Seattle Schools Community Forum

Principals.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - if your principal is less-than-effective, your school will suffer.  Nothing can pit staff and parents against each other more than a principal who cannot lead. As I previously reported, I attended the HCC Committee meeting earlier this month where a parent asked about what is the line between what the district mandates/oversees about schools and what principals have leeway/control of.  Just like how a principal gets chosen - from school to school - has never been revealed, this is one of the great unanswered questions in our district.  And schools suffer from this kind of deliberate vagueness from the Superintendent and senior staff. Let's chart some of the examples:

I was contacted some months back by some Laurelhurst Elementary parents who were, at turns, flummoxed, frustrated and frantic.  It felt to them as if their school was unraveling and, like Stevens, their principal and the district did not seem to be giving their concerns much credibility or credence. Like the Stevens parents, they had asked for a meeting to have a whole picture meeting of the minds, with everything put out on the table.  (This after an earlier parent meeting that apparently was quite tense and non-productive, leaving both sides feeling unhappy.) The issue with Laurelhurst is multi-faceted.   One, their school is packed to the gills even with portables.  They even have some schooling happening in the halls.  Two, the Sped EBD services there seem to be serving a larger number of students than the school can help.  When there are behavior issues, many times the aide will take a child out to the hallway but there's some kind of teaching ther...

Update from Principal Archer: I am sorry for the delay. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for authorization from Executive Director Pritchett. This past two weeks, staff was surveyed and I personally approached several staff members about camp. Everyone has refused to accompany the children to camp. I offered to accompany them to allay concerns regarding the larger district context around overnight trips, but was not able to get anyone to commit. I have an alternative plan awaiting approval from Ms. Pritchett. Until I receive that approval, I am unable to comment on the status of the field trip. I would rather wait and give everyone accurate information than tell you what I "think" might happen, get people's hopes up, and then have to disappoint everyone. Again, I apologize for the delay but in this case, proceeding carefully and making sure all procedures are followed is of paramount importance. end of update

A fairly amazing week in national ed reform news.  Common Core. - the Chicago Teachers Union issued a resolution against Common Core that was brilliant. - in NY state, a former Regent spoke out against Common Core, mostly because of the work that had gone into developing NY State standards (only to see them tossed aside).   - from the right, came Peggy Noonan (formerly President Reagan's speechwriter) with a piece in the Wall Street Journal .  It's a good piece that didn't come from Tea Party people but true conservatives.  That law exists because the people who pushed for it fell in love with an abstract notion and gave not a thought to what the law would actually do and how it would work. - yet another prominent, non-Tea Party conservative, George Will , broke down CC in under two minutes.   From Diane Ravitch: Pearson , the British publisher, plans to launch a new PR offensive to push back against the anti-testing and anti-Common Core grou...

Long ago, I used to say that having a great school is like a three-legged stool partnership with teachers/staff and parents and principal.  After my personal experience and years of listening to parents' experiences at other schools, I revised that because the biggest leg really is the principal. I feel that way because the principal sets the tone, the focus and usually has a lot of ability in creating a staff for the school.  Many successful principals, like many successful schools, appear to get more leeway because of their abilities.  (This harkens back to former Superintendent Olfchefske's "tight/loose" theory that if a school is doing well, loosen up that grip, if not, tighten up.)  This ability for some principals to have greater control certainty looks true in a column at the Times about one reporter who about to become a Seattle schools' parent. 

From the West Seattle Blog:   Shannon Stanton was announced by Superintendent Banda as the new principal of Alki Elementary. Ms. Stanton comes to Alki from Pine Tree Elementary in the Kent School District, where she has been principal since 2011. She is committed to the academic initiatives at Alki and we believe she will be a great fit for the Alki community. Connie Aleman as the new principal of Gatewood Elementary: Ms. Aleman comes to Gatewood from Wedgwood Elementary, where she was assistant principal last year. She is committed to a collaborative approach and we believe she will be a great fit for the Gatewood Elementary community.

Word has come that Shannon Conner, assistant principal at Hamilton International Middle School , is leaving to become principal at McClure Middle School.  She has a child who will be attending there this fall. This year, like others past, certainly has been a principal version of musical chairs.  West Seattle seems to have been hit the hardest. Ex. Director Carmela Dellino is leaving (after a year in that post) to work for the City for the Families&Education levy. The next Chief Sealth International High School principal is Aida Fraser-Hammer; she's new from Kentwood High. Chandra Oatis is leaving Alki Elementary for Van Asselt Elementary Rhonda Claytor has been appointed principal of Leschi Elementary, leaving Gatewood. Henterson Carlisle is leaving as principal at Madison with Robert Gary, Jr. coming in as interim. Bruce Rhodes moves to Sanislo as principal from JSIS as ass't principal. Robert Gallagher is the next principal of Lafayette Elem...

Unbelievable.  Much those I wanted ALL our state legislators to get the budget done before the end of the Special Session next week, I did NOT want the Dems to give to the Reps and sure enough, they did.  And guess who is going to suffer?  Public schools. From Publicola : "At some point we had to make a move," state house finance chair Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36, Queen Anne) said today, explaining the compromise budget offer the state Democrats made to the Republican-controlled senate. Carlyle concluded: "Because that's how you govern. I hope there's a deal now. We'll see if they continue to be intransigent, but this is what you do to create movement."  So instead of asking for $1.3B for K-12, the Dems have scaled back to $700M.  That's $700M than is currently received so it falls in the "better than nothing" category but when you cut back to half of what you start with?  Not so much of a victory.  I have no idea how the Suprem...

Pasi Sahlberg  of Finland wrote a lengthy and compelling piece for the Washington Post's The Answer Sheet.  He calmly and rationally explains why he thinks what is happening in the U.S. won't work.  (To note, he does not address charter schools or Common Core.)  He is talking, very specifically, about teachers and teaching.  In a short bite, he says: First, standardization should focus more on teacher education and less on teaching and learning in schools. Singapore, Canada and Finland all set high standards for their teacher-preparation programs in academic universities. There is no Teach for Finland or other alternative pathways into teaching that wouldn’t include thoroughly studying theories of pedagogy and undergo clinical practice. Second, the toxic use of accountability for schools should be abandoned. Current practices in many countries that judge the quality of teachers by counting their students’ measured achievement only is in many ways...

This comes from a reader whose child is at Washington.  I am appalled at the poor judgment on the part of these teachers.   Why, in 2013, does anyone have to tell teachers and administrators that awards should ONLY be positive?  That they think - after the fact - that some "humorous" awards might even be the cause of bullying is deeply troubling. Dear Senior Music Families, We are sending this letter home to address what has become a concern to many. As a “fun activity” that was planned for the upcoming Senior Trip this weekend (May 17, 18, and 19), an “awards ceremony” was devised with varying types of awards that were to be created for serious effect, and for humorous effect. It is our observation that some of the awards that were created are coming off as offensive to many. Please understand that the intention in the awards ceremony was not to be offensive. In hindsight, it is easy to understand why many are feeling this way right now. We now clearl...

You'd think that our state legislators would have their hands full trying to figure out how to fully fund education per the McCleary ruling.  Apparently not.  We have the "give every school a letter grade" bill and now we have SB 5242 .  It's short and to the point and I agree with the WEA on this one - it's nothing but a distraction and gives principals too much power.  (It also ties the hands of school boards because they have to follow this directive in all collective bargaining agreements.) From the WEA website: This misguided and punitive legislation allows school districts to fire teachers without any kind of fair or objective process and regardless of their job performance or experience. Administrators and principals would be allowed to transfer a teacher for any reason, and if no other principals wanted that teacher, she would lose her job. Under SB 5242, qualifications, experience and evaluations would no longer matter in staffing decisions....

From The Stranger Slog (with the headline "Rodney Tom Hates Teachers"): With zero notice Sunday, just one day before it was heard by the Ways & Means Committee, millionaire state Senate Majority "Leader" Rodney Tom (R-Medina) filed a bill that would eliminate defined pension benefits for most state and public school employees , replacing them with a risky 401-K-style savings plan that would subject future retirees to the whims of the market. SB 5856 , of which Tom is the sole sponsor, would apply to all future public employees and all current public employees under the age of 45. That means if you chose a career as a school teacher twenty years ago, trading the opportunity to strike it rich in the private sector for the promise of a secure retirement, you are totally fucked . Of course, a lot of states have catastrophically underfunded their public employee pension plans. But not Washington . No, Washington has the second strongest funded pension sy...

From the West Seattle Blog: Seattle Public Schools just announced that another elementary principal from West Seattle is being promoted to management downtown – this time Lafayette’s newest principal Shauna Heath , after just a few months. From the district: Today I’m announcing a leadership change at Lafayette. Your principal, Shauna Heath, has been appointed Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction. In her new role, Ms. Heath will oversee Early Learning, College and Career Readiness and core content areas. I know Lafayette staff and families went through a principal search process last summer, and I understand it is a hardship to have a leadership change mid-year. But we need Ms. Heath’s leadership to help all of our nearly 50,000 students. Congratulations to Ms. Heath, and I know she will be missed at Lafayette. Birgit McShane has been appointed interim principal. This is effective Jan. 7, and Ms. Heath will be available to ensure a smooth transitio...

Some of you SPS parents may not be aware but there is a procedure to follow if you have aschool-level concern and if you don't follow it, you may be spinning in circles (without knowing why). Here's a link to our SPS Ombudsman page that gives many helpful details.  I put this forth because a parent from one school got up at the most recent Board meeting and said that 22 parents had phoned Superintendent Banda with a concern and he hadn't answered one call.  As it turns out, he couldn't.  There is a clause in the principals' contract that says a chain of command has to be followed and district staff have to first allow principals the opportunity to solve their own problems. Meaning, if you have a teacher problem, go to the teacher first. If you have a principal problem, go to the principal first.  THEN, you can get district staff involved.  You can, of course, always write to the the principal and also cc staff and/or the Board (and I recommend tha...

This summer, Rep. Eric Pettigrew went to a talk by Jeb Bush, a champion of the worst of ed reform (just look at Florida).  Now, in yet another disturbing trend, Pettigrew (who says he's a Dem), is going to accept an award from the Washington Policy Center for his "courage" in standing up for charters.  If I were in the 37th, I'd be suspicious of someone who is so cozy with partisans from the other party. The WPC, which calls itself non-partisan, is nothing of the sort. Here's WPC's  idea for what would be good for Washington State - Eight Ways to Improve Public Schools: -Put the principal in charge -Give parents choice among public schools -Let teachers teach -Double teacher pay -Replace current state tests with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills -Create no-excuses schools -Transparency: Put school budgets and teacher qualifications online, and rate schools based on their ability to educate children -Make the Superintendent of Public Instruction an ap...

The district (via Nancy Coogan) has announced that Greg King has (finally) submitted his resignation.  They are having a meeting on Tuesday, July 3rd 7 p.m. at Lowell to talk about " next steps in the principal hiring process. "  They are committed to having three staff and two parents on the committee. They state: We recognize this is a tight timeline.  If you cannot make Tuesday's meeting, please send your input on leadership qualities you would like to Nathan Fitzpatrick in HR at  ntfizpatric@seattleschools.org by Friday, July 6th. The District will work with staff and the community to make sure we find an excellent leader who is the right fit for Lowell.

Here's Dr. Enfield's announcement on new (and moving) principals.  There are a couple of curiosities like why Olympic Hills will have a co-principal.  I didn't think they had gotten that big.  Also, no mention of Greg King so I will have to query Communications on why the Detroit Press had that story with his name as a new principal in one of their school systems. Looking over the appointments, I have to say these people, on paper, look very strong.  The new principal at Olympic View, Sandra Powell, looks especially impressive. Obviously, there are still some appts to be announced (for example, Lafayette). Thanks to a reader for this. Thank you to the staff and families who served on interview committees. Appointments made today: ·           Julie Cox  will be the principal at  Catharine Blaine K-8 School . She is now the interim assistant principal at Catharine Blaine. Previously she served in ...

The annual change of principals started a couple of months back.  What is interesting to me is the number leaving versus moving to a different school within the district. - Jo Lute-Ervin leaving Lafayette to become a "district administrator"; not sure what that means - Justin Baeder leaving Olympic View (and the district; he's moving away) - Dr. Neil Gerrans at Lawton is the interim principal at Lawton for this year - Greg King is still principal at Lowell (but may be hanging on by a thread depending on the outcome of the investigation at the school) - Christopher Kinsey, new principal for Chief Sealth International High School, has been Sealth's interim principal for this year. - Dr. Shannon McKinney, new principal for K-5 STEM at Boren, Probably others so add to the list. Also to note, Nathan Hale's principal, Jill Hudson received the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence in recognition for leadership.  This award is sponsored by the Alliance for Edu...

As reported by the Times' Brian Rosenthal: It’s been quite an interesting few days for Gregory King, Capitol Hill’s Lowell Elementary and Tacoma’s Bryant Montessori School. But today, Seattle and Tacoma officials made clear that everything is back the way it was a week ago: King is Lowell’s principal and Bryant is searching for a leader. Apparently the district hadn't told Tacoma about the investigation at Lowell.   The results of the special investigation are set to be released in the next two weeks, Rogers said. It is being conducted by Cristin Kent, a Seattle attorney who also conducted the district’s investigation into its infamous small-business minority-contracting program. It would be interesting to know if Tacoma had asked King if he had anything in his professional background that he thought he should disclose to Tacoma (I've seen that on applications before).  

This is a guest post from Jack Whelan who ran for School Board in District II in the primary. “I have a button that reads: "Those who CAN teach. Those who CAN'T become education policymakers." Well, not all teachers can teach, and not all policymakers can't, but ... it's mostly true.” –Deborah Meier It’s mostly true of school administrators, too. And that’s why it’s just wrong to have a teacher evaluation system that depends on one person—the principal. It only makes sense in a world where you accept that schools are like businesses where you get your performance evaluation from your boss. That’s frequently problematic even in corporate settings if you have a jerk for a boss (like that never happens) or a boss who, for whatever reason, doesn’t know your job because he or she never did it. (Ask any special ed teacher how many principals she’s had who have even the remotest clue about what she is doing.) A boss who doesn't understand what you're doing...