Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS history: South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, visited Seattle and toured Madrona Elementary School almost 14 years to this date on Dec. 8, 1999.  Madrona  is now a K-8 school. What a lucky group of students on that day. At Board retreat today, a very different tone and feel.  Still the same kind of talk and team-building but not the same vibe.  A major theme is being collegial, being respectful of everyone's time and changing the public talk about the district. So refreshing to hear: - Facilities' Flip Herndon say one is his major goals is cutting down the maintenance backlog.  (You know me and that backlog so Friday, I'm in love.) - President Peaslee expressing the desire to get rid of the drumbeat of a "dysfunctional" Board and going around the table and asking Board members what committee they would like to serve on. -   Both new directors said that they would like to see if the committee meetings could ...

I know that many of you do not read these Ed News Roundups.  I get it; there's a lot to do and read in a day. But understand this is to let you know what the REST of the country is experiencing so that (1) we don't have these things happening to our state and our district and (2) we can learn what works and doesn't work. My biggest fear is really two-fold.  One, that too many entities for not-so-good reasons will want access to more data.  The district has confirmed to me that MORE entities ARE asking for MORE data so this is not a "what if."   Every single provider and group does not need vast amounts of data in order to verify their work.  It is very troubling that this is already happening. My other concern is a data mistake or breech.  The story out of Chula Vista, California is one I hadn't even thought might happen and yet it did. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was to visit a middle school in that district.  The district wanted ...

Well, I just saw this and loved it so for the Friday funny - a flash mob for a painting.

My husband just happens to be in a conference in South Africa.  He said they had a moment of silence this morning for Nelson Mandela and their first speaker said this: "He shamed us into putting aside our petty differences by shaking the hand of his tormentors when he was released from prison." I wouldn't say I have tormentors but I would like, as an early New Year's resolution, to try to talk with those whose work/opinions are different from mine and see if we can find common ground (especially in trying to get the Legislature to fulfill McCleary).   I have tried in the past to do this with some of the bigger names in ed reform in Washington but did not get any response or not a favorable one.  But it matters to keep trying if only to follow Mandela's example. For the kids: - amazing shadow sculptures created by artist Tim Noble using trash (note: not for elementary students and sensitive teens) - Da Vinci invented many things that he never actually mad...

Publicola has been covering the issue of where pot stores will be springing up now that Washington State has a law to make them legal.  There are more than 80 stores with applications to be in Seattle. In this thread , they show a map of where stores are proposed to be.  However: If you overlay Baker's map with the city's own map of the areas where pot stores are likely to be allowed— under Seattle rules pot stores cannot within 1,000 feet of schools, day cares, parks, and other public facilities— many of the applicants will be out of luck.   For example: A proposed store at 7th and Union in downtown Seattle (Good Patient Network LLC); one at West Mercer and 1st Ave. N. on Lower Queen Anne  (Queen Anne Liquor and Wine) ; and one at N 49th Street and Stone Way in Wallingford (Iconic Inc.) would not be allowed.  Oddly, the map appears to indicate that a proposed pot store at Fourth Ave. S. and S. Lander St., adjacent to Seattle Public Schools' he...

I had thought for a long while that it was futile to wish for Mandela to live for much longer.  He was very old and had been through so much.  And so he has passed. But he gave so much to this world and if it was only one thing (and I come back to this again and again as a topic) - it is not hope or fighting the good fight.  It is resiliency.   The ability to believe that you can and will overcome - that is the mark of person who will never give up.  We all want to believe in a better tomorrow and have that hope.  But getting there, that's the struggle.  To be able to pick yourself up each day and say, today I continue on.  Bless this man and his life. He said this: We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. And, in the context of this blog, remember his words: Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

 Katie Dolan, a long-time activist for the rights of disabled people in Washington state, died last Saturday, the Seattle Times reports.  I had never heard of Ms. Dolan but I'm glad to have read about her important contributions.  Her family was among the first to participate in Northwest Center, which provided developmentally disabled students with teaching and jobs. In 1971, under what he once called a "tidal wave" of pressure from Mrs. Dolan and others, then-Gov. Dan Evans requested the Education for All Act, to make clear that Washington state children have a constitutional right to education in the public schools, regardless of disability. In fact, Evans is related to one of the crusading parents and he "recognized the value early on," said Janet Taggart, one of the activists. It was the first such law in the nation. It started for her in high school. As a Franklin High School student in 1943, she persuaded her father to drive her ...