Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update: from the NY Times , asking parents of your child's playmates about guns in their home.

I was listening to the NPR show, The Takeaway, and they had a conversation with former Attorney General, Eric Holder.   It was a somewhat wide-ranging conversation and it included discussion of Sandy Hook. Holder: And I met with the first responders and the crime scene search officers and they took me around, I looked at the pictures. If the American people had access to those pictures, if the American people had seen those pictures, the calls for reasonable gun safety measures would have been passed.

Here , 142 of them.

Teachers working without pay because... education.  From the Christian Science Monitor: The Chester Upland School District (CUSD) has struggled with economic and academic problems for years, but now a budget impasse in the state capital , combined with the explosive growth of public charter schools in the district, have conspired to put it on the brink of insolvency. CUSD officials informed teachers and support staff last Thursday that they wouldn’t be able to make payroll for the start of the school year. That day, the roughly 200 members of the local teachers union  voted unanimously  to work without pay. Secretaries, school bus drivers, janitors, and administrators will also be working without pay.  We all have decided to work without pay,” she continues. She starts to say “until” but then corrects herself. “As long as we can,” she says. “There is no ‘until.’ ” A West Virginia high school teacher - alone and without anyone on the outside of her class knowi...

A very well-written piece by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker called The Simple Truth about Gun Control.    Those who fight against gun control, actively or passively, with a shrug of helplessness, are dooming more kids to horrible deaths and more parents to unspeakable grief just as surely as are those who fight against pediatric medicine or childhood vaccination. It’s really, and inarguably, just as simple as that.  

The month of Ramadan started this week; best wishes to those who are part of the Islamic faith.  I remember when my husband and I visited Egypt in the early '80s on a TWA tour during Ramadan.  TWA told us nothing about Ramadan and we could not believe how all these people - in May in such hot weather - could be so patient and calm about not eating and drinking.  It's a testament to faith. Interesting story from Good Morning America about a preschool in an elder center in Seattle.  This is a great idea and one that Seattle Schools used to do in several schools.  They used art/music rooms for elders to come and visit with younger students.  The elders would read to the kids and show them how to knit or tell them stories.  But the space was needed for other things so it went away. From the HuffPost Parents section, " 10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12."

From Moms Who Demand Action (for Gun Sense in America): If you haven't already, get *very* familiar with these letters — they're the core of our new #BeSMART campaign. Following these easy steps can help reduce unintentional child shootings that occur once every 36 hours. The latest school shooting was on a school bus in Florida.  Shooting into a bus full of kids.  (It was gang-related and probably done by juveniles who should NOT have any access to guns.)  We can do this.  Given the huge number of accidental shootings in this country (not to mention the suicides and actual murders), we either have too many guns or too many careless people who own guns.  We probably can't do anything about the number of guns but we can do something about the numbers of careless people. 

Is this truly what we are doing in our schools?  What does this kind of thing do to a 6-year old child?  Or high school kids who watch the news and wonder if their high school is next?  One good (maybe small but good) step forward: pass 594.   Next step, make gun owners financially liable for what happens with their guns (if not stolen).  Nothing gets people's attention like their pocketbook.  My party line is own all the guns you want (within reason - no one needs an semi-automatic assault rifle).  BUT, you should be held responsible for use of said guns.  That's seems a fair trade-off.  And, like cars, you should have to license them, get training to use them and have insurance.

 Update: the shooter has been reported as committing suicide.  He was a freshman and played football.  He had been voted freshman homecoming king.  He was very close to his family and involved within his community.  Some are saying it was over a girl who had rejected him. It is reported that many students either ran from the scene in the cafeteria or ducked under tables when the shots rang out.   There will be a vigil at a church in Marysville tonight.  End of update. The Times is reporting a shooting this morning at 10:45 am at Marysville-Pilchuck High school in the cafeteria.  Four other people were wounded, three of them are in serious condition.  The school has 1200 students.  Some evacuated were walked from the building with their hands up, others locked themselves in classrooms. A parent's nightmare:

There is an Audit and Finance Committee meeting today at 4:30 p.m.  Wish I could attend but I have an event.  Here's the agenda which has some interesting items: - adoption of the 2014-2015 budget book .  This might be interesting since the pick of MIF for K-5 Math adoption.  Of course, until a contract is executed, no one truly knows how much MIF will cost the district.  They had, according to their presentation at the last Board meeting, been willing to spend about $3.6M on enVision.  MIF is more expensive but, as has been pointed out, many of the items that staff pointed to as costs can be mitigated one way or another. - a loan from the Capital Eligible Program (CEP) to pay for the renovations at TT Minor for the Seattle World School .  They don't give a figure for this loan.  - one of my perennial favors is on the agenda - JSCEE Bonds annual update .  It's amazing how that building is the gift that keeps on taking from this distri...

(Update: I do include a correction about the Simpson murders; they were stabbed, not shot.  My attempt was to link the uptick in shooting with the Simpson murders simply because going after a murder criminally is NOT the only way to go.  Apparently this linkage was lost on some readers.  My apology for anyone have their whole world view explode over this single point.) There was a shooting today at a Portland high school just after 8 am.  The shooter and a student are dead.  Clearly, something is in the air.  Whether it's extreme right-wing paranoia of our government or narcissism or mental illness or teen unhappiness, their one link is guns. So far we can't do much about adults who get guns.  (But we can work to close those gunshow loopholes.  Yes on 594 .)  The Daily Show had a hilarious skit that pointed out how Second Amendment supporters like Bill O'Reilly said that there will "always be mass murders."  Except, as the Daily Sh...

Today at Eckstein (from a reader): Principal messsage: "At approximately 9:30, Eckstein went into Shelter-in-Place. All students and staff were safe. Police reported that there was an Eckstein student in the neighborhood who might be armed. Police apprehended the student at approximately 9:50 and we returned to business as usual. The student is in custody at this time. I would like to thank your student, the staff and SPD for their quick response in ensuring student safety. Your student's safety is our top priority. If your student texts you that we are in an emergency situation, please do not call the school as we need our communication lines open. I promise you that I will communicate the situation as promptly as possible. Thank you for all you do to support Eckstein staff and students." Have since heard grandmother called 911 this morning that her gun was stolen and police found a gun in the bushes near the student when he was apprehended, just...

 From two area PTSAs: We are proud to announce the Seattle Council PTSA Board and Northshore Council PTSA Board, which represents the PTA's in Woodinville, Bothell and Kenmore, have endorsed I-594. Join these parents and teachers to help make our schools and state safer for Washington families by endorsing 594 today: http://bit.ly/1hbXVd6 This is the measure for background checks for guns.   So I was pretty surprised yesterday that both Banda and Herndon stayed so long at the Cascade meeting give there was the Board Work Session on the Budget at 4 p.m.  (they left around 3:45 p.m.)  Naturally, I did not attend but if anyone else did weigh in, please.

The Stranger Slog has a weekly child shooting roundup and hey, one story is local. From Q13: PUYALLUP — Neighbors say they never heard a gunshot, but saw what happened next. “The young man was sitting in the driveway just rocking back and forth saying; I shot my best friend, I shot my best friend ,” neighbor Carol Sharick said. ... Police say five boys were in the house hanging out after school, the boy who lived in the house brought out a shotgun, it was loaded and somehow went off striking the 13-year-old boy in the chest. ... Police and neighbors call the shooting senseless, totally avoidable and a tragedy that did not have to happen. “I don’t understand why people aren’t more secure of their things that they have in their home that are deadly to kids. You see it all the time you’d think the kids would even realize they shouldn’t be playing around with things like that,” Sharick said. Leaving a loaded shotgun where teenage boys congregate?  Why not?  (The...

From Washington Ceasefire : Asking Saves Kids (ASK) - Washington is a public safety education campaign aimed at encouraging inquiry by parents and neighbors about guns in homes where their children play. Our goal is to persuade parents that this conversation—to ensure that their kids play in a gun safe environment—is an essential parental responsibility. Despite the very real dangers of guns in proximity to children, pro-active dialogue is necessary due to the often delicate nature of any conversation in this country involving guns. Thus, this effort does not interfere with nor infringe upon anyone’s right to legally possess a gun, but normalizes parent responsibility to ask and make an informed decision that where their children play is safe. The conversation is worth the effort given that ten children a day in this country under the age of 18 are killed or injured in the home with a gun. An estimated 40% of homes in the US (and in Washington State) have guns. A recent study by King...

As you may be aware, there are two competing initiatives going to the Legislature (and, in fact, going before a committee tomorrow). One is SI 591 - Protect our gun rights and the other is SI 594 gun sales background check.  Both are about background checks - one for and one against.   You might want to consider contacting your own legislator on this issue.   Look, do I think background checks for guns will prevent all gun violence?  Nope but it's a start (and, at this point, we need to start doing something).  I think the bigger question - for our purposes of talking about gun violence in schools - is whether parents who own guns will have the common sense to secure them from their children.  That seems to be quite a problem and for the life of me, I don't know why.  Guns and kids - of any age - do not go together.  (Hunting is different if it part of your family's culture and still, the weapon should be secured when not in use for ...

From Moms Demand Action: Details are still unfolding, but at least two children are in critical condition after a shooting today at a middle school in Roswell, New Mexico. Witnesses say a 13-year-old student shot a 14-year-old classmate in the face: http://tinyurl.com/kd9odt8 (from the Albuquerque Journal). The scene of parents waiting in a school parking lot to find out if their child was shot is all too common in America. Mothers will no longer be silent about the epidemic of gun violence across our nation, and we will continue to speak out for the safety of our children and families. Join a chapter in your state TODAY: http://momsdemandaction.org/join-us/ Update:  After the 12-year old (!) pulled out a shotgun and fired, according to the AP, he was "quickly stopped by one staff member who walked right up to him and asked him to set down the firearm, which he did." Superintendent Tom Burris stated, "In the 10 seconds that transpired from the time of th...

Out of Florida via Ed Week : A new Florida bill would ensure that the state's high school students have a little more time to catch up on their sleep. Filed by state Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican, the bill would make it impossible for any Florida high schools to begin the school day before 8 a.m. starting with the 2014-2015 school year, reports the Tampa Tribune. A recent Education Week story highlighted this issue, with a look at some research on the subject and efforts to highlight the value of later start times. Sleep deprivation is considered a widespread health problem for adolescents, it notes. While the exact benefits of adequate sleep are hard to pinpoint, a May 2012 study found that, for middle school students in Wake County, N.C., a later start time correlated with a 2 to 3 percentile point jump in standardized math and reading test scores. According to the Education Week story, experts recommend that high-school-age young people get around nine ho...

I ask because I honestly thought that after the horror of Newtown that things would change.  On December 16th, it will be the one-year anniversary of that horrible event.  Twenty small children and six staff members were killed . Today is December 8th which is the 33rd (!) anniversary of John Lennon's murder.  This is what his widow, Yoko Ono, tweeted. Those are his actual glasses. When does this stop?   Over at The Stranger Slog, they had a running thread nearly every single week of toddlers and kids who got a gun and accidentally shot themselves or other kids they were playing with nearby.  The Slog managed to find a story every - single - week. I note that in Iceland they passed a very sad mark for their country last week.  It was the FIRST time in their country's history that police officers shot and killed a man.  (He was mentally ill and would not put down his weapon.)  The police extended their condolences to the family.  How ...

 Update: A hugely helpful and through wrap-up of the current discussion over K-12 public education funding (and the fulfillment of McCleary) in the Legislature over at Publicola . Basically, the Republicans wanted to pass an amendment that said they approve an education budget FIRST and then a state budget.  And all without saying what they would cut elsewhere to fulfill the needs of the education budget. Even LEV doesn't like this idea.  It makes the Republicans look great - we care about education, first and foremost - when we all know those cuts would be drastic ones especially to areas of social services which have already been slashed.  Mental health services (like for people who might go shoot up someplace)? Already cut?  Insurance for poor people?  Already cut.  Higher ed?  Already cut. I'm not saying there won't be pain but it has to be clear BEFORE any vote where the pain will be. End of update. In a newbie display of id...