Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the New York Times: an op-ed about asking students what THEY want in a high school .  The author, Susan Engel, followed a group of 8 high school students as they " designed and ran their own school within a school. "  Interesting reading.  Here's a connecting lesson plan .  A couple of thoughtful parts: An Independence Project student who had once considered dropping out of school found he couldn’t bear to stop focusing on his current history question but didn’t want to miss out on exploring a new one. When he asked the group if it would be O.K. to pursue both, another student answered, “Yeah, I think that’s what they call learning.”  The students in the Independent Project are remarkable but not because they are exceptionally motivated or unusually talented. They are remarkable because they demonstrate the kinds of learning and personal growth that are possible when teenagers feel ownership of their high school experience, when they learn thin...

Hard to believe but here it is (from the Providence Journal): The school district plans to send out dismissal notices to every one of its 1,926 teachers, an unprecedented move that has union leaders up in arms. In a letter sent to all teachers Tuesday, Supt. Tom Brady wrote that the Providence School Board on Thursday will vote on a resolution to dismiss every teacher, effective the last day of school. In an e-mail sent to all teachers and School Department staff, Brady said, “We are forced to take this precautionary action by the March 1 deadline given the dire budget outline for the 2011-2012 school year in which we are projecting a near $40 million deficit for the district,” Brady wrote. “Since the full extent of the potential cuts to the school budget have yet to be determined, issuing a dismissal letter to all teachers was necessary to give the mayor, the School Boar...

36 certificated staff got RIF notices. Some will almost certainly be invited back (if they haven't hired on somewhere else in the meantime). According to this story in the Seattle Times, " Pink slips will go to 25 teachers and 11 elementary-school counselors in Seattle schools " The 25 RIF'ed teachers, all from middle and high schools, include: 2 art teachers 6 career-technical education teachers 3 history/social studies teachers 10 language arts teachers 4 physical education teachers The work sites of the laid-off teachers does not necessisarily match the work sites that are losing FTE. Yes, two art teacher positions will be lost somewhere in the district, but the two art teachers who got laid off will be the two with the least seniority, regardless of their work location. Also, there were reportedly 85 employees in the central office who will not see their contracts renewed as their positions have been eliminated. Only five of them are known: the five education dir...

Notices came out yesterday and 172 teachers, counselors and other certificated staff have been RIF'ed. Most are teachers. In years past, many teachers have been rehired due to retirements or attrition but with the poor economy that may not be the case this time. That number represents about 5% of the 3,000 certificated staff in SPS. From the Times : "Along with 33 first- or second-year teachers whose contracts were not renewed a few months ago, that means that 205 of the district's certificated employees now need to look for work." "High schools had 54 of the 172 layoffs. Middle schools had 29, elementaries 61 and K-8s 20, Spencer said. Six teachers on leave also were notified they no longer have jobs. Staff members at 17 schools — those that are part of a joint union-district effort to close the achievement gap — were largely exempt from layoffs. Among them are Rainier Beach, Cleveland and Chief Sealth high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed...