Transition Plan for Next Year on Ops Agenda
A reader pointed out to me that on the Operations Committee meeting agenda for tomorrow there is this:
Approval of the 2018-19 Student Assignment Transition Plan (Herndon, Davies) (Editor's note; the reader requested a copy and was sent one.)
The reader said she hadn't had time to read it but when I checked, no attachments.
This particularly important document isn't there? How ready can it be to present to the Committee if it's not there 24 hours before the meeting?
I'd say be ready for anything. I'm going to try to make this meeting.
Approval of the 2018-19 Student Assignment Transition Plan (Herndon, Davies) (Editor's note; the reader requested a copy and was sent one.)
The reader said she hadn't had time to read it but when I checked, no attachments.
This particularly important document isn't there? How ready can it be to present to the Committee if it's not there 24 hours before the meeting?
I'd say be ready for anything. I'm going to try to make this meeting.
Comments
Ouch
Oy
The process was very simple.
1) Make a geographic map that draws boundaries exactly half way between all high schools. This will make transparent the line where "closest school" is for ALL students.
2) You then add to this map the number of currently enrolled SPS students who live in that boundary.
3) This will tell you at a glance, which schools have more students who live closer and which schools do not.
4) Then everyone knows which schools will be REQUIRED to have some students who live closer to this school, go elsewhere, AND which schools will need to have students who live closer to another school shift to this school.
You can then move students via boundaries (push them) or programs (pull them)
These maps were at every meeting the last time this happened and they used to be available on the district website. IIRC, Ballard had almost 2500 students, for whom Ballard was the closest high school. This made it very clear that there were going to be at least 1,000 families that would be directed to other schools. I would suspect that once again, Ballard has MORE students who live closer to Ballard, than Ballard can handle.
How do I define Insane ... to make this plan work.
Magnolia, North Green Lake AND the University District will all need to go to Lincoln to give Lincoln a bare minimum number of students. Because BOTH the LI students and the HCC students will have a guaranteed pathway out of Lincoln. This means that the boundaries for Lincoln will practically go to the doors of Ballard and Roosevelt.
Both Ingraham and Nathan Hale will need to EXPAND their boundaries so that Roosevelt and Ballard can reserve space for HCC. I guess the boundary can drop from 85th to 75th to make that happen but .... Ouch.
Franklin is an amazing school with long waitlist every year and very large boundaries. Franklin relies on students selecting Cleveland in order to manage their capacity. The changes to limit Open enrollment have widely different impacts in various schools. Limiting open enrollment has done significant harm to both Nova and Cleveland by not enabling choice seats in September. Nova changed to a service school to fix this but ... that was an awkward solution to a problem that never needed to exist.
Making Franklin the HCC pathway will necessitate boundary changes for South Seattle and changing Cleveland to an attendance area school. Maybe not immediately but in the not-too-distant-future, that will be the only way to manage capacity in that area.
And Garfield. Ouch. So all the South Seattle and West Seattle HCC, students will be pushed out of Garfield so Lincoln area students can go to Garfield. Ummm ... where is that racial and equity tool?????
I like the idea of low income families being protected from having to continually change schools.
http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2010/12/students-who-move.html
Help
South of Green Lake
rework it
Perplexed
Also, it is my understanding that "equity" is a reason why the district isn't following the superintendent's task force recommendations to make Lincoln a DLI school.
AND, the district didn't want to "tell" Lincoln's principal what her school would be.
So is this decision being made because Ms. Davies and Principal Medsker don't want the appearance of a privileged high school in Wallingford? I believe Ms. Davies has said as much at meetings?
Also Concerned
"Neighborhood vs. neighborhood is bad, but I fear it's about to get worse--neighborhood vs. HCC community. The proposed high school boundary maps for the north-end lead HC students right back to their neighborhood schools. If the board forces SPS to rework these maps to create room for HC cohort(s), neighborhood attendance area(s) will shrink because, against all logic, SPS says Lincoln will not house HCC. SPS would rather maximize drama by pushing neighborhood kids out. The impacted neighborhood(s) will rally against HCC giving SPS strong allies in its anti-HCC cause.
SPS is trying to divide and conquer. Let's not fall into this trap.
-United"
(As School Board Committees are working committees, the documents presented to the Board can change up to the time of the meeting. The Board Executive Committee has approved a pilot program to post to the website committee agendas and approved minutes only. Full meeting materials for Regular Board Meetings will still be posted. If you would like access to any of the materials for this meeting, you may call 206-252-0040 or email boardoffice@seattleschools.org and the Board Office staff will send committee materials to you promptly.)
The board has to show the staff who is in charge here. For so long the board hasn't been willing to do it. Now is an urgent moment for the board to stand up and tell the staff "no."
Were it up to me there would also be consequences for people's jobs for having botched this process. I hope board members understand that if they continue to protect staff from accountability and refuse to fire people, that the voters will fire the board members themselves.
Fire Everyone
I know other boards elsewhere have broader powers. Its an interesting question whether the current board should push to expand in this direction.
-structure
Flip, if you're reading this, you still have time to fix it before paper copies show up at the work session.
Aghast
• Making the Superintendent's job and/or COLA conditional on firing people
• Eliminating the budget line for a senior staffer
• Publicly urging a senior staffer to resign - name them and shame them
• Slashing the Central Office budget until senior staffers resign or are fired
And so on.
The only people in SPS who are immune from any sort of accountability are the senior staff. As long as that situation continues, nothing will ever improve. The school board needs to find a way to fire the senior staffers who need to go. If they don't, then there are four board members up for re-election in 2019 and I am guessing the public will not be in a mood to hear any more excuses about why the senior staff continue to get away with things.
Fire Everyone
DistrictWatcher
Kellie, Melissa & Eric B and all the wonderful parents who read and advocate on this blog, thank you and I hope you are communicating with the board! Now is the time.
MC
The newly released North End HCC pathway proposal is being discussed elsewhere but it impacts this and next year's SAP. In the worst possible way for HCC. Make no mistake, the problem is entirely because student enrollment and academic programming have not been tied at the hip in this process. It is *not* the fault of the community.
Here's where things seem to be landing:
With Ballard and Roosevelt designated as the North End HCC pathways (Except for Lincoln...whaaaaaa?), the most crowded North End schools will continue to be so. Further, the whitest most moneyed North End schools will become even more so. In a city trying to address racial and economic inequity - check out today's Seattle Times front page - the move will go over like a lead balloon and cause more antagonism toward the HCC program than is already here.
With Ballard and Roosevelt designated as the HCC pathways, boundaries will need to be drawn more tightly than the SAP being discussed for 2018 indicates.
Queen Anne, Magnolia, NW Greenlake, Phinney, Fremont, families north of 75th, families near I-5, chances are they're headed to schools other than Ballard, Roosevelt, if not in 2018 then in 2019. Are they fully aware? Are they going to be supportive of HCC at Ballard/Roosevelt? Been here. Done this. It will be ugly.
If by chance geographically nearby neighbors do attend Ballard/Roosevelt, then HCCers: Get ready for your program delivery to be largely Running Start. School capacity and scheduling issues will be growing, not diminishing. Is this the optimal way to deliver HCC services? It will work for some, but as the main solution I argue strongly....No!
Again, right sizing boundaries and program placement needed to be the primary lens, not one of the lenses, used in this process. This upcoming workshop is perhaps the last chance to bind the divergent paths, not splinter the north end into neighborhood v neighborhood. Further, every North End principal needs to be tied into this decision and needs to be a problem-solver not a roadblock. And they need to speak publicly about their perspective, not "hide" behind downtown. It isn't just downtown that owns this mess. It's the individual school principals too. Teamwork. We teach our kids to do it. Why can't the adult managers in this system manage to do the same?
CapacityWonk
Special Meetings
Special meeting agendas, including those for Board committee meetings, will be posted on the district’s website no later than twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the published start time, and final action may be taken only on that business contained in the notice of the special meeting and agenda.
I'd agree with DistrictWatcher that the supplementary info needs to get posted, and within the same time frame as the agenda. Write to the Board!
They've held public meetings that were cagey about the proposals, then won't post documents for public review, even on the day of the vote? Families have to request info individually, during school hours? What decade are we in?
KafkaLand
Seems like this plan is terrible for Ballard and Roosevelt overcrowding.
Helen
I think the problem we are trying to solve is "How to open Lincoln as a comprehensive high school, so that Lincoln is set up to be successful BOTH at launch with geo-split students and in the long run with future attendance area students, while creating BOTH the least disruption to current students and long-term reasonable boundaries?"
That is the question, I would asking. How to best balance some competing priorities to make the most good for the most students? I have no clue what question this solution is solving?
To me, the answer lies in looking at BOTH the population that lives in the immediate area and committing to serve those students AND looking at the mitigation required for geo-split students. The could be the same or different things.
A long term plan would need to include HCC and LI at Lincoln. The majority of Language Immersion students live in the immediate Lincoln area. Additionally, under all of the various scenarios, Lincoln has a large number of HCC qualified students.
A short term plan looks only at mitigation needs and I am certain someone crunched some numbers and determined that HCC and LI would require mitigation dollars. Of course, they will require mitigation dollars. Any plan for Lincoln is going to require SUBSTANTIAL mitigation. IMHO, there is no way to mitigation the need for mitigation.
And most importantly, the problem of year one mitigation dollars should not determine the boundaries for the entire district.
I'd like to see more data associated with each proposal, including equity analysis, transportation costs and times, and enrollment with and w/out HCC students.
Fix AL
They also need to provide data on budget, cohort size & projected honors & AP classes for each school etc. How they would actually provide this program effectively with enough sections etc. Considering how all the varied electives impact high school scheduling, and ease of scheduling advanced core classes at all 5 high schools, plus those going to Ingraham? Going from 1-2 pathways to 5-6 pathways. Overexpansion without a plan. From a program planning perspective there is no plan.
-critic
Flummoxed
C
There has been a request to revise the agenda to have the Student Assignment Transition Plan as the first item on tonight’s agenda. The committee will consider that request at the beginning of the meeting. Thank you.
C
Ruthie
https://anonfile.com/f797Q9c5bd/20171102_Ops_Agenda_Packet.pdf
NO, it is NOT too late. Tell the Board to not approve this plan for next year (and all that it implies for the future). Do it NOW. Interesting that this plan is out AFTER the community meetings on the boundaries.
Anonymous, (and no anonymous comments, please), yes I know you can request materials but that is just silly. And not equitable.
Directors Blanford, Geary and Pinkham are on Ops.
Another NW, interesting. I suspect it will get moved up.
I think staff are trying to make HCC such a big deal that other parents will rise up against it.
It does not to me especially without seeing an analysis on details and how will be provided. Three is different than five and five is way too many if you also include Ingraham which is also a pathway school so six.
D
Blaming Ruth Medsker for the Lincoln approach is also a non-starter. SPS wouldn't have installed her as the principal unless they concurred with her vision for Lincoln. Just a thought.
- NP
I note that district communications is not answering my questions very often so I don't know if I will get an answer.
Flip is handling this; Ashley is not here. The word Transitions will be placed in title and transfers back to assignment schools will be maintained.
cp
Ballard
right size capacity - 1607
2016 9th-12th grade SPS Residents - 1337
Roosevelt
right size capacity - 1715
2016 9th-12th grade SPS Residents - 1427
Nathan Hale and Ingraham are much closer to the same # for each.
https://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/Enrollment%20Planning/Growth%20Boundaries/2019%20High%20School%20Boundary%20Changes/2017_Lincoln_ScenarioH_v2_taskForce_ada.pdf
-GLP
So many questions the maps do not answer.
Shell Game
-GLP
Naming four (4) new regional HCC high school pathways beginning 2019 (Roosevelt, Ballard, Franklin, and West Seattle, in addition to Garfield and optional Ingraham IBX). Note that this new staff proposal is contrary to the HCC Advisory's proposal a couple of days ago for only one (1) new north end HCC high school school pathway (the HCC committee did not suggest at which school?). The new Lincoln High School is not being designated either as a HCC pathway or as a DLI language pathway.
Again, the extensive draft Transition SAP with supporting materials under discussion can be found at:
https://anonfile.com/f797Q9c5bd/20171102_Ops_Agenda_Packet.pdf
Of attendance area high schools, Garfield has the lowest outflow. Only about 10% of students living in GHS's boundaries elect to go to other schools in the district (compared with a district average of 25%, and RBHS's nearly 50%).
Since the district has a document showing where students live vs. where they go to school, this is information they have. So why would they choose to do that w/ GHS's boundaries if ANY portion of HCC is supposed to stay there? Last year, between GHS and Ingraham, there were 890 HCC-enrolled students.
Ruthie
So 7 days later, the revised document, now includes all the pathway information, that was NEVER vetted at any of the community meetings, that correspond with this process. So now all the comments at the community meetings about how HCC was not being returned to all schools but "some schools" is made clear.
And folks wonder why there is such a profound lack of trust on the topic of the SAP and boundaries. Transparency is critical to trust and there just isn't any transparency in this process.
IMHO, from a systems point of view, it is utter folly to go from one location to five. It makes a lot more sense to just make Lincoln the new site in the North end and then give it a few years for Madison to truly develop a cohort and if Garfield is still over-subscribed, then add an additional site in the south end.
# Classrooms (no portables) * 25 students each * 5 periods/day
I believe that there is some adjustment for SpEd in there, but not 100% sure.
For the full Decision Timelines for both the expected Nov. 15 SAP School Board vote and for the expected January 17 High School Boundary Changes School Board vote, see the following info from the staff open house handout "Student Assignment Plan, Advanced Learning, and High School Boundary Open House Meetings:"
"DECISION TIMELINES
Student Assignment Plan Changes for 2018-19 School Year
. . . .
* Oct. 25, 2017: Proposed changes to Student Assignment Plan presented to the Operations Committee as a Whole. This committee will determine whether or not the Student Assignment Plan is ready to go the full School Board.
* Oct. 23-30, 2017: Community feedback reviewed and considered so any revisions can be made before School Board introduction.
* Nov. 1, 2017: Expected date that recommended changes to Student Assignment Plan will be presented to the full School Board.
* Nov. 1-15, 2017: Additional community feedback reviewed and considered.
* Nov. 15, 2017: Expected date that the School Board will vote on the Student Assignment Plan for 2018-19.
. . . ."
"High School boundary Changes for 2019-20 School Year
. . . .
* April-October 2017: Task force works on recommendations. Preferred scenarios posted at www.seattleschools.org/high_school_boundary_changes
* October and November 2017: Community feedback collected through email, survey and community open houses on Oct. 23, 26 and 30, and Nov. 8 and 9.
* Week of Oct. 30 2017: Online survey available.
* November 2017: Task force members and Enrollment Planning team review and consider feedback to determine what adjustments should be made to scenarios.
* End of November: Enrollment Planning staff prepares recommended high school boundary change scenario to present to School Board.
* Dec. 7, 2017 High school boundary change options and recommendations presented to Seattle School Board Operations Committee. This committee decides if the options are ready to present to the full School Board.
* December 2017: Community meeting at John Stanford Center to share the recommendation presented to the Board Operations Committee on Dec. 7.
* Jan. 3, 2018: Expected date that recommendations will be presented to full School Board at Board Meeting.
* Jan. 17, 2018: Expected date Seattle School Board will vote on the high school boundaries at the School Board meeting.
. . . ."
Ruthie
I urge you to write to the other non-Ops Board members; Burke, Harris, Peters and Patu.
C
you can't have hcc in a new school. period. because as you all well know they are just looking for a private school experience. all cohorty and such. this is right up there when they made tm the north pathway school in south seattle. and hawthorne the south seattle cohort. so south of the ship canal and north of tm would have been bussed past tm and sent to hawthorne. as a reminder that was fought back by strong advocacy.
what is the one constant through all this mess. michael tolley. yep! spreading racial division for a quarter million dollars a year. nice gig if you can get it.
it has never been about race folks. it is about frl/ell and 2e being the underrepresented and protected groups. but it is so much easier to call it institutionalized racism. funny that this is the proposal for blandford and geary who have their own exposed hypocrisies on this and their option school enrollment for their kids. and was it pinkham who said effectively there are no poor whites at the last meeting? sounds like this one was tailored for them.
no caps
Shell Game
i agree this is designed to pit groups against each other.
no caps
C
Yes, everybody that has issues with this plan...please write now!
C
N
lhs can choose to stay in an area and will probably get their needs met.
Wait, what? HCC getting their needs met in a school full of regulars? Here we all thought that was impossible! But somehow it’s probabl gonna be ok. How could that be? Is it because they are all going to be white over there at lhs or what?
reader
"Census data show that minorities in Seattle have lower incomes. For whites, median household income was more than $92,000 in 2016. But for African-American households it was $38,000; for Asians and Latinos it was more than $65,000."
FRL, ELL and race intersect, @no caps:
"it has never been about race folks. it is about frl/ell and 2e being the underrepresented and protected groups."
Facts matter.
About Time
If we assume that SPED students, ELL students and Homeless students are costlier or more challenging to educate well than your purely run of the mill gen ed student, the map does not have these students being redistributed evenly.
That Hv2 map has these schools picking up ELL students:
Hale +2
Ingraham +4
Ballard +5
Lincoln +26
And these schools picking up homeless students:
Hale +2
Ingraham +3
Ballard +7
Lincoln +27
And these schools picking up SPED students:
Hale +7
Ingraham +20
Ballard +34
Lincoln +153
Is this just because Lincoln currently has zero students in these categories so it looks like a bigger change?
Lincoln would also pick up 320 HC students from Roosevelt and Ballard. But then it would be like a pass-through assignment, because they would be sent to Garfield. Weird.
On page 40 of this file (https://anonfile.com/f797Q9c5bd/20171102_Ops_Agenda_Packet.pdf) it says, "By providing [advanced learning] services close to home, the district’s intent is to make sure students do not need to leave their community to receive the educational opportunities they need. This recommendation is made in direct response to the requests we heard from our ELL families."
So, what's weird is that that H2 map only shows about 37 ELL students moving from one place to another. Even with the extra funding from the state for HC identification, you've got to wonder how many of those 37 ELL students will need advanced learning services. And then, assuming it's several, it's weird that Ingraham would gain 4 of them, Hale would gain 2 and Lincoln would gain 26. And all 32 of those ELL students would then have to be sent somewhere else if they needed HC services (Ingraham -> Ballard, Hale -> Roosevelt, and Lincoln -> Garfield). This seems fishy to me. The students would still very much need to leave their community to receive HC opportunities. Unless they happened to live inside the newly svelte new Ballard or Roosevelt zones. And, let's be honest, how many Seattle families can afford to live there? Especially if a parent(s) has language challenges to deal with while finding employment.
you bet at/fwiw. race and ses intersect. bingo we agree. but different from what one of the male board members said there are poor white people. and against what you seem to think being black doesn't mean your family doesn't have the resources to get into hcc.
skin color doesn't matter regarding placement into hcc. there is no institutionalized racism. show a hint of that otherwise and you will have everyone's attention.
the groups you need to look at (not hispanic or black) is ell, frl and 2e as those are protected classes. get up on that and holly cow that should increase black and hispanic kids enrollment in hcc. easier said than done but that should be the district, city, county and state's goal.
keep up the good fight for ell, frl and 2e and stop echoing the yellow journalism that is the seattle times race baiting articles.
no caps
ihs will be ok, and to be fair i didn't explain my point well, because of the high number of ihs hcc kids. they will be "ok" because they will still be in a mini cohort because of these numbers. could be as high as ibx's first year. i think they will go this way because of the hostile attitude at ghs towards hcc. kids shouldn't think they are racist because they are following the path that was set aside by the district. and listen to those self righteous ghs teachers and see the appartheid stickers. you know now why they will be okay. and you know why fhs and wshs will be challenged in a non welcoming environment.
it is not about race folks as much as michael tolley, seattle times, at, fwiw and i guess reader want you to think it is. nice company reader.
no caps
In addition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was specifically created to make race a "protected class," race is also a protected class in state law.
Yes, race is a "protected class" for lots of historical and contemporary reasons.
About Time
that protection and $3.22 will get you a latte. and rightly so. you can not define an individual by the color of their skin. someone said that before.
hcc doesn't either. but in the event you are 2e, ell or frl you get special dispositions for your application. they wiggle the numbers folks. it has been said time and again. is racist? no! is it right? yes. your non-frl, non-sped and english speaking child shouldn't be masking hc status were as the others might be.
but all this consternation seems to be either to kill hcc by making it look to hard to support. when they could have easily made lhs north pathway! simple. but due to race considerations we need to bus il to ihs. ihs hcc to ghs. i mean they need to bus as they need to get on a metro.
hum. is that the plan make it so miserable butts hit seats near homes because of metro schedules? diabolical. seattle preps stock just went up 10%.
no caps
So 7 days later, the revised document, now includes all the pathway information, that was NEVER vetted at any of the community meetings, that correspond with this process. So now all the comments at the community meetings about how HCC was not being returned to all schools but 'some schools' is made clear.
And folks wonder why there is such a profound lack of trust on the topic of the SAP and boundaries. Transparency is critical to trust and there just isn't any transparency in this process."
kellie, more from the staff handout "Student Assignment Plan, Advanced Learning, and High School Boundary Open House Meetings:
"Decision Timelines
Student Assignment Plan Changes for 2018-19 School Year
. . . .
* Oct. 20, 2017: Proposed changes to Student Assignment Plan posted to website and shared as part of community open houses on Oct. 23, 26 and 30, and Nov. 8 and 9.
. . . ."
You're quite right that district staff broke their own announced timeline because the proposed HCC pathways changes to Student Assignment Plan were NOT posted on the SPS website by Oct. 20 and in fact are only surfacing now. As recounted above by C: "No as you stated nothing parents could review at the [Eckstein, Ballard & McClure] SAP meetings. But I did read one SAP parental account where Wyeth Jesse said the regional pathway proposal would be introduced very soon. So they talked about it only." (That parental account of Jesse talking about regional pathways at the Eckstein open house was mine.)
So finally in the middle of those open houses there is now a bulky something on the proposed new HCC high school pathways (pages 38 to end of a bulky 116 page file) that parents can review at the two remaining SAP meetings next Wednesday, Nov. 8 at Cleveland HS, and next Thursday, Nov. 9, at West Seattle HS, just days before the expected Nov. 15 School Board vote on the ("Transitional"?) Student Assignment Plan for 2018-19 (and 2019-20?). The expected date that the School Board will vote on high school boundary changes from 2019-20 is two months later on Jan. 17.
The new plan for five (5) HCC high school regional pathways (Garfield, Franklin, West Seattle, Roosevelt, and Ballard, plus existing Ingraham IBX option) can be read at:
https://anonfile.com/f797Q9c5bd/20171102_Ops_Agenda_Packet.pdf
Weird process, befitting Halloween. As you say, "Transparency is critical to trust and there just isn't any transparency in this process."
Keepit Up
and who is complaining about the cohort model for gen ed, fwiw?
conflate much?
Btw. I’m not fwiw, but he/she has it mostly right.
Keepit Up
Hale had very few HCC kids but the AP classes were always overfull and oversubscribed. My kids AP Calc AB class was 45 kids full and kids were turned away. I totally get why HCC parents want their kids to be able to progress and not have to repeat or leave the high school for running start.
HP
1. Keeping cohorts together is NOT the main goal, so 5 high schools correspondending to 5 middle schools is NOT NECESSARILY reasonable. Providing the legally required appropriately advanced/accelaerated instruction is the main goal, so any decision about pathways should be based on careful analysis of how pathway changes impact service provision.
2. How is IBX an "expensive gift" to the "cream of the crop"? It's not any more expensive for kids to take their IB classes a year earlier, and if IBX students end up graduating early or taking Running Start classes during their senior year that probably SAVES the district money.
3. Your comment about the cohort model makes no sense. Nobody is complaining about a cohort model for general education--that's pretty much what we have. GE curricula and instruction are designed for GE students, who make up the majority of our district. GE students are THE primary cohort. Those whose needs fall far outside the needs of the majority GE cohort are the ones who need other options/interventions. It's not that complicated.
DisAPP
Director Geary sure did yesterday. But HCC and Sped are just apples and oranges to compare but sure, go ahead if it makes you feel better.
And Jessee just said yesterday about HCC "no cohort."
Kellie HCC UberAlles, self appointed knower of all,
That is priceless. Thank you. Yes, I do know lots of things, particularly when it comes to system design and capacity management and institutional memory. The uberalles piece is comical as I am neither for nor against HCC in its current form.
My message is shockingly simple and I am sorry that you have missed the point. I daylight issues regarding capacity management because capacity decisions impacts every single student in the district. I daylight HOW program placement will impact general education students. Some of these HCC placement decisions will trigger changing Cleveland's option school status. All of the decision will impact boundaries and walkability. I think it matters that the connections are daylighted.
For the record, I am for transparency in decision making. I am for pragmatic solutions. I am for more efficient use of limited dollars. I am for using the opening of Lincoln to restore some form of choice for high schools students because choice is important for these young adults.
I am against platitudes. I am against political optics and equity solutions that have zero dollars attached, because equity requires the active allocation of resources towards poverty and underserved populations.
Surely you jest, DisAp. How many times have we heard about the full time extra and expensive administrators required to administer IB.? How many times did we hear about RBH not being able to fund IB? (because of its extra expense) Additionally, we all know that IB requires an extra period per day. 7 periods, so 1 is run after school. The district is funded for 5. Why does anybody need to dance through all the extra requirements just to get a “baccalaureate”? This ain’t France over here. And the baccalaureate adds nothing. Who pays for that extra staff? The extra materials? Etc. Oh yeah. All the other, less deserving kids cover that for you.
Keeps
HP
In your earlier post, you specifically said IBX, which is an option for HCC students. IB, on the other hand, is open to non-HCC students--we even have IB programs at non-HCC pathway high schools. When you complained that "IBX" is a "gift" to the "cream of the crop," that sure sounds like an HCC-specific complaint, doesn't it?
If you were really complaining about IB in general--including those expensive IB programs at RBHS and Chief Sealth--are you suggesting that any student who takes an IB class deserves to be insultingly referred to as "cream of the crop"? Should we do that with kids to take AP classes, too? What about kids who take honors classes, or who get good grades, or who score well on standardized tests? Where do we draw the line at which kids you think merit obnoxious descriptions? I wonder.
So...if you're talking about IB in general, talk about IB in general. If you're talking about IBX specifically, recognize that your statement was wrong.
DisAPP
I'd say go ask any college enrollment officer if it means "nothing." A lot of admissions is about taking the highest level of advanced classes your school offers.
I am against political optics and equity solutions that have zero dollars attached, because equity requires the active allocation of resources towards poverty and underserved populations.
So much pointless hate gets spewed here at my little HCC kid. But you said what we should all be talking about. If only you weren't the only one saying this.
Anyway, I love that you said it and I love that you take the time to explain all this detailed school knowledge to us. Thank you for bothering.
Thank you for the kind words. It is amazing how a few kinds words here and there, do so much to mitigate the harshness that anonymity enables.
One of the reasons I read this blog is because of the tremendous amount I learn from your posts.
Thank you for your thoughtful, intelligent analysis and solutions.
/Maybe
Keeps
UW credit for IB exams
http://admit.washington.edu/apply/freshman/policies/international-baccalaureate
University of CA schools
"UC awards students who complete the IB diploma with a score of 30 or above with 30 quarter (20 semester) units toward their UC degree."
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/exam-credit/ib-credits/
DisAPP
Oregon State IB Diploma Scholarship
Students participating in an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma program may qualify for the IB Diploma Scholarship. To qualify, entering freshmen must have scored a total of 30 or higher on the IB exam and indicated pursuit of the IB Diploma. Advanced awards will be offered in March with offers finalized once scores are verified by the IBO in July. Awards are $3,000 annually / $12,000 over four years.
fact checker
There are several thousand colleges and universities in this country and hundreds more in other countries. There are some that don't care about IB (or have never heard of it) and many that do. Any student who wants to go to any college or university should do some research on what their preferred colleges or universities are looking for.
In other countries it is standard procedure to ask students for predicted IB scores based on their course grades, admit students conditionally based on the predictions, and then confirm or deny admission when the final grades are received.
I have personally met IBx students who went on to study at prestigious universities in other countries, including some in Europe. So the number is clearly not "nobody". It may be true that the US has a larger number of excellent universities than most other countries, but the quality is not uniform in any country, and there do exist excellent universities in other countries.
Irene
I think other readers answered most of your questions. But yes, I have gone to colleges, both myself and my children and beyond and asked questions about this topic.
UniversityProfessor
I have one kid who qualified for APP, and took the Lowell, Washington, Garfield path. Wonderful opportunity, great cohort (the cohort IMHO is one of the best things about this program - who knew you could have friends in HS?), many, many AP classes available. I have to echo one comment: HCC don't really get different material in elementary and middle school. In fact I think there is a developmentally inappropriate level of homework. They just get more homework sooner. The real difference is access to rigorous classes in HS. And the cohort.
My second child tested 99% math/97% language. We chose not to appeal. Mercer Middle is a great school. I was somewhat apprehensive about HS. I made spreadsheets of class offerings (because THAT is NOT information you can find on the SPS website), and I have to tell you that Franklin does not offer the same number of AP classes. No AP Biology, No AP Latin (no Latin at all!), No AP BC Calculus.
What Franklin does have is a much better outcome for FRL, African American, Hispanic cohorts on statewide testing (Garfield is just embarrassing BTW). Franklin students are achieving, and deserve more access to more rigorous classes.
I am not saying that this plan as written guarantees equitable access to more rigorous classes. I am saying that expanding HC service to all non-option HS campuses (and this plan does not do that), could be beneficial to all students...if we can get a commitment to offer the rigorous classes on all campuses. Assigning students to their closest HS for HC services increases the demand for rigorous classes (in the form of more students asking for these classes). You can't offer AP BC Calculus if only 5 people will take the class. It will not get funded. But 20 can be funded.
It is not easy to give up the HCC cohort and proven success of the Garfield program. We almost moved to give our kid access to that program. It was a leap of faith. I'll let you know how it goes.
What I think is happening with this plan is northend students are being sent to schools that already have plentiful AP offerings (and with the addition of these students will get a couple more), and south end students are being sent to schools that will not be able to offer any advanced classes. I wish there was more support for advanced students in our district(whether they test into HCC or not). I am not sure how to get there from here.
Good luck at Franklin- I hear really amazing things, and with or without advanced classes it does send kids on to great colleges. I do think it will be tough if the HC cohort gets placed there. A big part of the secret sauce is supposed to be the 9th grade academy, which for HC kids means either repeating classes or being segregated out, which is contra the Franklin way. It's hard for any school to be all things to all people.
-sleeper
-math option