Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS Communications: Seattle, Highline and Kent School Districts Honor                                              the Multilingualism of Public School Students Seattle, WA – Seattle Public Schools is proud to release its "Speak English AND Your Home Language" video honoring the multilingualism of students in Seattle and neighboring districts. The video, available with subtitles in eight languages plus English , was made in collaboration with Highline Public Schools, the Kent School District and OneAmerica.

I met with Wyeth Jessee last week (it was arranged thru Communications so there was a Communications person in the room who was not part of the conversation.)  He was the former head of Special Education and now, thru a realignment,  has a new role.

Once again,  the end of the week and a massively horrific incident, this time in Nice .  Please send out good karma and prayers for all affected by this mass murder and by the people of France.  (I note that Dallas had lit up public buildings in blue for their slain officers and one building was done in the colors of the French flag.  Classy.) In the name of democracy , a good article from the Global Oneness Project, Five Habits to Heal the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer. If I were asked for two words to summarize the habits of the heart American citizens need in response to twenty-first-century conditions, I would chose chutzpah and humility. By chutzpah I mean knowing that I have a voice that needs to be heard and the right to speak it. By humility I mean accepting the fact that my truth is always partial and may not be true at all, so I need to listen with openness and respect, especially to "the other," as much as I need to speak my own voice wi...

This notice is important for many reasons and I remind readers that while it may not be your school/region, issues like boundaries have ripple effects so it's important to keep this on your radar. As well, why are we building a huge new building for OH when the district is drawing more kids off OH into Cedar Park?  It makes it look like the district has other plans that they are not revealing.  Olympic Hills Elementary PTA press release Olympic Hills Elementary Parent Teacher Association invite media to attend a Seattle Public Schools community meeting to discuss race and equity issues surrounding 2017 boundary changes February 9th, 6:30-7:30pm in the Cedar Park Elementary cafeteria.

Union City, NJ versus Newark - How to Fix the Country’s Failing Schools.  And How Not To

KIRO tv will be airing a story on the ELL situation today. There's a challenger for State Superintendent Randy Dorn and her name is Erin Jones .  Ms. Jones has taught in private schools and been an ESL instructor.  She is currently the AVID director for Tacoma School district.  She speaks four languages.  Her LinkedIn page says this: I have worked in Caucasian communities, African American communities, and some of the most diverse communities in the nation. My 3 children have attended public schools in WA, from Tacoma to Puyallup to Spokane to North Thurston. Two of my children attend state colleges. The third is a senior in high school. My husband is a public school teacher.  I am running for state superintendent because I want to leverage my vast experiences to serve my state in the most impactful way. What I hope to bring to the position: 1. Advocacy: I wish to advocate for educators at every level, so they are resourced at necessary levels ...

I'll just print the letter that Veronica Gallardo, Director of ELL and International Programs, wrote to principals.  It's fairly stunning.  It upends the ELL program almost completely, adds thousands of more kids to be tested for ELL services and shows a district that either does not make sure it is compliance or does not understand what OSPI has said.  Either way, not good. School Leaders, We are writing to inform you that OSPI has found the district out of compliance regarding ELL student access to schools and ELL programs . Historically, our student assignment plans included ELL service schools. It was a district belief that ELL families could opt to attend an ELL service school within their assigned service area if their neighborhood school was not an ELL school. The state does not agree. In addition, during the state review it was discovered that enrollment services did not administer the placement assessment to over 1100 students who reported speaking anoth...

Interesting notations in the March 12, 2015 update to Superintendent Nyland from OSPI on the Consolidated Program Review 2014-2015 .  This report includes " commendations, technical assistance, noncompliant items and actions required." The district has 45 calendar days which makes their follow-up date April 27th. Among these notations:

From reader Lynn: The Washington Educational Research Association has published a White Paper on Parent/Student refusal to participate and a handy test refusal form . Smarter Balanced website (the test that Washington State students will be taking). FAQs page. I note that on their support for students page ( those with visual, auditory, linguistic, or physical needs), they say this (partial): A set of universal accessibility tools—such as a digital notepad and scratch paper—will be available to all students. Designated supports—like a translated pop-up glossary—will be made available to students for whom a need has been identified by school personnel familiar with each student’s needs and testing resources. Accommodations will be available to students with a documented need noted in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan. These tools include Braille and closed captioning, among others. A digital notepad is going to be available for all students?  ...

The first thing to understand is that Congress is considering a bill to support and expand charter schools.   The other, a charter school bill , is aimed at growing more high-quality charters and encouraging them to better serve students with disabilities and English-language learners. That bill also won swift approval, but not before a number of committee Democrats lambasted charter schools for siphoning off resources from other public schools—before voting for the legislation anyway. The bill passed 36 to 3. Wait, what?  It would combine two main federal programs for charters, meshing together grants to help charter school developers open new schools, with money to help charters find and fix up facilities. And the bill would make it easier for charter organizations with a track record of success to open more schools.  Oh, but what about the bad charters?  The mediocre ones?  Those that are taking public dollars and were suppose to be success...

Monday, April 7th Seattle Council PTSA General Meeting on Monday April 7th from 7-9pm. This will be a good one as the Superintendent will be there, along with top staff to answer questions.  Curriculum and Instruction Meeting from 4:30-6:30 p.m., Agenda Wednesday, April 9th  A really long day for some Board members that includes these meetings: Executive Committee Meeting from 8:30 am-10 am, Agenda Oversight Work Session: Teach&Learning Part 1 from 4-5:30 pm.   This will cover ELL/International programs and Special Education.  There is no mistaking that this is NOT enough time to go over a program and its issues AND allow Board members to ask questions.  It's a very frustrating experience to see this process continuing on.   Presentation: ELL/International programs .  To note: under Threat/Risks: Clear shared vision and mission that is concrete for all SPS staff  - well that's not good. I reviewed the presentation and i...

Reprinting from another thread because I believe this important information.  The writer is Mary Griffin, Sped parent and president of the Sped PTA. She says: NOTE: The following does NOT constitute any kind of official response from SpEd PTSA or SEAAC. It's just me. I have been fielding a lot of questions regarding SpEd and PTSA. Here is my standard email response to questions regarding special education and the "New Model." It is likely SEAAC and SpEd PTSA will have more of a consensus once the interim plan is out there. "We have had lots of questions about these kinds of issues the last few days. The first thing that people need to be aware of is that the current model is only a draft and will be revised by next Friday, October 18, when a new draft will be presented to the board. When the next draft is ready, SpEd PTSA and SEAAC will be primed to review it (as will many other PTA’s.) Final presentation and voting at the school board level will be o...

You may recall our discussion about whether charter schools are really public schools ?  This particular thread was around rights students/staff may have under the U.S. Constitution and the Ninth Circuit Court ruled that for staff, charters aren't public schools. Now, there is yet another case - this around the public funding of charters - out of California.  Here's the headline from Ed Week's " Living in Dialogue " - Charter School Defenders Insist They are "Private Entities." A California couple, Yevgeny "Eugene" Selivanov and Tatyana Berkovich, who were convicted in April of multiple counts of fraud related to their practice of using their charter school bank account for personal expenses and thousands of dollars worth of meals.   According to the LA School Report ,  The couple is appealing their conviction, however, asserting that this amounts to a misunderstanding over the nature of charter school finances. An amicus brief ...

 Updated for Thursday the 22nd - see below for details of Charter Commission meeting and Audit and Finance Committee meeting. One update before I start.  When I check the agendas for various District meetings, I generally only check once for committee meetings.  I check more often for Board meetings because (1) things change quickly and (2) there is notification embedded in those Board agendas to alert me to changes. Sadly, this did not happen for the Operations Committee meeting last Thursday.  When I put up last week's list of meetings, the agenda for that meeting was available and I duly noted important items.  But then I find out that they added an item that several of us had been asking for and yet didn't show the agenda to be amended. It's sad to continually ask the district to be transparent.  Unless, of course, you don't want people to know what you are discussing and when.  This particular agenda item was about student data privacy....

Reader Syd said this in a comment to Charlie's thread on Equitable School Funding: Poverty is a real societal problem, and realistically the best place you can serve impoverished children is in a place they are mandated by law to attend. We should feed them, clothe them, doctor them, nurse them (it is different), and mentor them using schools as the center. That's not the schools mission you say? Change the mission. I'm going to express some thoughts on this issue but please understand that they are a jumping off place for a conversation and not necessarily my opinion/belief. 1) Sentence one - that makes sense to me.  If students are not being adequately supported at home and given they are mandated to be in schools, should schools be the place to fill that void?   You'll notice I said "the place" and not that the district itself should necessarily organizing it and/or paying for it. 2) Sentence Two - what services? Seattle Schools provides: - ...

I'll try to hit the major points I heard along with quotes (and color commentary). Just upfront, it was discouraging.  It's now 2013 and so many questions - Special Ed, Advanced Learning, K-8s and others - lack clarity and definition.  What was troubling is the number of "exceptions" to current policies that are out there.   There was also the issue of the so-called Program Placement Framework?  Where is this and should this be guiding the decisions made? As well, the presentation used excerpted quotes from various policies - Board or Superintendent or WAC - to justify their work.  But it seemed somewhat random. Growth Boundaries link .  To find it on your own, go to the district website.  Look for "enrollment" under the Schools tab.  Halfway down the menu on the right side is the Planning for the future: Growth Boundaries. 

The two items I took away from this Work Session on April 10th were these: The phrase "differentiating resource allocation" came up prominently.  I didn't really hear the Directors call it out but my own notes reflect "uh oh."  I say that because the Strategic Plan - in its early stages - seems to lean towards closing the achievement gap rather than supporting ALL students and their learning.  Differentiating resource allocation would tend to support that view.   And, with parents putting in more and more financial support to schools, I can see where some schools could become resentful of their efforts being taken for granted as the district guides money in certain directions. Director Patu called this one out and Michael Tolley said that it meant not necessarily "equal support" but to support students who need help. The other phrase was "academic assurances - basic education - for all students".   One of my first concerns...

Great article in Crosscut about what is happening over on the Eastside with immigrant populations.  What draws immigrants to the Eastside and keeps them there, even when, like Tushara, they go to work in Seattle? Lee could be speaking for all of them when he answers, emphatically, with a single word: “School! I needed to raise kids, and Bellevue’s the place to do it.” It wasn’t just the Bellevue schools’ celebrated instructional quality (its average test scores place it among the top 10 districts statewide in math and science and the top 30 in reading and writing) or their ample tax base, which includes the wealthy lakeshore municipalities of Medina, Clyde Hill and the Points. It was the counter-intuitively congenial social environment of what was then an upscale, predominately white, monocultural community. In Bellevue and Newport, Pham found, he didn’t have to worry about his three kids being bullied or sticking with their own kind for protection. The frictio...

The Times updates the civil rights investigation by the DOE in SPS by noting there is now a second investigation into ELL students and school closures.  From 2009 through the end of last year, the civil-rights office has launched about 100 civil-rights investigations involving at least one school district in nearly every state.  Those investigations, known as compliance reviews, are just part of the office’s caseload, most of which stems from complaints filed by parents or community members.  The department’s proactive efforts have won praise from those who say there was a drought of education civil-rights cases under the previous administration. About ELL students: In Seattle, the review of services for students learning English appears to have started in 2009. A spokeswoman said that information she received from the education department also indicated that federal officials are looking at whether the district discriminated against some studen...

A new Gates Foundation report (with Scholastic) has just come out called Primary Sources: 2012 - America's Teachers on the Teaching Profession. They surveyed about 10,000 teachers via e-mail and in person about schools, their classrooms, student and teacher performance and assessment, tenure, family involvement, job satisfaction and digital content.  It was not revealed to the teachers who was sponsoring the survey.  One chart that jumped out at me is on page 12 called "I mpact that various effects would have on improving academic achievement". Will you look at that - Family involvement and support was picked to be "very strong" or "strong" by 98% of the teachers.   High expectations was second at 96%.  Principals was the third choice at 91%.  And coming in fourth (Earth to Bill) - lower class sizes at 90%. Interestingly, lower class size was more important to teachers of older students.  What came in low on the scale for teachers?  A longe...