Seattle Schools Community Forum

I KNEW it. Dora Taylor (who is the main writer/moderator for Seattle Education blog) and I both write public education blogs. We write about different things (and that's a good thing for people in this region/state who care about public education.)  We sometimes disagree. But one thing we have agreed on is that Mayor Murray has plans to get the City a heck of a lot more involved with the direction of public education in this city.  And, he's not going to do so much via official lines of contact but thru many other methods. To wit, Dora's latest thread , Leaked email shows how Seattle Mayor Ed Murray plans to take over the school board In a letter sent to Mayor Murray from Regina Jones , who is now working for the Mayor’s office as an “executive on loan”, spells out how to take over the school board by “cultivating candidates to serve on the board” based on the success of two mayors in San Francisco and with the work of Hydra Mendoza because “As in Seattle, SFU...

From Seattle Education blog via writer Dora Taylor: Our first Meetup was a success with our guest, the newly elected School Board Director Sue Peters. We were also fortunate to have with us at the Meetup two previous board members Amy Hagopian and Sally Soriano. It was a great discussion and we learned more about the history of our district and how the school board works along with Sue’s priorities as a new School Board Director. The next Meetup will feature Seattle Schools Community Forum contributor Melissa Westbrook. The main topic will be on student privacy and House Bill 2133, “Maintaining privacy of student educational records”, that was dropped last week and had a hearing on Wednesday, January 15th. Please join us for information and discussion on this topic. Melissa is also well-informed about many other issues that affect Seattle Public Schools and you are invited to ask questions on other topics as well. Friday, January 17, 2014 Noon to 1:00 PM ...

Monday night, the 18th , I'll be moderating a tele-townhall about standardized testing.   It's being sponsored by Fair Test ,"the National Center for Fair and Open Testing that works to end the misuses and flaws of standardized testing AND to ensure that the evaluation of our students, teachers and schools is done in a fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial manner." It starts at 7p.m.  and the call-in number is 1-(866) 476-7782 Speakers include Garfield student body president, Obadiah Perry; Mallory Clarke, Garfield High teacher, and the executive director of Fair Test, Dr. Monty Neill.   Tuesday night, the 19th , the smartest girl in the room, ed reformer Michelle Rhee, will be in town to push her book at Town Hall.  There is a protest starting at 6 p.m. that I hope to attend because Rhee should know that there are real people who do not believe what she is saying (or selling).   A good overview of Rhee is here at the Seattle Education blog...