Seattle Schools Community Forum

Liv Finne of the Washington Policy Center wrote an article for Crosscut, A failing grade for the state's new teacher-evaluation bill . Ms Finne writes "The federal government has no business telling us how to evaluate our teachers,". I suspect the same could be said of the state legislature. What other state employees have their evaluations dictated by statute? What do state legislators know about evaluating teachers? Whether you agree or disagree with Ms Finne or the Washington Policy Center, they are thoughtful and provide rationale for their conclusions. I find nothing more illuminating to read than a well-written and thoughtful article by someone who disagrees with me. I like to be challenged in my thinking.

The Seattle Times had an update to its news that the Washington State PTSA reviewed I-1240 and, despite their past support for charters, stated it was opposed to I-1240.  (Note: Ramona Hattendorf, WA State PTSA, let me know that they are not going to actively campaign against the measure but do not support it.) Apparently Stand for Children thinks that the folks at the WSPTSA can't read. Shannon Campion, a spokesman for the initiative, said she was surprised by the PTA’s decision. “We respectfully disagree with the PTA board’s position and view it as essentially a misreading because of the strong parent involvement in this initiative,” Campion said. Really?  Because: - the word parent is in there 16 times and only once used as a suggestion for charters to include parent engagement in their proposals (not that they have to nor that it will be enforced) - parents get two things in this charter initiative.  One, the ability to flip ANY existing school, failing...

From the Office of the Mayor: ONE YEAR TO A CAREER – Last Chance to Apply! Year Up is a one-year, intensive training program that provides low-income young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate internships. The first six months of the program focuses on technical and professional skill building, while the second six months focuses on applying these skills through corporate internships. The goal of our program is to provide every student who comes through our doors with the experience they need to launch a successful career and educational pathway for themselves. In exchange for your commitment Year Up students receive a stipend of $150-$250/week , 18 college credits , tailored support, and entry/connections to leading corporations . There are no tuition costs or fees to participate; however, students are required to show up every day on time and ready to learn! Who can apply? You can apply...

From SPS: Seattle Public Schools will host three community meetings on September 20, 24 and 27 to share information and ask for comments about building construction projects to be included in the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) Capital Levy package.  Once approved by the School Board, the BEX IV Capital Levy resolution will be submitted to Seattle voters in February 2013. The community meeting dates are: Thursday, September 20, 6:30-8:00pm at Whitman Middle School Monday, September 24, 6:30-8:00pm at Madison Middle School Thursday, September 27, 6:30-8:00pm at McClure Middle School For more information on BEX IV, please visit: www.bit.ly/SPSBEX On this topic, Rep. Reuven Carlyle weighed in on it at his blog .  McClure Middle School is in his neighborhood and he feels that people don't attend it (despite the elementaries around it being full) and that's because of the building.  He could be partially right but m...

From the Seattle Council PTSA (co-presidents this year, Lauren McGuire and Rita Sheckler): Seattle Public Schools is partnering with the Seattle Council PTSA to hold five family and community meetings this fall with Superintendent Banda. We invite you to come and meet Superintendent Banda, and hear his vision for Seattle Public Schools.    Central: September 17 , 6-7:30pm at Mercer Middle School, 1600 S Columbian Way, Seattle, 98108 Southeast: September 18 , 6-7:30pm at Rainier Beach High School, 8815 Seward Park S., Seattle, 98118 Northeast: October 1 , 6-7:30pm at Bryant Elementary School, 3311 NE 60 St., Seattle, 98115 West Seattle: October 2, 6-7:30pm at Concord International Elementary School, 723 S Concord St., Seattle, 98108 Northwest: October 8 , 6-7:30pm at Hamilton International Middle School, 1610 N 41 St., Seattle, 98103

As summer is slowly winding down (but not temperature-wise - yay!), the number of District meetings is slowly ramping up. Monday, August 13th Curriculum&Instruction Meeting from 4-6 p.m.  This is quite the folksy agenda as practically everyone is IDed by their first name.  I'm thinking this isn't a final agenda as there are number of scratch-outs.   There are a number of policies to be discussed including  Ensuring Educational Equity, Advanced Learning, Definition of a High School Credit, Copyright Compliance, and Equitable Access Status Review. They were to discuss the Creative Approach Schools Board oversight process but sadly, that is scratched out.  I'll have to ask why as I think this is a big deal to those who were hoping the process would move forward quickly.  It isn't even in the "parking lot" list.  Wednesday, August 15th Board Meeting at 4:15 p.m.  Agenda (it's a huge one).

I bookmark many education stories but wait until I have a mass and/or time to post them. First, up worry over teachers labeled " highly qualified" teaching Special Ed students.  This story comes from the Special Ed section at Ed Week. Earlier this year, the Senate merely left the door open to extending a provision that allows teachers still working on their certification to be considered "highly qualified"—a designation created by 2001's No Child Left Behind law. The law says teachers must already be certified to qualify, but Education Department regulations created about the law allowed for teachers in alternative routes to be considered highly qualified, even if they were still working on their certification. For example, people in the classroom as part of the Teach for America training program would fall into this category. The department's regulations on these alternative routes were set to expire, but as my colleague Alyson Klein explains over at ...