Friday Open Thread

Remember these? Talk about anything and I will print it. (Naturally, no personal attacks, swearing, racism, etc.) I'll start.

From the West Seattle Blog, their interview with soon-to-be superintendent, Ben Shuldiner.  Highlights:

- He says public-school districts have to come to terms with the fact that while “30 or 40 years ago, they had a monopoly … now, there’s so much more choice.” But he says the ultimate way to solve the problem is “just do better at our jobs” – provide a better education. To increase enrollment in Lansing, Shuldiner says, “we made our schools better.”

He says promotion is important, from talking to the media to advertising such as billboards. 

- And he says they noticed a trend – parents loved the elementary schools, but were “fearful about the junior highs.” So, he says, “we created a bunch of K-8s” – and that led to less loss between elementary and middle school, because the students would be staying on in schools with which they and their families were already familiar.

On K-8s, I would like to see the data on how many K-8 parents end up sending their student to a traditional middle school. My impression is that there are kids who want new voices and access to more classes/extra-curricular options. 

That said, I do think many parents like K-8s. If SPS would shore up some of their K-8 buildings - like Blaine, like K-8 STEM, like Salmon Bay - more parents might make that choice. 

- He hopes to “visit every single school in the first 100 days … walk the halls with the principals, with the kids.” (We were curious how many layers of bureaucracy his district had between the principals and superintendent; apparently as many as there are in Seattle.) Also, “make some decisions quickly,” with a deep dig into the budget. He also mentioned he might even move to “take down some walls (in the administration) building” (he meant that literally).

Does it matter if he sees all schools in the first 100 days? I don't think so; maybe the first six months. 

I'll be interested to see how his latter point on JSCEE plays out.

- The Seattle board halved its regular meeting schedule to monthly not long ago, so we asked him about the frequency of board meetings in Lansing: He said they met two or three times a month, and that the Lansing board had more members than the Seattle board. He said the board periodically has “informational study sessions,” something he’d like to bring to Seattle.

Wonder what the difference is between "informational study sessions" and the Board's Work Session. One thing I think should change is that it feels like staff dominates what are the Board's work sessions. Presentations should be brief with lots more time for questions and discussion.

- He didn’t say much – voicing general support for “differentiating based on the needs of each child” – except to note that Lansing dramatically increased the rate of students passing AP exams. That, he said, was largely the result of “more AP classes, and we didn’t gatekeep who got into them.

 I'd love to know what gives him faith in differentiation or what he thinks it looks like so that it does work. I note that on HCC Facebook pages, those parents don't feel good about this answer. 

- This is back in vogue, we noted, with “the trades” in some cases desperate for workers. Just outside Seattle, we noted, there are now public high schools dedicated to maritime and aviation. Shuldiner said his current district “created Lansing Technical High School,” and noted that Lansing had been “the home of trades” for so long.