Seattle Schools Community Forum

Here's the latest that I have gleaned from various sources: - Michael Tolley did indeed, in front of Director McLaren, say that "in effect there is a dual adoption."   This is stunning.  I believe now that if this push to have schools - in effect vote on which math curriculum they want - blows up in staff's collective faces, they will then say, "Oh, we interpreted the Board vote as dual because we have a math waivers policy."  That may have been why the Superintendent repeatedly told me yesterday that the math waivers policy was important in this discussion. I'm not sure that CYA will work but good luck.  At the worst, someone may be out of a job and at the least, a very bitter wind will continue to blow through this district.

Who is responsible for holding the district accountable for its progress, its actions, its decisions? First and foremost, of course, is the Board (or so it would seem). But really, they can only hold one person accountable and that's the Superintendent. They can't fire anyone but her and I guess they could reprimand someone but she could accuse them of overstepping. What's interesting is that the Board's greatest place of oversight is BEFORE anything gets enacted. But what tends to happen is that the Board directs the Superintendent in a policy direction, she then coordinates that effort and it gets presented to the Board. They then do what is usually a rushed and/or cursory look at it and pass it. Then, when problems arise, the Board is pretty much out of luck because, after all, they okayed what the Superintendent and the staff created. (I suspect they could reverse something but I haven't seen that done.) Holding the Board accountable are the voters . It ...