Seattle Schools Community Forum

KOMO tv is reporting this: A disturbing trend has been identified in Seattle public schools, where marijuana now makes up most of the disciplinary actions involving students. Between the start of the school year and Jan. 7, marijuana made up 77 percent of all disciplinary actions taken against students, district officials said. That's a big number.  What seems to be the issue? Lately, school officials have faced a new threat: Marijuana edibles dressed up as sugary treats. Everything from pot-infused caramels to drug-laced lemonade has been confiscated. That's in addition to the pipes and joints collected. The article doesn't explain how/why KOMO came across this news.  I'll have to ask the district. Reader Mary G said this: If this is true, this is a stunning statistic, but how would one know? The district has been unable to produce any reliable statistics for the last two years, and certainly not any resembling real time statistics...

A six-year-old calls Hasbro out on its Guess Who game (with 19 men and only 5 women on the game board).  They write back with a silly answer and her mom weighs in. A bipartisan bill has been introduced into the House of Representatives to cut down on high-stakes testing.  In the on-going debate about discipline, zero-tolerance discipline and how to keep a classroom orderly (while NOT suspending kids), an interesting article from Education Next.   One report, Discipline Disparities, has a lot of good info and says this: One oft-repeated justification for frequent suspensions is that schools must be able to remove the “bad” students so that “good” students can learn. There is no research to support this popular theory. To the contrary, when schools serving similar populations were compared across the state of Indiana, and poverty was controlled for, those schools with relatively low suspension rates had higher, not lower test scores. But two other studies ...

Monday, March 17th The wearing o' the Green.  Happy St. Patrick's Day. To note: signups for public testimony for the School Board meeting start at 8 am this morning. Tuesday, March 18th Audit&Finance Meeting from 4:30-6:30 p.m.  Agenda Wednesday, March 19th School Board meeting starting at 4:15 p.m.  Agenda . I see a LOT of audit update items here that I am unclear about -might be worth attending. Items of interest:   - the winning bid for the work for Lincoln comes in at $828k.  What's interesting is that the district decided it needed wainscoting in all the new toilet rooms.  What's more interesting is the variance in cost to do it with the company bidding highest for the overall cost bidding the wainscoting at the lowest cost ($972k for overall, $3500 for wainscoting) and the winning bid at $812k putting in the wainscoting at the highest additional price, $16k.  The average cost for the wainscoting was about $9500.  How...

The district is looking for new members for this committee .  The deadline is November 15th. This might be a good time to talk about discipline issues in our schools.  What have you seen at your school, good and bad, in how teachers and principals handle discipline issues?   What do you think would help - more strategies, more cultural competencies, stricter discipline (if you think it is lax), uniforms? One issue that came up recently was the interaction between Hale's principal, Jill Hudson, and a student who had recently returned from suspension.  As in any situation where there is conflict and physically interaction, there seems to be a variety of versions of what happened.  (I'll have to read the police report.)  But one report said that the student had been showing something to other students on a cell phone (and apparently the student either was not supposed to have a phone at school or what was being shown was inappropriate) and Ms. Hudson inter...

Called "Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks", a very interesting map of income/rent across the U.S .  Zeroing down to Seattle, you can clearly see the delineation of income in our city. You may have heard that there is work going on around the city for new low-power FM stations for different regions.  One might be coming out of Ballard High via science teacher, Eric Muhs,  (a la the mighty C89.5FM at Nathan Hale High). At one school in NYC, for children K-2, 80% of the parents opted out of testing , effectively shutting it down.  From the New York Daily News : Students at the 36 “early education” schools are too young to take the regular state reading and math exams, so the littlest kids are sitting down for different tests As the Daily News reported earlier this month, such exams, given to kids as young as 4, require students to fill in bubbles to show their answers. In one of the more "let's just stir the pot" columns from Education Week , teacher and...

From SPS Communications: Symetra and the Seattle Seahawks honored Nathan Hale High School teacher Doug Edelstein as a “Symetra Hero in the Classroom” on Sept. 18, during a classroom presentation. Edelstein is a Social Studies instructor for Grades 10–11. “Doug Edelstein is a remarkable individual and educator, who is celebrating his 20th year as a teacher. He has given his heart and soul to students at Rainier Beach High School, Cleveland High School and now Nathan Hale High School. I have had the pleasure of working with him since 1999 and consider him a mentor and a role model,” said Jessica Torvik, a teaching colleague.  Edelstein is one of 16 K–12 teachers across the Puget Sound area who will be honored for educational excellence in the Symetra "Heroes in the Classroom" program during the 2013 NFL season. Teachers are recognized in front of their students and peers at surprise in-school presentations, and they receive a $1,000 donation for classroom bo...

Charlie and I are at the retreat (he was here most of the day) and I can't resist some early alerts/news: - the Superintendent says that the number show that enrollment is at nearly 52,000 .  To understand, this is NOT the case for most urban districts. - still no clear answer on the Equitable Access Framework.  President Smith-Blum pushed back when it was deferred (again).  She stated it does not have to be the same for every program but she believes parents needs to understand how programs work and what is the definition for equitable access. Oddly, Director DeBell pushed back, saying "they could get to this eventually."  He called the programs she called out like language immersion "higher level" programs.  (Of course, later he called out how his goal is to meet the LI goal of 12 schools.  Why that is at the top of the list over a clear understanding of equitable access is unclear to me?) The facilitator got a big laugh when he asked, "Do you ha...

First weekend in August and it's starting out cool (but I'm not complaining as I know we have more great weather to come). Report from KING-5 on the upcoming Board races .   I spent awhile talking with the reporter and yet a lot of it didn't make it here.  I also want to say that this statement I made in the story: The difference in achievement between different ethnic groups is another tough issue facing the board. "If a child's not in school, a child's not learning," Melissa Westbrook said at Seattle Schools Community forum. What NOT about the achievement gap but about disproportional discipline. I did say this: "If they are disrupting learning in the classroom, something has to be done, but don't take them out of school," said Westbrook. But they left out that I said it was important to examine the reasons for the behavior and give teachers/principals training in cultural difference that might help.   Fun Event on August 9t...

Tuesday,  July 30th Charter Commission Meeting , 10 am - 5 pm in Tacoma.  Tacoma Public Schools, Central Administration Building, 601 South 8th Street, Tacoma. Agenda not yet available but I do know a couple of things: - Public Hearing on proposed rules : Tuesday, July 30 from 10:15am to 11:15am.  Written comments can also be submitted to RaShelle Davis by mail or email before Monday August 19, 2013 to the following addresses: PO Box 43113, Olympia, WA 98504 or rashelle.davis@gov.wa.gov - After both the Public Hearing and Public Comment period (from 11:15 am to 11:30 am), the Commission will go into Executive Sessions from 11:40am on. A bit troubling is that the first Executive Session is about "potential litigation" about the Commission and/or a member.  That seems quick for a group that hasn't existed even a year. Then there are four Executive Sessions to discuss the candidates for Executive Director.  I am not happy to say that one of them is a forme...

This op-ed by Mary Griffin on disproportionate discipline of Special Ed students appeared in the Seattle Times this weekend (I haven't read it because I don't have a subscription and I maxed out my monthly reading).   Another link related to this piece are here (the Special Ed Advocacy & Advisory Council webpage).

From Ed Week comes this story of a district in Mississippi and the measures they must take for their disciplinary measures for all students. This may end up being what Seattle Schools is told they must do. Among other things outlined in a consent decree signed Thursday between the district and the DOJ: The district cannot use suspension, alternative school settings, or expulsion for minor misbehavior and has to limit these types of consequences all together. School administrators cannot ask school law enforcement officers to respond in cases where administrators can use the school code of conduct to address behavior problems. School police must be trained in bias-free policing, child and adolescent development and age-appropriate responses, mentoring, and working with school administrators. The district's alternative school has to establish clear entry and exit rules and speed up students' transition back to their regular school. All district schools must...

The Times updates the civil rights investigation by the DOE in SPS by noting there is now a second investigation into ELL students and school closures.  From 2009 through the end of last year, the civil-rights office has launched about 100 civil-rights investigations involving at least one school district in nearly every state.  Those investigations, known as compliance reviews, are just part of the office’s caseload, most of which stems from complaints filed by parents or community members.  The department’s proactive efforts have won praise from those who say there was a drought of education civil-rights cases under the previous administration. About ELL students: In Seattle, the review of services for students learning English appears to have started in 2009. A spokeswoman said that information she received from the education department also indicated that federal officials are looking at whether the district discriminated against some studen...

On the heels of the issue of disproportionality of discipline in SPS, c omes this op-ed from SPS teacher, Dan Magill. Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5244, approved by the Senate last week, would reduce the number of days students can be excluded from school due to discipline. Do those in favor of the bill understand how damaging just one incorrigible student can be to a classroom? I’m not arguing against this bill necessarily, only providing an informed perspective lawmakers would be wise not to ignore.  We must be careful about overemphasizing the needs of the few students who have already demonstrated their antipathy toward their own education. The other students have needs, too. No one wants students to be suspended or expelled. No one wants people to go to jail, either. Sometimes, that’s the only option that remains.  This is another instance of the school system being asked to solve a problem that is not ours to solve. Our attempts to solve ...

Oh boy, what a week. For the story of the week, look no further than Center School.  Over at the Times, they simply can't seem to get it right.  First, they have a story about the issue.  But they either didn't do their research or ask the right questions because they don't seem to know the investigation did not go according to procedure AND that no students, except the one in question, were ever interviewed by the ad hoc committee. Yesterday, Lynne Varner got very touchy-feely on the topic of race, veering completely away from the disproportionality issue/Center School into her own raising of her son.  She says some pretty personal things and it comes back at her in the comments.  Today the Times want you to tell them: In one word, how do you feel public schools  treat students of color, either your own children or minority students that you know? I’ll start with a few: Gingerly. Awkwardly. Sometimes sincerely...

The Times has a sad story this morning about a federal investigation by the US Department of Education against SPS over discipline rates of African Americans.   The Times does point out that this information is really nothing new.  The district (and parents) have know about this for years and yet it is still the case. African-American students are suspended from school more than three times as often as white students from elementary schools to high schools. More than one-fourth of black middle schoolers have received short-term suspensions every year since 1996. Native Americans are disciplined more often than Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The “compliance review” began in May but didn’t become public knowledge until it was reported Tuesday by KUOW radio. District Superintendent José Banda acknowledged problems with student discipline — and said he intends to do something about them.  Banda said he didn’t know how long the federal complia...

So let's run through the experience of other states with charter schools. Trigger Law Now the proponents of 1240 will say the word "trigger" isn't in there (it's called "conversion").  But if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck - it's a trigger. But wait, other states have trigger laws, right?  Correct.  But none have been able to legally use them.  Here's a great wrap-up of the history of the charter trigger.  Also, here's a chart of all the trigger laws.  You can see that nowhere else can teachers alone takeover a non-failing public school.   This article explains some of who is pushing the trigger for charters.  It's people like Michelle Rhee, Rupert Murdoch and right-wing extremist, Philip Anschutz.    That's a nice group of people to be taking marching orders from. Also, keep in mind that the one in 1240 would be the harshest trigger in the country.  Not only is it NOT just for failing schools (li...

Monday Another of Superintendent Banda's Community meetings , this time at Bryant Elementary 3311 NE 60th Street from 6-7:30 p.m. Director Peaslee Community meeting from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Lake City Library, 12501 128th Ave NE Tuesday Superintendent Banda Community meeting , this time at Concord International,  723 South Concord Street from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday School Board meeting at 4:15 p.m.  Could I put in a plug here?  Please write to the Board and tell them that this time is not conducive to real public engagement - schoolboard@seattleschools.org.  Agenda. One key item here is the Creative Approach Amendment that is supposed to put in School Board oversight to this process.   I need to read it line for line but my quick read is...not so much.   I feel the Board should have some kind of final input on any change.  The issue to me is that this Amendment only says the Board has to approve a waiver request and not the overall change to a...

The Civil Rights Project at UCLA has produced a report on the incidence of out-of-school suspensions with the data dis-aggregated by race and disability. Seattle Public Schools is included in this report.

From SPS: The Seattle School District is seeking district staff and unpaid volunteers to serve on the newly formed Positive Climate and Discipline Advisory Committee (PC-DAC) , for terms of up to two years. The committee’s primary purpose is to advise Seattle School District on a school climate and discipline management system that enhances learning, equity, self-discipline, school attendance and connectedness while ensuring a safe, civil and positive learning environment. The committee will make recommendations to enhance school climate, develop appropriate options for behavior management standards and disciplinary sanctions that will reduce disproportionality and increase prosocial behavior, review and advise on progressive discipline programs, and advise on accountability systems. The committee will develop a work plan and schedule, meeting at least monthly with the possibility of additional meetings on special issues during the start-up period. District staff will facilitate...

I had heard about this earlier in the day and was waiting for more info but here's what the Times has learned. A 10-old Hawthorne student was choked by an IA when he said, "I hate this teacher."  The student also says the IA threatened him with another choking if the student said anything. The child told his mother when he got home and she called police.  The police saw scratching and bruising around the child's neck.  There was no arrest reported in the story and the IA is on leave. It is unclear if the teacher was around at all.  The IA worked for the district for 19 years. Baffling if entirely true.  Obviously it is unclear if anyone else witnessed this incident.   It would seem odd for the IA to react in this way because kids say things like that all the time.  But no adult has the right to lay hands on a child unless it is self-defense or defense of someone else or to move the child away from other students.