Seattle Schools Community Forum

I posted a link to this article written by Sandeep Kaushik earlier but here it is again.   It is a lengthy piece but a worthy one for anyone wondering how SPS got to the place it is today. There are many other good articles in this series called Attacks on Excellence at the Education Progress platform. He starts with some data on the city of Seattle and its high-income, well-educated citizenry. And then there's this (which we could have another whole conversation about especially given the coming elections): Seattle is also one of the country’s most politically left-leaning cities (like Zohran Mamdani in New York, Seattle’s recently elected mayor, Katie Wilson, is a self-described socialist), one that conceives of itself as a Disneyland of progressive public policy imagineering , where elected officials vie with one another to lead on incorporating au courant activist ideas and cutting edge cosmopolitan cultural commitments into governance. Ouch! But he's right. Going on, he...

Update: a kind reader sent me the link to the video of SEA President Ibi Idowu in March after she was placed on administrative leave from her duties as a Special Education teacher. I found the comments on Reddit to be interesting but I'll wait and see what my readers think.  end of update Ever seen this site? It's the Washington State Fiscal Information t hat tells you how much every K-12 school employee is paid. This is through 2024-2025 so Superintendent Ben Shuldiner isn't here.   I note that former senior administrative staffer Michael Tolley, who is now Northshore's super was making $460K+ a year. No one in SPS senior management makes less than $200K plus nearly every high school principal makes about $200K.  I am hearing rumblings of unhappiness from elementary school parents who are finding out that the state law requires at least 30 minutes of recess a day a nd apparently, in SPS, that's all they are going to get. PE does not count in that 30 minutes. The ...

Yes, I have seen this essay by Sandeep Kaushik, The Decade of Decline in Seattle Public Schools.  Yes, my work was acknowledged twice and I am very grateful for that. (Full disclosure, I have spoken to Sandeep on educational issues several times but I would call him a colleague and not a friend.)  Yes, I do plan to write about it here but my day is busy. I'll try to get to it later but you are welcome to read it and comment. 

Update: I erred in saying that it was Ibi  Idowu, SEA president,  who was signing the agreement with Superintendent Shuldiner. It was VP  Davina Diaz. Both women wear big glasses and Ms. Diaz' head was down. My apologies  End of update From statements that Superinetendent Ben Shuldiner has made, the teachers and associated staff (paraprofessionals, office staff, and substitutes) will get slightly more than the 8.8% raise that was offered.  My understanding is the state COLA is 2.6% per year and so this may represent a little less than 2% from SPS.  The Special Education services that teachers wanted? Kinda kicked down the road by both sides. The district is creating a "partnership" to look at Special Education (that allegedly will include parents). I'm a bit baffled because I thought there already was a Special Education Taskforce. This new group will spend 18 MONTHS to research, talk to families, and look at best fit options for SPS.  Additionally th...

This query comes from Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times . Yes, Danny, everyone who tracks Seattle Schools sure knows it. I think the better, more obvious question is "How did we get here?" The amount of hand-wringing (and some finger pointing) from SPS leadership over the years has not helped. What really hasn't helped are boards that have approved these "balanced" budgets and contracts. And boy I wish Superintendent Shuldiner has not used that phrase - "we're broke" - because it makes a simple statement of a complex situation. (But he also said this: “It’s the sword of Damocles hanging over all of us."  That's old school Greek storytelling right there.) From Westneat: Broke means you can’t pay your bills. Insolvent means your debts outpace your assets and income to the point of fiscal crisis. Public schools don’t really go out of business, so it would likely mean the state stepping in to force some spending cuts. Westneat, along with...

So, how was your child's first day? I would love to hear how it went.