Tuesday Open Thread

In case you missed it, there is a Facebook group for science in SPS called Save Science in Seattle Schools.  If you have concerns about science in SPS write to:
MaryMargaret (mmwelch@seattleschools.org), head of Science,
Rick Burke (rick.burke@seattleschools.org) Jill Geary (jill.geary@seattleschools.org), head of the Curriculum&Instruction Committee
Diane DeBacker (dmdebacker@seattleschools.org), Chief Academic Officer

March is Music in Our Schools Month in SPS as Superintendent Juneau writes in her journal.  As well, a local group, the Newcombe Foundation has a program for getting musical instruments to students in need in some areas of the Puget Sound region including Seattle.  Their deadline for application is April 30th.


In the news:

It's news but it's not surprising news.  Apparently, via an owner of a for-profit Newport Beach college admissions company, there was quite the number people, including celebrities, trying to buy their way into colleges and universities by having test scores changed and/or having others take the test for their child and/or getting accommodations that a child wasn't truly eligible to have.  Truly disgusting. 

From the LA Times:
The scheme, which began in 2011, centered around the owner of a for-profit Newport Beach college admissions company that wealthy parents paid to help their children cheat on college entrance exams and to falsify athletic records of students to enable them to secure admission to elite schools, including UCLA, USC, Stanford, Yale and Georgetown, according to court records.

Prosecutors allege that Singer instructed parents to donate funds to a fake charity he had established as part of the scheme. Most of the parents paid at least $200,000, but some spent up to $6.5 million to guarantee their children admission to top universities, authorities said. The parents were then able to deduct the donation from their income taxes, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

“Make no mistake: This is not a case where parents were acting in the best interests of their children. This is a case where they flaunted their wealth, sparring no expense, to cheat the system so they could set their children up for success with the best education money could buy, literally,” Bonavolonta said. “Their actions were without a doubt insidious, selfish and shameful. And the real victims in the case are the hardworking students who did everything they could to set themselves up for success in the college admissions process, but ended up being shut out because far less qualified students and their families simply bought their way in.”
 As was stated on Twitter:
"A good day to remember that there are black and brown parents who are sitting in prison today because they listed a relative’s address as their own for the chance of their child receiving an adequate public school education."

From The Atlantic, an thought-provoking story about explaining that your kid is going to trade school, not college.
This shift in the job and education markets can leave parents feeling unsure about the career path their children choose to pursue. Lack of knowledge and misconceptions about the trades can lead parents to steer their kids away from these programs, when vocational training might be a surer path to a stable job.
What's on your mind?

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