Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the Federal Student Aid office of the Department of Education: FAFSA ® Changes for 2017–18 On Sept. 14, 2015, President Obama announced significant changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA ® ) process that will impact millions of students. Starting with the 2017­–18 application cycle, the following changes will be put in place:  Students will be able to submit a FAFSA ® earlier.  Students will be able to file a 2017–18 FAFSA as early as Oct. 1, 2016, rather than beginning on Jan. 1, 2017. The earlier submission date will be a permanent change, enabling students to complete and submit a FAFSA as early as October 1 every year. (There is NO CHANGE to the 2016–17 schedule. The FAFSA became available January 1 as in previous years.) Students will use earlier income information. Beginning with the 2017–18 FAFSA, students will be required to report income information from an earlier tax year. For example, on the 2017–18 FAFSA, student...

From OSPI:

Washington State's GET program (Guaranteed Education Tuition) is in its three final days for this round of enrollment.  Now, thru the end of May, they will be waiving the $50 enrollment fee . June 30th is the last date to add to your account if you are already enrolled.

I had heard of this but never checked it out before - the online Visual Dictionary .   It could be helpful (and fun) for kids who are visual learners.  If only we had known this sooner about Michelle Rhee .  Interesting article from John Merrow- Who Created Michelle Rhee?  Turns out, all of us.  From Ed Week , School Board Transparency in the Digital Age. As online and digital interactions increase, so too does public concern that officials have more opportunities to violate state open-meetings and open-records laws meant to prevent them from communicating secretly. Maryland is among several states that are taking other steps to bring such laws into the 21st century. The legislature set up a joint committee on transparency and open government in 2011 to examine how Maryland can promote government transparency—in the state capital, Annapolis, and locally. Committee members evaluate current policies and practices on meetings and records and make recommendat...