Seattle Schools Community Forum

 We are in the last weeks of 2023. The holidays are upon us and I hope each of you finds some happiness/solace/joy from family and friends and food. I was going to write one more post before the end of the year about the last school board meeting but nah. There's time enough in the new year.  I have to say I find it hard to think of a new year coming that I dreaded more than 2024. I'm not even going to try to say it won't be as bad as I think it will be.  And job one is making sure Trump is not president again. I don't like the other GOP candidates but anyone who think he will be a better president than he was previously is delusional. Yes, I know, he's a big mouth blabber but anyone who is a big mouth blabber with power is generally a dictator.  I'm still on Twitter and I'm seeing this uptick of Republicans who are actually worried, nay, despondent that Trump will be the candidate. I'm very pleased to see more of them waking up and saying outloud that T...

This is from student, Zach Gottlieb, At my school, the closing of the teenage mind is almost complete, that ran in the Los Angeles Times.   It's quite the thoughtful piece. Maybe have your teen read it and it might spark an interesting discussion ON discussion in the classroom.  M y revelation came in the spring, after a typical day in 11th-grade AP English. The topic was gender and how the experiences of the authors we were studying related to our world today. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear anything I hadn’t heard many times before. Class discussions tend to go like that. We’ve been inculcated with approved positions on issues such as gender identity, patriarchy, cultural appropriation and microaggressions. Any perceived misstep can ruin a reputation in a flash. But then something unusual happened. After the period ended, someone floated an opinion that, if shared in the classroom, would have elicited a clanging silence. Hesitantly at first, we found ourselves having...

I'm speaking of trying to communicate with the Seattle School Board. I had two items cross my desk last week. One was a notice a reader sent in about the opportunity for parents and community to give input on the Algebra and Geometry Instructional Materials Adoption for middle and high schools that is winding its way through the district process. The reader sent it on December 7th and the end of the review was the 8th. The other was a parent unhappy about a portion of the high school curriculum and the parent asked how to give feedback/complain to the district/Board.  Here was the ENTIRE chance to give public input on the Algebra/Geometry curriculum for 2023: November 30 – December 8, 2023: Materials displayed online for community review Here's the timeline that is left: November 29, 2023: Field Test Teacher application released December 2-12, 2023 : Committee reviews evaluation data and selects finalists for field test (They voted for enVision (Savvas), Illustrative Math ...

The attacks on SPS teens are continuing and now have spread out to the Laurelhurst/Ravenna/Wedgwood area. This note was send from the principal of Eckstein Middle School, Kristin Rose: I want to follow up with you about the recent emails from both SPS and Eckstein about safety concerns in the community. I received two separate reports of incidents that occurred yesterday afternoon after school hours.  One of our parents was walking to the Wedgwood Post Office when a car of teens pulled up next to him, aggressively, in a vehicle. The parent was wearing a hat and backpack, so the thought is that the teens assumed he was a student. The parent jumped into quick action with his body posture and made noise. The car quickly drove off, most likely realizing it was an adult.  The second incident was near Laurelhurst Park after a student got off of the city bus and was walking home. What sounds like the same car pulled up next to the student and told him to get in the vehicle, then...

 Looking through the agenda for tonight's Board meeting , there are several interesting items. But the most interesting? The district, along with school districts around the nation, won in their lawsuit against the vaping company, Juul. After lawyer fees, SPS will realize $1.3M.   Juul Settlement. In December 2022, a global settlement was agreed to with some of the defendants, specifically Juul Labs, Inc., and five individuals who were the founders and controlling investors and directors of Juul. Under that settlement, a total of $1.7 billion would be paid to approximately 1,500 government entities (including the District); approximately 10,500 injured individuals; millions of consumers who comprised a nationwide class action; and approximately 40 Native American tribes. However, payment of those amounts was contingent on court approval of the terms of the settlement of the class action. That approval occurred in September 2023. U...

 Updates: I have seen the entire test. Those two questions I put up are completely indicative of the entire test. There are NO questions about world history. It reads much like a litmus test for being woke. I think what could be said to students - in teaching about gender issues - is to use the word “currently.” As in, “Currently there is much discussion over gender identity and here are the issues around that. The bottom line is that we all remain respectful of each others' choices in this area.” The current state of the world is a legit world history topic. But this test is just wrong in that context. And, on the heels of this incident, here is another one that happened at Jane Addams Middle School. This occurred last spring but only came to light recently. A social students teacher, who is the Gay-Straight Alliance coordinator, had an activity for kids to write letters to the rightwing and dangerous women at the Moms for Liberty group. The return address was that of JAMS/SPS wh...