Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update 2: it appears someone has either tried to hide the Holland donation to Jones or sent it back (AFTER this thread was posted) because it's no longer posted at the PDC.  Hmm. As well, look who else joined the party...Vulcan just kicked in $2,000. End of update  Update: A few interesting developments. 1) Remember those donors to Jones' campaign, Clyde and Rena Holland,who also gave money to Tim Eyman? Know who else they gave money to? Donald J. Trump for president (via the Puget Sound Business Journal.)  Now, Chris Reykdal got rounded criticized for mentioned Trump in a donor letter but apparently, he wasn't too far off the mark. 2) Once again, I am getting heat for reporting what a candidate said.  There are even a couple of people who think Senator Carlyle is not telling the truth.  You have to ask yourself, "Why would he lie?"  That Jones remains silent on this issue should tell you something.  I also note that I would have to wonder...

To note, the Seattle Times has brought on former AP reporter, Donna Gordon Blankenship, as a member of their editorial board. Ms. Blankenship's reporting for the AP was largely around education so she may inform their editorial writing (for better or worse - I always found her reporting less-than-balanced on education with a leaning towards ed reform.) Last summer week for the district with just one meeting this week.  Friday, August 12th, there is a meeting of the BEX Oversight Committee from 8:30-10:30 am at JSCEE, Room 2750.  No agenda yet available.  Next week will see a real pick-up of activity as there all four of the Board's committees will meet plus the first meeting of the Community Engagement Task Force. Also worth putting on the calendar are upcoming ribbon-cuttings for the following schools: - Thornton Creek K-5 - September 1 - 11am-noon - Hazel Wolf K-8 - September 1, 1-2 pm - Arbor Heights - September 6 - 11 am - noon - Genesee Hill -September 6 -...

Frank Bruni, who used to be a food critic at the New York Times but now writes op-eds, has a piece in the Times about Common Core.  Or is it the Department of Education. Or teacher evaluations.  Well, it's about public education.  It's daringly called, The Education Assassins   (that actually brings to mind Sarah Vowell's hugely funny,  Assassination Vacation , which is probably not want Bruni wanted). Over at the Curmudgucation blog , the very funny Peter Greene takes Bruni's arguments apart, line for line. What's interesting is that Greene points out the half-truths to what Bruni says.  This is a major irritant for me - just tell the WHOLE story, not just part of it if you have the courage of your convictions.  I'm just going to pull out some great comebacks from Greene but do go read both pieces.

(I'm hoping this will be a multi-part thread about public education in this country, where we are, where we are going and what should/could change.) I come to this thread thinking of two different things that really have nothing (but really everything) to do with public education. One is a song by the late Waylon Jennings (a great country/western singer) called Luckenbach, Texas.  In it, he is singing to his wife how all material things in the world are not making them happier and are, in fact, holding them back. Maybe it's time we got back to the basics (of love). Two is the monolog in the Charlie Brown Christmas special where Charlie, at his wit's end organizing the church play, cries out, " Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"   and Linus says, 'Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about." He steps forward and calmly recites from the story of the birth of Jesus. So what does this have to do wit...

Fascinating reading provided via the Center on Reinventing Public Education (our local ed reform think tank).  They are recommending the list "top eight books that schools reformers should read" from Dropout Nation.  Boy, are there some interesting picks. One is I Got Schooled by none other than "I see dead people" director, M. Night Shymalan.  Here's what Dropout Nation says: Written as a travelogue of sorts about his six-year exploration of education policy issues, the director of The Sixth Sense manages to do in a mere 249 pages what most think tankers fail to do after thousands of pages: Quickly explain flaws in traditionalist thinking — including class-size reduction efforts — and outline five key steps (including giving power to principals to make hiring and firing decisions, and embracing the use of data) to transform education.  Really?  Just 249 pages and he has all the answers (and watch out CRPE because he apparently does that thinkin...

A reader asked a simple question - who are the ed reformers?  That's a more complicated question than it seems.  But let's break it down by who's who nationally, at the state level and in our city.  Let me just say that there are education bloggers out there who have done the lion's share of work to compile this information so credit goes to them.  The real top gun is, of course, the Gates Foundation .   Nearly every single ed reform flows from their money in one way or another.  They even help fund the also-wealthy Broad Foundation (another major player).  The third member of this trifecta would be Alice Walton of the Walton Foundation (but I think she gets her guidance from Gates).  (The Gates Foundation just got a brand-new CEO and most of her qualifications seem to be on the health-care end - at least that how the Times touted her - but she seems to have some background in education.  No matter - she's not going to be directing an...

Or, what does the fox say?  Bill Gates June 13th, 2012 A relatively tiny donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has created quite a stir over the past several days. News broke that Clemson U. had late last year obtained a nearly half million dollar grant from the foundation to conduct a pilot study with Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) bracelets, wireless sensors that track physiological reactions, in schools. The idea supposedly was that children would wear these biometric bracelets in classrooms to measure their engagement. What made this grant even more polarizing was the notion that the bracelets were in fact tools that would evaluate teachers’ effectiveness. So what are these bracelets for? According to the foundation, they are intended to “help students and teachers gain a better understanding of how and when students are most engaged in the classroom.”  Here's what the writer at Forbes had to say (and beware of wealthy people who will e...