Seattle Schools Community Forum

From KPLU : Taking stock of his first year at the helm of Seattle Public Schools, Banda told KPLU a divided board has a definite effect on how he does his job. “[That’s the] reason for my taking a very strong stand with the board to say that we need to be able to do that job unimpeded. They need to have trust in the leadership team, that what we’re doing is in the best interests of the district and our children, ultimately,” he said. Well, yes, but he's new, a lot of the leadership team is new and until everyone has shown some mettle, I'm on the side of Board oversight. Banda said the job review process took place over several weeks, and that he believes by the end he was able to win over the skeptics. “I believe that I have the full support of all seven members of the board,” Banda said. Any change of heart is not reflected in the report produced by the board, and no board member has said publicly that he or she has come around from doubting Banda’s lead...

Quite the astonishing report on KUOW about MAP.  Banda sounds a bit tougher: “They chose this way to express themselves and the message is heard loud and clear,” Banda said. “But I’m going to hold firm to the fact that they have obligations and responsibilities. And the expectation is these two assessments will be given." What was astonishing was the response from John Cronin who directs research at the NEA which makes MAP. He says it's a mystery to him why an entire school of teachers would vote to boycott the test. Laughing, Cronin said, "You know, it’s not even something I can speculate on. It’s interesting to us, but not being Seattleites ourselves, I really can’t say that I know what’s motivating them.” It's a very odd thing that he thinks this is funny but it's also a good way to marginalize the teachers' concerns.   What's on your mind?

A couple of important stories to check out this morning. One is from the Seattle Times about how our Legislative leaders are going to figure out how to enact McCleary.  (I will point that charter schools only complicates this process.) The other is Seattle Channel's interview with Superintendent Banda .   Once again, the Superintendent comes across as quiet but firm.  There is also an interesting op-ed from outgoing Governor Chris Gregoire who says there should be one education department for the state to cover pre-school to higher ed.   Today we have eight education agencies and at least as many major strategic plans. That’s too many. We need a system that works together, not one that is limited to organizational views. We need a system that tackles challenges, not avoids them. What we have now doesn’t make sense from the student’s point of view. It doesn’t make sense from an economic one, either. Money is part of the solution. But the other ...

Over at Crosscut, they've written an article about the end of the so-called six month honeymoon since Jose Banda became SPS superintendent.  As we have all come to realize, Superintendent Banda is a careful person.  Not a big talker, a quieter person, he doesn't do a lot to draw attention to himself.  Some might be anxious or annoyed with the pace of what he is doing but I like to think he knows just what he is doing.  The article lays out several pressing issues for him: Money and the Legislature (and the levies) Capacity Teachers and testing (and contract renewal) Vacancies in district leadership Academics There was one early comment that caught my eye: At this point, the most important question to pose to the superintendent is to articulate his overall vision for the district and specifically how he plans to accomplish it. The achievement gap must be bridged and the graduation rate increased. Control and leadership must be exhibite...

Gee, Tuesday got away from me.  I wonder why. Hoping to parse through the BEX IV vote and ask you to consider what happens now.  There is a lot of vagueness in this BEX so it's hard to gauge what will be done and when.  Also, probably a year back now, Director Carr said at a Work Session that there would have to be a heck of a good narrative to sell this to voters. Okay, I'll ask you - what is the narrative that will sell this to Seattle voters?  Keep in mind, you are selling over $1B of levies.  On another subject, Superintendent Banda.  I am still feeling good about him.   I find him quietly assured (but not in an Olchefske-type way).  But, what would make you feel assured?  What one thing, that's within the realm of possibility, could he do to make you feel like he's on the right track?  Or is there a signal you would look for that would make you believe he can't/won't be co-opted by the powers that be? What's on your min...

Here's is the exceptional coverage from the West Seattle Blog of Superintendent Banda's visit to that region last night.

I attended the first community meeting for Superintendent Banda at Mercer Middle School last night. I think this is the first time that he has actually been exposed to Q & A from the community.   It was a grave disappointment. I don't know what I was expecting -  a little candor would have been nice - but all of his answers were empty talk that sounded reassuring without actually giving any reassurance. It was political to an extreme, so slick you'd think the guy had been dipped in teflon.  

From SPS: José Banda to attend regional meetings, host monthly open office hours Seattle Public Schools is partnering with the Seattle Council PTSA to sponsor five regional meetings for SPS families and community members to meet Superintendent José Banda in September and October. During the regional meetings, the Superintendent will briefly talk about his vision for the school district, followed by informal conversations with those in attendance. Those meetings are scheduled from 6-7:30 p.m. on the following dates: ·          Monday, Sept. 17 , Mercer Middle School, 1600 S. Columbia Way ·          Tuesday, Sept. 18 , Rainier Beach High School, 8815 Seward Park Ave. S. ·          Monday, Oct. 1 , Bryant Elementary School, 3311 N.E. 60th St. ·          Tuesday, Oct. 2 , Concord International Elemen...

This is last week of any public meeting for SPS until August. There are two events this week, both on Tuesday.   First there is a required public hearing from 4-4:30 p.m. to hear testimony from the public about raising the amount the district will pay for the Associated Student Body fund.   This was previously discussed at Board meetings.  I still have not heard the explanation as to why this occurred and where.  I may go review the Board meeting tapes to see if I missed something.  The Action Report gives all kinds of policies and legal reasons why they can raise the amount but not why.  It says this: Expenditures are now at a higher percentage of the total annual expenditures than in any previous year, and may exceed the original estimate (adopted budget).   (bold mine) They exceeded the budget by more than $200k.  How did that happen and when it started and it was apparent they were going over, did anyone do anything? After...

The School Board had its retreat on Saturday, June 2nd.  I attended most of it.  I have to say it was a bit annoying for them to choose a downtown hotel to meet in as 1)who paid for that? and 2)it means that you have to pay for parking.  Not so encouraging for the public. They had a couple of facilitators who were low-key and kept things on track.  There were several members of the public, one Alliance person and Brian Rosenthal from the Times.  All the Board members were in attendance along with Superintendent to-be Banda.  DeBell was seated next to Banda which is where DeBell usually sits (next to the superintendent).  I'm thinking President DeBell will have a very different relationship from the one he enjoyed with Enfield.  They were quite close. The facilitator had the Board fill out index cards with their "hopes and fears" for the retreat.  (I hate this kind of facilitation but apparently it helps draw people out.)  What seemed...

I participated in a discussion about our new superintendent, Jose Banda, on Seattle Channel's program , City Inside/Out.   The panel included Chris Eide, ex-TFA teacher (now a sub), Lynne Varner of the Times, and Kim Mustafa, an SPS parent (who I believe is from the south end as that is w-here her children attend school). Some interesting quotes: Stephanie Jones of CPPS: " He needs to get to know the many communities in Seattle ." Mariellen Sereno, Independent Citizens Oversight Ctm in Anaheim: "I think he knows what it takes to be looking at that uphill battle and to be looking at those areas that really need attention." Lynne Varner: He's an extremely good listener.   He reminds me of former Superintendent John Stanford.  Later on, she said in an editorial coming out that he needed to set clear boundaries "or he would not be their employee but their servant."  Re: the School Board, Ms. Mustafa said that Banda sounded like a puppet a...

Wednesday, May 30th Work Session: Special Education from 4-5:30 p.m. at JSCEE - no agenda available yet. Thursday has two great events on solutions, yes solutions, that education experts are going to be presenting to parents and communities.  I have a feeling that this discussion will not be around charters, testing and TFA so if you want to hear different expert voices, attend one of these meetings. Thursday, May 31st Community &  Parents for Public Schools (CPPS) Annual Meeting from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at JSCEE Agenda: CPPS Highlights for Year, Parents' Bill of Rights Overview, Guest Speakers, Board Election.  "Building Quality Neighborhood Public Schools: What Can We Do?" Speakers:  Dr. Margery B. Ginsberg, Associate Professor of Education at UW and co-director of the AIM Center at Cleveland High School Dr. Joshua Garcia, Federal Way Public Schools' Assistant Superintendent of Teaching for Learning.  More info: cppsofseattle.org Parents Across ...

From our friends over at the West Seattle blog , a story and video of soon-to-be Superintendent Banda talking geography to a student.  He shows the student on a map where his own son is - in Taiwan teaching English to students there - and they had a good chat. Good start to building those relationships he was talking about at the School Board meeting.