Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the AP: The State Board of Education says two Washington school districts have formally expressed interest in applying to be charter school authorizers. Those districts are Eastmont in East Wenatchee and the Highline school district south of Seattle. Any school district that wants to authorize charter schools during the next year are required to tell the State Board of Education by April 1 that they plan to apply. The News Tribune also has reported that the Tacoma School District will discuss the idea of joining that list at its March 28 meeting. It will be interesting to see if any other school districts file by April 1.  Otherwise that will truly leave the Charter Commission as the place to go (as districts can only okay charters that open in their own districts).

So first up, it looks like Renton is getting the full-court press from TFA (even though Renton previously announced they wouldn't be hiring any  TFAers).  We'll have to see what happens.   As well, I'm sure Dr. Enfield's first agenda item is to convince Highline to sign on.  I suspect this is happening for two reasons.  One, TFA is probably getting pressure from Stritikus and UW to fill that program.  Operating it at a loss (as they did last year) when UW is pressed for money doesn't look or sound good.  Two, TFA is probably quite embarrassed that they have gotten any pushback at all.  Also, there's this video from the HBO show "Treme" that features one character doing an anti-TFA rap.  The whole thing is funny.   (Thanks to Reader X for the tip.) I also saw this article from US News and World Report about "tips for finding the right college" and look was at the bottom: Who do you want to work for? A financial conglom...