Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Times finally got around to writing an article on this issue.  I didn't really like their take on it but I'm not surprised that it is made to sound like the cost was the main issue.  The article said that MIF is "nearly twice as expensive" as enVision but forgot to say that was based on the staff's reading of it.  The article then waits until nearly the end to say "the exact cost won't be known until the district places the order."  Oh.  They also made it sound like the MAC recommendation was a done deal - when that was never the case - and it caught all these principals off-guard.  Well, whose fault is that?  Not the Board's. Got some interesting e-mails in my most recent public disclosure request from Seattle Schools.

There are two unfolding situations that could have real ramifications for many schools in the fall; one is about math waivers and the other (separate thread) about school funding (and "underenrollment"). Update: what I am hearing is that there is a thought to push a "districtwide" waver to use enVision over MIF.   I'm hoping that's not true.  It could possibly be the most unconstructive and most damaging thing that could be done. end of update. Update 2: From SPS: There is a short window of time because we have to order textbooks.  Instructional materials waivers are guided by School Board policy 2020. The Building Leadership Team is involved in the process based on the school’s decision-making matrix. Parents who have questions should contact their principals. end of update In Michael Tolley's presentation to the Board about math waivers here is what his slides said:

A reader who is deeply concerned about the math adoption conducted a public records request to SPS for e-mail about the math adoption.  She got about 237 pages of e-mails.  I have not yet read all of them but the ones I have read do concern me about both the process and the outcomes. We all realize that, in our jobs, when we are asked to help formulate decisions on what direction to go or products to use for a job, we need to do a couple of things.  One, making sure we cast the net far enough so that we are doing a thorough job, both for quality of product and cost of product.  Two, that there's a fair comparison - the "apples to apples" comparison - both to allow the end user/buyer to accurately compare items and to do due diligence for each product/company we are considering. (As we saw from the recent Board meeting with the Network Wireless upgrade, when the district changes the rules, repeatedly, during the RFP period (no matter the explanation), compani...

A letter from the Schmitz Park PTA was sent this week to the Board, the Superintendent and other district officials: Dear Seattle Public School Board Directors and District Staff, On behalf of the Schmitz Park PTA, we write this letter in opposition to the Math Adoption Committee’s recommendation to implement the enVision Math Program as the new math curriculum for all elementary schools in September 2014. Schmitz Park is in an advanced, and deliberate, position as one of six schools across the district currently using a Singapore Math-based curriculum to teach math and a transition to enVision will be a step backwards for our students. As part of our opposition to the recommendation, the Schmitz Park PTA states that:

The two items I've been tracking are the denial of renewal of the NCLB waiver for Washington State and the SPS math adoption . Today Secretary Duncan appeared before the U.S. Senate budget committee.  He did get asked about waivers but not by Senator Murray.  From Ed Week: Unlike late last month, when Duncan faced hostile declarations about his NCLB waiver moves from lawmakers in both the House and the Senate, the only significant exchange Duncan had with the Senate budget committee about waivers was with Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa whose state does not have a waiver from the NCLB law. (Duncan's department rejected Iowa's waiver proposal back in 2012, the first state to be turned down for a waiver.) If you find that last sentence confusing, Iowa was the first state to get a waiver turned down and Washington was the first state to have a waiver not renewed. Grassley told Duncan he thought the DOE was being vague on how Iowa should proceed without...

The end of the first full week of school so how goes it? News from the 34th Dems Endorsement meeting: Position#1 - Sharon Peaslee Position#2 - no endorsement Position#3 - Michelle Buetow [updated] They had previously endorsed Marty McLaren for Position #6 in West Seattle. [end update] I also am assuming they could not get consensus on a vote for Sherry Carr/Kate Martin so they have no endorsement. Also, congratulations to Loyal Heights Elementary which was named one of the 304 Blue Ribbon Schools by the US Department of Education. This honor is given for public/private elementary, middle and high schools where students are either all doing well or where the achievement gap is closing. I note that Loyal Heights had requested a waiver to use Singapore Math and it was denied.

The West Seattle Herald ran an interview with Director Steve Sundquist where he says some pretty interesting things.   (They will be running interviews with challengers Marty McLaren, Joy Anderson and Nick Esparza soon.)   The Herald made one mistake (I believe) which was to only list the other incumbents running and not their challengers. 

There are two interesting stories on education issues recently posted on Crosscut. One , by Kent Kammerer, questions the focus on K-12 education leading to the one path of college. The other , by Craig Parsley, is about innovators working under the radar to evade the bureaucracy in Seattle Public Schools.

I'm going to re-post some items from Director Martin-Morris' blog that I think are worth noting: This is from a thread called "Sinapore(sic) Math in the district" Charlie Mas said... What are the rules for materials use? To what extent are teachers required to use the district-adopted materials? Must they use them at all? Must they use them some minimum portion of the time? To what extent are teachers required to use the district-adopted supplemental materials? Must they use them at all? Must they use them some minimum amount? To what extent are teachers free to use other materials? May they use them at all? Are they restricted from using them more than some maximum amount of time? Could a teacher exercise the academic freedom to primarily use his or her own supplemental material instead of any district-adopted materials? A math teacher at Washington had used the same textbooks for over fifteen years. Could he still use those books if he so chose? Teachers have been...

Seattle Times editorial writer, Bruce Ramsey, wrote about the success of Singapore math taught at Schmitz Park.