Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update 2: Romanita Hairston is the only candidate still in the running without answers to the questionnaire.  Not sure if she is the one who made the request for an extension but a spot-check seems to indicate she is the only one without answers.

I want to open with news from the 43rd Dems - the so-called PAC, Moms for Seattle sent out a mailer that shows a playground with a tent erected on it.  Except the graffiti and the tent have been photoshopped in.

This is the face of the six-year old child,  Stephen Romero, who was killed yesterday at the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.  A summer festival and that's where he loses his life? NO gun is worth any child's life. From Shannon Watts, head of Moms Demand , via Twitter: Stephen Romero wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was in the right place in a nation with the wrong gun laws.   Act in his honor and the others killed and injured in the #gilroyshooting . We have the power to fix this.  Use your voices and votes. Text ACT to 644-33.

Important story in today's Seattle Times , ‘Basically I’m their teacher’: Washington has big plans for its 25,500 school paraeducators

It came to my attention that there was a recent article in The Stranger about linking the candidacies of both Zachary DeWolf and current CM Kshama Sawant who are both running for City Council in a flyer. The flyer comes from the "People for Seattle" PAC .  It's a group that has no Facebook page, no Twitter handle and no way to contact them.  What they do have is a website that wants your name and your money. Here's what caught my eye in the article:

I'm interested to know what readers think about Mayor Durkan's promised veto of a bill that the City  Council passed to keep the soda tax money for supplying healthy food to low-income households.

Free fun for kids tomorrow , Saturday, July 27th, from noon to six pm at Seattle Center -  Seafair FanFest.  This precedes the Torchlight parade.

The first story comes out of Bethel School District.  From the Seattle Times : Starting this fall, the Bethel school district will cover the full cost of Advanced Placement exams for every student — with no cap on how many AP courses each student can take.

The Southeast Seattle Education Coalition has announced a public forum for District 7 candidates looking to replace retiring Director Betty Patu. Co-hosted by: Seattle Council PTSA, Beacon Hill International School PTA, John Muir PTA, Kimball PTSA, Friends of Hawthorne, Van Asselt PTA, Mercer Middle School PTSA, and Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) WHEN: Wednesday, July 31 | 6-8 p.m. | Doors at 5.30 p.m. Program starts promptly at 6 p.m. WHERE: Rainier Avenue Church*, 5900 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118

Readers, I have seen a few people claiming that I allow too many people free rein in what they say here at SSCF. I offer these thoughts so that there is a better understanding of what it means to run an open and active blog. Anyone who has ever moderated a blog or Facebook page knows how hard it is. Now if a blog has very few readers and almost no comments, it may be hard to understand this point.

King County Elections says that everyone should have received their ballots by now for the August 6th primary .  Check with them if you haven't.

On Filling Betty Patu's Seat District Communications tells me that answers to the questions the Board has put forth are due from candidates by Monday, July 29th.  I would think they would be uploaded that day but I'll keep track and let you know.  Personally I found some of the questions somewhat repetitive and leading but it's always good to hear what candidates think. Also to note, if you have new information that you think reflects badly on a candidate, you need to sign your full name to your comment or I will have to delete it. I see a slight uptick of people trying to smear candidates and that won't fly here.  You are absolutely welcome to give your opinion of a candidate, hopefully based on the knowledge you have gathered about that candidate .  I think it important to say how you got the information (candidate website/Facebook page, newspaper, school website, working with the candidate etc.) that forms your opinion.

Tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the United States landing on the moon .  (I was alive then to see that - from a town in Arizona - but I suspect most of you weren't.  It was pretty damn exciting.)  Lots going on at NASA including a replay of original Moon landing broadcast from July 20, 1969.

Readers : I accidentally closed comments here. My apologies.  Now open for business.  Thanks for the alert. end of update Governor Jay Inslee announces a grant to support outdoor time for kids . Via KXLY:

Editor’s note; there is a notation explaining that some candidates did not participate.  Hence, not all candidates will have a video.

Update :  the Board had the Work Session and apparently feel the need/pressure for more engagement with the public.

How was your earthquake experience?  Quite timely given our recent discussion. Again, put it on our list of topics for one of the first PTA/PTO meetings at your school.

Downtown School in the works?   From the Queen Anne/Magnolia News.

I’m going to provide this thread the interest of starting a discussion.

Good story from NPR - How Hydroponic School Gardens Can Cultivate Food Justice, Year-Round

Editor's Notes: - Some candidates will have longer write-ups than others.  I mean no slight to any candidate but some have more notable resumes/backgrounds.

Wonder if the large earthquakes in California will prompt the Washington State Legislature to help schools shore up their buildings and be ready ?

There are 12(!) people vying for Patu's seat .  Clearly, the remaining Board members have their work cut out for them.  Of the 12:

Jersey Jazzman @jerseyjazzman What kind of country puts children in  disgusting & cruel detention camps?     The same country that repeatedly underfunds  its schools for the most disadvantaged children.

Important article from the Seattle Times about earthquakes and school buildings in Washington State.  While no SPS school was included in the survey, it's still good reading. 

On my way out the door for blogging about Seattle Public Schools, there are two last posts to write.  One is about my thoughts on the district we have today and what I see for its future. For those who don't keep up here at the blog, I announced some time back (actually years in the making) that I would end blogging about Seattle Public Schools and focus on higher-level issues like so-called personalized learning, charter schools and student data privacy.  (I will still have twice-weekly Open Threads for those who want to discuss the district or any other public education topic.) I do want to highly recommend a recent story in the New York Times on race and how people who live in Hawaii think of it.  What follows here is an opinion piece with supporting data. The most important takeaway is not what has been happening to me but rather, what kind of behavior will this district allow vis a vis staff at JSCEE and in the schools.  Because if vicious name-calling is the new norm