Seattle Schools Community Forum

I have many stories to get researched and written up and most are pretty sober subjects. So before all that A kind of an "awww" story about a kitten named Lucky.

From the AP (picked up by the Times ): "State health officials reported Thursday that California is on track to break a 55-year record for whooping cough infections in an epidemic that has already claimed the lives of nine infants." " Whooping cough is a cyclical illness that peaks in number of infections every five years. Symptoms are similar to the common cold, making it a challenge to diagnose , which in turn makes it difficult for officials to determine if the worst has passed, said Dr. Gil Chavez, an epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health. A persistent cough that lasts weeks is the tell-tale symptom of the illness , which is also known as pertussis." "The federal numbers for nationwide cases were last updated Sept. 12 and represent 519 more cases than the same period last year, according to the CDC. Other states with high numbers of infections include Texas, where health officials reported 1,783 cases, and Ohio, where fe...

Dr. Goodloe-Johnson wrote a guest column for the Seattle Times about the new teacher contract. Much of it is disturbing. It is disturbing because it is inaccurate. It is disturbing because it is misleading. It is disturbing because it reflects a deep misunderstanding of the people in the organization she leads.

So much to read, so much to research and so much to write. Thank goodness for Open Thread Friday. But a few tidbits to throw out: Board Community Meetings on Saturday DeBell - 9-11 am - Caffe Appassionato - 4001 21st Ave W (next to Fisherman's Terminal) Martin-Morris - 9:30-11:30 - Diva Espresso, 8014 Lake City Way/corner of 80th Sundquist - 11 am - 12:30 p.m. - SW Library - 9010 35th Ave SW I'm definitely going to have to make a list and cross-reference all these new education groups. But I did see where Carol Rava Treat went ( she was formerly in the district as a "strategic" director) . Turns out that the Gates Foundation (big surprise) and Viacom have created another program, this one called Get Schooled (so urban!). It's a national program to get young people to graduate from high school and college, etc. It looks like a 5-year program. (One of my favorite of their goals from their press page "mobilizing influentials.") Ms. Treat is t...

Also in the Stranger Slog today (and kids, it is one of the most unusual, hilarious, thought-provoking and informative blogs around), a brief piece about what SEA has to say. As I previous reported (whoops, stated), SEA was NOT at the podium yesterday. The president, Olga Addae, was there but didn't speak because of communications issues with the district and also SEA's feeling that they didn't want to speak on the contract until the Board voted on it (which wasn't happening until later that night). The Slog reports that: Sure, the teachers' union, the Seattle Education Association, approved it, but SEA President Olga Addae lashed out at the school board after a press conference ( .pdf ) yesterday for ignoring the union's vote of no confidence on district superintendent Maria Goodloe Johnson. (The union had voted no confidence just minutes after approving the new contract on Sept 2). "While you lauded collaboration, you ignored the no confidence vo...

The Stranger Slog got wind of the SPS press conference and not allowing me to ask any questions and they wrote a post about it. The reporter was pretty even-handed pointing out that the Stranger has not always agreed with my stances and that I'm on the committee to defeat the supplemental levy. From their post: "District spokesperson Teresa Wippel said the event was for media organizations that "provide unbiased coverage and subscribe to journalistic ethics." By that, she means "the types of practices outlined in the Code of Ethics from the Society for Professional Journalists," Wippel said. "It is our opinion that Ms. Westbrook’s blog does not fit into that category." How do I get a subscription to journalistic ethics? I looked at the Code and I think I do most every thing there. I particularly like: Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid. Distinguish between advocacy and...

I need a favor; if you don't agree with the district's idea of who is a journalist, could you please comment about it at Publicola ? If there are enough comments, it goes into their "most popular" stories area. Movers and shakers in this town read Publicola and it would be very helpful to make sure the story gets a lot of attention. Thanks.