Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the NY Times : YouTube and Lenovo, the computer manufacturer, announced on Monday a science contest called SpaceLab for students around the world ages 14 to 18, and it is not quite like any other science contest.  For one, the students, who can enter individually or in teams of up to three, do not actually have to perform any experiments. Instead, they will make videos to pitch ideas for experiments that could be conducted in the zero-gravity environs of the space station.  The two winning entries will be built and flown there, and astronauts will conduct a demonstration that will be broadcast to classrooms via YouTube.  Experiment proposals can cover science questions in biology or physics. Restrictions include no dangerous animals, no explosions and nothing sharp.   A popular vote among YouTube visitors will provide one-quarter of the final score. Also judging the finalists will be a panel of experts including Stephen W. Hawking...

Well, look who's the interim superintendent in Tacoma?  None other than our former CAO, Carla Santorno .   This news comes from the Tacoma News Tribune. The board voted 4-1 – with board member Debbie Winskill dissenting – to name Santorno first as superintendent-elect (interim), beginning in January. After serving six months in that position, Santorno would become interim superintendent from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.  The plan would include a board evaluation and community forums to collect public feedback in January 2013, after Santorno serves in her new leadership roles for a year. Then, the board will decide to either extend her contract or conduct a national search.  Sounds sorta familiar. Also, recall Middle College HS teacher Beth Brunton being nominated for 2011 teacher of the year by  the Simon Youth Foundation?  Well, she won.  This is a great story of a teacher going far above and beyond for her students, hel...

Looking ahead to the next couple months, there are few items of interest that will come due.

Facility condition: what does it mean to reopen a building?  what buildings are going to be considered under BEX IV and how much will capacity management needs influence the list?  This press release was just put out by SPS Communications: Seattle Public Schools was listed among the nation’s major city public school districts which have substantial construction, renovation, modernization, and deferred maintenance needs because of the age and size of their school buildings, shifting populations, and the need to devote substantial resources to instructional personnel to meet their core academic mission. The Council of the Great City Schools, the nation’s primary coalition of large urban public school districts, surveyed its 65 member school systems to determine the scope and scale of that need. The average age for Seattle Public School Buildings is 50 years old. The list does not include all Seattle Public Schools needing renovation, repair, modernization and de...

FYI from Parents Across America: Parents Across America Seattle respectfully asks PTA delegates to vote NO on charter schools at the Washington State PTA legislative assembly on October 14th and 15th. We are concerned because: * Charter schools are run by private interests, including for-profit corporations. They are accountable to those corporations, not to parents or students. * Charter schools do not solve the opportunity gap. They have a mixed record compared to traditional public schools - according to the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), a full 83% of charter schools do worse, or only as well as, regular public schools. * In an effort to inflate standardized test scores, charter schools exclude some English Language Learners and special education students. * Charter schools have been increasing segregation by race and class, according to the UCLA Civil Rights project. * Charter schools have high levels of teacher burnout, and more than twice...

The blog may go off-line on Sunday afternoon as we will be working on a new look with (hopefully) useful-to-you features.  Naturally, it'll be a work in progress.  What's on your mind?

I had heard about this earlier in the day and was waiting for more info but here's what the Times has learned. A 10-old Hawthorne student was choked by an IA when he said, "I hate this teacher."  The student also says the IA threatened him with another choking if the student said anything. The child told his mother when he got home and she called police.  The police saw scratching and bruising around the child's neck.  There was no arrest reported in the story and the IA is on leave. It is unclear if the teacher was around at all.  The IA worked for the district for 19 years. Baffling if entirely true.  Obviously it is unclear if anyone else witnessed this incident.   It would seem odd for the IA to react in this way because kids say things like that all the time.  But no adult has the right to lay hands on a child unless it is self-defense or defense of someone else or to move the child away from other students.