Seattle Schools Community Forum

A bit of a stir at the Roosevelt High graduation on Wednesday night when author David Guterson apparently gave a somewhat downbeat speech , talking about death repeatedly.  He got heckled by a few parents and students.  Story at the Times.  (Link to speech via The Stranger Slog.) (I read the speech and while I might not like some references, to me, it would be one of the more interesting and blunt commencement speeches.  I think it better to be challenging (if you can't be funny) than boring. I like this part: From these philosophical and political roots, the primacy of the individual has grown and spread to subsume nearly everything, and that, in the end, has not brought us happiness, because the you that matters so much every second of every day is in fact mortal and even ephemeral, and you know this, and isn’t it sad, even tragic, to know that in the end all of your hopes, dreams, and aspirations don’t amount to much, that they take you nowhere, and t...

Could you please get in touch with me if you're interested/concerned about air pollution near schools in Seattle and John Marshall, Wilson-Pacific, TOPS and JSIS specifically.  I am particularly interested in parents willing to speak openly about their concerns. E-mail me at sss.westbrook@gmail.com

 Update from Duggan Harmon, Assistant Superintendent, Business and Finance, and his budget update (partial): "While the level of increased K-12 funding is relatively similar in both the proposed House and Senate budgets, the two bodies differ significantly on strategies to fund these increases. In simple terms, the House wants to close tax loopholes to fund K-12 enhancements while the Senate proposes to do so through cuts in other areas of State spending. Failure to adopt a budget by July 1 would result in at least a partial shutdown of State government. Given that this has never happened before, it is difficult to say exactly what such a shutdown would mean, but it is likely that government offices would close, apportionment payments to school districts would not be made, State bond ratings would suffer and other obligations, such as capital program construction match, would not be paid as scheduled. I’m confident a state budget will eventually be passed and it will have in...

Dear Seattle Public Schools community: As the 2012-2013 school year draws to a close, I want to thank you all for welcoming me in my first year as your Superintendent. It has been a pleasure to get to know the schools and community and learn about the ideas and concerns each of you have. My conversations with educators, students, families, staff and community members have provided insight for changes and priorities, both for this year and for the future.  Throughout the year we’ve celebrated successes and addressed challenges. The 2,900 students graduating from high school this year are a visible reminder that our primary purpose continues to be ensuring that students graduate prepared for college, career and life. We are building for the future Our enrollment continues to increase, with more Seattle families choosing to send their children to Seattle Public Schools. Thanks to approval by Seattle voters, two key levies will help us address running the...

The superintendent has issued new procedures for advisory committees . This new procedure distinguishes between "Advisory and Oversight Committees", "Task Forces and Focus Groups", and "Working Groups, Teams, and Planning Committees". The new procedure offers significantly less transparency than the previous procedure.

Sitting at the Executive Committee Meeting and wondering: - if the district is a partner in the new Seattle Teacher Residency program and the first year costs are $50k and escalate up to $1M by year 5 (it's part of Strategic Plan for teacher development), why do we need TFA at all?  Why complicate things if our district and its partners are creating home-grown talent from outside of schools of education? - wondering why, if Jane Addams has a planning principal and planning team, Wilson-Pacific doesn't have a team.  Apparently Chris Cronas, principal at Wedgwood, is the planning principal for W-P middle school but I haven't heard anything about outreach to parents. That middle school will open at John Marshall for 2014-20115.  Should parents with students assigned there get to give input just like JA parents?  (Note: just because Mr. Cronas is the planning principal doesn't mean he is leaving Wedgwood.) - I still need to do a write-up of the Board retreat but I ...

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...