Seattle Schools Community Forum

From Our Kids, Our Future , a great story about the success Tukwila is having with a diverse student population.  (bold mine)

This week starts the community meetings about the Strategic Plan.  I also received this info from a reader: Open Enrollment processing will be completed and information on next year's assigned students downloaded on Friday, April 12th. Information on assignments and waitlist status will be available to families beginning at Noon on Monday, April 15th.  You will be able to access this information on-line or by calling the automated phone line, 206-252-0212. Individualized letters will be mailed the week of April 22nd to anyone who submitted an Open Enrollment application. Monday, April 1st Strategic Plan community meeting at Eckstein Middle School from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Amharic and Tigrigna) Tuesday, April 2nd Strategic Plan community meeting at Chief Sealth International High School from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Amharic) Wednesday, April ...

As most of you know, public education, both K-12 and higher ed, are central focuses of the current Legislative Session.  Here are some issues/bills up for discussion: - from the Times, an article about a bill to "grade" schools (except for charters, of course).   - as previously mentioned, Senator Rodney Tom (F-Medina), wants to get rid of GET (Guaranteed Education Tuition), the program that helps people save for their children's college educations.  Guess what?  The astoundingly popular College -Bound program that low-income middle school students sign up for to encourage them to finish high school and go to college?  He wants to end THAT one as well.  (Even the Times says they should continue the College Bound program.) Senator Tom has said the State shouldn't be in this "business."  Confusing because our Constitution says that educating the populace IS the paramount duty of the state.  (Also, understand that people who crunched the numbe...

The Children's Film Festival Seattle starts this Thursday, Jan. 24th and continues through Feb. 3. Overview of Festival.  This includes a pajama party with Caspar Babypants one night, a pancake breakfast and short films the next morning, and a 1924 film version of Captain January. Info for teachers/educators.  We have added three extra weeks of weekday morning screenings for groups – so tell a teacher or childcare provider! From the Times, a story about College Bound, the state program that help pay for college for low-income students, which is a great success story.  In its first year of paying for college, the program, called College Bound, did much better than expected. In fact, so many low-income students were admitted to four-year schools through the program that it will soon be out of money, using up in one year the $12 million lawmakers set aside for it in 2007 — a sum that was supposed to last two years. Now, 118,000 low-income students acros...