Public Education News Roundup - July 22, 2026

Via the Lincoln High School Alumni and Staff Facebook page:

On Thursday, July 23, Seattle Public Schools will recommend a full-size field at N. 50th St. & Aurora Ave. N., plus a track renovation at Lower Woodland Field #7, to the Seattle Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners — asking approval to move into environmental review. Links at bottom are the agenda and public memo for the Parks Board of Commissioners this week and info on the SPS project page.  

This special meeting is from 6pm-8pm at 330 19th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112.
Important: They have now added public comment at the July 23rd meeting and we need people to show up in support! See below for the tentative agenda including signing up to speak.

6:00 Welcome, Introductions & Land Acknowledgement Ryan Baum, Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, Co-Chair
6:10 Briefing: Lower Woodland Park Athletic Field Proposal Andy Sheffer, Deputy Superintendent, Planning and Capital Development
6:40 Public Hearing: Lower Woodland Park Athletic Field Proposal. Please sign up ahead of time by emailing PKS_BPRC@seattle.gov.

Emailing the Parks contacts below is something you should do either way, whether or not you're able to attend in person. Showing up in Lincoln gear adds visible support, but the email is what goes on record.

We are not asking you to weigh in on site or design specifics, SPS has already made that determination. What we're asking is that you help us make sure the following priorities are part of what moves forward into environmental review:

A full-size field (not a reduced or single-sport version)
Dedicated storage facilities
Lighting and infrastructure: the infrastructure needed for the field to actually function for games and practices

A short, personal email is more effective than a form letter. Feel free to mention that you're a Lincoln (or Hamilton) parent, and simply ask that the Board approve moving the project into environmental review with these elements included.

Who to contact at Seattle Parks:
Michele Finnegan, Interim Superintendent: michele.finnegan@seattle.gov
Board of Park Commissioners (general): PKS_BPRC@seattle.gov
Benjamin Burtzos, Board Coordinator: benjamin.burtzos@seattle.gov
Seattle Parks general info: PKS_info@seattle.gov

What else you can do:
Attend the July 23 meeting in person in Lincoln gear: 6:00–8:00 PM, Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112, virtual access also available
Share this with other Lincoln/Hamilton families
Parks memo and agenda: https://www.seattle.gov/board.../meeting-agendas-and-minutes
SPS project page: https://www.seattleschools.org/.../projects/lincoln-field/



From the Dr. Joe Substack -
Anthropic Launched Claude for Teachers. We Blocked It for Our District.

This is an excellent article that asks questions all districts should ask.

We blocked it because I believe Anthropic made one of the biggest K-12 go-to-market mistakes I’ve seen in years.

The frustrating part is that it was completely avoidable.

“Claude for Teachers is for individual educators. A dedicated offering for schools and districts is coming soon.”

That’s where they lost me.

The district offering should have come first.

Not later.

If your product encourages workflows involving protected student information, districts need governance before teachers need access.

In my opinion, Anthropic has put teachers in a position where they could inadvertently make unauthorized disclosures of protected student information while believing they were using the product exactly as intended.

I am not suggesting teachers would intentionally violate FERPA.

I’m saying they could reasonably believe they were doing exactly what the product was designed to do.

But protecting student information is about much more than model training.

The first question isn’t:

“What happens after the data gets there?”

It’s:

“Should the data have been disclosed in the first place?”

Those are two completely different questions.

A quick list below of what isn't working. 

This EdTech GTM Playbook Is Getting Old

Unfortunately, this isn’t unique to Anthropic.

I’ve watched this same playbook repeat itself for years.

Launch free teacher accounts.

Drive rapid bottom-up adoption.

Get thousands of educators using the platform.

Then walk into the district office and say:

“Hundreds of your teachers are already using our platform. If you want visibility, governance, identity management, administrative controls, and district oversight, you should purchase the enterprise version.”

That isn’t responsible K-12 adoption.

It puts districts in a position where they have to react after adoption has already started instead of evaluating the platform before sensitive student information may be shared.

Governance becomes the upsell instead of the foundation.

A fascinating Fresh Air episode - 

In pursuit of 'Instagram face,' are we losing the imperfections that make us human? 

 

I put this in this roundup because so many teens look at Instagram and listen to all the various "beauty influencers," some of whom are men. It might be good to listen to this with your teen and ask for their thoughts.

Now, in her latest New Yorker piece, Tolentino argues that social media optimization of Instagram face has trickled down, resulting in a proliferation of plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures among young people chasing an AI-based beauty standard.

Tolentino argues that what's changing isn't just our appearance, it's our relationship to reality. She notes that procedures like Botox and fillers, once associated with middle age, are now becoming popular for teenagers and young adults, with plastic surgeons reporting a significant uptick of patients under 30, and men and boys engaging in "looksmaxxing."

I also advise reading that "looksmaxxing" article about boys and young men.

Social media is awash with methods of self improvement, ranging from the benign — like workout tips and skincare advice — to highly destructive measures like "bonesmashing," or hitting your face with a hammer, based on the misguided belief that minor fractures will help sharpen the appearance of your jawline.

"If you are a young woman and you are interfacing with the internet, there is essentially no system that will tell you, 'Your face is good as it is.' And there is no end to the systems that will say, 'Improve it, perfect it,'" she says. "Our imperfection ... that's the best thing about us. That's what makes us actually human."

A great report from the Network for Public Education :

Public Schooling in America: Measuring Each State's Commitment to Democratically Governed Schools

Washington State gets pretty good marks.



The Washington State Board of Education is revising the credits for high school. Below is a draft of their ideas.