tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post4082281988111531784..comments2024-03-29T02:41:52.718-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Open Thread FridayMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-42424555527904300042011-01-16T20:49:41.492-08:002011-01-16T20:49:41.492-08:00The latest Battle for Seattle, Part 4 has been pos...The latest <a href="http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/the-battle-for-seattle-part-4/" rel="nofollow">Battle for Seattle, Part 4</a> has been posted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-12331600052003675322011-01-16T19:37:20.124-08:002011-01-16T19:37:20.124-08:00They really need to have English tracks available ...<i>They really need to have English tracks available at these schools for kids who cannot be served in a immersion setting.</i><br /><br />Unfortunately, while there are always kids in any year who won't be well served by immersion, they number far less than would be required to fill an English language class.<br /><br />The better solution would be for the international schools to be option schools. Then they would fill with families that really want those programs, not just with folks who really want their neighborhood school and will take immersion. Everyone would also then have a non-immersion neighborhood school.Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540428343439198125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-70282580091947290302011-01-16T19:36:11.798-08:002011-01-16T19:36:11.798-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540428343439198125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-38012987327632358522011-01-16T19:18:17.042-08:002011-01-16T19:18:17.042-08:00dj -- I have heard of several parents with current...dj -- I have heard of several parents with current K kids who live in the McDonald attendance area, but are either at a different public or private and are planning on switching back to McDonald for next year. So 1st grade could be very popular at McDonald next year. <br /><br />It's funny because a lot of the current families I know at McDonald could care less about immersion. The ones who really wanted LI found a different option and aren't at McDonald. <br /><br />LI is not a good fit for all kids, and dumping those kids off to BF Day is not good for anyone, BF Day included. They really need to have English tracks available at these schools for kids who cannot be served in a immersion setting.from wallingfordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-89693052289981356792011-01-16T10:28:13.440-08:002011-01-16T10:28:13.440-08:00Miramac, thanks for that. It was so interesting, ...Miramac, thanks for that. It was so interesting, I might have to start a thread.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-66970145302916802162011-01-15T19:31:10.191-08:002011-01-15T19:31:10.191-08:00We started a craze!
No Confidence in RochesterWe started a craze!<br /><br /><a href="http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/the-no-confidence-vote-broad-rochester-via-failing-schools/" rel="nofollow">No Confidence in Rochester</a>mirmac1https://www.blogger.com/profile/10183460709639638172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-88696108717259922462011-01-15T10:09:00.052-08:002011-01-15T10:09:00.052-08:00So what if MGJ NOW has it on her disclosure form a...So what if MGJ NOW has it on her disclosure form about CGCS and the Alliance. She hasn't for the past years she's been on there. <br /><br />But let her off the hook, sure. This sets up a great precedent for any other superintendent. <br /><br />Wendy Kopp. If they took questions, I'd go but if not, it would be tough to sit through. (Although if you wanted to see what I imagine a room full of Scientologists to look like, this is your event. I don't think TFA is that secretive but I do think it has some cult-like aspects.)Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30322580983963738002011-01-14T19:17:13.010-08:002011-01-14T19:17:13.010-08:00Dan provided a link to the LEV blog, where we see ...Dan provided a link to the LEV blog, where we see that they have invited Wendy Kopp, head of Teach for America, to come speak March 2nd.<br /><br />From LEV:<br />Voices from the Education Revolution Speaker Series<br /> <br /><br />Wendy Kopp: An Excellent Education for All<br />The founder and chief executive of Teach for America will share her thoughts on what it will take to truly transform education – improving the academic and life trajectories of children.<br />Wednesday, March 2 at 6pm<br />MOHAI (Museum of History & Industry)<br />2700 24th Ave E<br />Seattle, WA 98112-2099 (map)<br /><br />The event is free and open to the public. RSVP"seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60808356151506108662011-01-14T16:29:19.435-08:002011-01-14T16:29:19.435-08:00The agenda for the upcoming Board meeting has been...The <a href="http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/10-11agendas/011911agenda/011911agenda.pdf" rel="nofollow">agenda</a> for the upcoming Board meeting has been posted online and it includes the Board's and the Executives annual disclosure statements.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/10-11agendas/011911agenda/administratorconflictstatements.pdf" rel="nofollow">Dr. Goodloe-Johnson's disclosure statement</a> has dropped the Broad Foundation and NWEA but it now shows the Alliance for Education and the Council of Great City Schools.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-32148937887957914462011-01-14T16:12:03.316-08:002011-01-14T16:12:03.316-08:00I went through my bookshelf and pulled out a box f...I went through my bookshelf and pulled out a box full of books that I had to admit I didn't need to own because I didn't think that I would ever read them (or read them again).<br /><br />I brought the box to NOVA and they will be in the Book Exchange.<br /><br />Some of them were pretty good. At least three were in there because I had multiple copies of a book.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-24315520342164518812011-01-14T15:20:51.537-08:002011-01-14T15:20:51.537-08:00Nova has a literacy/literature event coming up on ...Nova has a literacy/literature event coming up on Jan 26. We're seeking books donations w/ multiple goals in mind. We'll collect, sort and share books with:<br />--<a href="http://www.bookstoprisoners.net/" rel="nofollow">Books to Prisoners</a><br />--Nova and SBOC students and families<br />--the Nova/SBOC library<br /><br />Classics, paperbacks, dictionaries, comics, picture books, text books... books in all forms are welcome and can be dropped off at the Nova office during school hours.<br />300 20th Ave E, 98112owlhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630051682382673928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-76015920858632033142011-01-14T15:06:49.532-08:002011-01-14T15:06:49.532-08:00Here's an improvement:
SPS General Counsel wi...Here's an improvement:<br /><br />SPS General Counsel will tighten up the Ethics Policy to preclude a district employee from garnering "indirect" benefits (not just financial interests); resume' padding, for example.MAPsuckshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10043019493554551794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-9502161077946966332011-01-14T15:01:25.292-08:002011-01-14T15:01:25.292-08:00And from LEV comes this .
This week's lesso...And from LEV comes <a href="http://www.educationvoters.org/" rel="nofollow"> this </a>.<br /><br /><br />This week's lesson is on class size and you can also find the legislative update for week 1.dan dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15536720661510933983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-33832499890756768132011-01-14T14:47:23.187-08:002011-01-14T14:47:23.187-08:00Anna McCartney / Graham Hill - did you get a lot o...Anna McCartney / Graham Hill - did you get a lot of books?<br /><br />I collected a carload but couldn't contact you so have found a different elementary home for them - want to know if others have done he same. This other school seemed quite willing to take them off my hands - bet there is lots of need out there, as Anna said.Chris S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17016898261120819596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-79468662833871365252011-01-14T13:48:00.248-08:002011-01-14T13:48:00.248-08:00TIF and SIG grants total $18.5M.
Is it reasonable...TIF and SIG grants total $18.5M.<br /><br />Is it reasonable to ask the district to budget within grant allocation for controversial ed. reform initiatives?<br /><br />Let's face it, these reforms are controversial.Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-76420063931240347012011-01-14T13:20:24.487-08:002011-01-14T13:20:24.487-08:00Lori,
I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, las...Lori,<br /><br />I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, last November voters gave a resounding NO to taxation. It appears Wa. State voters prefer cheap candy to services.<br /><br />Seattle generally votes YES on tax initiatives. However, this is not the case throughout the state. Seattle keeps thirty six cents of every tax dollar, and tax dollars get spread throughout the state.<br /><br />Senator elect White suggested tax cuts will be made, voters will feel the pain.. then, perhaps some referendums can be passed.Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-34189893276446986992011-01-14T13:07:26.983-08:002011-01-14T13:07:26.983-08:00I have to say, given the Budget Work Session and t...I have to say, given the Budget Work Session and the huge gap, the district has probably done the math and believes that a language immersion program would fill McDonald. If they didn't do their math correctly, it could cost us and frankly, we don't have extra money for this program. <br /><br />I still go on record as believing this is deeply unfair with two neighborhood schools, not very far apart, both as foreign language immersion.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-43640444448150469052011-01-14T12:22:04.210-08:002011-01-14T12:22:04.210-08:00My husband just sent me this link via his RSS feed...My husband just sent me this link via his RSS feed about taxes and priorities in WA state:<br /><br /><a href="http://rss.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2011/01/14/infants-versus-coal-you-decide?utm_source=BlogRSS&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sightline%2FYmhS+%28The+Daily+Score+blog+-+Sightline+Daily%29" rel="nofollow">Infants vs Coal: You Decide</a><br /><br />The post has an interesting link to a PDF with $4 billion in savings from various loopholes that many of us would probably agree should be closed.<br /><br />So, yeah, back to increasing the B&O on small businesses... I think I'd rather close this coal loophole first! :-)Lorihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777580098975083499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-54222867894697288522011-01-14T12:04:11.255-08:002011-01-14T12:04:11.255-08:00Two pages to save, print, and share.
How many cen...Two pages to save, print, and share.<br /><br />How many centrally funded jobs were cut last year? The number 85 is used a lot, but <a href="http://www.seattleschools.org/area/budget/centrally_funded_by_duty_code.pdf" rel="nofollow"> this data</a> shows that the true answer might be something more like 19. (Question? Is it a fair open records request to ask for the names and/or job titles of everyone who was laid off? How else can one ask for proof of how many jobs were actually cut?)<br /><br />This <a href="http://alliance4ed.org/A4EFASTFACTS2010.pdf" rel="nofollow">Alliance Fast Facts</a> shows that they spent 9 million dollars, eleven percent on management and fundraising and that they are very open and proud of the fact that they don't just raise money for Seattle Public Schools but that they have a point of view, they clearly see their mission to influence policy. (Now many of us here know that already, but if you want to nudge someone, get them thinking about the bigger picture and is this a good influence, then sharing this might be just the thing.)Dorothy Nevillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17108759281089768738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-51282748176474695522011-01-14T12:03:32.566-08:002011-01-14T12:03:32.566-08:00dj,
There were probably about 80-100 parents at t...dj,<br /><br />There were probably about 80-100 parents at the meeting. Some were current McDonald parents and some were prospective parents.<br /><br />The latter part of the meeting was spent addressing current parents concerns. There were definitely some parents who had strong concerns about the immersion program. The district has jerked around these parents and as late as November they were seriously considering becoming a science focus school. The district had been telling these parents they would get to decide and then stepped it and said, nope, you're an international school.<br /><br />That said, there was a show of hands of parents who wanted the international program vs. those who didn't. There was overwhelming support for the international program. I only saw one parent raise their hand that they didn't want it, and there were a couple of parents who voiced concern about what happens to kids who might not be able to join in the immersion program because of language development delays or other issues.<br /><br />I got the impression that there might be one or two families that might not want their kids to conitnue on in such a program because of these sorts of concerns. So it might be worth trying to get into the school if you have a first grader.<br /><br />It's hard to say what your chances might be with a Kindergartener. <br /><br />There are quite a few incoming Kindees who are sibs of kids in JSIS but live in the McDonald area. I would expect some of those parents to try for JSIS. If they get in, there may be some excess compacity in McDonald.<br /><br />I do think this year might be the best chance for parents outside of the attendance area to get their child into the immersion program, but that is pretty much speculation.Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540428343439198125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-81574354856761058192011-01-14T11:49:20.463-08:002011-01-14T11:49:20.463-08:00Bird, is there any sense of the parental enthusias...Bird, is there any sense of the parental enthusiasm for MacDonald? (I.e., whether or not the neighborhood will fill the kindergarten class next year?) I am wondering if, as someone who isn't in an immersion school neighborhood if there is any chance of getting my rising kindergarten student in there.djhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01720927162286657378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-49285592035532819732011-01-14T11:39:32.457-08:002011-01-14T11:39:32.457-08:00Joan, I'm with Lori in thinking that additiona...Joan, I'm with Lori in thinking that additional B&O tax is not the way to go. As she said, it's a tax on gross revenues as opposed to profits. Many small businesses (the one I work for included) are not making any profit. They may bring in $100K in revenues in a year, but are having to pay more than that to keep the doors open, pay employees, and try to keep everyone in health insurance. When you're already losing money, having to pay even a small additional tax could be enough to shut you down or lay someone off.klhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10896882443894592502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-74481166784886929932011-01-14T11:27:58.757-08:002011-01-14T11:27:58.757-08:00There was a meeting at Lincoln last night about th...There was a meeting at Lincoln last night about the international school at McDonald. My Wallingford had a pretty good <a href="http://www.mywallingford.com/2011/01/14/language-immersion-in-2011-for-mcdonald-school/" rel="nofollow">report</a> about it.<br /><br />Word at the meeting was that the plan currently is to offer Japanese and Spanish to Kindergarten and first graders at the school starting next fall.<br /><br />There were questions as to how this would be funded given the budget constaints. The answer was that the school would get less money than would normally be offered for such a start-up (Kodama said that was $100,000 in the past), but that there will probably be some funds available.<br /><br />I went to the meeting. One of the staff helping at the meeting was JSIS's principal intern. Anyone know how many such interns there are out there?<br /><br />I atteneded a meeting where MGJ also had an intern in attendance. <br /><br />Any idea how much are we spending on interns these days or how they might be funded?Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540428343439198125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-69594751127434948632011-01-14T11:10:47.106-08:002011-01-14T11:10:47.106-08:00Joan, they already passed a 2-year temporary incre...Joan, they already passed a 2-year temporary increase in the B&O tax for service businesses in May 2010. It was a 0.3% increase, I believe. It expires July 2013.<br /><br />I agree that something must be done on the revenue side, but I don't agree that one sector needs to bear the brunt of it simply because it's logistically easy. <br /><br />The B&O is outrageous because it taxes gross income. If you run a small business with a lot of overhead, this is particularly problematic. It essentially puts a tax on money that is not in your pocket. <br /><br />That said, it's consistent with our entire tax structure out here though. We're taxed on the <i>value</i> of our home, not on what we paid for it or what we can afford. We're taxed on gross business revenue, not profit. As a strong supporter of 1098, I wish we could create a more sane tax structure in which tax burden is shared by everyone, according to ability to pay. I'd be happy to pay an income tax on my actual income, but I hate paying the B&O on money that I didn't really make because it was used to keep my (very small) business running, while local millionaires, who probably make more in one month than I make in year, pay nothing.Lorihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777580098975083499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-70968904406881003322011-01-14T11:06:36.035-08:002011-01-14T11:06:36.035-08:00Charlie, we need Seattle Sped PTSA/SEAAC there.Charlie, we need Seattle Sped PTSA/SEAAC there.SeattleSpedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705544363458155912noreply@blogger.com