Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Last week the district had a "community" budget meeting (I was not invited and had only seen it as a one-line note on the district calendar.)  They invited 400 people and 8 came.  Maybe next time they might just invite anyone from any school community. Luckily the good people from Soup for Teachers sent a rep and here is Jason Rankin's write-up (thank you to him.)  He asks some good questions for the next meeting and hopefully, this thread will generate some more.  (I have to smile as Jason reports that the next meeting is on September 26th from 4-5 pm but it's not even on the district calendar right now.) I'll just note that on page 17, it states that the district had carryover funds of $31M. I'm sure those are restricted in some way but that seems like a lot of unspent money when there is need in all directions.  As well Sped spending has gone up 10% in three years. Page 31 has all the groups paid thru collective bargaining but I see no slide for the...

Thank you to my readers; I can't be everywhere and these are important updates all parents should know. First, Ingraham staff just voted down their budget, 58-1 and released the following statement: " We reject the budget on the grounds that it forces us to compromise basic student and staff safety, requires us to compromise building and community standards for a comprehensive high school and reflects the wrong priorities for Seattle Public Schools and its students." I am unclear about the ramifications of this vote-down.  I believe that the district will wait and then if no budget is forthcoming, will figure a budget on their own.  I have to think that this will, in turn, cause a great rift between schools and the district.  I will ask what comes next. Update from SEA Facebook page: As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, 25 Seattle schools have voted to reject budgets for next year. Seattle schools cannot take any more cuts! NO CUTS TO SCHOOL BUDGETS! Educators n...