Seattle Schools Community Forum

Yet.  This from The Stranger: Today, Governor Jay Inslee admitted to the outlaw nature of our current state government in a letter (.PDF) to all state legislators that, among other things, says flatly that Olympia's standing is eroding "with Washingtonians who expect we will support public education and live by the rule of law."    After three years of them not living by the rule of law, that's a bit of an understatement. But given this concern for how he and others in Olympia are now perceived, will the governor call a special session right now to find the money for Washington public schools that's still needed in order to get himself and the legislature on the right side of the Washington constitution? After all, what's still needed for schools is around $2.6 billion—a large amount, true, but only a fraction of the $8.7 billion Inslee gave Boeing in tax breaks during a very speedy special session called in 2013. (That, by the way, was th...

Update : here's what happens when a non-legal person reads something that appears to be a legal brief - she gets it wrong.  This is a report from the Attorney General to the Supreme Court, NOT something written by the Supreme Court. In my zeal to get this out there, I did not do my due diligence, believing I understood what I was reading. Mea culpa. end of update. In what is a fairly quick read at 17 pages, here's what the Attorney General said to the Supreme Court in an update about McCleary. (Bold mine) - they review that they had previously stated   "defer to the legislature's chosen means of discharging its article IX, section 1 duty" but retained jurisdiction "to monitor implementation of the reforms under ESHB 2261... - they go on to review if the Legislature is to be held in contempt under their previous ruling.  They note that although the Legislature has not completed the work "however, there are a number of bills offered in both cha...

Apparently that's the consideration of some in the Legislature.  Publicola is reporting that Senator Steve Litzow told a group of regional leaders (in a closed door meeting a couple of weeks ago) that after the election, the Legislature would convene for a special session...for transportation.  (It's a gas tax.) Now either the Governor would have to convene this or the Legislature would have to get a 2/3rds vote in both houses to have a special session. So here's the question (bold mine). From Publicola: And this brings us to the "One Question" we've got for Litzow: Is he trying to get the Washington State Supreme Court—which is already holding him (along with the entire legislature) in contempt for failing to come up with a plan to fully fund K-12 education —to throw him in jail now? The legislature needs to come up with about $5 billion extra for K-12 education. The Court would certainly be stunned—after being told by the state's attorne...

Going to The Stranger Slog (as I do every morning - my go-to feed for all things Seattle, entertainment/culture and the interesting/weird), I see this interview with Supreme Court Justice Debra Stephens who wrote the McCleary decision.  (She's up for re-elected against a guy who has been disbarred.  I wonder who will win.)

Update :  there is one Director Community meeting tomorrow - with Director Carr - from 8:30-10 am at Bethany Community Church with  a hard stop at 10 am as the Board also has its Board retreat tomorrow from 10:30-3:00 pm at JSCEE.  I would put up the agenda but it is not available.  Why it isn't available is always a mystery (although here's the Board agenda for the next school board meeting). I'll lay odds there will be discussion of preschool (which staff does want to do) and bell times (which staff doesn't want to do).  Good luck, Board members. End of update. (No, I am not officially back but I feel for Charlie.)  I see a lot has been happening. It appears that the district IS creating a taskforce on Prevention and Response to Sexual Harassment (PRSH), apply by September 26th. The district also wants public comments on the new 21-page Superintendent's Procedure on Sexual Harassment. I also note that there is a district narrative of the...