Posted Wed, Oct 26, 11:13 a.m.

Regarding experience: I'd just like to point that while the challengers may have little bureaucratic experience, several have extensive boots-on-the-ground experience in schools. I'm thinking of the Marty & Sharon, who have been teachers, and Kate's stand-in over non-teaching at Roosevelt. Michelle still has kids in elementary and I know ...

Posted Wed, Jun 22, 11:48 a.m.

Plug for Real Change: they totally got the scoop on this one!

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 3:38 p.m.

To me, this is clearly election-related spin. What period of time are they evaluating themselves on? The last 2.5 months or the last year or the last 4? IMHO they have improved somewhat since terminating MGJ (too little, too late) but I am not entirely convinced they can take credit ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 1:15 p.m.

I'm beginning to think "journalism" means "one who writes about his/her fondest wishes." I guess that's why they say Mel and Charlie aren't really journalists.

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 9:40 a.m.

If Gates wants to GIVE us some money or BUILDINGS, fine. I would even say for all the crapola we (SPS) have had to put up from them, he owes us.

Posted Wed, May 18, 2:49 p.m.

Hey, Freeway Park is actually quite lovely this time of year. Also, the I-5 Collonade, while not lovely, is not bad considering the difficulty level of the sites. Your positive examples from elsewhere with bright plantings and fountains seeem much more expensive and not so sustainable. Still, wherever there is ...

Posted Wed, May 18, 11:29 a.m.

I was going to say "What? They don't already?" but several people beat me to it.

Posted Sat, Mar 5, 9:42 a.m.

Ted, please provide citations if you are going to spout the same-ol-same-ol. For every study supporting your claims ("accountability" matters, class size doesn't), there exists a study finding the opposite, or a later revelation of test-score fraud. The jury is still out on these matters. Knute, I'm curious why you ...

Posted Wed, Mar 2, 12:42 p.m.

Wilbur Watson, check your facts. Potter's program did originate prior to MGJ, but as an unfunded seed of an idea. It was under on her watch that it grew to a $1M/yr enterprise. She did inherit a lot of dysfunction, but it's entirely appropriate that she gets the ax for ...

Posted Thu, Jan 13, 12:11 p.m.

normfox, if you read carefully, I did not actually take a stand on seniority. My point was that Jordan did not fully explain the reason "nothing can be done" (which is really "nothing can be done for three years"), resulting in pianoboy's uninformed rant. I thought Ivan did a terrific ...

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 1:04 p.m.

ps: I was at that meeting and I resent your attribution of one person's "-ism" comments to the whole room. I thought it was a great meeting and was just getting good with all the pointed questions - what you call "degeneration." Also, you could have explained that the reason ...

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 1:01 p.m.

What ivan said. "Stand for Children" really means "Stand against Unions." They do not advocate for funding from the state, just union-weakening. It is sad that they have fooled some people who do care about children, whose efforts would be better placed somewhere else. I do totally agree with Royer ...

Posted Tue, Nov 23, 6:39 p.m.

Yarrow, I have to point out that the act of appeal through the bureaucracy was undoubtedly a highly educational experience, and she has reached a far larger audience than a term paper. I don't consider it a ban, any more than the reading list is required reading. Ballard is still ...

Posted Wed, Jul 14, 9:52 a.m.

is that a piece of bacon?

Posted Mon, Jul 12, 2:43 p.m.

Buried in The Stranger article after pages on risk and cost was the speculation that the environmental impact analysis would show that the tunnel was not even a very good option w.r.t. traffic flow (due to costs and lack of downtown exits few would use it.) This is what jumped ...

Posted Mon, Jun 14, 11:58 a.m.

Kent, I like how you think: better than Lilly himself. How about running for school board?

Posted Wed, Jun 9, 11:38 a.m.

If you are interested in Seattle Education, take a look at this petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/S3B62010/petition.html

Posted Wed, May 19, 8:49 a.m.

Good comments. Subject matter expertise is at best half of what makes a good teacher. I have also read recently that new teachers feel their education of subject matter and teaching theory leave them unprepared for the realities of managing a classroom. This is supported by data that shows teachers ...

Posted Mon, Mar 15, 10:31 a.m.

I had PTA-budgeting sessions last week, like that described by Janet Pelz in the Times, that just make you want to cry. Because you realize what you are spending your money on is not new carpet, but basic education, and that many school don't have that option. Dick, when will ...

Posted Wed, Mar 10, 11:06 a.m.

Nice Freudian typo: "all me are created equal..."

Posted Wed, Mar 10, 9:44 a.m.

Nice work. It seems quite parallel to the inquiry math story, in that a good idea that shows great benefits for some kids some of the time morphs into a K-12 curriculum for all kids, all of the time. Then the problem is that other good ideas, essential in their ...

Posted Tue, Mar 9, 1:49 p.m.

Actually I almost didn't read this because its so rarely funny, but this one is! If only the senate would really vote one senator off the island every week...

Posted Thu, Feb 25, 1:21 p.m.

Right, very old idea - we did that in Seattle in 1970. The school is still here, called AS#1, and spawned several successful sister schools around the city: TOPS, Salmon Bay, Pathfinder, Thornton Creek, Orca.

Posted Fri, Feb 5, 2:24 p.m.

Dick, Your argument that a common curriculum is beneficial to students doesn't extend to a curriculum based on "mathematically unsound" materials. Although we can't look at results of Discovering yet, if you look at the effect of its little sister EDM, which has been the common curriculum in SPS for ...

Posted Wed, Feb 3, 12:36 p.m.

I repeat: RTT legislation is a sell-out of our education values for a paltry sum (<$100 per kid.) It's fairly clear that RTT is good for business (the private "learning economy") and bad for unions. What I don't see is any evidence that it is beneficial to students. The unions ...

Posted Tue, Jan 26, 8:10 a.m.

Not to be picky or anything, but if the levies fund full-day K, why am I paying 2K this year for it out of my pocket?

Posted Mon, Dec 14, 9:12 a.m.

bthornton, Seattle has had school choice for decades. Next year it will be all different. Soon, Ann would be guaranteed a spot in the Greenlake neighborbood school, or in any neighborhood she could afford to live in. Will it help south end schools? Unlikely. Will it end white flight? Unlikely. ...

Posted Sat, Oct 24, 7:14 p.m.

OK, can we complain about the school board picks now? "Most importantly, I voted for Kay Smith-Blum over Mary Bass. Bass's departure from the board would be addition by subtraction. She has been an uninformed, disputatious, and disruptive force in a system now getting positive leadership from a new system ...

Posted Wed, Oct 7, 11:02 a.m.

Dick, I would expect you to know better than to deride alternative schools as "escape valve for those dissatisfied with the quality of their neighborhood school." Alternative schools include some of the most successful and popular schools in the district, and many of us choose them for what they offer: ...

Posted Fri, Oct 2, 4:39 p.m.

Two points: 1) Pro-charter forces have already infiltrated the Seattle Public School district. http://seattle-ed.blogspot.com/ 2) Charters are not all they are cracked up to be. "A report issued by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes(CREDO) at Stanford University found that there is a wide variance in the quality of ...