Seattle Education News Roundup
I didn't watch all of the Board meeting on tv last night but I did get to see the Board leave - en masse - when one speaker who didn't know the rules, challenged them on allowing her a second slot to speak again. (The rules are one speaking time per person per meeting, no matter if someone is willing to cede their spot to you to give you more time.) When she wouldn't back down, the Board just got up and took a break. It was surprising to see given they generally give security the nod and the person is escorted from the room. The Board also voted to halt suspension for elementary school students for nonviolent offenses for one year. Taken out of the mix for suspension are disruptive conduct, rule-breaking and disobedience. (Seattle has a lower suspension rate than the state average but it still has the issue of suspensions that occur more for minority students, ELL and Sped students.) This vote still doesn't solve the issue of what else happens if n...