Tuesday Open Thread
UPdate: I believe this survey is thru the "Equal Opportunity Schools" initiative. Oddly, this group just happens to have suddenly been getting some of their staff on various district committees.
end of update
I am hearing that as of about 1:30 pm that Garfield students were being pulled from class to take an online survey using their student ID number. Does anyone have any information on this?
About Lincoln High TONIGHT:
Don't forget: High School Information Night - January 15th 6:30-8:30PM @ Hamilton International School.
Join us for updates and important information:
-Learn more about academic offerings and registration information
-Meet & interact with Lincoln staff through a panel discussion
-Learn about athletics and activities program and how to get involved
-Go on a virtual tour through the halls of Lincoln High School
Washington World Fellows is accepting applications for their summer program.
end of update
I am hearing that as of about 1:30 pm that Garfield students were being pulled from class to take an online survey using their student ID number. Does anyone have any information on this?
About Lincoln High TONIGHT:
Don't forget: High School Information Night - January 15th 6:30-8:30PM @ Hamilton International School.
Join us for updates and important information:
-Learn more about academic offerings and registration information
-Meet & interact with Lincoln staff through a panel discussion
-Learn about athletics and activities program and how to get involved
-Go on a virtual tour through the halls of Lincoln High School
Following the presentation stay for the social to visit department
tables, purchase gear, join the PTSA and connect with other families.
Washington World Fellows is accepting applications for their summer program.
The nomination and application period for the 2019 class of Washington World Fellows is now open through February 6th, 2019.
The University of Léon Language Center, the international language instruction center of the University of Léon, will be the central meeting location for the Washington World Fellows program. Fellows will take their Spanish language courses at the level appropriate to their Spanish language abilities alongside other international students.
Students must be nominated by at least one of their high school teachers or counselors in order to apply for the Washington World Fellows program.
To be eligible for the Washington World Fellows program, a student must:
Also of interest for senior girls:
- be a 10th grade student;
- be nominated by a teacher or counselor;
- have at least level I Spanish or equivalent conversational Spanish language proficiency; and
- be a U.S. citizen or a permanent legal resident of the United States. Due to immigration concerns, unfortunately the program cannot be extended to undocumented students at this time.
The Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund’s mission is to empower young women to be leaders and active world citizens through education and service. Our annual college scholarships to Mercer Island High School and Rainier Beach High School students acknowledge and support graduating senior women who demonstrate a commitment to the values of Stanley Ann Dunham in education, leadership and community service.On this the opening day of the Washington Legislature, the legislative agenda from Washington's Paramount Duty:
In addition to being the mother of the 44th president, Stanley Ann Dunham earned her Doctorate in Anthropology after graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1960 and pioneered a microfinance model that is still in use today around the world.
1. Fund the Promised Increases in Public School Counselors, Librarians, Nurses, and Social Workers; K-12 Class-Size Reductions, and Increased Educator Salaries from New Progressive Tax Sources
2. Fund the True Costs of Special Education with New Progressive Tax Sources
3. Eliminate Inequities Between Districts and Schools and Provide The Funding Public Schools Actually Need to Provide Every Child a Great Education
4. Help Funding for School Capital and Construction Catch Up with Needs
• WPD supports a state constitution amendment to allow a simple majority for school bonds. School bonds currently require a 60% supermajority to pass, not a simple majority of 50%. From 2011-2017, 94 school districts lost bond votes that passed with majorities between 50-60%.What's on your mind?
5. Prevent the $1.1 billion in school cuts caused by the Jan. 2019 levy cliff.
Comments
It sounds like this is an Equal Opportunity Schools survey. These folks may have good intent, but from what I understand they gather a lot of personal student data, some of it coming from the district itself, demographics, grades, test scores, etc. And they ask the students online for personal information as well. Not okay.
How could this group be getting student data sent from downtown unless this has been thoroughly vetted with DoTS and legal? And if it's been vetted, then how is it possible that it's happening without word going out to parents and getting consent?
The district says it told parents but one booth at a crowded curriculum night at three schools is not notification.
Z, my question to the Board at the last board meeting was how come you get to ask kids about their home lives but parents can't know what is going on at school? Hmmm.
The survey they are doing in some middle schools is one they eventually want to expand to ALL middle schools at ALL grade levels. So figuring the explaining/taking of the survey is about 30 minutes. Then there's the kids going to and from whereever it is given. Then there is the downtime for any teachers who might have wanted to use those computers.
Between testing and these surveys, that's a lot of time that teachers don't get to use technology to teach.
Parents, can you ask your kids if this is happening at other high schools?
Yellow Vest
Maybe we should be able to see the drug and alcohol use by school board members?
--Orwellian times
FNH
Everyone: If you don't want your kids sending personal information out to third parties, make sure you give them a heads-up about this. Kids can refuse, but there will be some pressure for them to do it. Staff does not give students the impression that it's optional.
Sad to say, I do note one other issue at Garfield (which I suspect could be an issue at other schools).
Garfield has a 1-2 minute televised news update nearly every day. (It's available on YouTube.) I see a sweet part of it is saying happy birthday to students with a birthday. Problem is, they say the full names.
So now you have the ability to know a kid's name, birthdate and where they go to school. No school - in any form - should be broadcasting birthdates. An adult should have thought of this.
I am thinking of writing up a best practices for schools for student data privacy because it seems that this is an area where not much thought is given. And should be.
Les Moore
It is time for Washington Paramount Duty and SPS to be honest. They are trying to help the state create a funding imbalance.
I've seen two figures. One figure claims SPS is asking for 50% above current levy limits and another claims that SPS is asking for 98% above current state levy limit.
Now, I do tink it's true that SPS and WPD are mustache-twirling villains. Their secret plan? Getting the state to fund more than one school nurse per 5000-7000 students. Those dastards!
Equity means Seattle will see less funding. It is that simple, unless you want to create funding imbalances throughout the state.
Having Seattle have a higher allowable levy rate is somewhat inequitable. On the other hand, every district in the state could have that if they were willing to tax themselves for it.
Reuven Carlyle is my state senator. I'll have to make contact with him.
Further, the Court rejected the idea Yawn is proposing that somehow districts need to have money taken away from them. There's nothing equitable about that. Equity, especially in the McCleary case, was about adding more money into the system. WPD has always argued that all schools need more money, and some schools need a lot more money. For example, one might say Ballard HS needs $2000 more per student, but RBHS needs $8000 more per student. (Numbers aren't precise and are intended to illustrate the larger concept.) But the actual legislative response to the Court in 2017 created a bunch of new inequities and made matters worse. So that needs to be fixed and more money from the state is key.
This is what the Seattle Times and Reuven Carlyle are trying to prevent - they don't want taxes to go up so they are fighting as hard as they can to keep public school spending capped, even though that cap is below the amount needed to actually run a modern school district and educate kids.
What the Times is also trying to do is tell Seattle liberals that in order to have statewide equity, we have to vote down our local levy and cause a massive crisis for SPS that will include mass layoffs of as many as 1100 people, mostly teachers, with huge cuts to programs and skyrocketing class sizes. That argument is absurd on its face. Seattle needs to pass its local levy, especially as a failure would be extremely inequitable. And then we all need to continue pressing our legislators - especially Reuven Carlyle - to add billions more in funding for our public schools. They can start by adopting Inslee's capital gains tax.
I don't believe anyone wants the levy to be voted down. I do believe there are other levy issues that need to be addressed Washington Paramount Duty could report on Carlyle's ACTUAL words and refrain from articulating perceived intentions.
Here is what Carlyle had to say:
"Please note that I voted against the McCleary deal. However, it passed and we now have a state centric system and thus need to be cautious about already changing the new model and ensure local levies are modest and used for enhancements not what is actually basic education. 1) state's obligation to fund 'basic education' is critical including special ed, etc. and I don't want to distract and effectively shift obligation back to locals; 2) Seattle is asking for an unprecedented local levy authority of 98% ABOVE current law which I fear could cause a backlash in Olympia even if voter's approve. There is some room for modification in levy rate deal that was punitive to Puget Sound area but maintaining the highest local levy rate plus new state funding is challenging. McCleary simply needs time to be implemented to keep focus on state funding; 3) property taxes have doubled in Seattle in 5 years and effectively overturning the planned local levy reduction is troubling especially when voter's approved children and education levy; 4) Seattle's pre-McCleary per student funding in 2012 was $8,560 and post-McCleary in 2019 is $12,000. Policy debate should look at that core number and figure out what's right for all kids in WA. Keep up the advocacy and let's all continue to figure it out together."
Carlyle has some legitimate points.
Second, Seattle is not asking for anything unprecedented - they always ask for more levy authority than they can collect. (Did Carlyle hand this talking point to the Times so they could use it to attack the levy? One wonders.)
Why is "maintaining the highest local levy rate plus new state funding" challenging? For whom is it challenging - for legislators who don't want to piss off billionaires and large corporations? What about the students and teachers who are suffering the results of this spending cap? And does Carlyle really believe that Seattle schools should take a 22% budget cut that would result from rejecting the levy? Is he going to defend that to his constituents? I know he just got re-elected and probably thinks he's insulated from voter anger, but if SPS's levy fails Carlyle will take some of the blame and I think the fallout will be ugly.
He also seems to pit the city's Families and Education Levy against the SPS levy when he writes "property taxes have doubled in Seattle in 5 years and effectively overturning the planned local levy reduction is troubling especially when voter's approved children and education levy" - does he really think that the FEL means we should reject the SPS levy? And if the SPS operations levy fails, that guarantees the failure of everything the FEL is trying to fund.
Carlyle then says "Seattle's pre-McCleary per student funding in 2012 was $8,560 and post-McCleary in 2019 is $12,000. Policy debate should look at that core number and figure out what's right for all kids in WA." No, the policy debate should look at what is the need for each student and each district and make sure everyone has *ample* funding. And his choice of date is revealing given that 2012 is after the recession cuts. Why not compare 2019 to 2009 or 2005?
Ultimately Carlyle has to answer to parents in his district. If he thinks we're going to be OK with him tanking the SPS levy he has another thing coming.
That case is interesting because it arose after Seattle failed to pass two levies. The District sued the state and said, look, it’s the state’s duty to fund this stuff. The court agreed.
If the state is failing to fund basic education the remedy would be to sue the state, not pass what may well be an unconstitutional local levy
McCleary reinforced the earlier decision. The burden on paying for basic education is now on the state.
Oh the old, "let's wait and see" when we can clearly see what is coming.
The "voter's" (don't know why Carlyle keeps writing that) did vote for the City's education levy. Why is that okay to pass (and raise property taxes because it, too, is an increase in amount asked of voters) but not the district's?
"There is ample evidence this model doesn't work from districts across the state - large and small, urban and rural, east and west."
Robert is right that this is a very important point. I see some trying to make it all about Seattle when 1) it's not and 2) all the property tax that Seattle collects under McCleary does NOT stay here.
I agree, Carlyle is playing a dangerous game but he's a grown-ass legislator so we'll see.
Judge, and yet districts did use the money beyond "enrichment programs." Since 1978. Go figure.
And the problem, Your Honor, is that there are those of us not willing to wait to see what the fallout is. Not willing to see this district fall to its knees. And not willing for our district to have to take the time and money to go to court.
I think the real issue is the legislature's ridiculous definition of "basic education."
I give SPS credit for fighting back on the enactment of McCleary in the manner that the legislature did.
The state still has to fund $4B for McCleary and $3.5B in pension benefits. A capital gains tax will bring in approximately $1B and will be challenged in court. The $1B will cover expected benefit packages- this year.
Issaquah workers just voted to go out on strike.
I see a lot of desire, but not a lot of funding. Don't expect Bezos, Gates or any other billionaires to be your savior. It will never happen.
What does that mean? Teachers? Staff? Please be clearer on statements like this.
If the local levy dollars are used for things that should be covered by the state, a local taxpayer could challengenge that use.
McCleary was not a good decision if you value education and live in Seattle.
The legislature gets to define “basic education.” A court challenge to that definition would probably fail.
Seattle passes levies. But that was not always the case. It may not be the case sometime in the future. But the Seattle School District case from 1977 and the McCleary decision enshrines the right of students to have a state funded “basic education.”
"Kennewick School District paraeducators have approved a new pay agreement with the school district, avoiding a possible strike.
The deal gives them an 8 percent raise this school year, retroactive to Sept. 1, plus an additional 1.5 percent increase for longevity.
It also provides for a 4.1 percent increase next school year, plus a similar longevity bump."
Read more here: https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article224682920.html#storylink=cpy
Issaquah negotiations broke down. They are going on strike. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/issaquah-school-district-staff-members-will-hold-strike-vote-tuesday-night/904969114
check the FIOA SPS request log for details.
SPS Staff
Seattlelifer