Seattle Schools Community Forum

Lynne Varner of the Seattle Times wrote another editorial on the sale of MLK to the First AME Church. Apparently the parties are getting together on Thursday to discuss the Church's ability and willingness to fulfill the covenants of the sales agreement. That provided her with the occasion to cluck her tongue at this a bit more, like a pekingese tugging at a linebacker's pants cuff. She fretted that the District could suffer " a loss of fundamental trust and credibility ". Seriously. Only people at the Times think the District has any trust or credibility left to lose. The thing that struck me most about the piece was how it cast Ron English as tragic hero of this little drama. He alone stood up for the right thing, but his expert input (and the unanimous opinion of a committee formed to pick a buyer for MLK) was cast aside and overridden by the evil Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson (never mentioned by name) and the scheming Fred Stephens. Now the bitter irony: Mr. Engl...

State Superintendent Randy Dorn released preliminary statewide results from the High School Proficiency Exam in reading, writing and science at a press conference today. See this press release and this AP story .

The Seattle Times is running a story about Pinehurst, " Alternative elementary faces steep climb to stay open "

Mayor McGinn and Superintendent Enfield will have a community meeting and Q & A session next week. From the Mayor's office and SPS: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 South Shore Elementary School Rotunda 4800 S. Henderson, Seattle, WA 98118 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Featuring entertainment by the hit band School of Rock and information about city-wide youth programs and opportunities, the proposed Families & Education Levy, and more Parking is available at the school and supervised activities for young children, along with water and light snacks, will be provided. Interpretation and translation will be provided in the following languages: American Sign Language, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Somali, Tagalog, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Oromo Please RSVP to: publicaffairs@seattleschools.org I can only say this a prime opportunity to air some issues. Be there or be square.

In one of the first reports I've read about the School Board elections, the Slog's Riya Bhattacharjee (I think her name should be in the next spelling bee - it's that cool) weighs in. Most of the new candidates are running because they are tired of the corruption and cronyism in Seattle Public Schools. Some want to focus on closing the achievement gap and raising test scores. Others are just sick of the influence a plethora of foundations have on education these days.  At least one of the candidates is a reluctant one who says he's running because he is tired of mediocrity in our schools and the "business as usual approach" of our school board. Another lists this thing as his campaign website. This one sued the district against its new high school math textbooks in 2009. It's an interesting group, right? But then she editorializes a little and it's very funny (because it's so true): I've always found it really amusing h...

There's a shortage of teachers at SPS , according to this report , that was attached to the UW's revised Form 2 A for their application for alternative certification for TFA. (Thanks to Stop TFA for this info.) Here's something else fun about it (from the Oompah's comment): I love the report, page 2 of Appendix B under the title "Teacher Vacancies". The opening sentence reads as follows: "In the 2009-10 school year, there were a total of 352 vacancies in Seattle Public Schools.(4)" And then footnote 4 reads as follows: 4. The 352 positions included 1.0 FTE as well as partial FTE positions; there were not 352 total FTE vacancies. So though "there were a total of 352 vacancies", in fact "there were not 352 total FTE vacancies." The way this report is set up looks as if it intends to show the reader that SPS needed 352 additional teachers to fill positions in the district. One must wonder who it was that r...

From the SPS press release: In May, local band Death Cab for Cutie held a surprise concert for Seattle fans, with all proceeds benefiting Seattle Public Schools' lunch program. The concert raised $7,185.06, which will provide a nutritious lunch to hundreds of students who otherwise couldn’t afford it. The donated proceeds will be administered during the 2011‐12 school year, when kitchen managers at all 20 SPS secondary schools can help students access the funds based on need. This is the second time that Death Cab for Cutie has donated money to support the lunch program at Seattle Public Schools. In January 2009, the band contributed $2,200 in ticket sales from shows played the previous year to help students access nutritious meals they might otherwise have gone without. Eric Boutin, Director of Nutrition Services for Seattle Public Schools said: "There's a direct connection between good nutrition and academic achievement, and we appreciate the efforts of Death Cab...