsey
HP
Eat it
Does anyone know the name they've filed under? It's not under any name I can find.
Curious Parent
I am inclined to support other school low income schools.
Watching too
Washington's Paramount Duty has, well, dutifully been filing our L6 forms with the PDC. The PDC website can be a bit byzantine and things are not always easy to find. However, this link should work:
http://web.pdc.wa.gov/qviewreports/results.aspx?rpt=http://hera.pdc.wa.gov/AppXtender/ISubmitQuery.aspx?DataSource=IMAGE&AppName=PDC&FILER+NAME=WASHINGTONS+PARAMOUNT+DUTY*&FORM+TYPE=List:%20%27L6%27,%27L6%20AMENDED%27,%27L6%20MISCELLANEOUS%27
Are there any particular questions I can answer for you, keeping in mind I'm not the one actually compiling or filing?
Also, making the South Shore librarian half-time is appalling, especially when there have been numerous articles written about the inequities of how libraries are (or are not) supported by SPS. And just this week the central staff asked for yet another consultant. Who will say "no" and demand that money go to classrooms rather than consultants?
HP