Seattle Schools Community Forum

Here are some stories from around the country that will have more and more bearing on what we are doing in Washington State. From Ed Week, a top 12 list of stories from the past year.  The majority of them are about Common Core as the fight goes on.  Linked to Common Core (and you see this in story after story elsewhere) is student data privacy.  I also note the presence of a story on grading schools A-F which I predict will show up in this session of the Legislature. Here's one from Bill Moyers about the "Snowden Effect" or we could just call it the canary in the coal mine.  For some reason the media chooses to listen to established (or paid for by, establishment) groups.  There are a lot of people out there, including this blog, going into the dark corners looking around.  That we only have a flashlight and not a spotlight doesn't mean we are wrong.   These days, the establishment media all too often adopts an indifferent attitude tow...

I met the Mayor at a Starbucks (on the very day there were flash strikes at a few Starbucks but not the one we were in).  He was in an expansive mood and ready to talk Seattle schools. The Mayor always talks as "we" meaning his team at City Hall.   So he started by saying what "we"  have been doing.  It's a pretty long list: doubled the Families&Education Levy and helped support its passage launched a successful attendance campaign (with private companies and local celeb support) launched an Education Leadership Group, believing that many groups/entities are on the same education road.  It includes Superintendent Banda, reps from our community colleges as well as UW, a Labor Council rep, someone from the Gates Foundation, the Seattle Foundation, and United Way among others. worked on creating programs for pathways to careers, summer jobs  and summer food programs listened to Superintendent Banda's presentation on the district's new Strat...