Seattle Schools Community Forum

From Seattle Education blog, news of a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 17th at 7:30 pm about standardized testing.  It's called To Test or Not to Test ?  It will be a panel discussion with: The panelists will include our very own Wayne Au, PhD who is an Associate Professor at UW Bothell. Dr. Au’s research focuses on educational equity, high-stakes testing, curriculum theory, educational policy studies and social studies education. The panel will also include Jason Mendenhall, of the Northwest Evaluation Association. The NWEA produced and sells the MAP test that will be a part of this discussion. And, "a surprise panelist." Per the event description posted on the Town Hall website, this super special guest will be “a representative from a local nonprofit whose mission is to improve public schools”. Hmmm. Who might that be? Someone from the alphabet soup of Gates backed and or created organizations such as SFC, Stand for Children, LEV, the League ...

I picked up an announcement at Town Hall last night about upcoming Saturday Family Concerts. They sound like fun and hey! kids 12 and under are free, adults with a kid just $5. Info at Town Hall. Upcoming dates are Feb. 26th, March 19th, April 9th, and May 7th.

Update: that was interesting! (My husband attended and said it was less dull than when I watch School Board meetings on tv. His suggestion? Hire C.R. Douglas to moderate the School Board meetings and have voting on-line and in the audience for what is being discussed. It's a thought.) Here's the link if you missed it live. The poll/comments are still live as of this date. It was a much smaller crowd than I thought because they had an intimate set-up. By my count, I'd say about 60 people. The audience was about one-fourth City Year students in their bright red jackets. They were attentive but I think some of what was being said went over their heads. (C.R. Douglas, the host, was asked before taping started, if the Seattle Channel got any of their money from the Gates Foundation. He said no. One City Year student asked what the significance of the question was.) I knew who many people in the audience were. Besides the panel of Kathy Thompson (Curriculum and Ins...

Thursday, February 10, 2011 CityClub, Seattle Channel and Town Hall present: Seattle Speaks: Seattle Public Schools Town Hall Seattle 1119 Eighth Avenue (at Seneca Street) Registration: 6:00 p.m Audience Instructions: 6:30 p.m. Program: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. This event is free, but registration is required. Town Hall offers parking vouchers for Washington State Convention and Trade Center Main Garage. Visit www.townhallseattle.org for more information. Be Heard: Take our Online Pre-Poll Register Now Are Seattle Public Schools working, or is it time for more reform? We are half way through the district's 5 year strategic plan - are we seeing any results? Voters have been generous in approving levies to support student learning, but the state has experienced increasingly difficult budget scenarios. Are current resources being used as wisely as they could be? What can we learn from other communities and films such as "Waiting for Superman" about closing th...

As I previously reported, I attended the Town Hall last night on the legislative session coming up and what impacts it might have for public education. The speakers were Rep. Scott White (who becomes Senator on Monday when he gets sworn in) and Directors Sherry Carr and Peter Maier. It was hosted by Principal John Miner of Thorton Creek who told the crowd he had been had TC for 25 years. Wow. I would say there were about 50 people in attendance including Seattle Council PTSA reps, Stand for Children reps, and SEA reps. There were several handouts. They had the letter that MGJ sent to the Seattle delegation. There were some interesting sentences that I'll put in here: "Thus, while we began this year with a balanced budget for 2010-2011, we must now find an additional $5.24 million to end the year balanced." Now initially I thought, "How did this happen?" but I know that at least $2M of that is because of the Auditor's finding over the Small Business w...