Tuesday Open Thread

In a HUGE win for the voice of the people, Governor Jay Inslee did veto SB 6617 that would protect state legislators from having to fulfill public disclosure requests that other electeds have to.  It happened because of the volume of contact that the Governor's office received.  I'll also note that my own reps had two VERY different letters when I contacted them on this issue.  The first was a bit whiny about why it was a good bill but they needed to protect their process and the second was "I apologize; we were wrong."  


In yet another big disappointment, ten women have come forward with accusations of misconduct against noted author, Sherman Alexie.   Apparently one of them ran the SPS Writers in the Schools project who, at one time, had invited him to an SPS classroom to speak.

A fairly terrible student assignment from an Edmonds teacher has sparked outrage from the Native American community.  And they are right. From KING-5:

Shawna Gallagher’s 11-year-old son Blaine was given a writing assignment at Meadowdale Elementary School asking him to describe his feelings after seeing a group of white colonists get slaughtered at the hands of "Indians."

"You have welcomed them into your homes, and have often shared your meals, your good times and your sorrows," read the assignment. "Many of the colonists were killed at their dinner table as they shared their meal with their 'friends.'"

Students were told to, "Express your conflicting feelings toward the Indians."

A district spokeswoman said the assignment was not part of the district’s curriculum and that the teacher brought it to the classroom on her own as a supplemental exercise.

Gallagher provided a copy of the supplemental curriculum dated 1971.

It's hard to believe that any teacher - in 2018 - would think this is a good assignment.  We need Ethnics Studies curriculum now.

From the Washington State Legislature:

• Washington Legislature Passes Bill To Screen Kids For Dyslexia By Second Grade 

 The bill requires school districts to screen all kindergarten, first and second grade students for dyslexia and provide students with interventions.

Thank you to Seattle representative, Gerry Pollet, for leading this effort. 

He said his own daughter’s dyslexia wasn’t identified until they used their private insurance to have her tested. But not every family has that option.

“Poor children, parents who don’t have the knowledge – they never get tested at all and instead they think their child just can’t read well and never catches up,” Pollet said.

• A bill to give student journalists the same protections as adults is on the Governor's desk.  From The College Fix:

Washington is the last state on the West Coast that lets schools censor student journalists for any reason.

But the Evergreen State is closer than ever to finally treating student journalists as journalists, with the House overwhelmingly approving a so-called New Voices bill in the waning minutes of its legislative session Friday night.

Supporters expect the new bill to pass the Senate and be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

The bill ensures First Amendment protections for student journalists to be free from school censorship, something that was muddied in 1988 after the Supreme Court’s Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision.

What's on your mind?