Seattle Schools Community Forum

A good opportunity to hear School Board candidates up close and personal from the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition this Saturday: As summer turns to fall, we notice the proliferation of yard signs heralding the upcoming election.  By now, we have all been inundated with information about our City Council District Elections.  There are actually other races appearing on this November's ballot.  In the spirit of examining some lesser publicized campaigns, we are reviving our format of "speed dating" the candidates. We'll hear from folks running for some less covered races such as Elections Director, Assessor, and Seattle School Board. Our meetings start at 9:00 AM at the Central Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South.  We now offer a continental breakfast of juice, coffee, yogurt, fruit, and muffins for $6.00. A traditional hot and tasty breakfast is still available for $14.00. I know that some Board candidates may not be in attendance due to prior c...

From noted ed blogger, Jonathan Peltier  via the Hartford Courant: High school juniors in North Haven and Westbrook won’t be getting Smarter Balanced test scores. It turns out, they took the wrong test. School officials in both districts said the confusion resulted from a drop-down menu that listed several possible tests. Students were apparently told to click on an “interim” or practice test, instead of the comprehensive year’s-end test and the mistake wasn’t caught until after the test was completed. “It was very disappointing,” said Westbrook Principal Tara Winch. “ I asked the state, why would the interim assessment even be up there during the actual testing time? Those shouldn’t even have been part of the testing window.”

Update: for whatever reason, when the Board came back into session, the video did not resume on Channel 26.  I do NOT think this was some error. From the coverage of the WestSeattle Blog: 6:39 PM:  Roll call:  Betty Patu  abstains. Peters votes no. All others vote yes. The resolution passes, and that authorizes the district to take legal action against the union, among other things. “SHAME ON YOU!” yell several in the audience. And a few minutes later, as the board members leave, some shout “Thank you, Sue Peters.” Why Patu abstained is a mystery (and she goes to that well way too often).   I think McLaren has some explaining to do to the King County Labor Council.   end of update. Details to follow. SEA leaders announced this at Board meeting. So that Resolution just got very real. As I tweeted, I believe if the Resolution is not unanimous, it is a referendum on Nyland as well. Parents and students, I am sorry (but keep in mind, it's th...

 Update: Board Resolution Resolution 2015/16-5: Addressing Imminent Strike   For Introduction : Action- September 8, 2015 Background(partial) Because no tentative agreement has been reached, District staff are requesting that the School Board adopt Resolution 2015/16-5 to authorize the Superintendent to take certain actions to end the strike and protect District property and resources. The District considers a strike or the concerted refusal to provide contracted for services to be unlawful. Such action causes irreparably harm and disrupts the education program of the District, students, families and others. In the event a strike or work stoppage commences, the residents of the District and the school age children in the community will be injured through the actions of the Seattle Education Association. Immediate Action by the Board of Directors on Resolution No. 2015/16-5 is in the best interest of the District.  Resolution (bold under numb...

From KPLU : A network of donors will step up if necessary to keep Washington state's nine charter schools open through the school year, a leading charter advocate said Tuesday, even if public dollars stop flowing in the wake of a state Supreme Court decision voiding Washington's charter school law . Tom Franta, who heads the Washington State Charter Schools Association, said his organization has reached out to a network of something like 50 donors — whom Franta declined to identify — that can help cover the estimated $14 million necessary to cover all nine schools' operating costs through the end of the year. Here's some remaining mysteries:

I'm looking for any parents willing to post photos of their Seattle Schools student (with first name and school).  I'd like to post them here and tweet them. Why? Because the charter supporters are posting photos of sad charter students (who have been at their schools three weeks and they are schools with no history i.e. their siblings never attended) and how sad they are that their school might not go on. Once again, I appreciate the difficulties this ruling has brought upon charter families and their staffs.  (I have little sympathy for charter organizers and charter boards - they knew full well this could happen.)  Of course, it's hard to regroup to a possibly new school and explain that to your child. But the reality is that there are about 1,000 charter school students in the state.  There are a million public school students in the state.

 From SPS Communications: SPS has offered $62 million as a counter to the $172 million worth of asks of SEA · Includes: