Seattle Schools Community Forum

Politics makes strange bedfellows but there you are. I am doing some tutoring at Ballard and I told two kids who are skateboarders about this and they said, "Sweet."  From the Wall Street Journal : Where most people see ornate, neo-Classical federal buildings and sweeping stone plazas in this city, skaters see something else: opportunity, in the form of sturdy railings, low stone benches, ramps—ideal "obstacles" for skateboarding stunts. And now, after years of ducking the national park police that patrol these plazas, this week's closure of public buildings and easing of surveillance offered skaters hope of revisiting their favorite spots. It was, said one, "on." But from the lighthearted to the downright wrong, it appears that TFA continues to be the darling of Congress.  From The Washington Post's The Answer Sheet: Unobtrusively slipped into the debt deal that Congress passed late Wednesday night to reopen the federal government ...

From the Board meeting last night: Native American Program The Superintendent announced the following: - there is a tribal history curriculum via a bill that was in the Legislature.  This school year that curriculum will be provided to 4th graders in the SW region (and other unnamed schools). Later it will be in 4th,8th and 11th grades across the district. - Gail Morris is the new director of the Native American program.  She is a member of the Muckleshoot family and has worked on the Washington State Indian Education Association. - the Native American parent advisory committee has been set-up and will be aiding the Superintendent In my remarks I gave the Superintendent full credit for finding getting things done for the program that seemed to stymy other superintendents.  (But I dinged the Super and the Board for not giving one iota of attention to Hispanic Heritage Month.  One notation in the school calendar but not one mention of it at any Board meeting, ...

I'm sure most children have no idea what is happening in Congress but I expect that they will feel the ramifications - short and long-term - in their lives.  And who gets hit the hardest if the government shuts down?  You better believe it's those who need the most help. Update:  From The Answer Sheet at the Washington Post, here's what happens to public education if the government shuts down.  From the DOE: A protracted delay in Department obligations and payments beyond one week would severely curtail the cash flow to school districts, colleges and universities, and vocational rehabilitation agencies that depend on the Department’s funds to support their services.  For example, many school districts receive more than 20 percent of their funds from Department-funded programs. Here's a helpful chart (show it to the kids) from the NY Times on how this could all play out in the next 48 hours. An interesting op-ed at CNN by local writer/thinker, Eric...