Seattle Schools Community Forum

This NPR story is aptly titled, Can More Money Fix America's Schools ? The bottom line to that question is yes BUT no one seems quite sure what is the best bang for the buck and many legislators are loathe to give out extra dollars if there is uncertainty about what to do.  (But more on that in a minute.) That's a super broad question.  Does it mean:

From Chief Sealth Int'l High School : Many people have asked if there was a way to help support the family of Christy Phu, the Sealth student who was killed last week. Here is the link to the fund if you would like to contribute. There was a fire early this morning at 15th Ave NE and NE 65th (right by Roosevelt High .)  This is right by my house so I was aware this was going on.  SPS is saying that Roosevelt will start on time. ( Update: the Times is reporting that 15th Ave NE/NE65th will be closed in all directions for several hours.  I know this is an early release day for the holidays so take note of this if you are coming in this direction. Metro routes are being detoured around the fire.  And yes, it was one of the Sisley slums.  Of course.) Governor Inslee's supplemental budget proposal reflects raising the salary for starting teachers to $40,000 per year.  From The Capitol Record : That increase is in addition to the 4.8% cost-of-liv...

Nearly, finally here. From the NY Times , a cool look at first day of school throughout the decades. A great article from Longreads about writing from Mary Karr who has put forth two memoirs.  Ms. Karr teaches her grad students using a technique that I tried years ago at Whittier Elementary with a class of 5th graders.  You pretend you are going to talk about writing, have a co-conspirator burst in the room and argue with you and then... tell the kids to write exactly what they heard and saw.  (I hit the button on a CD player and played the theme from "Mission Impossible" to set the mood after my compatriot left the room.)  The kids thought it funny and it did get them thinking about writing and memory .   From Ms Karr's piece: So a single image can split open the hard seed of the past, and soon memory pours forth from every direction, sprouting its vines and flowers up around you till the old garden’s taken shape in all its fragrant glory The Nation...

I saw this video from Creative Evolution ; it's called The Truth About School (in a two-minute video).  I think that it is simplistic and probably less-than-accurate about all public education because I don't agree all schools are doing this.  But I do think that our country is still stuck on many issues around public education. That's the funny thing - if you don't like the current ed reform ideas, you're "for the status quo."  Nope.  But there are other things that need to happen but the problem is that basically there's a lot of busy "look at what we got done" in public education, rather than "look at the outcomes for these students."  You can "do" a lot and it may not help kids (especially when some people seem more interesting in their resume than actual outcomes).  But I think this two-minute video does start a conversation. Based on your experience with public education so far, tell us this:

Publicola talked with Clover Codd and is reporting that the district has backed off on the issue of eliminating the weekly paid hour of collaborative planning for teachers.  Codd told PubliCola this morning: "We actually withdrew that proposal. The hour of collaboration time pay. We’re leaving that in the contract. And they still get the 2.6 percent compensation for that." Re: teacher pay, She added: "One thing I think is really important for the public to know is we’re actually offering a 4 percent increase in compensation over two years. It keeps getting published as 2 percent. Well it’s 2 percent in one year, and then an additional 2 percent the next year, for a total of 4 percent. In addition to the restoration of the furloughs, which is 1.3 percent. When you add all that up, it’s actually a 5.3 percent increase over two years." The union is staying mum until negotiations are done but there is an SEA press conference this afternoon.  SEA President...

News from OSPI: More Washington students are taking and passing Advanced Placement exams, according to a national report released today.  The College Board’s ninth annual “AP Report to the Nation” shows that 20,581 Washington students (or 32.8 percent) in the class of 2012 took at least one AP exam. That number represents an increase of 1,276 (6.6 percent) from 2011 and 12,068 (62.5 percent) from 2002.  Not only did participation increase again this year, so did scores. In 2012, 20.0 percent of Washington’s 12th graders scored a three or greater – a score that generally qualifies for college credit – on an AP test. In 2011, 18.4 percent of students scored a three or greater; in 2002, 9.6 percent. The 10.4 percentage-point increase in the past 10 years ranks Washington eighth among all states. The national average for the same period was 7.9 percent.  “We’re seeing great results all over the state,” said Randy Dorn, state superintendent. “More stud...