tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post5717791345722365095..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: New Education DirectorsMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-6205840080306608122010-08-22T00:36:18.567-07:002010-08-22T00:36:18.567-07:00They are the names of the new education directors....They are the names of the new education directors. I was aware of them that education directors are going to change now.Energy Audithttp://www.wellhome.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-70983847976857098852010-08-18T21:56:36.133-07:002010-08-18T21:56:36.133-07:00Aurora Lora was a first year principal in PDX last...Aurora Lora was a first year principal in PDX last year- My daughter worked in Portland Public schools, I'll ask her what she knows of her.<br /><br />I am a little concerned ( ok a lot), that the Ed directors seem to be coming from outside the district.<br /><br />I don't feel that is the way to find the best administrators- what does it say to people who have put in decades of work within the district?<br /><br />Phil Brockman is the only one who has been here ( Don't count Tolley cause he came with Maria )Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-5116425393687610112010-08-18T21:47:00.644-07:002010-08-18T21:47:00.644-07:00I was wondering who Bree Dusseault was ;).
Since ...I was wondering who Bree Dusseault was ;). <br />Since she was a 1st year principal- in 07, she must have made quite an impression to be given the role of education director just three years later in a city far away from Louisiana.Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-57441696414794906012010-08-18T20:42:56.218-07:002010-08-18T20:42:56.218-07:00meanwhile, back to the subject of education...
So...meanwhile, back to the subject of education...<br /><br />Some board meeting, eh?seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-14460352235862050392010-08-18T20:08:04.272-07:002010-08-18T20:08:04.272-07:00especially when that then prompts them to repeated...<i> especially when that then prompts them to repeatedly post comments about how much they don't like reading the blog they are reading. (!)<br /></i><br /><br />So what? It's the internet. Duh. That's life in the big league. You seem to post and repost the same old same old. Your view is to "quit whining" ??? How strange. You're one of the biggest whiners of all. Get a life.readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02754095597231700863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-68327618754319664312010-08-18T18:14:36.948-07:002010-08-18T18:14:36.948-07:00I just checked my original post @1:47 on 8/17,, wh...I just checked my original post @1:47 on 8/17,, where immediately after the quote you included in your 1:11 on 8/18 pm post I say "I'm paraphrasing." Sorry you didn't notice that. <br /><br />You and I are both guilty of reading each others' post too quickly and responding in haste. <br /><br />I, for one, will commit to trying to read more slowly, and wait a little to respond to you.GenericGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08025309294882782157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-43705665818148241752010-08-18T17:13:16.028-07:002010-08-18T17:13:16.028-07:00When I want the "rosy" view of SPS, I ne...When I want the "rosy" view of SPS, I need only to read SPS press releases, e-mails and mailings sent to teachers, and the Seattle Times.<br /><br />For a different perspective, I come here. There is something rotten in Denmark, and I want to know what it is and throw it out, not cover up the smell with air freshener.Teachermomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04595356843606376723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-51501626729514521332010-08-18T13:11:42.966-07:002010-08-18T13:11:42.966-07:00"I remember reading a comment from a week or ..."I remember reading a comment from a week or so ago posted by Melissa where she acknowledged that this blog could come across as "anti-everything."<br /><br />"I recall very clearly that you posted a comment that I recall being along the lines of "sometimes I think about the criticism that gets leveled against this blog that we're always complaining about things." <br /><br />Those are clearly two different statements. The first one I never said. I might have said that a criticism of this blog is that we complain and don't offer solutions (which is not true; we frequently do). <br /><br />Look, quote me if you want to but you better be sure of what you are saying because it is wrong and unfair to put words in my mouth and claim I said them. I won't say this again.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60110993180453303442010-08-18T11:50:54.208-07:002010-08-18T11:50:54.208-07:00Melissa, I can't search all your past comments...Melissa, I can't search all your past comments. I have no memory of what the original post was that led to your comment. But in the last 4 - 6 weeks, I recall very clearly that you posted a comment that I recall being along the lines of "sometimes I think about the criticism that gets leveled against this blog that we're always complaining about things." (I'm paraphrasing.) Then you gave 3-5 examples that might certainly seem to support the thesis that this blog comes down against X, then when Not-X is proposed, it comes down against Not-X as well. Then you explained that that's not the intent here, that you, for one, try to remember to call out the good when you see it. <br /><br />Maybe with this further information, you'll remember the comment and maybe even the post that caused you to write it. I actually really liked that comment. <br /><br />Sorry that my paraphrasing of that comment makes your react so strongly. Sorry if I got the timing wrong, and it was more than a week or two ago. <br /><br />Again, though, others seemed to agree with me. Clearly a small minority of the posters on this blog, but I'm not the only one, at least on this point. (See, e.g., reader @ 2:35, Dorothy @ 4:43 and Jan @ 7:29 (Jan does not agree, but she's open to the potential that the criticism might be valid.)) Shoot the messenger, since you really seem to find me annoying, but the criticism remains.GenericGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08025309294882782157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-90585415490852715072010-08-18T11:34:29.617-07:002010-08-18T11:34:29.617-07:00and then of course you have the people who complai...and then of course you have the people who complain about those of us who are 'fixated' on what's really going on in the district - those of us who dig into the background of individuals, groups, organisations, those of us who publish references/research to support our opinions, statements etc - the people who are pissy about that, NEVER, EVER post references/data/stats to support their own views or to prove our research-based statements wrong...<br /><br />Which leads me to the conclusion that they are (naively or fully intentionally and purposefully) acting as agents for the forces attempting to take complete control of public education....Sahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36821536381268744562010-08-18T11:17:20.205-07:002010-08-18T11:17:20.205-07:00Jan said...
Gavroche: I frequently agree with...<i>Jan said...<br /><br /> Gavroche: I frequently agree with your views, but disagree with your proposal to Rosie and Reader (that they just go away) -- and I hope they stay and call it as they see it.</i> <br /><br />Jan, I didn't tell them to "go away." I merely question why a person would continue to read something (blog, newspaper, magazine, whatever) that they disagree with and don't like -- especially when that then prompts them to repeatedly post comments about how much they don't like reading the blog they are reading. (!)<br /><br />Whether this is some form of masochism, or a love of public complaining, it's rather tedious and doesn't really advance the discussion in a meaningful way.<br /><br />It also diverts the discussion from the subject at hand (here, the new Ed Directors) to the messengers (us) and medium (this blog). I sometimes wonder if that is intentional...<br /><br />I don't agree with everything on this blog either. Or everything I read on other blogs or in newspapers. So what? I still think this is a valuable source of info and I appreciate the fact that it fosters discussion of issues that are important to my kids and public education in general.<br /><br />I guess my view on this can be boiled down to: let's quit the whining about the imperfections of this or any blog, and advance the discussion. If you have an opposing view, great -- state it and make your case.gavrochehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11336376340965305696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60551719968099324652010-08-18T10:48:48.990-07:002010-08-18T10:48:48.990-07:00I see no attack about coming from the outside. Wh...I see no attack about coming from the outside. What I see are people finding out where the directors are coming from. No one has said one thing about what any of these directors thinks. Interesting how people hear/read what they want to. <br /><br />(Also, they have kept some of the old Directors so yes, they are being somewhat recycled.)<br /><br />I never said this blog was "anti-everything". Show me the paraphrase or don't attribute to me.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-77293056166625861892010-08-18T10:03:50.247-07:002010-08-18T10:03:50.247-07:00What I find to be racist is the grouping of childr...What I find to be racist is the grouping of children into little categories (using merely the little checkboxes on registration forms) for the purpose of "measuring" them and finding them deficient.<br /><br />"You're 'African American'? Ach, what a pity that your 'group' does comparitively poorly on our wonderful tests! There's a 'gap', you know! But WE can fix it. Oh, what, you're actually an Ethiopian who moved here last year? Well, you're all Black, and that means you are all part of a group that isn't doing so well. Wait, what? Your mother was a Scot who married a Kenyan in Ethiopia? Well, no matter, you're African American to US, you're one of 'them.'"<br /><br />Racist through and through.<br /><br />Now, income...income is a different story: It's effects (particularly generational poverty or generational wealth) are a little more concrete.seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-32091692936975511172010-08-18T09:53:00.320-07:002010-08-18T09:53:00.320-07:00Dorothy -- that makes complete sense and is a very...Dorothy -- that makes complete sense and is a very interesting thought/question. <br /><br />The problem with this form of communication is that it's so one-dimensional. It leads us to make conclusions and assumptions about people and their thoughts based on so little info. Thanks for clarifying. It paints a whole different picture.GenericGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08025309294882782157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-79963312448829669312010-08-18T09:50:40.810-07:002010-08-18T09:50:40.810-07:00Nice try. Same comment though, and more thinly ve...Nice try. Same comment though, and more thinly veiled racism, endemic to the blog. Here's the tenor of the commentary repeated over and over: "What's good for us... isn't good for them. <i>They</i> need the remediation, to get their stupid, ignorant selves up to grade level. Of course we still love them though, because we don't put value judgements on people, no matter how stupid they are. But, we need the good stuff. Nothing can be good for everybody, right? I mean if it's good for us, it will be way too advanced for the dummies, likely related to the hurricane people in NOLA."readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02754095597231700863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-77706004207338268612010-08-18T09:46:12.286-07:002010-08-18T09:46:12.286-07:00Questions...
Wouldn't the district's propo...Questions...<br />Wouldn't the district's proposal be more acceptable if SPS Admins and Principals were evaluated with the same test scores percentages as they are proposing for teachers? Last year Goodloe-Johnson lauded her $5000 as a merit bonus, but that is only a small percentage of her more-than-the-governor salary. What if she was evaluated the same percentage based on the district average? Would she roll hers then? Would long time SPS educators and current district negotiators like Brockman, Terrell, and Thomson be so enthused for merit evaluations if their own salaries and evaluations were based on the average of student test scores for the entire district.<br /><br />And... why did the district negotiate for a year and half, developing a plan with SEA, and then change at the last minute. While the SPS team was negotiating, which SPS admin(s) had time to develop and create from scratch a new and last minute proposal? The Broad positions? Was the past year and a half of negotiations a ploy, setting up the last minute switch? Why would the board condone this type of behavior. Makes me wonder if the SPS proposal wasn't already roughed out.<br /><br />And...what is the school board doing? It is well established that Goodloe-Johnson is not well received in Seattle. Her personal quirks and rudeness aside, the board appears to be using her to break the teachers and then are hoping for her leave because there is so much negativity to her presence. Unfortunately, there will be so much negative stigma/taint left on those admins remaining that we will again have to replace them with new people, and they will have an entirely new solution to enhancing student test scores.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08913794557906003496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-81472878504527492242010-08-18T08:11:04.571-07:002010-08-18T08:11:04.571-07:00Ah, I should have used more words, I thought I was...Ah, I should have used more words, I thought I was more clear. I was responding to the words Maureen quoted, that she was driven by idealism and concluded, perhaps erroneously, that that was related to her working with a poor and black population. <br /><br />So I wondered why someone driven by such idealism would choose to work or be placed in the region of our city with the least such problems. And is, in fact, sometimes characterized as full of whiny middle class white folk with an overblown sense of entitlement. It's a different environment and has different challenges.Dorothy Nevillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17108759281089768738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-52732373040173424332010-08-18T07:09:32.635-07:002010-08-18T07:09:32.635-07:00In my world view "debate the issues" mea...In my world view "debate the issues" means taking positions oppositional to one another. If that is not, in fact, the purpose of this blog, if it, instead, intended to be an amen chorus, then please change the description to include something like "only the views of those who are anti-Broad, anti-LEV, anti-existing Board may be expressed." <br /><br />As to the charge of rascism, when someone suggests that a person who has previously led a school that was "largely poor and black" should be assigned "to a region with more poor and black kids that needs more work," (See Dorothy Nevill's comments from 8/17 @ 1:02 pm) it certainly seems a reasonable conclusion to draw that the poster believes that a person who has previously focused on one racial category of students needs to stay with that group. Especially when the next line in the post is "Does she want to work with a more white and affluent student body these days?" Now maybe that is not what Dorothy meant, but to be surprised that someone would interpret it that way seems a bit disingenuous. It puts the world in stark black and white terms. It suggests that Ms. Dussealt is motivated by the race and financial position of the student population. Yes, there are other ways to interpret her comment, but to see it as rascist and income-ist (to define a term) strikes me as a pretty reasonable first cut way to react.GenericGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08025309294882782157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-18762652693806322402010-08-17T22:59:22.846-07:002010-08-17T22:59:22.846-07:00As a note of interest, the supe brought Michael To...As a note of interest, the supe brought Michael Tolley with her from Charleston.<br /><br />It's interesting to see that the central area was the most affected by school closures in the last round.<br /><br />I do believe that he is there to do her bidding as is our CFO, Don Kennedy, another import from Charleston.<br /><br />I think more is going to be happening in the SE area and I don't think that it will be good.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see what unfolds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-58693571422788021682010-08-17T21:21:48.819-07:002010-08-17T21:21:48.819-07:00oops, it's anonymous 8:56, not 8:46. I was wro...oops, it's anonymous 8:56, not 8:46. I was wrong.<br /><br />Charlie and Dorothy are being racist?! Where? That's a heck of an accusation. I know sometimes I am racist, and am glad when people let me know. I'm sure Charlie and Dorothy would welcome your detailing of their racist words.<br /><br />Otherwise, that's a deeply disturbing accusation to throw around..."a little racism"? I don't see it. In these comments.seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-79241586946170202622010-08-17T21:18:22.284-07:002010-08-17T21:18:22.284-07:00anonymous 8:46 -
Why is Charlie wrong? I don't...anonymous 8:46 -<br />Why is Charlie wrong? I don't see it. He's raising valid issues along with information he's bringing. I too am curious why a principal leaves after one year.<br /><br />Where is he wrong? Wrong facts? Wrong questions? Wrong attitude?<br /><br />And if he's wrong, why not just correct him with YOUR ideas, your opinions? Must you waste our time bemoaning wrongness? Maybe you want to kill the messenger, for he brings ill tidings? Why? Why the many (I'm assuming it's one "anonymous") posts about how terribly wrong it all is?<br /><br />Do you merely want his voice silenced?seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-11325648451839704722010-08-17T20:56:04.400-07:002010-08-17T20:56:04.400-07:00I think Charlie Mass is way out of line on here. ...I think Charlie Mass is way out of line on here. His comments make sweeping generalizations and assumptions with no information from which to draw. His comments should be removed. They are wrong and only perpetuate divisiveness. Charlie and Dorothy also serve up their entry with a little racism. Way to go! It's ugly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-13243598375885399812010-08-17T20:35:52.694-07:002010-08-17T20:35:52.694-07:00Oh. I see. By expressing curiosity and surprise wi...Oh. I see. By expressing curiosity and surprise with a question mark, I'm being negative. Also the use of the modifiers "only" and "already". Okay. I guess I should stick to Mark Twain's rule: <br />When you see an adverb, kill it.<br /><br />Personally, I strongly believe that schools need stable leadership, so a principal changing jobs within three years is a red flag for me. I was raising that red flag.<br /><br />Red flags are questions, not answers. I not presuming that anything is wrong, merely seeking an explanation for an anomaly. I am willing to accept explanations and move on without prejudice.<br /><br />Was any part of my information about Ms Coogan negative? The part about her being name Sno-Isle Region principal of the year, perhaps or the story about her providing food for students over the weekend, or sharing her paper on formative assessments? I don't think so.<br /><br />I do disagree with District actions sometimes and say so. You can choose to see that as negative, but that pre-supposes acquiesence as the default state. I don't presume either agreement or disagreement. You could just as easily say that the District disagrees with me and they are being negative. Actually, it would be more precise in the vast majority of cases to say that the District's actions disagree with their rhetoric, stated policies, or stated goals. It is the District who is being negative in all of those cases as well.<br /><br />This is a tricky thing to argue - it's almost impossible to deny being in denial or to refute the accusation that you are contrary.<br /><br />Yogi Berra said, rather famously, that he didn't really say all of the things he said. In much the same way I'm not nearly as sarcastic or negative as people make me out to be. This medium has no tone of voice, so a lot of the sarcastic tone is in the reader's ear, not in my writing. Given the presupposition that I am sarcastic or negative, the reader adds the sarcastic or negative tone that they believe should be included. Seattle, for all its virtues, is practically an irony-free zone. While I will acknowledge that sarcasm is, in fact, my native tongue, I have learned to speak the deadly earnest local dialect.<br /><br />People who have met me in real life and have heard my voice are often surprised by my gentleness and sympathetic nature. No, really. They are particularly surprised if their image of me is built from their reading of selected blog posts. I can only hope that I get the benefit of more sympathetic readings following such a meeting.<br /><br />For some reason, my work is often read as if Steve Allen were reading a letter to the editor. Really, a flatter, gentler tone is appropriate.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-58677234116417098932010-08-17T20:18:19.597-07:002010-08-17T20:18:19.597-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-88204317268925621512010-08-17T20:08:09.072-07:002010-08-17T20:08:09.072-07:00http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/print/csr_docs/home.ht...<a href="http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/print/csr_docs/home.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/print/csr_docs/home.htm</a><br /><br />CRPE is an anti-teacher, pro testing, pro charter "think tank" coming out of the UW, funded by Gates and Broad and half a dozen other privatising vulture philanthropists mentioned in Diane Ravtich's Billionaire Boys Club...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/print/csr_docs/aboutus.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/print/csr_docs/aboutus.htm</a><br /><br /><br />So, more infiltration of senior SPS administration, now directly responsible for what goes on at the school level...<br /><br />I wish we had that follow-the-money, connect-the-dots diagram finished for posting on this blog, so that people could see at a glance what's going on - frankly, I'm tired of posting this info every couple of weeks...<br /><br />Had to post the Broad influence and alumni map on the SEA facebook page again yesterday, for the benefit of people new to this game or who had not bothered to inform themselves...Sahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.com