tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post5092892425095123553..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Failure to ManageMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-3623334377929564082013-04-30T07:07:55.588-07:002013-04-30T07:07:55.588-07:00This is always interesting to me.
Three principal...This is always interesting to me.<br /><br />Three principals are retiring. Let's see if the community gets a standard level of involvement in choosing the new principal.<br /><br />Some schools form a hiring committee that handles the whole process and makes a recommendation to the superintendent. Some schools just get told "Here's your new principal."Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-65076087911569015382013-04-29T12:40:50.373-07:002013-04-29T12:40:50.373-07:00Seattle Dad, that's an appalling thing to say....Seattle Dad, that's an appalling thing to say. The vast majority of students are getting a good education. SPS has management problems and problems with central services, but the teachers and principals, for the most part, are able to do a good job in spite of central administration.<br />Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16260807460417787614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60314912454299531992013-04-29T12:00:08.579-07:002013-04-29T12:00:08.579-07:00I see Arlie Nekashi won't be managing anymore....I see Arlie Nekashi won't be managing anymore.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/school%20board/12-13%20agendas/050113agenda/20130501_PersonnelReport.pdf" rel="nofollow">Personnel Report</a> <br /><br />I also see these principals retiring:<br /><br />Ernie Seevers (Sanislo)<br />Anne Fitzpatrick (Kimball)<br />Marcia Boyd (Rogers)mirmac1https://www.blogger.com/profile/10183460709639638172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-87496713019689579382013-04-29T08:29:18.039-07:002013-04-29T08:29:18.039-07:00I think Seattle Dad got it almost right. The top t...I think Seattle Dad got it almost right. The top two floors of the JSCEE could be closed 365 days a year and it would not make much difference. Let's keep the trades and the kitchens running, but the rest of the "work" done in that building adds little - if anything - to student education.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-48114395335499012262013-04-28T19:45:14.841-07:002013-04-28T19:45:14.841-07:00Seattle Dad: Hard for me to cheerlead for some of...Seattle Dad: Hard for me to cheerlead for some of what goes on in this district -- but I have to say, I disagree. Every fall, kids wind up in classes that help them learn how to write essays and research papers, how to do calculus, how to learn enough to get into UW, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Cal Polytech, Pomona, Davidson, -- the list goes on and on. They play violin concertos, refurbish computers that go to third world countries, take (and do very well on) APP exams, get IB diplomas -- it is really quite astonishing, especially since they do all of this with the help of parents, teachers, site-based administrators (in some cases, in other cases, those folks are part of the problem), and against a backdrop of what has been indifferent and ineffective (at best) central administration. <br /><br />We need more reources than we have; but in the meantime, we need to do far better with the resources we have than we do. We get pulled aside by the moneyed crowd (with checkbooks and enough time on their hands to do serious harm). We get bogged down by midlevel administrators who seem to have lifetime jobs, regardless of whether they ever do anything to justify their paychecks. <br /><br />I believe that we currently have a board that has stopped patting itself on the back for failure and genuinely engages with the issues. I like our new superintendent. But the entire process remains bogged down by a bad combination of downtown administrators who cannot, or do not, do their jobs well, and far too many site based administrators who either need help learning how to be effective school leaders -- or need to be moved out of their jobs. Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09923777229601243321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-52788699816888705422013-04-28T19:43:46.340-07:002013-04-28T19:43:46.340-07:00Agreed, Catherine.
I think the schools perform ...Agreed, Catherine. <br /><br />I think the schools perform far better than district management. <br /><br />And Charlie nails it. <br /><br />Talk, blah, blah, blah from this district, over and over, but where IS the accountability? Still waiting.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-1614271787198139892013-04-28T19:34:03.703-07:002013-04-28T19:34:03.703-07:00Seattle Dad - I strongly disagree.
I think SPS ...Seattle Dad - I strongly disagree. <br /><br />I think SPS does more good than harm, though not by nearly the margin it should. I acknowledge that it does a few things with breathtaking ineptitude. <br /><br />But there are absolutely teachers and staff that perform miracles, as well as those who simple do a good job. We certainly saw more of those, than the poster children of education reform in our time at SPS. <br /><br />SPS certainly has a management and oversight issue, but in digging into some other districts across the state, they are in some good company. That doesn't excuse it, but I think puts perspective on it. Catherinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-87224857671870034582013-04-28T15:20:49.104-07:002013-04-28T15:20:49.104-07:00Seattle Public Schools can be closed 365 days a ye...Seattle Public Schools can be closed 365 days a year and not make a bit of differenceSeattle Dadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-45046928956975782952013-04-28T15:18:36.204-07:002013-04-28T15:18:36.204-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com