Seattle Schools Community Forum

Two Community meetings with Board directors tomorrow, Sat. the 6th (I note that Blanford's was likely added in the last couple of days.)  They are so spaced out, you could conceivable go to both. Director Blanford , 10 am-11:30 am, Capital Hill Branch Library Director Peaslee, 3:30-4:30 pm, Northgate Branch Library A student at a Seattle public school in Wallingford was hit by a car this morning after the car ran a red light.  The boy was taken to Harborview with a cut to the head.  SPS is providing counseling at his school as several other students were with the victim at the time. According to the Times, the state's GET plan (for parents to save money for their child's college education) is doing well and is "fully solvent" according to the State's Actuary, Matt Smith.  He's saying the uptick from the recession combined with a freeze on state tuition rates made it happen.  The program had not been expected to be solvent until 2021 The pr...

Washington State's GET program (Guaranteed Education Tuition) is in its three final days for this round of enrollment.  Now, thru the end of May, they will be waiving the $50 enrollment fee . June 30th is the last date to add to your account if you are already enrolled.

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...

David Goldstein over at The Stranger Slog lays out the case for the GET (Guaranteed Education Tuition) program.  The legislators who are talking it down are - no surprise - some of very legislators who have turned on their own party, Rodney Tom and Steve Litzow along with Ross Hunter.  (And, as Goldy points out, some live in some of the most expensive areas of Washington State.)  GET is Washington's prepaid tuition program, a variant of the federally sanctioned tax-free "529 plans." Families buy their children college credits at today's prices, plus a (sometimes hefty) premium, and then cash out in the future, tax free, at the value of the tuition and fees at Washington's most expensive university. One hundred GET units equals a full year of tuition and fees, and the current $172 unit price represents a 39 percent markup over the University of Washington's $12,401 tuition and fees for the 2012-13 academic year. Tuition can't (and won't) kee...

According to the Times, the terms of GET (Guaranteed Educaton Tuition)  - the state's program for pre-paid tuition rates - may change soon under a bill in the Legislature.  This program has been and now, with looming changes, even more popular.  From the article : The program is bringing in $1 million to $2 million daily and adding about 200 new families each day, on pace to be at or above the biggest year for the program. Tuition is going up so fast the state may have problems paying out everyone in full.  There seems to be mixed messages on whether this will really happen or not. The increase in GET purchases helps buoy the program financially, Lochner said, because it gives the state more money to invest. GET contains about $1.4 billion in assets, and the money is invested in stocks, bonds and other investments, much like a pension fund. There are nearly 129,000 GET accounts; a student can have more than one account. Although the deadline for creating...

Randy Dorn, the Superintendent for OSPI, was arrested for drunk driving early Sunday morning. He has not yet been charged by the Orting city prosecutor. Here's the article from the Times. After his arrest early Sunday for alleged drunken driving, Dorn said he hopes the public understands it's a private, legal matter that he can't yet discuss. But when he can — and if he's convicted — some say his political survival will depend a great deal on what he says, and how he says it. I honestly don't know how I would feel about a conviction. Is it possible he could go to jail, even briefly, for a guilty DUI verdict? What would this say to teens? Reactions? On Monday afternoon, Gov. Chris Gregoire called the arrest a "very unfortunate circumstance. "My heart goes out to him," she said, "and thank goodness, nothing happened." When asked whether it could imperil his ability to do his job, Gregoire said: "I leave that up to him....