Seattle Schools Community Forum

A number of events /reports have crossed my path in the last couple of weeks and I thought it worth a thread. Next Saturday, January 30th ,  there will be an Education Roundtable to discuss the impacts of student discipline on communities of color.   Among the groups involed there are The Washington State Commission on African American Affairs , Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs , and Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs , along with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders , and El Centro de la Raza.  The event will be held at El Centro's headquarters at 2524 16th Avenue S. from 1-3:30 pm. 

Second Update:  I erred in some of my reporting here.  As I told someone, sometimes I get a narrative in my head based upon what I know and forget that others might be starting from a  different place.  My apologies. Corrections: -  Policy 4260.  To understand, there are Board POLICES and Superintendent PROCEDURES, that mostly go hand in hand.  However, ONLY policies are voted on while the Superintendent just puts forth his procedure to enact said policy.  Naturally, it behooves the Superintendent to make sure they line up or have a plausible reasoning for why staff believes a policy should be enacted.  The Board was only voting on Policy 4260 which was to amend rental of school facilities.  This was vetted by quite a few people, including the SCPTA, and it's fine.  It passed. The issue, however, is that district legal staff inserted a paragraph into the Superintendent's procedure 4260 that would make after-school groups liab...

At the Slog , they covered the mayor's award that The Center School received from the City's Human Services Coalition for student support of the race and social class at Center.  What is interesting to me is that Mayor McGinn stood very clearly on the side of the students and didn't mince words (bold theirs). Because it’s the mayor's award, it was given by Mayor McGinn himself and accompanied by a signed mayoral proclamation, which said that "Seattle is battling inequality in our schools" and "we need to have more discussion in our schools about race, not less." It concluded: "I applaud the Center School Community for their dedication and perseverance, and I agree with them that the Social Justice Curriculum should continue at The Center School ." One more big statement: A student said to the room: " We ask everyone in support of keeping this curriculum at Center School to come stand with us. " And the banquet tables em...

From SEA: T he Seattle EA Rep Council passed the following resolution on Monday, June 10: Whereas, a teacher at the Center School has been served with an administrative transfer for teaching an anti-racist curriculum that the District deemed to be inappropriate, on the basis of the complaint of one parent, and for not 'forbidding' students in his class from organizing in his defense; and Whereas, SPS has unfairly made this a matter of personnel discipline rather than a question of age appropriateness of curriculum with the effect of stifling discussion of this very serious matter, and Whereas, any other teacher may now be called to account for teaching anything controversial, based on a similar complaint of a single parent, having already sent a chilling effect on teaching around other controversial topics; and Whereas, the SEA has already taken a position to defend Jon Greenberg and stand up for Academic Freedom, Therefore be it resolved that the SEA supports Jon...

When the issue about the race/social justics class at Center School came up, there was little notice about who attends the school.  Yet both the teacher, Jon Greenberg, and some Center students I talked with expressed frustration with the lack of diversity at the school AND that for some minority students who do enroll, they leave fairly quickly.  What the students told me is that the minority students don't feel they fit in but many enjoy Mr. Greenberg's class because they DO get to talk about something completely relevant to their lives. (The students also said that the minority numbers are so low that many parents won't consider Center School.  This is very akin to what minority parents have expressed about APP.  They don't want their child to be the only minority child in the classroom.) One question I do have is how this class continued on - for years and under different principals - and if there were problems in the past.  That hasn't been addressed an...

The more we consider the situation with Contemporary Issues/World Literature, the 12th grade humanities class at The Center School, the more puzzling it becomes. While there are a number of missing details from the public record, the elements in the public record simply don't reconcile. We are told that the District is following some kind of process in response to a complaint, but the process they are following is not the complaint process. We are told that the complaint was about personnel, but the curriculum has been subjected to suspension and review. Nothing adds up, the people who should be involved have not stepped up, people who should not be involved are deeply involved, and none of the people who are supposed to oversee this mess are doing it.   If we break it down, then maybe we can make sense of it.

From Superintendent Banda (partial): The committee made the following recommendations, which I am implementing. The race and gender units of the course are to be reinstated, with the following actions occurring as soon as possible: · The race unit curriculum should be age appropriate and taught in a non-threatening manner. The class should not use the “Courageous Conversations” activities, which were intended as training for adults. The District has used this as professional development and it was not intended for use with students. · When classroom activities could potentially cause a high degree of emotion for students or potential distress, families should be notified ahead of time and communication to families should include an option to complete alternative assignments. · There are concerns the current course does not meet the criteria of the College Board for Advanced Placement. In order to make sure the course meets AP standards, the course syllabus...

Oh boy, what a week. For the story of the week, look no further than Center School.  Over at the Times, they simply can't seem to get it right.  First, they have a story about the issue.  But they either didn't do their research or ask the right questions because they don't seem to know the investigation did not go according to procedure AND that no students, except the one in question, were ever interviewed by the ad hoc committee. Yesterday, Lynne Varner got very touchy-feely on the topic of race, veering completely away from the disproportionality issue/Center School into her own raising of her son.  She says some pretty personal things and it comes back at her in the comments.  Today the Times want you to tell them: In one word, how do you feel public schools  treat students of color, either your own children or minority students that you know? I’ll start with a few: Gingerly. Awkwardly. Sometimes sincerely...

It was quite the meeting (but I left after the speakers). First up was the great Denny International Middle School Jazz Band.   I have to love any group that first plays that old jazz chestnut, "Take the A Train," and follows up with "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone."  Priceless.  (Their director had wanted to talk to the Board about the enrollment pathways from Denny to Sealth because many kids are still upset that they don't get to go to Sealth.  His name was so far down the speaker list that he ended up not staying.) Student rep on the Board, Dexter Tang, read the Student Senate's remarks (that were reprinted here yesterday) about the federal investigation of student discipline in SPS and about the Center School issue. There were a couple of speakers who did NOT talk about The Center School.  Residents of Wedgwood still don't want a new elementary at Thor n ton Creek and would like to be part of any planning.   (Pegi McEvoy did get ...

Regarding the US Department of Educaiton's investigation, the Seattle Student Senate believes in fair treatment for all of Seattle's students.  The Student Senate believes that discipline against students must be taken appropriately and equitably.  As students, we are strongly opposed to any form of discrimination in the public education system that puts any group of students in a situation with a lesser educational opportunity. Regarding the Center School instruction, the Student Senate promotes the substantive exploration of social justice in our classrooms.  However, we believe that this must be done in a way that is comfortable for all students.  In a diverse society, with members coming from a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, we believe that students must be exposed to diversity through candid conversation.  However, we strongly encourage the district to consider teacher and student input in developing guidelines for social discussion...

Director Patu, President Smith-Blum and I were sharing a laugh last Saturday over the last Board meeting where Vice-President Patu stepped in to lead the meeting because Smith-Blum was out of town.  The joke was (and I had noted it here) that looking at the agenda, it would be a short meeting.  Apparently it was and it ended at about 6:45 p.m. The meeting may not run long tonight but the Speakers list is full (and overflowing) because of the issue of the race and social justice class at The Center School.  I am on the list to speak. Let's review.

 Statement from Superintendent Banda on The Center School race and social justice curriculum class (partial): On Dec. 21, 2012, we received a complaint from a family at Center School alleging that the instructional activities used in the Citizenship and Social Justice: Advanced Placement Language and Compositions and Social Studies class included intimidating and discriminating actions, attitudes and classroom environment. Our Human Resources Department then launched an investigation of this complaint, as is our process. At the request of the Superintendent, the Teaching and Learning Department reviewed this particular course, convening an ad hoc committee to examine the curriculum. In the meantime, the class continues to meet and we’re reviewing how a portion of it – a six-week race unit that has since ended – will be taught in the future.   Regarding the first issue , the Human Resources department found that the way in which the race unit at the Center School...