Seattle Schools Community Forum

  Via The Seattle Times : The Seattle teachers union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike late Wednesday, setting the stage for a potential delayed start of the school year. If a tentative agreement is not reached with Seattle Public Schools by the end of the day Tuesday, the strike could begin the next day, on Sept. 2, the district’s planned first day of school. The vote to authorize a strike does not guarantee that it will actually happen. The bargaining team — representatives from the union and SPS — will keep negotiating “around the clock” until the contract ends Aug. 31, union representatives said. Bargaining can continue even on Sept. 1 — and if an agreement is reached that day, the strike will be called off, union spokesperson Julie Popper said. Over 90% of their membership in attendance voted to authorize the strike if needed.     As of Wednesday afternoon, the union and the district still had 50 items they had not reached tentative agreements on, accordi...

  David Horsey in The Seattle Times gives this story a good wrap-up (including talking about those Meta AI glasses ). Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s other platforms were intentionally designed to hook users through algorithms that invade their brains and keep them scrolling for hours at a time. This addictive design was found to have caused harm to children in a case brought in New Mexico where Meta was ordered to pay a $942 million penalty.   Meta has now been hit with a far bigger penalty in a lawsuit brought by 29 state attorneys general who sought to punish Meta for flagrantly disregarding the health and safety of teenagers.     Numerous ex-Meta employees were ready to testify that the company was eager to turn teens into screen addicts, which may be why Zuckerberg chose to settle the case and pay a whopping $18 billion fine. (Washington state will receive $237 million in a landmark legal settlement.)   “For years, Meta intentionally deceived the public ab...

In case you didn't know, this from The Dollywood Foundation: The Dollywood Foundation  was created in 1988 by  Dolly Parton  to inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success. Initial efforts focused on decreasing the drop out rate in the county’s high school.  In the early 90’s  Dolly  promised every 7th-grade and 8th-grade student she would personally give them $500 if they graduated from high school. Each student had to pick a buddy and each supported the other. This effort, called the  Buddy Program,  reduced the drop out rate for these two classes from 35% to 6%. More importantly, the program catalyzed the community to provide additional resources to sustain this improvement in the drop out rate. In 1995, the  Foundation  implemented  Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library  in Sevier County, Tennessee. This monthly book gifting program for children under five focused on inspiring a love of books and rea...

I know what you're thinking? Why is this here? Yes, you are right; it has nothing to do with public education or Seattle Schools. BUT, I am indeed an old person and we seniors love our pickleball. I even volunteer teach a single overview lesson once a week at my Y. It's a great game and especially good for kids as the court is small and the paddle manageable (and it's a paddle, not a racket).  It looks like fun to me and there IS childcare. Think about it. From Seattle Parks Foundation: This weekend. Free pickleball. Downtown Seattle. We’re gearing up to welcome hundreds of pickleball players, coaches, and spectators for Pickleball for All this Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30! 6th Avenue between Blanchard and Virginia will be closed off to traffic to become temporary pickleball courts for the weekend. New to pickleball? On kid duty? No worries! Pickleball for All is for players of all experience levels and is a great option for a free, family-friendly outing. Bet...

A quick aside - reader Amanda , who commented on the You CAN Say No to Tech in Seattle Schools post, another reader, a pediatrician would like to ask you about your comment. If you are willing to send me your email so that I can make that connection, please do so at   sss.westbrook@gmail.com. It seems that the City's Families, Education, Preschool and Promise program is doing well and planning an expansion via their levy .  Perusing this  editorial in The Seattle Times, I was a bit taken aback by a couple of statements. I'm hoping some readers might have some additional information or insights. (I would ask Communications but they still will not acknowledge me as media. I guess I'll have to go up the food chain.)  Beginning next month, many of Seattle’s 105 city-funded preschools will serve more children for more hours. Thirty-three sites will extend their calendars beyond the school year, offering early learning to 3- and 4-year-olds for 10 hours a day, year-round...

  I meant to post this sooner - this event is tomorrow night, the 25th. I am hearing that Governor Bob Ferguson and State Superintendent Chris Reykdal are thinking about "tax credit scholarships" - that's code for vouchers. I'm sure the Governor and Superintendent are getting pressure from many groups for this nonsense.  Folks, you do not want this to come to pass. Please contact one or both leaders with this message: "Any type of voucher scheme has never been proven to truly support students in lower-income brackets. Our schools are already suffering from not having certain areas like Special Education and transportation fully funded. Please don't weaken these already struggling districts by introducing any type of voucher, "scholarship" or "education opportunity."  Governor Bob Ferguson Superintendent Chris Reykdal Seattle Education Association Contract Talks To state, a strike by SEA is NOT in ANYONE's best interest. Not SPS nor SEA...

Story One for this post is this: TikTok and Instagram danger for girls by other  students using Meta RayBans.  Not to mention filming teachers in class. Will this be part of the SEA contract? Two items to state: - This is a clear invasion of privacy of minors. To put up videos you take of unsuspecting students (or students who say "leave me alone" or students just in the background) is wrong, wrong, wrong. These glasses cost anywhere from $250 to $600. Most teens don't have that kind of cash so you might assume their parents bought them for their child. If you are that parent, YOU, yes you, have a responsibility to train your child what NOT to do. Because seriously, if your kid invades someone's privacy, there's always a parent who will sue you. Or, your kid gets arrested.  Washington State IS a two-person consent state. - I urge you to do what I did after I read about this - I contacted Superintendent Ben Schuldiner and the Board. Here's what the current pol...

Honestly, I know the answer and it is something that plagues all of the United States. And that is the sports culture that infects high school sports.  Gotta win at all costs. Most high schools in Texas spend more on their football stadium than curriculum. I saw more than one video during the World Cup of visitors from other countries who would see a high school stadium and shake their heads.  We're Number One...in (fill-in-the-blank sport)! That makes us proud (and prideful) to the point where those championships are our identity.  I've said this before - school is about academics. That it has evolved to spread itself over multiple areas to the point where academics somehow fade out a bit is truly sad.  And that's not just sports. It's food safety, clothing, mental health, computers - you name it and schools are now supposed to do it. And yes, yes, I know that for many students, athletics keeps them in school and they get out of it things like minimum grade to play...