Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the American Library Association: Top ten frequently challenged books of 2014 has been released as part of the State of America's Library Report . Find out which books made the list . Here's the list:

Communications has confirmed to me that there is the possibility that some seniors (not a lot) may have to go to school on a Saturday in May in order to be sure they have the 180 instructional hours to graduate.  They are still looking at things, trying to figure it out and as soon as they decide, I will update you.  KUOW reports on bell times . John Hay Elementary had a shelter-in-place yesterday afternoon because of a vague threat that was phoned in.  Parents who pick up their students had to line up to get their child as the school was not allowing parents to park in front.  From the principal of Hay(partial): This school year, several schools around the state have received a female-sounding automated voice.  The voice indicates they intended to shoot up the school.   Each time law enforcement has investigated and determined that the call has been a hoax.  Unfortunately, schools and other institutions sometimes get these types of pho...

Now, for the second year in a row, the most objected to book in libraries is...Captain Underpants.   Do these boys "defy" authority and do silly things?  Yes.  Do I think it needs a warning label, "Kids, don't try this at school?"  Not really.  (I even have a tiny Captain Underpants toy in my car who serves as my parking diviner.  Works 95% of the time.) You've probably all heard but Senator Rodney Tom is NOT running for re-election, citing health concerns for himself and his elderly father.  Whatever the reason, he has been more of an obstructionist than a leadership (not to mention betraying his party).  As I mentioned elsewhere, Superintendent Dorn told me I would never get a student data privacy bill passed with the current Senate leadership. Well, that now becomes less of an issue. Here's an interesting feature by National Geographic on what the U.S. population will look like in 2050.  The U.S. Census Bureau let respondents...