go to mobile version »

Education

Crosscut most recent

Jump-starting budget reform in Seattle schools

Posted Fri, Nov 6, 6 a.m.

A parent’s critical analysis of budget reporting has helped the Seattle school board consider administrative costs in analyzing where to make cuts next year.

READ MORE 2 COMMENTS

Time to consider reopening Seattle high schools

Posted Thu, Nov 5, 6 a.m.

As enrollment begins to creep back up, with a bubble moving toward high school, district officials may think about reopening old Lincoln High. And this is the time to make good on promises to improve South End schools.

READ MORE 7 COMMENTS

Report finds Seattle school spending top-heavy on administration

Posted Mon, Oct 26, 6 a.m.

The Seattle School District has the highest administrative costs in the state, according to a district parent's study, putting pressure on Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson as new budget work begins.

READ MORE 13 COMMENTS

My picks for the general election ballot

Posted Thu, Oct 22, 6 a.m.

In a year of change, the choices are getting easier as Election Day approaches.

READ MORE 44 COMMENTS

Hey kids: Get a job!

Posted Tue, Oct 13, 6 a.m.

Better yet, Seattle's next mayor should make sure all high school students spend a year working. It's the best thing he can do to prepare them for adulthood ... and boost graduation rates too.

READ MORE 7 COMMENTS

Reflections from Raleigh

Posted Fri, Oct 9, 6 a.m.

A stint in North Carolina offers perspective on some familiar concerns about transportation, school busing, local politics, and quality of life.

READ MORE COMMENT NOW

Use the period. And other writing lessons.

Posted Thu, Oct 1, 6 a.m.

Most writing teachers get even the questions wrong, let alone the answers. So says our correspondent, himself a former writing instructor. And he's got old memos to prove it.

READ MORE 10 COMMENTS

Confessions of a D-student

Posted Wed, Sep 23, 6 a.m.

The Seattle School District is considering lowering its graduation requirements and giving diplomas to "D" students. I know first-hand that some good can come from a lousy grade.

READ MORE 10 COMMENTS

Strikes as therapy

Posted Mon, Sep 7, 6 a.m.

A Labor Day essay on teacher strikes and their misplaced emphasis on self-esteem. These strikes focus too much on teachers' needs to be given proper recognition, reflecting the way psychological categories have taken over public discourse.

READ MORE 6 COMMENTS

Let's seize 'the opportunity of this crisis'

Posted Mon, Jul 6, 6 a.m.

A freshman legislator lays out suggestions for how the state can embrace fundamental new approaches in four key areas

READ MORE 18 COMMENTS

Here's what schools accountability looks like

Posted Wed, Jun 24, 4 a.m.

It's time to put some teeth into one of education's over-used buzzwords. What's needed are proper testing and real consequences for failure.

READ MORE 12 COMMENTS

Our schools get a poor national report card

Posted Wed, May 20, 10:55 a.m.

A sobering download of data from The Education Trust makes clear that Washington schools are mired in mediocrity, and the WASL is not helping matters

READ MORE 8 COMMENTS

A new librarian faces tough economic times

Posted Tue, May 19, 6 a.m.

Susan Hildreth, filling the big shoes of Deborah Jacobs, has a good grasp of the complex political environment she's entering. Libraries now have many new missions and lots of bosses.

READ MORE 3 COMMENTS

A think tank provides a new ranking of state elementary schools

Posted Mon, May 11, 6 a.m.

This one, modeled on a Canadian survey, is a mash-up of lots of WASL data. The question is whether the complicated system tells us much we don't already know about where the good (and troubled) schools are.

READ MORE COMMENT NOW

How this legislative session helped launch Lisa Brown

Posted Thu, May 7, 6 a.m.

The session seemed all about cuts, but it was also about planting some powerful explosives for a later day. Here's how the Senate Majority Leader might gather in the sheaves.

READ MORE 4 COMMENTS

Needed: civic visionaries who think about costs

Posted Fri, Apr 24, 6 a.m.

Seattle used to create civic visionaries who reshaped the urban landscape. Now our civic visionaries have poor math skills.

READ MORE 12 COMMENTS

It's WASL math test day. Sorta.

Posted Mon, Apr 13, 6 a.m.

Let's see. WASL math testing is going away. So you don't need to take the test this week? Wrong. Except maybe not wrong. Stumped yet?

READ MORE COMMENT NOW

Government is one big fat malaprop

Posted Mon, Mar 30, 11:20 a.m.

Students' mangled expressions about politics impart hilarious wisdom

READ MORE 6 COMMENTS

UW to relax foreign language requirements

Posted Thu, Feb 26, 6 a.m.

Students who took three years in high school will satisfy foreign language requirements. Is this a good thing?

READ MORE 8 COMMENTS

High school reforms: take your time

Posted Wed, Feb 25, 6 a.m.

A college teacher argues that test-driven, stratified programs such as AP classes and Running Start are not working. And we need to be careful about shortening high school.

READ MORE 13 COMMENTS

Other media

How to get better teachers Elite colleges need to educate future teachers, giving them a superb, free education in exchange for three years of teaching after college.

Obama's real Education Secretary is Bill Gates Nothing against Secretary Arne Duncan but the Gates Foundation puts so much money into schools, and its views on education drive policy to such an extent, Bill might as well be in the Cabinet.

Eyman's I-1033 would clobber college, university budgets Here's the argument of the higher education community: Washington is required by its Constitution to finance K-12 schools at an adequate level. Higher education is on its own, so when money dries up under budget caps required by Initiative 1033, deep cuts would be forced on colleges and universities. Eyman disagrees.

Seattle schools to drop D-average proposal A majority of the school board now opposes a plan allowing D-students to graduate, so the C requirement will stick.

Danny Westneat: I-1033 a windfall for the rich Over time, the columnist says, state and local-government property taxes would be reduced all the way to zero. The biggest beneficiaries would be wealthy landowners like Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who oppose Tim Eyman's initiative, and Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, who supports it.

Blog posts

Boo!

Posted Fri, Oct 30, 5 p.m.

It could be creepy out there on this Halloween weekend, what with all that extra time to plan tricks and treats.

MORE

Another try for charter schools

Posted Wed, Sep 30, 11:19 p.m.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is dangling some big grants to states that permit charter schools. Washington doesn't, and it has beat back earlier efforts to allow them, led by Jim Spady.

MORE

How a popular Seattle writer was labeled an anti-white racist

Posted Mon, Sep 21, 3 p.m.

With no political agenda, Po Bronson co-authored a new bestseller about how children learn. But NurtureShock quickly became caught up in a Rush Limbaugh screed about race and popular culture.

MORE

News from Nickelsville: Tony's story

Posted Mon, Aug 3, noon

Two heartbreaking small incidents point up the fragility of life for a leader in a homeless village

MORE

A tribute to Bob Tate

Posted Thu, Jun 11, 1:13 p.m.

A friend remembers all the lives touched by this coach, Navy man, diehard Mariners' fan, and civic figure

MORE

Moving toward end game in the Legislature

Posted Thu, Apr 9, 8:45 p.m.

Speaker Chopp, the grand master, is making a few powerful moves, but the Democrats are far from being united

MORE

Olympia crunch time: no plan, lots of polls

Posted Thu, Apr 9, 6 a.m.

The Legislature does not have a budget that can pass, so a frenzied search is on for a voter-approved tax increase that looks good in the polls

MORE

I'm a school closure baby!

Posted Tue, Jan 27, 6 a.m.

How I survived a junior high school trauma.

MORE

Speling and grammer: lost causes?

Posted Mon, Dec 22, 4 p.m. 2008

Our author, a spelling champ in her youth, tries to explain across the generational divide

MORE

Lakeside's "N" word poet responds

Posted Wed, Dec 17, noon 2008

African American poet Mona Lisa Saloy defends reading her poem "The "N" Word at Lakeside School.

MORE

Join Crosscut now! Subscribe to Newsletter About Crosscut Advertise Web Feeds