Seattle Schools Community Forum

I'll be trying to have interviews with all the mayoral candidates but I did see this article from Capitol Hill Seattle with some of candidate Nikkita Oliver's education ideas.

I had planned to go to the Work Session today.  As you may recall, it was to include Advanced Learning but that got pulled.  The line-up of topics includes the Families & Education Levy which is the their first topic.  Their presentation's page 8 is an interesting pie chart showing the different areas of education they fund and how much.  Early Learning and School Readiness  $7.7M  27% Elementary Academic Achievement  $6.4M  22% Middle School Academic Achievement  $5.9M  21% High School Academic Achievement  $2.6M  9% Student Health  $6.3M  22% I'd have to ask about the Early Learning and School Readiness portion and how much includes pre-K.  Early Learning is generally defined at pre-K to 2nd or 3rd.  I raise the issue because the City now has its own Pre-K levy so it would be good to know how that spending breaks out because of the new levy. This is certainly important: Last summ...

This is the last week of real downtime for the District.  Next week sees the Board and staff with several meetings.  However, some calendar items are at Marty McLaren's campaign website and not at SPS.  Given some of them are next week, I'm trying to get clarification.  I'm also hoping that agendas will be available soon.

Remember that Big Picture that I am trying to build about Seattle Public Schools? This is one more set of pixels for that picture.  Say what you will but someday - probably soon - you will see all these pixels from a distance and understand the big picture.  This is co-written with Robert Cruickshank who served as a Senior Advisor to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. Seattle’s Families and Education Levy is losing its way Last month, parents at Sand Point Elementary School learned that the City of Seattle had decided to slash a $318,000 Families and Education Levy grant they had worked hard to earn. When parents and staff learned about the sudden cut, they rose to challenge that decision. The dramatic reduction to the grant puts at risk teachers' jobs, instructional supplies, a family support worker, and a school counselor. What was the reason given by the City for taking away the grant funds? It's because the school's principal is leaving for another job . Since this news...

After three long days, the National Spelling Bee ended in...a tie...for the second year in a row.  The judges ran out of words on their list.   In a fun twist, both contestants have last names that might be a challenge to spell - Gokul Venkatachalam and Vanya Shivashankar.  Vanya correctly spelled the word "scherenschnitte" and Gokul correctly spelled the word "nunatak."  The story from CNN is great and the recoiling of one contestant who lost from his mother's sympathetic kiss is priceless (we've all been there if you have boys).  Show the kids the story from CNN - many great moments. Work Party at Hamilton Middle School on Sunday, May 31st from 10 am-noon.

There is an issue going on with Sand Point Elementary and the sudden pulling of a grant from the Families & Education levy because SP's principal is leaving.  The school planned staff around that grant and are now scrambling because of the rescinding of the grant.  The school is looking for answers and so far no one - from the City or the District - has any to give them. This could mean dire things for other schools who may get F&E grants and then see them taken back should they lose their principal. I have never seen any documentation mentioning this nor did the Department of Early Childhood and Education staff at a recent Board Work Session on the levy mention this possibility.  I'll have full details after I get some answers to queries I have put to various stakeholders. Today I will be attending an odd sort of panel discussion on charter schools at UW via the Evans Schools of Public Affairs.  It's called Charter Schools: Problems and Poss...

I'm behind on my threads about work sessions and meetings so in playing catch up, I'm going to combine two alike topics.  (The Families and Education Work Session, however, was a combo with two other disparate topics but I will circle back as there is definitely a feeling of a consolidation of power that may signal a speeding up of, well, someone's agenda for public education in Seattle.)

I am urging voters to consider voting no to the first question on the preschool ballot measures in Seattle. Here's why. Preschool, especially for disadvantaged children, is a good idea. No one is arguing that point. But if the City and the unions truly wanted voters to say yes, there would have been ONE proposition. They had the opportunity to work together but choose to walk away from the table. That should give you pause about both sides. What the City and the unions have given us with these two propositions is confusion and division when what we need is clarity and unity. It's not like the City doesn’t already invest in preschool - 26% of the Families & Education levy (about $61M ) is dedicated to it. Seattle Schools has over 35 federal and state funded preschool classrooms right now. Also, as to this "we have to do this now, " well just like every other levy, it can be brought back very quickly to the ballot.  It is not that the issue isn...

Update:   I missed the part where the City also wants to increase their data collection from their education work.   No big surprise. End of update. From the Seattle PI via Joel Connelly, comes the not-so-new news that the City is going to create "a full-fledged Department of Education and Early Learning " that will be part of the next City budget. The new city department would have 38 employees, the bulk coming from the city’s Human Services Department and the Office of Education.  It would administer a $48.5 million budget, including $30 million annually as part of the Families and Education Levy that provides after-school and health services. Of course, I suspect this is very dependent upon the City's preschool proposition passing in November. The PI doesn't mince words:

A very quiet week - for some reason - with just one event.  There are no director community meetings (and again, why can't they space them out so that there is at least one every Saturday - there's three next Saturday). Wednesday May 21st School Board meeting.   Agenda I note that the recognition this meeting is not for staff or students but for a departing Alliance for Education staff member. Under Superintendent's comments on staffing for 2014-2015, it is noted that there are no reductions for either teachers or classified staff.

There will be a Work Session today from 4-5:30 pm that could be of some interest as it covers a variety of topics.  It's the Oversight Work Session on Coordinated Health, Safety & Security  (Coordinated Health and Safety & Security are two different presentations).  This is Pegi McEvoy's area and she tends to be fairly straight-forward so at least there's a fighting chance of understanding the presentation. I do have to wonder, though,  at the ability of staff to cover such large presentations AND allow for questions from the Board. As usual the S.W.O.T. page has the most intriguing information  (that would be Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats/Risks).  From the Coordinated Health presentation:

Monday, March 24th Seattle Special Education PTSA Meeting , at 7 pm, Rm 2700, JSCEE Topic is Secondary Transition and plans in SPS to to bring the District into compliance with IDEA on secondary transition.  Wednesday, March 26th Oversight Work Session on Athletics/Transportation from 4-6 p.m.  I'm assuming from the length of it that these are two sessions in one.  Agenda . Athletic (sic) Presentation - among the "strengths" - It is interesting to try to read between the lines.  It almost sounds like this department wants to run more effectively and smoothly but needs help with technology and a clear direction on how to proceed from the top - among the "weaknesses" - transportation, difficulties in communications and "inability to attract, recruit and maintain quality athletic coaches."   - "threats/risks" (an unfortunate column name) - " increasing responsibilities for adm...

This series on Seattle Channel (21) premieres tonight.  From Seattle Channel: The five-part series premieres tonight; chronicles levy programs to increase student success in school.

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...

I had a good interview with Senator Ed Murray recently who will be in the General Election against current mayor, Mike McGinn.  We sat down in his campaign offices to talk. I asked him about what he believes t he role of the Mayor is vis a vis Seattle public education. He said that he believes it has changed from what it was traditionally as something of a cheerleader position to a more visible one.  He believes that the Mayor should push for discussions about changes needed in the district AND in city government to find better academic outcomes.  He said, "Only the Mayor has the position to pull stakeholders together." I told him that sounded a lot like mayoral takeover of the district.

There's a question. I was amused to see Bruce Ramsey, another Seattle Times editorial board member, put out a column today that (oddly) asked Tim Burgess (who you may recall could even stick it out through the primary race), what the mayor of Seattle is and isn't.  Baffling. Here's what the column said about public education: He (Burgess) mentions education. I (Ramsey) object: Seattle Public Schools aren’t under the mayor, and in a mayoral race it is a distraction. Burgess disagreed: The mayor can use the Families and Education Levy to push for high standards. Here's what I said in a comment: As for the schools, the Families and Education should work with the district's direction, not the City's. If the City does not want to provide support to the schools because they disagree with the direction or standards the duly-hired Superintendent decides on, that's their call.    As well, Burgess leaves out the City Council and I expect they ...

Monday, April 29th Special meeting of Audit& Finance .  One single thing on the agenda - potential RIF presentation by HR head, Paul Apostle. Also, if you wish to speak at the School Board meeting on Wednesday, you can start calling/writing at 8 am on Monday. Tuesday, April 30th Charter Commission Meeting in Bellevue from 10 am - 5 p.m. at the Bellevue Arts Museum.  Agenda .  Open to the public (and people do come and go). They will be having an Executive Session first thing until 10:40 am.  They will then have a presentation about "charter school research findings" from the CRPE's Robin Lake.  (I have heard Ms. Lake speak before and she's a charter cheerleader. I'll be interested to see what the reaction is from the members.) Public Comment is at noon.  They are electing officers and any bets that Steve Sundquist won't be chair?  Mayoral forum from 6:30-9:00 pm at Garfield High School.  

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...

 From SPS Communications: Earlier this month, Seattle Public Schools sought applicants for a newly formed Native American Advisory Committee.  A number of applicants have been received but SPS encourages more to apply. The extended deadline is Monday, April 22. The initial committee term is April 2013 to June 2015. Nomination forms are available here  and can be mailed to: P.O. Box 34164 Mailstop 32156 Seattle, WA, 98124 Nominations can also be emailed to naeac@seattleschools.org . From KPLU: Seattle Public Schools wants to add a half-hour to the school day for elementary students by as early as the next school year. But the district must first align a number of variables, including funding and union support.

Wednesday, March 27th Work Session on Update on Families & Education Levy from 4-4:45 p.m. Work Session on the Budget from 4:45-6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28th Community Meeting with Director Peaslee from 6-7:45 p.m. at Lake City Public Library Saturday, March 30th Community Meeting with Director Patu from 10 am to noon at Caffe Vita.