Seattle Schools Community Forum

A fairly quiet week in the district. Monday, January 27th Seattle Special Education PTSA General Meeting at 7pm. JSCEE Rm 2700. Agenda includes program services and enrollment issues for 2014-2015. Tuesday, January 28th Community Meeting with Director McLaren from 8:45-10:15 am at Highland Park Elementary. Thursday, January 30th A day to note as the Washington State Charter Commission is to announce who passed muster to become part of the inaugural class of charter schools.   Spokane has already claimed one space so there are seven left.  The Commission does not have to fill all seven spaces but I suspect they will.  (A thread to come on the charter applicant forums I attended to come.) Now what is puzzling to me, even as someone who knows the law, is if there are more than seven, will there be the run to the State Board of Education (where the approved applications are to be filed)?  And, if so, whoever gets there first, gets in.  I'll double-check ...

From The News Tribune : The state Charter School Commission received 19 applications from 18 organizations hoping to launch the type of alternative public schools that already exists in most other states. Also Monday, teams of experts hired by the state commission will start poring over the extensive applications, which include details such as curriculum and instructional models, background information about school leaders and members of each school’s governing board, projected enrollments, plans for serving students with special needs and a school discipline policy. The commission plans to hold public forums in January, when charter applicants, parents and others can offer comments on the proposed charters. Dates and locations for those forums are to be discussed at Thursday’s commission meeting. Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/12/02/2925141/states-charter-school-applications.html#storylink=cpy Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013...

 Update:   I think some of my confusion over who's in and who's out is that some of the letters of intent were filed under the non-profit name and then the actual charter school name was used for the application title. Figuring this out, I learned (via a California activist) that the Coral Academy of Science is a Gulen-affiliated charter school.  Gulen is the largest charter operator in the country with 140 in 26 different states.  The schools deny that they are part of the Gulen movement and yet the evidence is that they are.  Here's a good site to explain the issue.  There have been huge issues over these schools in Hawaii, Utah, Georgia, Ohio, Arizona and Texas (which wants them out of the state). The FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating them.  They hire mostly Turkish teachers, saying there are not enough American teachers available.  From the NY Times .   A lengthy article from City Journal about t...

It's been awhile since we talked about charters.   I have been stockpiling the stories because, yes, there's a lot happening. FYI, the Washington Board of Education is having a public hearing on charter rules .  They seek input from citizens.  It is on Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 1:00 pm in Olympia at OSPI. Those wishing to provide comment on the draft rules may attend the hearing in Olympia, via K-20 video feed in Spokane at the office of ESD 101, or by writing us directly (sbe@k12.wa.us). The draft rules establish an annual application and approval process and timelines for local school boards seeking approval to be charter school authorizers. For example, the current draft rules will require school districts to submit an authorizer application to the State Board by June 15 and for the State Board of Education to make decisions on those applications by August 15. The draft rules also set requirements for districts applying to authorize charter schools, as well as ...