Things That Make You Go Hmmm, January 23, 2024

 Hmmm, in a good way

From the Seattle Times:

Dick’s Drive-In will charge only 19 cents for a burger over the next three days in honor of the beloved local chain’s 70^th anniversary. You can expect long lines for the deal, which takes place for one day only at the nine Dick’s outlets in Western Washington.

Customers can score one 19-cent hamburger or cheeseburger on Tuesday at the Wallingford, Broadway and Lake City Dick’s in Seattle; on Wednesday in Federal Way, at the Crossroads in Bellevue and at the Crown Hill location on Holman Road in Seattle; and on Thursday at the Edmonds, Kent and Queen Anne locations. 

 

From SPS Communications:

Every year, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Distinguished Schools Awards recognize schools that bridge educational gaps. For the 2022–23 school year, Seattle’s Maple Elementary has earned recognition as a State Distinguished School for its exceptional student performance and academic growth. 

Schools are eligible for the ESEA Distinguished Schools Award if 35% of their student population is identified as low-income. The award honors schools that show a commitment to closing educational achievement and opportunity gaps. 

State ESEA Distinguished Schools will receive a plaque and a grant of $15,000.  

 

From the Seattle Times,. a story about a bill that would give recognition to the Lunar New York by the state of Washington

Washington lawmakers introduced a bill last week that would make Lunar New Year a state-recognized holiday, about a year after legislation calling for it to become a paid holiday failed to advance through the state Legislature.

Bill sponsor Rep. My-Linh Thai, D-Bellevue, said she and 15 co-sponsors proposed the bill as part of an effort to promote inclusion and combat violence targeting Asian Americans.

“We continue to be seen as foreigners,” Thai said. “This is one of the tools in the toolbox to address anti-Asian hate.”

Lawmakers hope statewide recognition of Lunar New Year, one of the largest cultural celebrations among East and Southeast Asian communities, will spread awareness of the holiday, reaffirm cultural heritage and foster a sense of belonging among Asian Americans.

Thai’s bill, HB 2209, advises government agencies and educational and cultural organizations to celebrate Lunar New Year. 

Hmmm, not in a good way

From The Jason Rantz Show

Officials in the North Thurston School District did not report a student to police after he created a “kill list” on January 4, 2024. The parents of a child on the list said the district mishandled the threat.

The district confirmed to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH that a 4th-grade student at Horizons Elementary in Lacey created a list with the names of students he wanted to target. Three names were on the list, according to a source, but the district did not disclose the nature of the threats. Rather than contact the police, the school contacted the parents of the students on the list to explain the district was conducting an internal threat assessment. No other parents appear to have been contacted.

Horizon Elementary has an SRO who operates under the Lacey Police Department. The SRO was not part of the process.  

“The child was quite young, had no history that would support or indicate an ability to commit any violence and does not have access to weapons,” the chief explained to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “As you are aware, children in this age range are not generally considered capable of criminal conduct. 

The district doesn’t explain what the harm would be in looping in the SRO as a matter of policy. Alerting the SRO to a threat assessment does not mean the student would be contacted by the police. It simply means someone with daily expertise in threat assessment would be read into a potential safety issue on campus. And it would make parents feel more comfortable. The children who are victims deserve more peace of mind, even if the threat level is low.

Here's the thing - In another incident in the U.S., afirst grader brought a gun to class and shot his teacher. And this being the U.S., I'm not sure I would take any parent's assurance that their child has no access to guns. 

I'm with the parent of the child who was on the list - ALL the parents in that class should have been told. Plus, not loop in your SRO? Too much making decisions on their own by the school principal.

 

The principal at the high school in Perry, Iowa where a shooting occurred last month died of his wounds. From the AP:

Mourners filled the Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines just over 30 miles (48 kilometers) away from where Dan Marburger had worked since 1995 and been principal since 1997. He died on Jan. 14 in the hospital ten days after the shooting. 

Investigators said after the shooting that Marburger “acted selflessly and placed himself in harm’s way in an apparent effort to protect his students.” Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks said Marburger was a “hero” who intervened with the teenage gunman so students could escape.

The investigation into what drove Butler to bring guns to his school and open fire remains ongoing with investigators reviewing all his social media posts and reviewing evidence from the shooting and hours of witness testimony.

Principal Marburger was 56 years old.  

 

Sweden has a system of "free schools" that are proving to not work out well; something to consider if vouchers come knocking at Washington State's door.  From The Guardian:

Sweden’s friskolor – privately run schools funded by public money – have attracted international acclaim, including from Britain, with the former education secretary Michael Gove using them as a model for hundreds of new British free schools opened under David Cameron’s government.

But in recent years, a drop in Swedish educational standards, rising inequality and growing discontent among teachers and parents has helped fuel political momentum for change.

A report by Sweden’s biggest teachers’ union, Sveriges Lärare, warned in June of the negative consequences of having become one of the world’s most marketised school systems, including the viewing of pupils and students as customers and a lack of resources resulting in increased dissatisfaction.

“It can’t be that the state pumps in lots of money so that you can improve your business and at the same time a portion of that money goes out to you as profits. That we will put a stop to,” she said