Seattle Schools Community Forum

Gee whiz, what level of craziness out of Crosscut via Paul Hill at the CRPE and his new idea about a "constitutional system" for schools and the role of school board. Here's the comment I put in: Dr Hill gets a few things right and several things wrong. He's right that rearranging who gets to be on a board or whopicks the board hasn't shown any major promise. (And it's interesting that Mayor Murray still seems to want to try this takeover with the Seattle School Board. It would be good political theater but bad policy.) I would also agree that the confusion/tension over the role of the school board (and being on the school board is a team sport, not an individual one) vis a vis the running of a district can be a problem. But he gets much wrong - at least for Seattle - one what the Board does. The Board does not: - decide how the money will be spent - the Superintendent and staff do and the Board okays it. - hiring and assign teache...

Of possible interest to our readers: From Education Week - an article about "a new breed of national education advocacy organizations " and the debate "about whether they can play a grassroots 'ground game' comparable to that of labor. Another article on these groups, this one from Education Next, about Fight Club for ERAOs (Education reform advocacy organizations) in D.C.  You remember the first rule of Fight Club?  There is NO Fight Club.  Why this emergence of these groups?  This article links it to charter operation frustration.  This is possibly the best article I have read in summing up these groups, how they interact and their growing influence. Many of the groups talk to one another frequently,, through a regular conference call organized by the Education Trust, at meetings organized by funders such as the Walton Family Foundation, and at conferences convened by groups such as the NewSchools Venture Fund.   The 34 organizations in the...