Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Times printed a story this morning that I was interviewed - extensively -for by Linda Shaw.  I was told it was about 1240 but apparently, from the headline and the contents, it is a piece about Lisa Macfarlene with a little bit of background "color".   I would link it but I am not going to give the Times any help.  You know how to find their website.  I sent the Linda, Brian Rosenthal and the Executive Editor, David Boardman, this e-mail this morning.  It's sad because I know and respect all of them.  Dear Linda, That was quite the interesting article this morning which I was told, by you, would be about 1240.  Clearly, it is largely about Lisa Macfarlane (and that's the second time in a week the Times' has printed her photo).  I spent considerable time talking with you and frankly, you wasted my time.  That won't happen again. I have been a good source for various Times' reporters over the years.  That ends today....

Will wonders never cease! The Seattle Times printed a guest editorial in opposition to I-1240 and it is a pretty good one. Op-ed: Reject Initiative 1240 and sending public money to charter schools by Mari Taylor, Vice President of the Washington State School Directors’ Association and a current member of the Lake Stevens School District Board of Directors.

There are some potential consequences of I-1240 which have not been much discussed.

Okay. We get it. The Seattle Times endorses initiative 1240. Boy, do they ever. They have run a string of editorials in support of it and they have hosted two live chat events for it. This latest stunt should not have surprised me, but it did. The Times editorial board invited folks to send a tweet about I-1240 to their twitter account @seatimesopinion  with the hashtag #I1240. I sent a few. I'm sure other folks sent some in opposition to the initiative. The Times wrote : " We asked readers to share 140-word editorials on Twitter about the Washington state charter school initiative on the Nov. 6, 2012 ballot, Initiative 1240. Here are some of the tweets you shared with us ." Yet the only six tweets to get through their filter were five that were in favor of I-1240 and a cryptic one that appears neutral. Newspapers have editorial boards and they have opinion columns. We're supposed to pretend that their opinion doesn't influence the news that we see from t...

The Seattle Times is having a live chat at noon today, Thursday, Oct. 17th, with Professor Wayne Au, from UW Bothell, opposing I-1240 and Shannon Campion, from some organization supporting 1240. About Professor Au: He is an assistant professor in the education program at the University of Washington, Bothell. He is an editor for the progressive education magazine, Rethinking Schools . He is the author of numerous books, chapters, and articles, and his research focuses on issues of equality and justice in education. Our moderators are Times reporter Linda Shaw and myself. Feel free to send questions in advance to lshaw@seattletimes.com or jbalter@seattletimes.com . Get those questions in!

I couldn't stay but it was on Twitter; the Board said No to 1240. It was a unanimous vote.  Details to come (but if you have input, let us know).  They are the school board for the largest district in the state.  Combine that with Superintendent Banda's no, it's a pretty effective one-two punch. Others saying No to 1240: Sally Clark Both Leg candidates from the 46th: Gerry Pollett  and Sylvester Cann

Amazing.  Not only is Stand for Children NOT a "education group"; now they are against basic democracy. Here's what they said yesterday: "Ask Seattle Public Schools to let the people lead on charter schools.  Instead of waiting to see what the will of the voters is, the Seattle School board wants to preempt our right to decide. That's not what we want from our elected officials" (And I note they didn't put this on their blog but in a super secret message to their supporters.)  But let's look at that request. We elect people to make decisions on whatever entity they represent.  That's their job.  And, we ask public officials - all the time - about their stands on issues.  Jay Inslee, Rob McKenna, everyone. And yet, Stand believes that somehow the Board is to stand mutely by over an issue that will directly affect every single child in SPS (and the taxpayers of Seattle).  How much reasoning is there in that thought?  I submit there is...

Monday, October 15th Superintendent Banda will be busy as he bounces from the Seattle Special Education PTA meeting and the Seattle Council PTA meeting .  Both are from 7-9 p.m. The Seattle Council meeting is in the auditorium but it is unclear where the Special Ed PTA is meeting.  I'll find out and post it. The Seattle Council PTA meeting includes Q&A on I -1240.  It also includes a presentation of the BEX IV levy. Tuesday, October 16th Operation Committee Meeting from 4-6 p.m.  Agenda .  To note, Pegi McEvoy will give an update on the BEX IV levy to the group.  Other items include the Student Assignment plan for 2013-2014. Wednesday, October 17th School Board meeting.  Agenda . A rather important one as this will introduce the BEX IV levy list AND the Board will vote on a resolution of a NO against I-1240.  I suspect quite a run for the speakers list especially from those supporting charters and the downtown folks. To get ...

Two great events for those who need more election info: Tuesday at the One Stop Ballot Shop at Seattle Center Armory/Center House from 6-9 p.m.  It's kind of a "speed dating" for voters and should be fun.  Yes, they will have a big screen broadcast of Presidential debate.  AND Maple Leaf Community Council Candidate and Issue Night Wednesday, Oct. 17th from 7-9 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary, 5th Ave NE and NE 85th.

From The Answer Sheet in the Washington Post, a column about the high funding by a small group of wealthy people for I-1240.  She asks some good questions.  Another billionaire occupies the No 2 spot — Alice Walton of Walmart Stores, Inc., fame, who, unlike Gates, doesn’t live in the state. Her Oct. 5 donation is listed at $1.1 million. She is also fourth on the list, with a July 11 donation of $600,000, giving her an aggregate total of $1.7 million. Walton is listed on the Public Disclosure Commission form as a resident of Bentonville, Ark., so you might wonder why she cares so much about charter schools in Washington state. The Walton Family Foundation has been instrumental in funding charter school and voucher initiatives around the country over the past several years. She also notes this power couple: At No. 8 is the fabulously wealthy Anne Dinning, a powerhouse at the hedge fund giant DeShaw & Co., who gave $250,000, as did her husband, Michael Wol...

Well, look who's opting out of standardized tests ?  Parents in NYC.  It's detailed here from the NY Times. Ms. Chajet is one of a small but growing number of parent activists in New York City opposed to the system’s emphasis on high-stakes testing. Many of them took part in a boycott of the field tests in June, when parents at 47 public elementary and middle schools of the 1,029 tested had their children sit them out. In their eyes, it was a win-win situation: Children who skipped the field tests did not risk punitive action or potential harm to their school’s grade on the city’s progress reports, while their parents could make a statement against the tests.  Change the Stakes, which has members in northern Manhattan, said it mailed outreach packets last week to each New York City school being tested. In the packet are informational materials in English and Spanish, including a form that parents can sign and deliver to their principal indicating their intention to op...

First up , Thank You for your support of the No On 1240 Money Blast!   It  was a great success and will allow more outreach to voters.  Next, will you look at this?  After only 17 months in Chicago, yet-another ex-Broadie bites the education dust.  This would be Chicago Schools' "CEO" Jean-Claude Brizard.  Also, two Director Community Meetings tomorrow: Carr - 8:30-10 am at Bethany Community Church , 8023 Green Lake Dr. (access at N 81st by playground) Martin-Morris - 9:30 am -11:30 am at Diva Espresso at 80th and Lake City Way And will you look at that?  It's wet stuff on the ground.  Perfect time to go see a movie.  If you have teens (well, actually there is nothing really objectionable to this movie but teens might like it best) or like a story of the triumph of the human spirit, go see the documentary, Searching for Sugar Man at the Varsity.  (I'm going to see the lead play tonight at the Showbox.) It's the story of a ...

District updates: I asked the Board about their stand on I-1240 and received this reply from President DeBell: A Resolution opposing I-1240 is on next week's agenda  for introduction and action.  It was recommended unanimously by the Executive Committee to the full Board at yesterday's meeting and will be posted tomorrow.  This follows the Renton School Board's rejection of I-1240 as well.   So here how it is lining up against I-1240: Community groups, many legislators and other elected officials, the Washington State PTA, the Washington State School Directors Association, the Association of School Administrators, the principals' association, numerous labor groups, and, I predict, a huge number of specific school boards.  On the other side: Billionaires, LEV, Stand, DFER, many editorial boards and all the people who believe that by voting for charters they stick it to the teachers union.  (I say the latter because I have tracked the editoria...

In what might be considered a learning experience to other candidates, Publicola takes gives the "loser" tag to Stand for Children over their one-note support to legislative candidates.  I'll let them tell you about it (bold mine): "In this year’s primary, the hard-line education reform group Stand for Children supported Democrat Guy Palumbo as the insurgent Democrat against incumbent 1st District Democratic state Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe (D-1, Bothell). Stand believed that McAuliffe, as chair of the senate education committee, had blocked their reformist agenda. PTA dad Palumbo was a strong backer of their agenda. However, Palumbo, who lost in the primary, de-prioritized Stand’s agenda (including charter schools) today by endorsing McAuliffe. In a statement, Palumbo said: The primary campaign was defined, by outside groups and the press, as a fight over education and charter schools. It was probably inevitable in a race that pitted the head of the...

(End of day updates in red) Can you spot the difference? No On 1240 Washington State PTA League of Women Voters WASA - Washington Association of School Administrators WSSDA - Washington State School Directors Association Board Washington Education Association Japanese-American Citizens League Board Seattle-King County NAACP El Centro de la Raza Parents and Friends for Tacoma Public Schools Parents Across America - Seattle chapter Educational Service District 113  1st District Democrats  5th District Democrats 11th District Democrats 22nd District Democrats 32nd District Democrats 33rd District Democrats 34th District Democrats 36th District Democrats 37th District Democrats 41st District Democrats 43rd District Democrats 45th District Democrats 46th District Democrats 48th District Democrats King County Democrats Pierce County Democrats Citizens United for Responsible Education Minority Executive Directors Coalition Pierce County Y...

So one reader, Rachel, had posted a link to an interesting article out of Philadelphia (from the parent blog, The Notebook) about a very exclusive charter where you can only pick up their application form one time a year and that's usually at their open house, held either at a private golf club or country club.   Interested families couldn't find Green Woods’ application online. They couldn't request a copy in the mail. In fact, they couldn't even pick up a copy at the school. Instead, Green Woods made its application available only one day each year. Even then, the application was only given to families who attended the school’s open house – which most recently has been held at a private golf club in the Philadelphia suburbs. Is this just an isolated incident there? But this spring, that very office found that Green Woods and 17 other charters seeking renewal imposed “significant barriers to entry” on families. Some, like Green Woods, went to extrao...

In the "tag you're it" section, I looked around a couple of months ago and realized that no one seemed to mounting a campaign against charter schools.  So I'm the head of the No On 1240 campaign.  I have a great steering committee (all parents) and great supporters down in Tacoma and we have a starting list of volunteers. I put a link to our campaign on the blog to the right of the threads.  It is chock-full of information (unlike the Yes side - they have 4 FAQs, we have about 25).  We also have a Facebook page and we're at Twitter (No_On_1240). No, we don't have the incredibly deep pockets of the Yes side.  But then, that didn't win it in 2000 or 2004.  The Yes campaign is at about $4m with about $3M of it coming from six families either associated with Microsoft or Amazon.  President Obama recently said that he would rather have thousands of grassroots supporters than one guy writing a $10M check.  I agree. It was amusing to hear ...

Here's a very compelling and complete explanation of the issues of Special Ed and charter schools. As Charlie said, you are voting for hope, not for better.  There are no guarantees except that yes, money will get diverted from existing schools.  That's your guarantee. Depending on your child's challenge, maybe something might be there but you, but like most charters, the possibility for a better outcome for your child is not great.

PTA used to be the wholesome, all-American group.  Parents and teachers united in schools across the country to create better communities of learning and fellowship for children and adults. Now, I don't know what is happening. First, the National PTA just revised its rules on charter schools.  It's astonishing and also troubling.   While their previous policy supported the idea of charters as long as they had parent engagement AND local oversight, the new policy (from Ed Week): .. .supports giving entities other than local school boards the right to approve charter schools, a new position the group argues will increase its ability to shape policy within the diverse and growing sector of independent public schools. What they don't seem to get is that by losing local control, the PTA WILL lose the ability to shape policy.   And why would PTA be welcome in charters?  Parents don't have a real role in most charters - you can see this by how ...

The hot weather is gone so I can't imagine what it is affecting the brains of the editorial board at the Seattle Times.  Their latest editorial about the State starting negotiations with the Washington Federation of Sate Employees soon.  They give recent history: Twice now they have done this. In September 2008, they agreed to pay raises in the two-year contract. In the midst of the worst financial crisis in 75 years, Gregoire approved them and within weeks the state's Office of Financial Management (OFM) said the contracts were impossible. The state had to go back and ask that the raises be canceled. The union sued, lost, and agreed to cancel the raises. In 2010, deals were reached in October; a month later the Office of Financial Management declared them to be infeasible. Gregoire asked that the employee share of health-insurance premiums, set in the contract at 12 percent, be increased to 26 percent, which was the average for family coverage among private...