Seattle Schools Community Forum

My impression of politicians who constantly beat the drum on a single issue is that they either have invested an awful lot of personal capital into the issue and/or they are great self-promoters. I see this in Councilman Tim Burgess who has made pre-K a key issue in his roster.  He was even able to get the Times to print a "news" story today that has no real news in it as a way to remind people it's his issue.  (I'm wondering why the Times felt compelled to print this story rather than allowing Burgess an op-ed.) His latest newsletter is a litany of "composite" stories about kids who live in the north end and kids who live in the south end.

 I'm first going to say that this is all complete nonsense that NO board in its right mind would agree to.   Second, I had a pretty long public ed day (Watching entire Dorn press conference on SBAC, interview with Dorn, attending Governor press conference in Sea-Tac and going to Highland Park Elementary.)  It ended with me attending a Town Hall at Highland Park Elementary over their status as an "intervention" school.  (HUGE shout-out to the parents and teachers - in a full library - who showed up on a hot August night. More on this to come.) However, to the point of this thread, there were a couple of City Council members there; Tom Rasmussen (who no one but me seemed to recognize) and Tim Burgess (the so-called Godfather of Preschool). Want to know what Burgess said?   Well, first, it was "sorry to run" but he stayed long enough to tout the F&E levy and all the great things that Highland Park is getting (and that's true but he left out one thing...

Update: well, will you look at that?  On the same day, Publicola and The Stranger choose to highlight one campaign issue.  And it's their support for 1B.  Hmmm. End of update. After several forums (most of which I was invited to), I've learned a lot about the two campaigns for childcare/preschool, 1A and 1B. Here's my vote: Vote NO on the first question (and your conscience on the second one but I'm voting for 1A because I believe that, overall, it will serve more low-income children, faster, than 1B.  That's where I want my tax dollars going.) That will get the City Council and the unions back to the table to deliver one early learning proposition they both agree on.

This will be Part One of a thread about the Pre-K "mission trip" that several Seattle schools' employees took as well as one Board director. Part One will be the Narrative of what happened.  Part Two will be the day-by-day planning for this trip.  Mirmac1 got e-mails via public disclosure and they paint a very damning picture.  Because of my concerns over this troubling incident, I wrote a full report to the State Auditor.  I can only say that I believe there may have been some illegalities in what happened but that's not my call. I DO think whether or not funds were misused, some of it feels unethical and it is clear there is a heavy push - from outside the district - on those inside the district for more and more pre-K in Seattle Schools. There are a couple of SPS individuals who are either myopic or simply do not care about how their push for pre-K could affect/impact other programs and that money is scarce.  There was very much of a "just find me t...

 Update: From KPLU comes news that the City Council has delayed their vote on the Pre-K plan, apparently because a separate referendum (I-107) will likely be on the ballot in November.  The Mayor had wanted his proposal to go on the ballot in 2015.  Councilman Burgess says it might loosen the city's control over the qualifications for teachers.  But the I-107 side says that with their initiative more of the existing teachers would get professional development while with the City's proposal there would be many fewer current preschool teachers eligible.  end of update. Again, like mom, apple pie and the flag, we can all like the idea of providing enriching activities to stimulate the brains of our Seattle toddlers.  Research has shown that kids with good preschool do better when they enter kindergarten. Over at the Seattle Education blog , Dora Taylor does an incredibly heavy lift over the question of what exactly is being promoted (and by who) for t...

Because I know that Sacajawea 's principal got notified last night, at the last possible minute, that the district had cut 1.0 FTE at the school.  "Decreased enrollment" was the reason but it has been suggested that many parents got spooked by no bus service outside the boundaries.  (And it's no picnic for those who live within the boundaries as it is an area without sidewalks.)  This may be happening at other schools so if you know families who have not yet enrolled a student, ask them to get it done soon.  Otherwise, you might wonder what happened to that teacher or staff member you liked so much at your school when you don't see that person in September.  It's not that the district doesn't have the right to do this but what about common decency?   I am reminded about morals and decency from attending the Mayor's announcement today of the Seattle Preschool Program campaign for a ballot measure to provide funding for Seattle's pre-schoolers....

There's a question. I was amused to see Bruce Ramsey, another Seattle Times editorial board member, put out a column today that (oddly) asked Tim Burgess (who you may recall could even stick it out through the primary race), what the mayor of Seattle is and isn't.  Baffling. Here's what the column said about public education: He (Burgess) mentions education. I (Ramsey) object: Seattle Public Schools aren’t under the mayor, and in a mayoral race it is a distraction. Burgess disagreed: The mayor can use the Families and Education Levy to push for high standards. Here's what I said in a comment: As for the schools, the Families and Education should work with the district's direction, not the City's. If the City does not want to provide support to the schools because they disagree with the direction or standards the duly-hired Superintendent decides on, that's their call.    As well, Burgess leaves out the City Council and I expect they ...

Tonight's School Board meeting still has lots of speaker slots open. From yesterday's Work Session on Strategic Plan Guiding Principles , a draft document . It's a lot of the same stuff you'd find anywhere.  I'm not sure what specifics will come out of this document. Don't like/believe:   Strengthen family engagement through transparent communications and continue to build partnerships with city, business and community leaders that support student achievement.  Transparent?  As President DeBell has secret meetings (and I'd like to know if the other Board members know this) with Tim Burgess, I'm not sure about that transparency.  And, check out how they want to " strengthen family engagement "?  See that word "parents" anywhere?  That word is not used a single time in this document.  That's where you stand in the Strategic Planning.  Like: Implement an information and communication technology infrastructure and enviro...

A few updates: One - with less than 8,000 votes to count statewide, I-1240 appears to have passed .  (I'm sure it's true but I'm not the Secretary of State and in a position to officially call it.)  The margin appears to be 1.36% of the vote which is just under 41,000 votes.  A win for sure but certainly no mandate.  Two - Thanks to SPS Leaks for some very illuminating reading.  To whit: Lynne Varner gets it wrong in an Times editorial and SPS gently points this out to her.  I note that Varner says "sources" told her certain things about the departure of Superintendent Enfield.  So, as you see, journalists have sources and they don't reveal them (and sometimes not even by the order of a court) and that's how it goes.  (I, of course, still contend that I am not a journalist but I have sources.  I do get my hand slapped occasionally by readers demanding to know my source.  Not revealing them is how you keep your sources.) Thre...

First we had Tim Burgess sucking up to the Alliance for Education, the League of Education Voters and the Chamber of Commerce by lending his name to a guest column in the Times about Education Reform. It was all wrong and outside his authority and expertise. Now, as if to makes amends for that offense, he writes an obsequious letter to the Editor of the Times and post on his blog sucking up to the Seattle Education Association and, by proxy, to all unions. The guy is slimy. Oh! And a coward . Let's not let him become mayor.