Seattle Schools Community Forum

In what can only be called the pot calling the kettle black, ten Washington State legislators have filed an amicus brief (friend of the court) to the Washington State Supreme Court about the Court's ruling on the charter school law. Folks, apparently we may have a pissing match going on.  While I appreciate that there are some in the Legislature who really like charter schools, this kind of amount to telling someone their job.  Now perhaps some in the Legislature (maybe a majority for all we know), believe that the McCleary ruling (and all that has come after) was treading on the Legislature's delicate toes.  So maybe this is some of those legislators trying to toss this back into the Corut's face and telling THEM that they don't know how to do their jobs.  And maybe some are trying to be deliberately provocative.  It should tell us all that when January starts, charters may be the wedge to get McCleary done.  From the News Tribune :

There will be three threads to this topic. Overview of Reaction to the Ruling The Ruling Itself Current Overview Part One: Overview of Reaction to the Ruling Simply put, many people - from the unscrupulous folks who wrote this law to those overseeing charter schools to those running charter schools - made a deliberate choice to gamble with children's academic lives.  And they lost.

Second Strike Update: As of an hour ago, SEA says no movement on negotiations.  I'm going to go to the press conference that is to be held at 3 pm. ( Strike update: nothing from SEA as of 10:15 am today, Sunday the 13th; SPS has a press conference today at 3 pm.  Maybe they are hoping there will be something to say then.) 1) In some of the biggest news for public education in Washington State - namely, that the Governor is assembling a "work group" to get McCleary done AND doesn't want the overturned charter law part of the discussion (AND he still doesn't support charter schools) - and yet the Seattle Times has said nothing.  Zero. Zip.  (At least I can't find it.) The Stranger reported it.  The Puget Sound Business Journal reported it.  And that was two days ago.  But the Times has time to write about the Justices who sit on the Supreme Court.  Hmm...

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 from Twitter via SPS: The ACT exams scheduled for tomorrow at Franklin & Nathan Hale will still be held. Not impacted by strike. end of update Both President Carr's community meeting and the Board Retreat (scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 12th) have been cancelled.  What a surprise.  Don't know when Carr will be available again; the Retreat is rescheduled for Sept. 26th. There is another district press conference with updates on the strike at 3 pm.   I may not be able to make it but again, will track -via Twitter- any new information. Listened to both the KUOW Week in Review and their noon show as both talked about the strike (and charter schools, remember them?). First, I actually like the people at Washington Policy Center as people but man, there is NOTHING they won't say to promote ed reform.  Paul Guppy was on the Week in Review and he had some whoppers: - He said the strike was the "nuclear option." - He says that Aviation High and ...

Two stories from two noted national newspapers. One is from the New York Times and is one of the most objectively written stories on public education that I have read in a long time.  Its overview is the turmoil in public education in Washington State, including the Seattle teachers strike but is mostly about the Supreme Court decision on the charter law. About the charter ruling; We are now firmly on that chess table,” said Thomas Franta, the chief executive of the Washington State Charter Schools Association. But he said the political terrain had gotten tricky because with two giant education issues facing the Legislature, the pressure would be immense to tackle them at the same time in a special session. “And doing them both at the same time is going to be more difficult,” he added. But David Sciarra, the executive director of the Education Law Center, which advises lawyers on education financing cases, said the Washington ruling could foreshadow fights over char...

From KPLU : A network of donors will step up if necessary to keep Washington state's nine charter schools open through the school year, a leading charter advocate said Tuesday, even if public dollars stop flowing in the wake of a state Supreme Court decision voiding Washington's charter school law . Tom Franta, who heads the Washington State Charter Schools Association, said his organization has reached out to a network of something like 50 donors — whom Franta declined to identify — that can help cover the estimated $14 million necessary to cover all nine schools' operating costs through the end of the year. Here's some remaining mysteries:

The Washington State Charter Commission will not be waiting for their next regularly-scheduled meeting on September 17th to talk about the Supreme Court ruling on the charter school law. Special Commission Meeting (Agenda) Wednesday, September 9, 2015 │ 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

That would be First Place Scholars except that it may not even be open at this point. From the Times' coverage of the striking down of the charter law by the Washington State Supreme Court: In Seattle, Summit Sierra, a new college-prep high school, opened Aug. 17 in the Chinatown International District with its inaugural freshman class of 130. School also started Aug. 17 at SOAR Academy and Summit: Olympus in Tacoma. Excel Public Charter School in Kent began Aug. 20, and Destiny Charter Middle School in Tacoma opened Aug. 24. Rainier Prep’s first day of class was Tuesday.“We will absolutely be here ready for kids on Tuesday,” said Executive Director Malia Burns. PRIDE Prep and Spokane International Academy in the Spokane area opened last month. You'll see two things in that reporting.  No mention of FPS.  I don't know why but I suspect that may be because they haven't opened their doors for this year or may not be at all.  But not mentioning them is odd given th...