Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Times had big news this morning that preschoolers can learn math but nobody in preschool teaching ever knew this before. Naturally, I'm being facetious as most parents do know this (even if they don't know the best way to teach their own children).  As well, I would think most bonafide preschools do know this (and I certainly know Montessori and Waldorf do). This article seems a bit of a cheerleading piece for the City's preschool but then, the City extended the deadline for parents to enroll so maybe they need the help.

A couple of readers asked about some people and organizations that they feel have been perhaps too quiet.

From the Gates Foundation website: LEV Foundation Date: October 2013 Purpose: to build capacity for a state-wide public charter school support organization in Washington State Amount: $4,200,000 Term: 24 Topic: College-Ready Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA Program: United States Grantee Location: Seattle, Washington So let's review. Lisa Macfarlane co-founded the League of Education Voters.  She now works as the Washington State Director of DFER (Democrats for Education Reform).   (Their advisory committee membership is telling:  Chris Eide, Dan Grimm, Erin Kahn, Robin Lake, Steve Sundquist and Megan Wyatt.  It's kind of funny how these people all serve on each others' boards.) Chris Korsmo is CEO of LEV but also a Board member of the Washington State Charter Schools Association.  Mary Beth Lambert who is the press person for LEV is also the press person for the Washington State Charter Schools Assn....

One of our sharp-eyed readers linked an op-ed that LEV's leader, Chris Korsmo, wrote for the Times.  It is quite the tale and one that she tells frequently.  The last time I heard it, though, she was screaming at a room full of people based on a comment that Charlie had made.  I'm thinking this was about 2010 when we had Dr. Goodloe-Johnson.  C.R. Douglas was moderating a live discussion that was being taped about the Strategic Plan.  It was a great show because it was completely under the control of Seattle Channel and not the Alliance.    What was interesting was that a lot of the room was filled with the usual ed suspects and we all knew each other.  So C.R. would ask questions and get answers/comments from the panel and audience but he didn't have time to have the audience members ID themselves.  So, the at-home audience didn't know who we were. At one point, Charlie got up to say that the discussion was ignoring the issue of pover...

A very nifty flowchart from our friends at the Seattle Education blog (Sue Peters and Dora Taylor) showing the "lines of influence" both nationally and locally.  They created this awhile back and admit it needs updating like the line between Gates and the Alliance, that Goodloe-Johnson is gone, and there are even more connections than ever in 2013.

It isn't that hard to create the illusion of consensus where none exists. All you have to do it use multiple voices. The Gates Foundation has essentially pulled the same trick. Rather than speaking with a single voice, the voice of the Gates Foundation, it speaks as a chorus. Their message is carried by their proxies: the League of Education Voters, the Alliance for Education, the Our Schools Coalition, Stand for Children, Democrats for Education Reform, Washington STEM, A+ Washington, Excellent Schools Now, Partnership for Learning, Teachers United, Crosscut, the Washington State PTA, and more. They are all mouthpieces for the Gates Foundation, yet when they each speak it creates the illusion of a broad consensus, but it actually just one voice, multiplied. There are many finger puppets, but only one hand. So even if all of them speak it still counts as only one person, only one vote.

I leave town for a week and all hell breaks loose.   More violence, more burglaries, a Friday night sneaky maneuver by Senate Republicans and now, Luna the soccer dog has gone missing?  In the immortal words of Betty Draper, "What is going on!?!" First, be sure to lock your doors and windows.   It seems weird to say that but this is not Mayberry, RFD.  Let's be safe in our own homes.  Ditto on locking the car if you have valuables inside. Update:   Tuesday, March 6th - Luna was found and returned to her owner. Second, I normally wouldn't put up something about a missing dog but this dog has special talents that can be easily spotted.  So I am putting out a plea for anyone who sees Luna the Soccer Dog . Luna was taken from outside a University area home on Saturday.  She has a tag with her address and phone.  She responds to her name and soccer commands.  She is a female Kelpie mix (border collie with dingo ears), black coa...

It's becoming apparent that those who fight for charters have their own agenda. I say that because they are not making the argument based just on the merits of charter schools.  And, they are certainly not fighting on the merits of this particular charter bill (on which they all seem strangely silent except to say "tool in the toolbox"  and "let's try them."  Those who are the leaders in this effort seem to be fighting on two fronts. One person is Nick Hanauer who believes he speaks for many Dems (and he may be but he offers no evidence). He blames the WEA and he blames Dems for being "stooges".  He says the union has not backed any initiatives or any legislation that would challenge the "status quo." I know this is not true. What is likely true is that the union did not back the measures HE thought they should. Now it would seem that people of good faith and in the same party should be able to sit down and find common ground and ...

Over at Publicola, the jousting goes on.  Firing back at the letter that WEA President, Mary Lindquist, wrote yesterday, Knight-in-Shining Armor, Nick Hanauer writes a long reply. What is somewhat funny is he agrees with her on nearly all the reasons why as a "lifelong Democrat and committed progressive" he shouldn't want Rob McKenna as governor.  But then, speaking of education, he says that "McKenna is on the right track and we are not."  Keep in mind, McKenna is not on the ed reform train - he looks like he could be the engineer.  Vouchers, anyone? Alert! New ed reform talking point, speak of Washington State: We may be headed in the right direction, but we aren’t in the right lane. and It is not classroom teachers who are afraid of change and innovation—it is their union. But, clearly the union is backed by its members so the union IS the teachers. Then Hanauer does what so many do,  "I'm not a teacher but...",  and regales...

Anyone who has lived a couple of decades on this planet knows that life is full of nuance (even if we don't want to admit it).   We know that life isn't always fair. But in my years in advocacy, I have always puzzled over why some don't want to be entirely truthful when it comes to certain issues.  They may have privately looked at an issue from all sides but publicly, what they say, that's a different question. This is the case in the charter school bill.  I am fine (truly) with anyone who wants charters.  However, this bill is bad and it really is troubling that those who want charters would accept such a lousy bill just to get charters in Washington State. I have repeatedly called out several big issues with the bill.  Not one single person, at any blog, at any forum, in any e-mail, any phone call, has addressed a one of them.  It's like they don't exist.   I got this nonsense over at LEV. "No bill is perfect."

Every week, LEV's leader, Chris Korsmo does a column at their webpage.  She tries pretty hard to be funny but it usually falls somewhat flat.  (If you are not a naturally funny writer, efforts to be funny just don't work.)  This is part of what she had to say this week on charter legislation: I don’t know about you, but if one more person tells me that they wish we could do something about the achievement gap , but bringing public charter schools to Washington will only help a few kids, somethin’s gotta give. I swear I’m going to go buy every copy of Schindler’s List I can find and hand them out like a human Pez dispenser. Here's my reply: Well, as LEV has itself pointed out, only 17% of charters do better than traditional public schools so yes, there is a very real chance that if charter legislation passed, it would only help a few kids.  What does the holocaust have to do with public education in Washington State? It is a bit baffling that she cho...

I have been an education activist for about eleven years now. I have clashed with the district about two hundred times. I have never won. People wonder how I can keep doing this. Don't I get burned out? Don't I get tired? What the hell is wrong with me? Is it some kind of neurosis? There are two secrets to my endurance.

Okay, Happy NewYear and best wishes for everyone's health, safety and happiness BUT There's work to be done.  First up, charter schools.   I am so unhappy to be having to waste my time on this issue but if not, well then we get to see one more layer of bureaucracy at the state level and more dollars exiting our own district.   (As if we have the money for either thing to happen without a concrete belief that we will get better academic outcomes.) 

I've been off-line a bit but have kept up a bit.  I am a bit astonished at the reception by the Times and LEV over Marty McLaren's victory over School Board President, Steve Sundquist.  The Times said that Steve got along with City Hall officials and legislators but didn't every mention that Steve received a vote of no-confidence from the teachers union.  Maybe Steve should have worked on the relationships with parents and teachers.  They state that maybe Steve lost because of the things that happened over the last year (try 3 years).  But then they go on to say but the other three got reelected "handily."  (Apparently they haven't been keeping up on the numbers in the Maier/Peasless race.)   And, they don't explain exactly why they think Sundquist lost until the end of their editorial. It was the teachers union support.  Then they go on to petulantly whine over the campaign contributions issue.  A union contribution - wh...

As we were discussing previously, LEV has decided to start a conversation about charters coming to Washington.   Okay, it's part of public education in the U.S. and I have no problems with dialog.  BUT, that's not what LEV does.  I know it, they know it.  It's part of long push to get charter legislation going and voted into our state.  But there's a couple of interesting turns here.  One is that LEV's position is not that charters are great and work well across the board.  It's that for a certain group of children, they do seem to work.  This would be for ELL and poor students.  (I'd have to look into this assertion myself but I'll take it at face value.)  So would it be worth it to bring in another layer of bureaucracy to public education in Washington state just for a small subset of students?  Do we really believe that only charters that serve those groups would pop up?  Is it worth it to have better schools for th...

One, don't forget that LEV is having a live on-line chat today at noon about charter schools.   Two, the BEX Oversight Committee meeting tomorrow morning has been moved to Chief Sealth High School (likely because they will be doing a Denny walk-thru) at 8:30 am. Three, I'll be doing a thread on the Executive Committee meeting yesterday but there was mention of the furlough day for SPS staff coming up on August 31st.   Here's the letter that was sent out: "On that day [August 31], all SEA and PASS represented staff as well as all non-represented staff will be furloughed and prohibited from working.   I need to stress this IS NOT OPTIONAL.    The federal Fair Labor Standards Act states that if you are a non-exempt employee (which is how all employees are defined during a furlough week regardless of position), you must be compensated for ALL hours worked during that week. Having to compensate someone for working on a furlough day runs counter to ...

Wednesday, the 10th  Executive Committee meeting - 8:00-10:00 am No agenda yet available. Thursday the 11th League of Education Voters Charter School On-line Discussion - noon Signup here .    From their website: If you have questions that you'd like us to answer during the chat about public charters, please send them ahead of time to info@educationvoters.org. The chat will last 30 minutes, so you'll have plenty of time for lunch! I'll be writing a thread on charters this week They also have an on-line quiz about charters which isn't entirely right. For example, on principal powers,  " principals in charters can hire anyone and make all salary decisions ."  This is their "correct" answer but then they say " ultimately, how much authority principals are given depends upon how the charter law is written ." Oh.  Most charter laws say you have to hire a certificated teacher.  So that's not "anyone." Another e...

In more breaking news, today LEV joined a lawsuit challenging I-1053 which requires a supermajority vote in the Legislature to raise revenues. From the press release: The plaintiffs believe the statute in question, established through the passage of I-1053, unconstitutionally impairs the ability of state lawmakers to fund public schools, which is the paramount duty of the state. Representative Jamie Pedersen is one of the legislators challenging the measure: “Our state constitution is the ultimate expression of the will of the people. Making sure our laws – whether passed by the legislature or by citizens through the initiative process – abide by the constitution is critical to protecting democracy and the rule of law,” said state Representative Jamie Pedersen, chair of the House Judiciary committee. “The question of whether a super-majority requirement to approve legislation is constitutional has gone unanswered for many years. It’s time to get a decision, once and for all.”...

Forgot to mention the last Director Community meeting for this school year: Director Betty Patu, 10 am-noon at Tully's, at Rainier and Genesee So apparently, the John Marshall building is being rented to a group called Applied Scholastics Academy of Seattle .   They use the "works" of L. Ron Hubbard who started (invented) Scienctology.  Here's what they say: I see you mention L. Ron Hubbard in your materials. Who is he and what does he have to do with Applied Scholastics Academy of Seattle? L. Ron Hubbard was an American philosopher and educator who extensively researched the field of learning, and identified barriers to study that individuals face when trying to learn something new. More importantly, he developed methods to overcome these barriers that any person can apply. Mr. Hubbard’s written works on education and child development are applied within the school’s program and are directly related to our success in helping students and families. Th...

Only one Director community meeting this Saturday .  That would be with Betty Patu from 10am-noon at Tully's, 4400 Rainier Avenue South.