Seattle Schools Community Forum

Reader N suggested these topics to discuss: At my school we have three shared positions and I have a student whose parent is in a shared-position at another school. She agrees as do the teachers at my school that people in shared positions are giving the District time-and-a-half effort for half-time pay. I have no problem with shared positions but I'm looking ahead at how that affects full-time teachers. Yes, we are working time-and-a-half as well but can we really compete with more rested teachers who often specialize: one teaching mornings (reading...) and one teaching afternoons(science, math)? From a parent's perspective, I guess that would be the best wouldn't it? Two teachers specializing and both working 150%. Also, what do parents think about a longer school day? I've had conversations at the primary and intermediate level with younger teachers who say they would probably work less hard if they had more time to actually teach kids. More cont...

 From SPS Communications: Earlier this month, Seattle Public Schools sought applicants for a newly formed Native American Advisory Committee.  A number of applicants have been received but SPS encourages more to apply. The extended deadline is Monday, April 22. The initial committee term is April 2013 to June 2015. Nomination forms are available here  and can be mailed to: P.O. Box 34164 Mailstop 32156 Seattle, WA, 98124 Nominations can also be emailed to naeac@seattleschools.org . From KPLU: Seattle Public Schools wants to add a half-hour to the school day for elementary students by as early as the next school year. But the district must first align a number of variables, including funding and union support.

Interesting op-ed in the NY Times about the lowering of class time/school year in U.S. Schools. The minimum required school day in West Virginia is already about the length of a “Harry Potter” double feature. In Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, summer school programs are being slashed or eliminated. In Oregon and California this year, students will spend fewer days in the classroom; in rural communities from New Mexico to Idaho, some students will be in school only four days a week. What's great is that a trend of expanded schedules that started in high-performing charters has transferred over to some regular public schools (wow, it can be done!): In Boston, for example, the Edwards Middle School has gone, in five years, from the worst-performing, least-desired middle school to a model of success after it increased scheduled teaching time by 30 percent. Students there now outperform the state average proficiency rate in math and have nearly closed achievement...