Tuesday Open Thread

Congrats to Ballard High principal, Kevin Wynkoop, who was selected as Washington Library Association Principal of the Year by the Washington Library Association.

The Principal of the Year Award is awarded annually during National School Principal Month to a school principal who has demonstrated a notable commitment to school libraries. Wynkoop was nominated for the award by TuesD Chambers, Ballard High School teacher librarian, because of his “unwavering commitment to literacy and the library.”

On the $2M Amazon donation (via the Alliance for Education), Superintendent Juneau had this to say about how it will be used in her Journal:

Funds will be distributed to all schools with higher investments to Title I schools. 

I might have to ask about more specifics.

Lincoln athletics parent meeting on Wednesday, 10/24, 6:30-7:30 at John Marshall.

Is the tide turning for charter schools and other ed reform?  Seems like it and in Connecticut, it really has.  Great story from The Hartford Courant:

“I never used the easel,” said Dalio, who is married to the state’s wealthiest man, billionaire hedge fund founder Ray Dalio, and has spent the past decade leading the Dalio Foundation’s efforts to strengthen public education by investing millions in it.

During that time, Dalio’s focus has shifted away from giving to charter schools and reform efforts such as Teach for America and toward troubled public school districts.

In the past three years alone, the foundation, which Barbara co-founded with her husband, has donated $50 million to public education programs in Connecticut.

“Now the zeitgeist has changed,” said Hess. “TFA [Teach for America] and charter schooling are more controversial than they were eight or 10 years ago for various reasons and after the teacher strikes, teachers are more sympathetic. There’s a sense that if you’re a wealthy person and you’re trying to give away dollars in a way that you feel good about, you might make different choices in 2018 than you did in 2008.”

Dalio said she observed that the kids who go to public charter schools have parents who are often more involved and have the initiative to seek out an alternative for their child. But many parents, she said, don’t have the time to do that.

“I learned really how many needs the kids have because they had kids with learning differences, kids that have had trauma in their lives, kids with emotional needs,” Dalio said, as well as kids who are hungry. “So it really is challenging for the school, the teachers to address all of those needs, especially with [budget] cuts” that eliminate social workers or mental health programs, she said.

Big job of the future for STEM? Quantum computing.  Interesting story from the NY Times.

What's on your mind?