Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update:  I spoke with the Board office and they are likely to take five more people from the Speaker waitlist.  I believe President Peaslee may have some discretion in this area but that remains to be seen. Also to note, it appears that the Mayor and the Superintendent will be appearing at Rainier Beach Boys & Girls Club this morning .  I have not been able to find out why nor does this appear on the Mayor's published schedule.  I have another meeting so I cannot attend.  end of update Looking at the Speaker roster, it appears that the topic is "P-5 Schools Aligned with Seattle Preschool Program."   Out of 30 spots, all are on this topic, except for 4 of them for the 2015 State Legislative Agenda and on on Lunch/Recess Times.  (I have one spot about the preschool issue.) Then, there is quite a large waitlist of 30 people.  This may signal the Board may hear 10 more speakers as they tend to open it up if this many people are coming....

Below the cut is the latest message from Councilman Tim Burgess about the outcome of the vote on 1A versus 1B.  I am putting it up for a single reason - because so many people believe that this program was aimed at and will give preference to enroll mostly low-income tikes. It's just not true.  Currently, there is NO mechanism or "bump" to allow low-income students to the head of the line.  Placement of the preschools could very well decide who enrolls and that may very well be low-income students. But these preschools are open to all so when I hear "we had to do something for these kids," I sigh because that's not the way the measure was written. I'll pull out the pertinent phrases sans "low-income": Seattle's children best prepare children to encourage economically mixed and culturally diverse classrooms  our children He also says this which, to the best of my recollection, I have never seen before (and certainly not during ...

Update : West Seattle meeting with Senator Sharon Nelson West Seattle Blog ‏ @ westseattleblog 15m 15 minutes ago Nelson says she expects the Republicans to ask that i-1351 be suspended. # waleg @ 34dems end of update Passage of ballot outcomes according to Seattle Schools: 1B for Preschool: Yay! Great! Thanks Seattle voters. 1351 for Lower Class Sizes : Not so much. From Interim Superintendent Larry Nyland: It is too soon to know exactly how I-1351 will impact Seattle Public Schools in the wake of the Supreme Court McCleary ruling and actions anticipated during this Legislative session. Class size is one of the top four priorities of the McCleary ruling and long overdue since Washington’s class sizes rank among the highest in the nation. If fully funded by the legislature, the initiative would have a significant impact on staffing and building facilities. That will put pressure on Seattle...

From Seattle Schools: Seattle Public Schools celebrates with the City of Seattle and says a resounding thank you to Seattle voters for their approval of the pre-school initiative.  Our utmost appreciation for the leadership by the Mayor and the City Council in supporting this important work.  Providing an early start to our neediest families is one of the most cost effective ways to help EVERY student succeed.  The city initiative starts small and builds to 2000 students over the next four years.  We look forward to working with the City of Seattle in the implementation of this important work.   Naturally, we all think preschool is a good thing.  But really?  All the schools are excited about this work as they are underfunded and overenrolled?  Hard to believe but I'm going with headquarters staff is happy.   (I also note that the second sentence lacks a verb.)  The district is also WRONG in the "neediest famili...

Election Update : 1351 is still failing but has closed the gap by about 3,000 votes, 49.58% to No, 50.42% end of update 1B passed handily.  I was surprised at the "handily" part but Seattle folks are a generous bunch. I am going to be speaking at the Board meeting tonight and I may include a bit about what the passage of 1B will mean to SPS.  (I'd lay money a draft partnership agreement is coming very soon.)  But will agreement of that partnership come with a carrot or a stick?  I wonder if the money for the Federal Reserve building might materialize (via a group of businesses, maybe)?

Preschool - another education growth industry in our country. Did you think this push for preschool came from the brains of Burgess and Murray?  Please. Duncan and Obama have been pushing this.  They have a RttT (not affectionately called Race to the Tots).  Education Week had this article , "Growth in States' Early Childhood Spending Opens Business Opportunities" from December 2013.

The King County Labor Council only endorsed measure 1B even though, of course, there are many union members in 1A.  This had seemed a mystery to me because if both 1A and1B have union members, why not support both?  Well, it seems there may be a rift between some unions over that sole endorsement and here's a letter asking the KC Labor Council to rescind it. Dear MLKCLC Affiliates and Fellow Members:

Arne Duncan pushes hard on Obama's preschool initiative. “ Two different challenges that I think we have to face,” Duncan said. “One that [HHS Secretary] Kathy [Sebelius] talked about is sometimes you have a cultural piece where people are scared to put their kids in more formal care and they prefer, you know, to do the grandmother, the neighbor, whatever. “And so how we communicate very directly with families and churches and non-profits to make sure if we build it they will come, there’s some work we need to do there,” Duncan said. Sebelius said pre-school could make Hispanic children “culturally comfortable” with entering public schools as kindergartners. And this is the challenge (and the dismissal) by those pushing universal preschool. Who is Arne Duncan to say that people who want their children with them are NOT getting what they need educationally?  It's almost like saying, "we know better for YOUR child."  He is treading into dangerous waters here. ...

I'll put in my plug for voting NO on the preschool/childcare props one more time.  This plea  is for Seattle Schools parents.  In every single document that I have found about the preschool plan, the number one "priority" is to "partner with Seattle Schools."   After you have read thru a number of documents, it starts to jump out at you. Now 1B says, we know there is little space and there's other things we'd like to work on with SPS.  Yes, SPS could help with curriculum, info on how they already work with preschool groups, etc.  Except that, as the Board complained at the recent Work Session with Councilman Burgess and others on the preschool plan, the district really hasn't been consulted on curriculum.  The Board wasn't invited to give any input at all on the preschool plan.  Hmm.  (To note, three current Board members have endorsed 1B - Sherry Carr, Harium Martin-Morris and Stephan Blanford.  Carr and Martin-Morris have don...

In another thread, we had a kindergarten teacher say this (bold mine): I am a kindergarten teacher in a school where the vast majority of students live below the poverty line. My Head Start pre-K graduates not only have pre-academic skills, but, more importantly, understand how to listen to a story as a member of a group, how to solve interpersonal problems (i.e., how to take turns with a special object), have greater mathematical understanding, and have a far greater vocabulary in both their birth languages and English.    I have NEVER questioned the value of Pre-K. Frankly it's a luxury to be able to do so.  I don't have any idea which I'll vote for, 1A, or 1B, because I've been too busy teaching to do my research, but I'll definitely be voting for something that increases access for the families I serve, who, although working and contributing in so many ways, cannot access quality early childhood education for their children. Followed by SW...

You ask, the mayor answers during a live broadcast of Ask the Mayor , 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22 , from Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave. Ask the Mayor’s format features a live audience and a topic of focus during the second half of the hour-long program. During the first half of the show, Mayor Ed Murray will join host Brian Callanan to discuss a range of city issues. Murray will answer questions posed by a live audience as well as viewer inquiries submitted via e-mail and social media.  In the second half of the program, Callanan and Mayor Murray will discuss his 2015-2016 budget proposal. Mayor Murray submitted a 2015-2016 budget that expands funding for priorities in education , worker protections, public safety and support for the homeless. The mayor is also proposing to bring new transparency to the city budget, including increased accountability for program outcomes and improved access to information on city finances. The City Council has begun their re...

 I will be taking a hiatus this week to do other things.  Charlie may or may not be able to provide the Open Threads for this week. Monday, September 8th Curriculum & Instruction Committee meeting from 4:30pm - 6:30 pm.  Agenda

Update: coverage from the West Seattle blog about the opening of Fairmount Park.   end of update I attended the press conference and ribbon-cutting at Jane Addams Middle School today.  Quite eye-opening. First, it's a good thing that Hale and JAMS don't start at the same time.  I note that 35th Avenue NE is closed south from Hale for about two blocks.  And, Seattle Public Utilities appears to be doing work along NE110th, right in front of Hale.  Two guys told me, yes, they'll be back tomorrow. Press conference I was a little surprised at the number of media who didn't show up, given the start of a new year and a new superintendent.  But they may have thought that they would get some canned answers and sadly, that's what Superintendent delivered.

 Update:  Here's an event to talk about this issue from the League of Women Voters/King County : Help lay a foundation of understanding for the continuing public discourse on early learning and the role of public policy. Participate in the LWVS-KC conversation on September 4 with panelists representing the Puget Sound Educational Service District, University of Washington, and Thrive by Five. Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? Event Date & Time: Thu, Sep 4 - 7:00 PM Seattle First Baptist Church 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle end of update We're seeing a ramping up of the start of campaigns for both preschool measures.  Sort of.

I'm going to try some live blogging tonight as it is Superintendent Nyland's first meeting AND I believe that the district - via legal counsel - will have something to say about the Garfield field trip rape and Title IX issues. I attended the Audit & Finance Committee meeting yesterday and boy, what a meeting.  But that's another thread. I will note, however, that lead counsel, Ron English, gave out a "Legal Action Log on Title IX Issues."  It is lengthy and troubling.  The district is to create a "Crisis Response Team" for such incidents. Superintendent Nyland gave his first superintendent remarks.  He talked about the Garfield fieldtrip rape issue and read a letter from the district.  The letter will be available on the district website soon.  It was fairly vague and nothing new that we haven't heard after OTHER incidents.  There was a gap between the beginning of the meeting and Public Comment.  I asked if I could speak with the Sup...

The AP is reporting that the State Supreme Court will announced on Friday that it would consider if the charter law of Washington State violates our state's constitution. I would say that's a rather large piece of news as I have been repeatedly told that it was "highly unlikely" this would happen.  Oral arguments are scheduled for Oct. 28th.  I just might have to go and listen. A King County judge had earlier ruled that parts of the law were unconstitutional and both sides asked to skip the appeals and go straight to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court issue centers around our Constitution's wording about "common schools" and whether charters meet that specific definition (and therefore are entitled to be funded in that manner). NCLB letters are reaching mailboxes soon.  (SPS is holding back to see if their individual district waiver comes thru based on the district's belief that the CBA covers using test scores for teacher evaluation.)  Her...

Between the issue of the Pre-K mission study junket and the appalling action (or lack thereof) on the issue of the Garfield field trip rape case, it's hard not to feel very angry.  As you may recall, in the e-mails about the Pre-K mission study, there was a lot of back and forth over where the money - about $2700 per person - was going to come from to pay for the trip.  Well, I found out where the "temporary" money came from.  I say temporary because there were funds used from one pot that will now have to be paid back to that pot by finding another pot of money. Here's how it breaks down (from SPS Public Disclosure): Budget codes that were charged Charles (Wright) - baseline funds (meaning not grant-funded) from the Office of Strategic Planning Keisha (Scarlett) - South Shore funds (Title I, I believe), “borrowed” due to the time crunch to get good flight prices, meant to be paid back Laurie (Morrison )– ditto Cashel (Toner) – Teaching and Learning, “bridg...

I make no secret of the fact that I had been pushing for the district to consider applying to take over the empty Federal Reserve building downtown.  I believed it was worth looking into (and still do).  However, that is now tempered by this rather large push for the building.  Who's pushing?  All the forces that have decided that, for SPS, preschool is the cause de jour (de annee, as well).  I think this is very much about the City's preschool push and, without that, the district would not be acting as it now is. When I talked to Facilities' Flip Herndon at the community meeting where all the staff showed up to talk to the public, he could not have been less interested.  He practically said that they were just too busy with BEX to consider it.  And now? Well, here's the press release from the district: Seattle Public Schools is inviting the public to attend a conversational meeting regarding the possibility of creating a K-5 elementary school in...

Dear Directors, I am asking you - as a Board - to put forth clarification on this issue of the City's PreK for All and Seattle Public Schools. I spent the afternoon reviewing what the City has at their website and I found a lot of it deeply troubling. Of course, like many things, pre-K for all IS a good idea.  (I will quibble whether Pre-K is the same as preschool as the former seems more school-like and the latter seems more play-based learning with a shorter day.)  But the devil is in the details.  And there are many details that are troubling with this plan but I'll just address the issues for SPS.

It would have been a quiet week for SPS except for the new issue of Superintendent Banda wanting to leave.  As well, there are a couple of events that will impact our district. Monday, June 23rd Seattle City Council will vote on their Preschool for All bill at 2 pm in City Council chambers.  They do take public comment but I note it comes after presentations (which means you get to sit through a lot before you can speak).  This is important because it involves our district.  I cannot support any measure that puts a burden of time and resources on our district.  It is not the district's core mission nor do our facilities in any way support this use of space. Wednesday, June 25th I see that the previous Work Session on the Superintendent's evaluation has been pulled. Public Hearing on the 2014-2015 Budget from 4-4:15 pm.  You are allowed two minutes to give your input on next year's budget.  I believe you can submit a written statement via e-m...