From the Seattle Times : In an effort to show the public that state funding cuts hurt, Seattle Public Schools plans to shut down for one full day before school starts, and close school early on another day during the school year. Principals have agreed to take Aug. 31 as a furlough day, and the district announced Wednesday that it has reached a tentative agreement with teachers and other school staff to do the same, plus a half-day later in the year. The Aug. 31shutdown will be a few days before the school year starts on Sept. 7. It will affect training and other activities scheduled for that day. The district's enrollment office will be closed, too. Nearly all district staff will be gone, Harman said. The other half-day will occur sometime in January or February, and the union hopes to hold some kind of joint district-union activity in Olympia. Um, will anyone really notice? In Seattle, Harman said, "we did not feel that, given the reductions we've...