Posts

Showing posts from 2022

What's Happening in Public Education in 2023?

 I would name several items of interest for 2023. One would be whether nationwide, the attacks on the contents of public school libraries will continue as well as attacks on members of school boards . Those who are showing up with pitchforks seem to have a litany of issues; "woke" school districts, gender reading/discussion, pronouns used, transgender athletes and, of course, "choice" or "options" for their child's education. The second issue would be - who are these parents and are they grassroots or corporate grown? Signs are that they are not just parents acting on their own. Read up on "Moms for Liberty." The third issue would be the looming shortage of teachers. And circling back again to an issue that still concerns - what about boys? American boys, in many ways, are on a downhill slide and attention must be paid.   Worrying about boys then leads to worrying about ALL K-12 kids and their anxiety levels .  And fyi, there is a real ment

Best Wishes this Holiday Season

Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Festivus (for the rest of us)! Whatever your reason for the season, eat well, embrace family and friends and your community, and please BE SAFE! You do matter in the world.

Seattle Public Schools - Things that Make You Go, Hmmmm (Last One for 2022)

Image
  I pondered for a bit about whether I should open with what I would call "Grinch" news but in light of all the concern over the district's budget - which the Board has to vote on - well, I just thought this might make everyone go, hmmm, not just me. I have a number of public records requests in at the district and I certainly know I'm not the only one. So they are very prompt in acknowledging my requests and giving me somewhat of an idea of when I might see the info. I had nearly forgotten about this one (though I do have a log of requests). A couple of Board meetings back, Superintendent Brent Jones referenced that he, along with some directors and several staff attended the Council of Great City Schools conference in Orlando, Florida. This was in October. Here's what I asked for: I am making a public disclosure request for the following: - Names of all SPS staff and school board directors who attended - Broken out cost list for all SPS staff and school board d