Seattle Schools Community Forum

I spoke at the School Board meeting on Wednesday.  One of my topics was the fact that in order to understand the raging budget deficit facing SPS, I was told to file a public disclosure request.  I pointed out to the Superintendent and Board that this was not transparency at its best and if they want support from the community, it might be useful to be open about the situation. This information  is not some state secret and, in fact, the finance/budgeting folks probably all know the numbers by heart.   To my surprise, I was sent this information by JoLynn Berge,Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance. Great but, once again, not specific enough (but, of course, that's by design.)  I'll first note the obvious for every single one of us adults - when creating a budget, you start with what money you DO have and what you owe/needed spending and THEN you see what is leftover for other things.  The district seemingly operates with what they WANT ...

Nearly, finally here. From the NY Times , a cool look at first day of school throughout the decades. A great article from Longreads about writing from Mary Karr who has put forth two memoirs.  Ms. Karr teaches her grad students using a technique that I tried years ago at Whittier Elementary with a class of 5th graders.  You pretend you are going to talk about writing, have a co-conspirator burst in the room and argue with you and then... tell the kids to write exactly what they heard and saw.  (I hit the button on a CD player and played the theme from "Mission Impossible" to set the mood after my compatriot left the room.)  The kids thought it funny and it did get them thinking about writing and memory .   From Ms Karr's piece: So a single image can split open the hard seed of the past, and soon memory pours forth from every direction, sprouting its vines and flowers up around you till the old garden’s taken shape in all its fragrant glory The Nation...

Update: City's statement about all-day camps at community centers with before/after school care for September 9, 10, 11. End of update. Parent Petition in support of teachers. I want to start with the ever-smart Kellie LaRue who is a long-time watcher of this district and knows minutiae I couldn't even comprehend. Now that there is a little extra money, it should go directly to the teachers. That should be a no-brainer. In the case of SPS building staff, teachers and administrative staff, to say that they have been asked to do more for less, is very much an understatement. 

Yet another KUOW report on the contract talks that makes it sound like they are pretty far apart.  There is still plenty of time to iron things out but yes, we are less than a month out from school. Seattle Education Association President Jonathan Knapp says while there's been progress on smaller issues over the past week, large issues remain unresolved. For Ballard High School science teacher and building union representative Noam Gundle, those big issues include smaller class sizes, especially for special education students. I note that what I predicted from the first KUOW report is now confirmed: District officials insist that bigger classes are a temporary solution to school capacity issues until new classrooms can be built. But the union says there are better alternatives. "Anybody who knows anything about education knows that more teacher attention means better progress for students, more support," Gundle said. Ah, so the district says the upped ...

The answer to that headline is - not really.  Are they getting more money?  Yes.  Enough money? No.  Can the Supreme Court really do anything?  Doubtful. So really, it's a lot of legislators blowing smoke about education.  (And no legislator should pat themself on the back for finally getting a budget.  That said, I know many districts are relieved to finally have some answers so they can finish their own budgets.) The Times reports that half the money would go to fund "student transportation, school supplies and building utilities" (things districts now pay for that the Supreme Court - go figure - said the state should pay for). The rest would go toward expanding state-funded all-day kindergarten and class-size reduction in kindergarten/1st grade in high-povery schools. This is all great but not enough.  (I believe the class-size reduction is about two students per class.  I don't know if the kindergarten funding means no more pay-fo...