Posted Wed, Apr 25, 7:12 a.m.

When a scandal broke about a US Senator from Oregon who habitually sexually harassed young women, I read a column by Maureen O'Dowd about it. In her column she wrote that this senator's behavior was well-known around Washington, that she had witnessed it first hand on a number of occasions, ...

Posted Mon, Apr 23, 12:21 p.m.

bubbleator is right. I should have been more specific. They aren't listening to me. They are listening to the people like Nick Hanauer, David Brewster, Tim Burgess, and Lisa McFarlane. This is the dichotomy that Robin Lake wrote about. I'm on the outside, so they aren't interested in anything I ...

Posted Sun, Apr 22, 2:33 p.m.

Thank you LisaG for repeating the advice that I could "catch more flies with honey than vinegar." The fact is that I have tried honey and I still didn't catch any flies. The fact is that the people who have all of the flies aren't sharing them. Not for honey. ...

Posted Fri, Apr 20, 6:52 a.m.

There is, of course, just one problem with Ms Krupnik's recommendation: it doesn't work. I don't fit into the passive-aggressive dominant culture in Seattle. This place is like some kind of irony-free zone. That's hard for a guy like me who has claimed that I speak English as a second ...

Posted Thu, Apr 19, 3:50 p.m.

Seattle Public Schools has never kept any commitment to any community. If the District promises something to students and families, you don't know what they will really do, but you know that the one thing they will not do is whatever they promised. The District made a solemn promise the ...

Posted Thu, Apr 19, 3:17 p.m.

Thank you, Ms Krupnick, for writing this. You will find a similar call from Robin Lake of the Center for Reinventing Public Education on the education week blog, here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2012/04/only_a_sith_deals_in_absolutes.html You will also find my recipe for civility, which is a lot like yours. It begins by presuming good intent ...

Posted Thu, Apr 19, 2:52 p.m.

Weren't there a bunch of folks at Crosscut who were crying about how Seattle couldn't attract any good candidates for this job? Shouldn't they be eating their words right now?

Posted Thu, Apr 12, 1:54 p.m.

LisaG wrote that she agreed with Director Carr. I went searching through Director Carr's column for something that LisaG could be agreeing with, and this is what I found: "And we need you, our community, to help foster a healthy, productive environment in which the next superintendent can succeed" This ...

Posted Thu, Apr 12, 10:31 a.m.

LisaG wrote: "Bloggers like Melissa Westerbrook live to push people's buttons and make everybody angry, with no regard to the facts or the people she's hurting." First, if you're going to write about people, you owe them the courtesy of getting their names right. The blogger's name is Melissa Westbrook. ...

Posted Wed, Apr 11, 7:13 a.m.

Director Carr wrote: "We need an experienced superintendent, an educator and a leader with a track record of successes. Our district, the largest in the state, needs a leader committed to stay for five to 10 years — one looking for the capstone to a successful career." Now I understand ...

Posted Tue, Apr 10, 12:41 p.m.

"Our biggest challenge is reducing the turnover of leadership at Seattle Public Schools." Wow. Then maybe you shouldn't have fired the superintendent last year, Ms Carr. If you thought stability was important then maybe you should have offered a contract to Dr. Enfield instead of making her dangle for nine ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 1:51 p.m.

The voters threw out a bunch of incumbents the last couple times" The last couple times were 2009 and 2011. In 2011 four incumbents ran for re-election. Two were re-elected, two were voted out. In 2009 two incumbents ran for re-election. One was re-elected and one was voted out. So ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 1:47 p.m.

Here's the problem. Some elements in the media, including the Seattle Times editorial board and Crosscut, are working very hard to establish a number of myths about Seattle Public Schools. Among these myths are: 1) That the Bass/Butler-Wall boards of 2004-2007 were dysfunctional and micro-managing 2) That the DeBell/Sundquist boards ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 12:14 p.m.

Now if only we can find a way to keep the League of Education Voters, Stand for Children, the Alliance for Education, Teachers United, Partnership for Learning, Excellent Schools Now, Our Schools Coalition, Democrats for Education Reform, Crosscut, The Seattle Times and all of the other Gates Foundation finger puppets ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 4:48 a.m.

How, exactly, is Crosscut not one of the "monsters"?

Posted Fri, Mar 30, 7:26 a.m.

While none of us want excessive regulation, we all want some regulatory protection. We need that protection most in two specific types of situations: 1) when one party has all of the authority over another party and 2) when one party has all of the expertise. This story was a ...

Posted Thu, Mar 29, 8:48 p.m.

Wow. You read that report and all you got out of it was that the "investigation" (if it merits that title) concluded that there was no foot kissing. Let's set aside the three different people who all witnessed foot-kissing. Let's set aside all of the other unprofessional and inappropriate behavior ...

Posted Fri, Mar 16, 10:48 a.m.

Special interest groups are represented, ethnic groups are represented, the politics are covered, but what about the academics? There will be an advocate for Special Education there to ask about it, but there is no real advocate for bilingual education, and no advocate at all for the alternative schools or ...

Posted Mon, Mar 12, 9:22 a.m.

Republicans have had a long time to get used to the idea of Mr. Romney as their presumptive nominee, and they have yet to really embrace it. The fact that Mr. Romney cannot outpoll Mr. Gingrich in next two state races, Alabama and Mississippi, at this stage in the nominating ...

Posted Wed, Mar 7, 2:53 p.m.

jabailo, if you lived in Seattle then you would know that very few people think of themselves as living in Seattle. We live in Ballard, or Admiral, or Madison Park. Seattle is not so much a city as a federation of neighborhoods. Each neighborhood functions as a small town with ...

Posted Tue, Mar 6, 7:13 a.m.

I see the shift, but I see it as the political consequence of a shift from industrialism to post-industrialism. In state politics it will be manifest as a shift from top-down rule - with all of the advantages going to those who can pony up the stake (Boeing, forestry, big ...

Posted Sun, Mar 4, 8:33 p.m.

What makes a suburb vs. a city? Is it the cost of land? Is it the dependency on private cars as transportation? Is it the presence of a dense employment center? Is it "diversity"? Is it affluence? I don't think so, but they are all consequences of the difference. I ...

Posted Thu, Feb 16, 8:31 a.m.

He makes a forceful case for the four-day school week. He also wrote: "The four-day week is not for all districts". I'd like to learn more about the districts that he thinks would not be well-served by this sort of change. I was surprised that he doesn't see the Friday ...

Posted Tue, Feb 14, 8:33 a.m.

Yay Rep. Reuven Carlyle! Tax breaks are spending just as surely as writing a check and they need to be treated just the same.

Posted Tue, Feb 14, 8:29 a.m.

No matter what the Downtown Seattle Association says, the school district says that they have no plans to create an elementary school downtown. That whole story is a fabrication. As was noted in the comments following the Seattle Times story, the few homes downtown that are suitable for families are ...

Posted Tue, Feb 14, 7:52 a.m.

Mr. Vance is almost right. He suggests that Republicans may effectively control the agenda in the legislature in 2013. I think they already do. They do it through a combination of strong discipline on their side of the aisle, poor discipline on the other side, the support of "road kill" ...

Posted Wed, Jan 25, 1:19 p.m.

Wow. If you think the Seattle School Board is blowing up, you must think that the legislature in Olympia is getting carpet bombed and that Washington D.C. is under nuclear attack. Tone down the manufactured conflict a bit, will you? The Seattle School Board is fine. They work together well ...

Posted Wed, Jan 25, 9:44 a.m.

The manager of Seattle Public Schools' Career and Technical Education program, Dr. Shepherd Siegel, encourages us to adopt a broader definition for the word "college" to include all post-secondary education. That includes learning at four-year university, community college, vocational training, apprenticeships, and certification programs. It's all college because it is ...

Posted Wed, Jan 25, 9:37 a.m.

1. Yes, more money is needed for all schools but that is a separate issue. Education dollars: The money follows the child; it is for the child's educations, not the school's perpetuation. "The money follows the child" is a myth. It isn't really true. The money needed for schools is ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 6:28 p.m.

There is nothing that a charter school can do that a public school cannot do.

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 10:28 a.m.

Here's an irony. This proposal would have had an easier time of passing if it had not received this ham-handed article of support from Mr. Brewster or the equally clumsy one in the Seattle Times. For folks who purport to give political advice, their statements were shockingly impolitic.

Posted Sat, Jan 21, 3:37 p.m.

Here's another, more balanced perspective on the same matter. http://www.saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2012/01/pendulum-problem.html

Posted Fri, Jan 20, 9:07 a.m.

Usually Mr. Brewster does not participate in the comments following his postings. I wasn't sure if he even read them. With his comment on this one I learn that he has read at least a few of the comments. I'm curious about Mr. Brewster response to their content (as opposed ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 10:01 p.m.

Oh, and one more thing... Mr. Bridge notes that "If individual members feel the Superintendent has not complied with established policy or has failed in her/his duties or not responded to their concerns, the Superintendent can and should be replaced." It seems an innocuous or hypothetical rhetorical point, but it ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 11:15 a.m.

Mr. Brewster, tone down your own personal attacks.

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 11:01 a.m.

Could Mr. Smith please provide a few examples of the school board's dysfunction? I just want to make sure that we're talking about the same thing.

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 10:58 a.m.

Funny how quick people are to point out bad teachers and bad school board directors but are so slow to point out bad principals and bad school district administrators. The management class appears completely free of any responsibility for outcomes, unless they are good. Mr. Brewster doesn't want the democratically ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 10:48 a.m.

The best reform would be to switch things around and have an elected superintendent and an appointed board. An elected superintendent would assure us of four years of consistent leadership (better than the national urban average) and, if that leadership is approved, potentially eight years, twelve years, or more. That's ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 7:18 a.m.

It appears that Mr. Brewster never tires of being wrong when it comes to Seattle Public Schools. He has been wrong about the District every time he has written about it before and he is wrong again. For a guy who wants to project unity and stability on the school ...

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 6:02 a.m.

Thank you, Mr. Valdez, for being the first person in the press to point out the obvious: the Court can make decisions but they cannot enforce them. If the legislature chooses to ignore it - and they probably will - then the decision has no impact at all. The whole ...

Posted Thu, Jan 12, 8:50 a.m.

There is nothing that a charter school can do that a regular public school - complete with accountability to the community - cannot do.

Posted Sun, Jan 8, 8:47 a.m.

Here's the central flaw in Mr. Robinson's statement. He wrote: "I would suggest that instead of focusing single-mindedly on 'leadership' or 'getting the right leader' as if that were the answer to any and all problems, the constitutuent elements of the Seattle Schools — board, administrative staff, teachers, union leaders, ...

Posted Sun, Jan 8, 8:17 a.m.

For policy it is the Board's job to set policy and the superintendent's job to implement it. The Board is supposed to enforce the policies, but they haven't done it since a new majority was elected in 2007. The school board with Steve Sundquist and Peter Maier acknowledged that policies ...

Posted Sat, Jan 7, 9:37 a.m.

Oh, hey, Just_Sayin, is David Brewster an expert? Is Anthony Robinson? What about Ted van Dyk? Is Bill Gates or Eli Broad? Have any of them been teachers - even probably? If Melissa Westbrook is a "nut-job" then tell us what nutty thing she has said or done. She has ...

Posted Sat, Jan 7, 9:29 a.m.

Just_Sayin, you forgot to give the url: www.saveseattleschools.blogspot.com

Posted Fri, Jan 6, 3:11 p.m.

Good job, Crosscut, naming Pythagoras as an Editor's Pick. Keep on with the anti-democracy theme that you're always pushing.

Posted Fri, Jan 6, 3:10 p.m.

Pythagoras is right! This democracy crap is for losers! The voters never should have chosen these board members. In fact, the voters never should have been entrusted with choosing the leaders for the District, that's just more democracy nonsense. There should just be one person in charge of everything who ...

Posted Fri, Jan 6, 8:48 a.m.

I think we all agree that we want to set and maintain high expectations for everyone in our schools - students, teachers, and administrators. That's not in dispute. We have standards for students and most of the students, particularly in affluent neighborhoods, are meeting those standards. They demonstrate their knowledge ...

Posted Thu, Jan 5, 7:13 p.m.

My favorite out-of-the-box solution is to elect the superintendent to a four-year term and have the school board appointed. That way we have consistent leadership for four years - possibly eight or twelve. The accountability is with the same person, the superintendent, who has the authority. That would be so ...

Posted Thu, Jan 5, 5:35 a.m.

Oh! I get it. Dr. Goodloe-Johnson was wonderful, we just didn't support her enough. Is that what you're telling us? It had nothing to do with the fact that from day one she told folks that she had the authority and she didn't need (or particularly want) their buy-in. You ...

Posted Thu, Jan 5, 5:01 a.m.

Oh! One more note. Dr. Enfield's 37% positive rating is also dwarfed by her 56% neutral rating. You think the city loves this woman but almost twice as many people responded "Susan Who?"

Posted Thu, Jan 5, 4:58 a.m.

Great, Joe. Now how about correcting the horribly wrong editorial interpretation that goes with the numbers? How about toning down the "love" language for Dr. Enfield when she got a 37% favorable rating - statistically the same as the Board's 33% (within the 5 percentage point margin of error). How ...

Posted Wed, Jan 4, 6:20 p.m.

Oh, and the people love their schools more than half again as much as they like the superintendent. Seriously, on the love list, the superintendent finishes a distant fifth (Michele Bachman territory) after teachers (81%), your local school (62%), the PTSA (60%), and Seattle Public Schools (60%), then, way back ...

Posted Wed, Jan 4, 6:11 p.m.

Holy Cow! Crosscut needs to correct this article IMMEDIATELY. The numbers are simply wrong. Getting the numbers wrong when the story is about the numbers is a serious failure. It is so bad that one must wonder if it really was an accident. Yes, Dr. Enfield got a 37% positive ...

Posted Mon, Jan 2, 8:41 p.m.

Here's something else good that happened in 2012: two of the ineffective members of the Seattle School Board were replaced by people who appear interested in doing the job. That's certainly a positive. Also, I think people should start paying attention to the spirit of entreprenuerism that I see all ...

Posted Mon, Jan 2, 11:52 a.m.

It is encouraging to read that Mr. Van Dyk interprets the results of the school board election as a demonstration the public's interest in holding the board accountable. That strikes me as a valid interpretation. It would be good for some other voices, such as Mr. Brewster, Ms Korsmo, and ...

Posted Sun, Jan 1, 9:14 a.m.

The irony is that whatever was in South Lake Union that made it at all cool will get pushed out when their buildings are demolished for re-development or their rents exceed their cash flow. Think of what's down there that you like, and say good-bye to it. Whole Foods will ...

Posted Sun, Jan 1, 9:07 a.m.

It is the curse of any counter-culture movement that it will be co-opted by commerce the moment it reaches critical mass. As soon as it is big enough that someone can make a buck off it, someone will. Seattle has been killed by its own success. Our streets are choked ...

Posted Wed, Dec 28, 10:13 a.m.

I think it's funny how the folks who form the common wisdom here in Seattle (such as those who write for Crosscut) were so satisfied with the school district for the past couple years while those who knew about it were so deeply concerned. Now that there has been some ...

Posted Wed, Dec 28, 10:03 a.m.

Just a quick factual correction: The School District is not considering allowing junk food in school vending machines. That's not what's proposed. The proposed change would allow larger portions of healthy snacks and drinks, not un-healthy ones. Try reading the whole story instead of just the headline.

Posted Mon, Dec 26, 10:03 a.m.

Even after all these years, I am still astonished to discover the ads for "adult services" in both the Stranger and the Seattle Weekly. They are clearly ads for prostitution. Lately, however, I have added the ads for "medical" marijuana to my sources of astonishment. Is there no illegal commerce ...

Posted Wed, Dec 21, 11:20 a.m.

I certainly understand Mr. James desire to know the full legal name of the originator of any statement. After all, without that, the statement would have to be judged on its own merits. We know to believe articles published in the New York Times and to dis-believe articles published in ...

Posted Wed, Dec 21, 11:01 a.m.

I don't know why you presume sarcasm, Mr. James. There is no tone of voice here other than the one you apply. If you hear sarcasm, it is because you inserted it. Do you regard the appearance of five Seattle schools on the list as an indication that something is ...

Posted Wed, Dec 21, 7:30 a.m.

Thank you Mr. James for your valuable contributions to the conversation.

Posted Tue, Dec 20, 8:07 a.m.

Mr. Brewster wrote this horribly wrong article in June: "An Election Like to Ratify Strong Councils" in which he predicted the easy re-election of the four board incumbents. http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/20372/An-election-likely-to-ratify-strong-councils/ Why does Mr. Brewster have any credibility with anyone?

Posted Tue, Dec 20, 8:03 a.m.

Gee, I wish there were a nice way to say this, but there really isn't. David Brewster's every conclusion about Seattle Public Schools is wrong and it always has been. This article demonstrates his inability to connect facts to conclusions. Mr. Brewster refers to Dr. Enfield as the District's "great ...

Posted Wed, Nov 30, 7:27 a.m.

Here's a message that I have heard. I have yet to hear anyone who disagrees with it: "The wealthiest elements of our society have a disproportionate influence over the government and they are using that influence to further enrich themselves." We have devolved from the idea of one person-one vote ...

Posted Sun, Nov 27, 9:03 a.m.

I retain some doubt about the Board's ability to actually influence the direction of the District or the decisions made by staff. No board wants to micro-manage or even cross the line between governance and management. That said, there is little they can do - short of firing the superintendent ...

Posted Sun, Nov 27, 8:48 a.m.

It seems to me that everyone knows that streetcars are stupid. Even the people who support them must know that they are stupid. The SLUT is an absurd waste of resources for the taxpayers, a danger for bicyclists, a nuisance for drivers, and both slow and expensive for the riders. ...

Posted Fri, Nov 18, 8:51 p.m.

I just look forward to a board that actually does its job: management oversight, governance, and representing the public. We have been missing that for the last four years.

Posted Fri, Nov 11, 7:19 a.m.

Thank you, Ms Krupnik, for these words: "The challenge is to keep the discussions free of vitriol and to resist the temptation to blow with the educational winds of change without full consideration of the impact and clear articulation of the goals." Some of the elements of the national Education ...

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 6:48 a.m.

There were a lot of reversals in the school newspaper censorship story. First, Director Martin-Morris denied that there was any change in the policy. Then he claimed that the change in the policy was good and right. Then he reversed himself again to say that the change in the policy ...

Posted Thu, Nov 10, 6:39 a.m.

Mr. Copeland can attribute Mr. Sundquist's and Mr. Maier's poor polling to "school troubles", but those troubles belong to Mr. Martin-Morris and Ms Carr as well. Mr. Sundquist is trailing in the vote count due to the horrible mistakes the District has made in closing schools in West Seattle, leaving ...

Posted Sat, Nov 5, 6:42 a.m.

You want sushi in Georgetown? Go to Maruta. Go in the afternoon when the sushi in the case is marked down but still good.

Posted Thu, Nov 3, 7:09 a.m.

Mr. Van Dyk has seen some evidence that the current School Board is chastened. I haven't. Has anyone else seen it? Can Mr. Van Dyk describe it?

Posted Thu, Nov 3, 7:04 a.m.

Mr. Brewster, where in the world do you get your bizarre view of Seattle Public Schools? From the Seattle Times? Only one of three School Board incumbents garnered the majority of votes in the primary. That means that a majority of primary voters wants them out. The public wants them ...

Posted Wed, Nov 2, 7:30 a.m.

This year we have the unusual opportunity to vote in favor of a levy and to vote out the current school board. This way we can express both our support for the students and our opposition to the district leadership.

Posted Wed, Nov 2, 7:28 a.m.

I do most of my weekly grocery shopping in or near SoDo. I think someday that I will lead people on a great grocery tour. From north to south you can start at Big John's PFI for European delicacies and cheese. This is what Trader Joe's was like before it ...

Posted Wed, Nov 2, 7:16 a.m.

Here's something that the city can do that would be quick, easy, and effective: exempt motorcycles and scooters from street parking costs entirely.

Posted Sat, Oct 29, 7:20 a.m.

Okay. Now highlight two schools where the levy hasn't made a difference.

Posted Sat, Oct 29, 7:15 a.m.

Mr. Van Dyk? Is he gone?

Posted Wed, Oct 26, 3:30 p.m.

Mr. Van Dyk? You're looking for improvement in the school board, but, since you haven't been paying close attention, you have not seen it. You didn't miss it. Lots of people are looking for that improvement. Some are looking very closely for it. Nobody is seeing it. It's not there ...

Posted Tue, Oct 25, 3:12 p.m.

Mr. Van Dyk, can you provide a recitation of the "It was irresponsible and destructive behavior which often involved grandstanding which hurt rather than helped the cause of improvement in classroom instruction." that you ascribe to the School Board of 2004-2007? I was watching closely and, other than the adoption ...

Posted Tue, Oct 25, 2:50 p.m.

Ah, Mr. Van Dyk, you got me. I only have facts, but you have hearsay, generalizations, and mythology. There is no way that my argument can compete with yours. I must admit defeat. There is no way that my first-hand observations and objective facts can begin to refute you well-formed ...

Posted Tue, Oct 25, 6:54 a.m.

Of the School Board incumbents, Mr. Van Dyk writes "I will vote No on these same candidates next time if their performance does not improve." The incumbents all admitted their failure and swore to do better in March when they gave the former superintendent over a quarter million dollars to ...

Posted Wed, Oct 5, 7:04 a.m.

The Seattle Foundation is not such a great authority on solving this community's problems. They are a big supporter of Teach for America here in Seattle. There's a solution looking for a problem.

Posted Mon, Sep 19, 1:58 p.m.

I wonder when folks like Mr. Valdez will realize that their efforts to put forward a skewed version of a story is destined to backfire. The story, which appears nowhere but online here, is promptly followed by better-informed members of the community setting the record straight and pointing out the ...

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 11:31 a.m.

I drive on two lane roads frequently and the reason drivers "take the lane" is because if we move to the side when there is not enough room for a bike and a car in the lane, bikes will squeeze by unsafely. We have learned to do this after too ...

Posted Fri, Sep 2, 9:13 p.m.

To jump to the conclusion that "the basics of low-density, manageable towns and exurbs produce the best lifestyle" is completely unwarranted. I would NEVER want to live in Bellevue or raise my children there. It is NOT the best lifestyle by any measure.

Posted Fri, Sep 2, 9:11 p.m.

Who judged these schools to be among the best? U.S. News and World Report? And how did they measure school quality? Didn't they just count all of the AP and IB classes taken, divide that by the enrollment, and rank schools highest to lowest? Is that what makes a high ...

Posted Mon, Aug 29, 11:11 a.m.

@ common1sense - Please do not confuse opposition to Mr. Oki's ineffective and unworkable proposal as support for the status quo. No one is satisfied with the status quo. Mr. Oki's proposal, however, not only isn't the change we need, it is a distraction from the change we need.

Posted Fri, Aug 26, 5:40 a.m.

Mr. Oki's idea is based on a poor understanding of the situation, half-baked, and riddled with contradictions. Mr. Oki says: "As a parent, I should have the flexibility to send my child to any school, but there is no flexibility in the system." That's because schools are not scalable. Their ...

Posted Tue, Aug 23, 6:59 a.m.

Now we see that the election did not ratify the school board at all. Three of the four incumbents failed to garner a majority of the votes - the majority voted to get rid of them. And the fourth, Peter Maier, got a slim majority in his home district where ...

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 9:48 a.m.

I am constantly amazed by people who froth at the mouth at the thought of a government bureacrat standing between them and their doctor, but don't mind it a bit when it is an insurance company bureaucrat in that same spot.

Posted Wed, Jul 20, 10:14 a.m.

If I understand PJS' perspective correctly - and I may have it wrong - we should allow the government to exploit public sector workers because we, the taxpaying public, will benefit from it. In the interest of lowering our taxes, we should allow government workers to be exposed to all ...

Posted Wed, Jul 20, 9:59 a.m.

Oh! Just in case anyone thinks it inappropriate of me to call people stupid here on Crosscut, I refer you to this article: http://crosscut.com/2011/07/17/urban/21113/Memo-to-state-officials:-It-s-the-cities%2C-stupid!/ Memo to state officials: It's the cities, stupid! Apparently it is perfectly appropriate to call people stupid here in Crosscut.

Posted Tue, Jul 19, 7:55 p.m.

I didn't think that I would have to respond to the moronic post by bkochis. I reckoned that it was so plainly wrong that it didn't require a response. Then someone at Crosscut had to go and mark it as an Editor's Pick. bkochis wrote: "The School Board is elected ...

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 1:10 p.m.

Let's get back to what is really stupidly hilarious about this biased, misguided article by Mr. Tong. 1. The folks he calls "community leaders" are neither representative of the community nor are they leading anyone. Rather than community leaders they are followers of national interests. 2. His fundamental question: "Why ...

Posted Fri, Jul 15, 7:33 a.m.

Thank you, martin7341. You alone seem to realize that all of the schools are the same so it doesn't matter which one your child attends. They are all the same. They have the same principal, the same teachers, the same classes, the same group of peers, everything is the same ...

Posted Tue, Jul 12, 4:49 p.m.

westello raises an important point: the School Board is largely to blame for many of the failures in Seattle Public Schools because the School Board has refused to do its job. The Board has not represented the community. The Board has not provided governance. The Board has not overseen the ...

Posted Tue, Jul 12, 3:39 p.m.

I'll put it succintly: the public doesn't support the ideas of the Education Reform industry because the ideas stink and the public knows it.

Posted Tue, Jul 12, 1:26 p.m.

PJS, in case it wasn't clear enough before: public sector unions are OK as a matter of public policy because government workers are vulnerable to the same abuses as private sector workers and need the same protections. There is no reason that a government boss should be any different from ...

Posted Tue, Jul 12, 1:21 p.m.

Government employees have unions for exactly the same reasons that private sector employees have unions. So they can bargain collectively for wages, benefits, and working conditions. Why is that so hard to understand? And jade, if the government is by, for, and of the people then you don't need any ...

Posted Tue, Jul 12, 12:09 p.m.

Mr. Tong's idea of who the "community leaders" is seriously messed up. These Education Reformers, such as the League of Education Voters and the Alliance for Education, do not represent the community at all. They represent the interests of national foundations such as the Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation. ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 9:42 a.m.

The School Board approved the operating and capital budgets for next year. Big surprise, they won't be spending the money from the supplemental levy as they promised voters they would. Everyone who is surprised by this totally predictable turn of events needs to acknowledge their naivete.

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 9:40 a.m.

Wow. I sure hope that Mr. Burgess is happy with the continued poor performance of the Seattle School Board Directors that he has endorsed for re-election. Oh, right. He wasn't there. He has no idea about how they perform their duties. This week, at the last school board meeting of ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 9:35 a.m.

Oh, and MoreSeattle, please share with us how you believe that the schools can overcome the circumstances of drop-outs' lives to keep more of them in school and on track for graduation.

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 9:34 a.m.

I'm sorry, MoreSeattle, I didn't get the number that you believe would be acceptable. 70%+? Plus what? That's not a number; it's a range. Please commit to a number. You say that the national average isn't a valid benchmark. You want to use a global one. Do you have a ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 9:20 a.m.

I am not a part of the Education Reform movement as it has been defined (anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-public), but neither am a I an advocate for the status quo. I see great potential for the use of technology in schools, but I also see great potential for folks to get ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 5:08 p.m.

Hey BlueLight, one constant over those twenty years in which personnel change but mediocrity remains: student outcomes are much more influenced by forces at home than at school.

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 5:01 p.m.

I don't think Mr. Lilly necessarily subscribes to Mr. Moe's perspective. I think he is just faithfully reporting it here.

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 11:32 a.m.

Tell you what, BlueLight. You stay out of a union and go without union protections. The rest of us who believe that unions still provide benefits for workers will continue to be union members when possible. Don't presume that the wonderful working conditions you enjoy (whether thanks to government regulation ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 11:26 a.m.

I think it's funny when folks say that the laws that govern and regulate the private sector should also apply to the public sector. But then these same folks want to make an exception for public sector labor laws. The fact that someone works for a government entity (other than ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 11:01 a.m.

Seattle Public Schools has no money to support struggling students in the ways that have been proven effective. The District has money to give raises to central office staff - staff already on contract at their previous salary - but no money to support struggling students. The District has money ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 8:09 a.m.

If Mr. McKenna wants to do something for education in this state he can drop his appeal of the NEWS lawsuit. A Court found that the state is failing to fulfill its paramount duty - to provide ample funding for education. Mr. McKenna is appealing that decision.

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 8:01 a.m.

@MoreSeattle - Because getting 70% of students to graduate on time is an all-time high. We have never done that well before. That number, while you don't appear satisfied with it, is consistent with national averages. What is your benchmark? Let's remember that there are a lot of students in ...

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 7:53 a.m.

Okay, let's say that the teachers' unions are the greatest impediment to "Education Reform" (whatever that means). So why haven't we seen great strides forward in education reform and student achievement in the states without teacher unions? Why, instead, do we see that student performance is stronger in the states ...

Posted Tue, Jul 5, 1:37 p.m.

Tim Burgess wrote: "Mary Jean Ryan is a trailblazer. She has a keen understanding of the shortcomings in public education and she has successfully rallied parents, educators, government officials and others to focus on specific and measurable outcomes for students. I say Bravo!" Now try reading that statement four more ...

Posted Tue, Jul 5, 1:27 p.m.

Let's see how folks will respond to some actual facts about Seattle Public Schools. 1. The schools are, for the most part, good. Survey after survey show that families with students in our schools are either satisfied or very satisfied with their child's teacher and school. That's not the only ...

Posted Tue, Jul 5, 6:22 a.m.

I'm really surprised to read Tim Burgess' praise of Mary Jean Ryan. This is the same hack who has endorsed the re-election of all four of the incompetent, do-nothing, rubber-stamping members of the Seattle School Board. He praises Ms Ryan for all of the things that the School Board is ...

Posted Tue, Jul 5, 6:09 a.m.

So what's your point, Mr. Valdez? You seem to be saying that Seattle needs good schools, but you are incapable of defining what a good school is, let alone providing some guide to making our schools good. You blame a bureaucracy, but offer no cure - not even a hint ...

Posted Fri, Jun 24, 3:07 p.m.

That said, I think we would be better served by an elected superintendent and an appointed Board.

Posted Fri, Jun 24, 3:06 p.m.

The structure of the District's management is not flawed, but an awful lot of flawed people have been serving in it. The Board members elected in 2007, Peter Maier, Sherry Carr, Steve Sundquist and Harium Martin-Morris, have made the conscious decision to refuse to do the work of the Board. ...

Posted Fri, Jun 24, 7:32 a.m.

Wilbur_Watson is in luck! There is a way for voters to express their frustrations with the District and instigate a change in priorities: Replace the four members of the Board who are running for re-election this year.

Posted Thu, Jun 23, 10:41 a.m.

Mr. Neumann writes: "[i]So far, there seems to be very little opposition to the levy, despite the higher amount, recent school scandals, and the recession.[/i]" I'm not surprised that Mr. Neumann didn't hear about any opposition at the campaign kick-off event for the levy. Perhaps he would find that opposition ...

Posted Wed, Jun 22, 10:17 p.m.

spike asks if it is fair to judge the school district on the academic performance of students when so much of that academic performance is determined by factors outside the district's control. There are several answers to that question. One would be to say that our highest aspiration would be ...

Posted Tue, Jun 21, 11:37 a.m.

There can be no question that the Board has done a perfectly dreadful job for the past three years and has been doing little better for the past three months. They are a complete loss and need to be replaced at the first opportunity. I have come to see Dr. ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 3:30 p.m.

The Board congratulated itself for dealing with challenges without ever scolding itself for creating those challenges. They wouldn't have needed to respond to the multiple grave audit findings if they had been doing their job in the first place. They would have needed to address such significant budget shortfalls if ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 11:47 a.m.

There are two different questions here. One: Can the sign law be enforced? Apparently not. Either the city council needs to write a clear law that can be enforced or they need to repeal the non-functioning law they have. Two: Do we really need or want the sign law in ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 11:25 a.m.

Closing the academic achievement gap is no mystery. I don't know why people pretend that it is. Just so folks understand, the gap is the disproportionate rate at which White, Asian, and middle class students demonstrate proficiency on state tests over the rates for Black, Latino, South Pacific Islander, Native ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 5:55 a.m.

I don't really understand how the Board can give themselves a positive review when they totally failed - refused really - to do their job. They drive the bus into the ditch and then want credit for causing only a little damage when they tried to pull it out again. ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 5:13 p.m.

Oh! But transitwonk wants to know if they knew that the enrollment would grow or not. Did they know that they were closing too many schools? It's a mixed bag. In some cases, such as Cooper, they knew. In other cases we can't be sure. In some cases they just ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 12:05 p.m.

I just can't let this go. It's infuriating that Mr. Brewster is such a tool. He described the previous Board as "superintendent-undermining". Excuse me, but if the boss and the employee disagree, then who is under-mining whom? The superintendent is the Board's employee. The superintendent should follow the Board's lead, ...

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 6:31 a.m.

transitwork, I can explain. The District closed schools because they wanted more money from the legislature for education, but there was a lot of talk in Olympia about how Seattle Public Schools wastes money. Keeping schools open when they had low enrollments was seen as the prime example of the ...

Posted Thu, Jun 16, 6:08 p.m.

Does Sherry Carr think that she did a good job of oversight these past four years? She can't possibly say that she has. If she does, then how could she explain the terrible audit findings? If she does then how could she explain the total lack of any of the ...

Posted Thu, Jun 16, 6:03 p.m.

Mr. Brewster wrote: "There is a fair amount of backlash against the reform-tilted new teachers' contract (Goodloe-Johnson's signal achievement)." There is no backlash against the new teachers' contract. None at all. I can't even imagine how Mr. Brewster could invent such nonsense. What backlash? Where? There has been backlash against ...

Posted Thu, Jun 16, 3:20 p.m.

David Brewster clearly knows nothing about Seattle Public Schools. The Seattle Times worked against the Board that was elected in 2003 in the aftermath of the Olchefske financial fiasco. That board, Butler-Wall, Stewart, Flynn, and Soriano, was made up of activists. Despite Mr. Brewster's heavily biased interpretation of their work, ...

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 2:40 a.m.

Wow! Now we see the UW CoE application and we see the lies it tells pretending that there is a teacher shortage. This is not honest.

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 2:39 a.m.

Djinn, I don't know how much experience you have working in the Seattle school system, but the schools use the disconnect to insulate themselves from the dysfunction of the District headquarters. They don't do anything (such as declare their excellence from the rooftops) that would attract the District's attention because ...

Posted Tue, Jun 14, 1:27 p.m.

Wow! I just heard the news about the incredibly deceptive application the University of Washington's College of Education made to the PESB. It pretended that there is a teacher shortage in Seattle. That's just dishonest.

Posted Sun, Jun 12, 9:04 a.m.

Djinn, Let's remember that the District did NOT remove the GPA requirement for graduation. That idea came from the District leadership, not from the community or the schools. The District leadership is a dysfunctional mess. The schools are, for the most part, just fine. There is a huge disconnect between ...

Posted Sat, Jun 11, 6:58 a.m.

The reason that there are not many applicants for the teaching jobs at AltEd's school is that the jobs have not yet been opened up to outside applicants. When the job is made available to outside applicants, there will be dozens of them.

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 3:35 p.m.

What school AltEd? What jobs? The two most highly challenged, high needs schools in Seattle, West Seattle Elementary and Hawthorne, had hundreds of applicants each when they advertised for teachers last year. So what school has multiple openings and isn't getting any applicants at all? There are currently 12 teaching ...

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 3:02 p.m.

I have just seen the Seattle Public Schools projected enrollments for 2011 and for all of the years through 2015. Enrollments are going up, dramatically in some cases. Fortunately, the solutions are available. They are also obvious. 1. K-5 enrollment growth of 869 students in the Washington area can be ...

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 2:19 p.m.

How about we use direct data instead of inferred data? Over the past three years Seattle's share of school-age children population in King County has risen, not dropped. Over the past three years the ratio of Seattle births to Seattle Public School kindergarten enrollments five years later has grown from ...

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 2:11 p.m.

Dean Stritikus' conflict of interest stinks and the stink is clinging to Crosscut. Add his status as a Teach for America alum to his bio at the end of the column so it reads: "Tom Stritikus is dean of the University of Washington College of Education and a former Teach ...

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 9:39 a.m.

The sort of cronyism reflected in Dean Stritikus' actions is repugnant.

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 9:37 a.m.

When asked why Seattle Public Schools should even consider hiring un-certified teachers (Teach for America corps members), the Board members who approved the motion said it was to expand the pool of candidates for hiring. There are already over a hundred qualified, certificated teacher applicants, many with experience, for every ...

Posted Thu, Jun 9, 4:04 p.m.

Oh, and Mr. Stritikus' failure to disclose that he is a former Teach for America corps member stinks, stinks, stinks. Crosscut editors should edit his bio to reflect that fact. Haven't we had enough conflicts of interest in local education contracting?

Posted Thu, Jun 9, 4:01 p.m.

This is a really shameless piece written to give cover to a shameful decision. Mr. Stritikus tries to blame the legislature by saying that they had to do this to comply with the law, but no other college of education in the area partnered with Teach for America. I like ...

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 5 p.m.

I am the parent of two students in Seattle Public Schols and the system has worked reasonably well for them. One of my children is now enrolled at The NOVA Project where she is a happy, motivated student and doing very well. My other child is enrolled at Chief Sealth ...

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 11:13 a.m.

There is nothing to stop the Gates Foundation from leasing empty buildings and creating schools in them. There is nothing to stop the Gates Foundation from setting the tuition at those schools at zero. There is nothing to stop the Gates Foundation from accepting students through whatever method they choose, ...

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 11:09 a.m.

I admire how bluelight never lets facts get in the way of ideology. "the current system - obviously - isn't working very well" Actually, the current system is working very well. By what measure would anyone dispute this? High school graduation rates are at historical highs and they are near ...

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 10:32 a.m.

As Mr. Lilly knows, Seattle has already done this. The New School, now called Southshore K-8, is almost exactly this experiment. By the way, it worked really well. It showed that public schools can deliver excellent results, even with a challenging population, if they just had a lot more money. ...

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 10:28 a.m.

This might work as a challenge to the Gates Foundation to open some of their own schools and see how tough it really is. It doesn't really work as a solution to the District's capacity management problems. The district leadership aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but they don't ...

Posted Sun, Jun 5, 7:02 a.m.

There are a number of problems with the ethics in Seattle Public Schools, and this out-sourcing of investigations to the City will only help a little bit with one of them. The results of the SEEC's investigations will still go to the same District bosses who either did nothing or ...

Posted Tue, May 31, 7:17 a.m.

Public trust in the press is fairly low right now, primarily for these reasons: 1) The advent of overtly biased "news" services. FOX News is the best example, but there are others. This doesn't require explanation as everyone is familiar with it. It grew, I suppose, out of talk radio ...

Posted Tue, May 24, 6:32 a.m.

Those driving south on 99 will also have three choices: A. Pay $4 or $5 and go through the tunnel B. Drive about a mile east to I-5 and go through downtown for free C. Get off the 99 and make your way through downtown on surface streets for free, ...

Posted Tue, May 24, 6:29 a.m.

The main problem with the deep bore tunnel is that it just doesn't work. Without downtown on-ramps or off-ramps it is strictly a by-pass route. So drivers headed north on 99 coming towards Spokane Street will have three options: A. Pay $4 or $5 and go through the tunnel B. ...

Posted Wed, May 18, 6:31 a.m.

Let's remember that Dr. Enfield wasn't directly supervising Mr. Floe. All of her information about Mr. Floe's performance came to Dr. Enfield through the Executive Director of Schools for the Northwest, Ms Bree Duesseault.

Posted Mon, May 16, 6:58 a.m.

It's true. Those reasons don't add up. Dr. Enfield now denies that those are the reasons that Mr. Floe was fired. Apparently the real reasons are different but she can't discuss them publicly because personnel matters are confidential. Hmmm. Then why mention these reasons at all? Doing so created a ...

Posted Sat, May 14, 6:39 a.m.

A motivated student can wrestle an education away from any school, no matter how bad it is. No school, no matter how good it is, can impose an education on an un-motivated student. It seems to me that of the four elements of Ms Rogers' "Square of Effective Learning", it ...

Posted Fri, May 6, 6:30 a.m.

Wow! This article is nearly pure conjecture. I went through it three times and only found one slender statement of fact about Mr. McKenna's position on public education in Washington. Are you sure that you really spent time with him? Here's the one factual statements you shared: "he said our ...

Posted Thu, Apr 28, 5:32 p.m.

First, check out The NOVA Project. Second, consider the two models for educational structure offered this week at www.saveseattleschools.blogspot.com: Education Reform version and Professional Teacher version

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 8:41 p.m.

Mr. Robinson, I hope you start with yourself and butt out of Seattle Public Schools. Your voice has not been helpful, informative, or constructive.

Posted Mon, Apr 25, 8:27 p.m.

Rueven, your bio says that you're a wireless, software, and clean energy entrepreneur. In other words, you have no idea of what it's like to be managed by someone who has no idea about how your job gets done.

Posted Tue, Apr 19, 6:43 a.m.

Running for school board is a fine idea. Four years ago those same charter school advocates and Education Reform groups who have undue influence over the District contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of the four successful candidates. Until then, it was unusual for any school board ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 3:51 p.m.

The reason that the tax code includes a personal exemption for each dependent in the house is the same reason that the tax code includes an exemption for the taxpayer(s). It is because there is some absolute minimal amount of money needed to preserve life and that minimal amount of ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 1:27 p.m.

Mr. Lukoff, we can take it as given that children who cannot read have not be taught to read or have not had sufficient reading practice. Any part of that instruction and practice that they did not get at school is attributable to a gap at home. There. The attribution ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 10:29 a.m.

Those of you who can read should read this from the Washington State Constitution: It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex. That's the ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 10:21 a.m.

Benjamin Lukoff was lucky to have parents who taught him to read before he entered school. So was I. Not all children are as lucky. Since children don't choose their parents, they should not be punished for life for getting a family that doesn't teach them to read at home. ...

Posted Wed, Mar 30, 7:06 a.m.

BlueLight??

Posted Mon, Mar 28, 2:35 p.m.

Where does Ms Podlodowski live, and what color is the sky on her planet? Who - exactly - doesn't want children reading at grade level by the third grade? No one. Who - exactly - isn't doing their level best to get every third grader to read? No one. So ...

Posted Fri, Mar 25, 11:46 a.m.

I think the tunnel is stupid. Without downtown on-ramps and off-ramps it's just a tolled downtown bypass running close to a free downtown bypass (I-5). So it isn't surprising that I signed the petition to put the tunnel up to a vote. That said, I think the tunnel is inevitable ...

Posted Fri, Mar 25, 7:12 a.m.

BlueLight, we are all so pleased that you were not subjected to any indoctrination and can think for yourself. Thank goodness your vision was not narrowed and you can rationally consider possibilities outside the constraints of the status quo or any ideology.

Posted Fri, Mar 25, 7:11 a.m.

Go through all of the measures used by Seattle Public Schools and you will not see any that consider individual students. The District is focused, almost entirely, on schools. The District identifies "successful schools" and "struggling schools". Then the District sends help to the schools in the form of teacher ...

Posted Fri, Mar 25, 6:29 a.m.

I'm curious, BlueLight, about how your "school choice" idea would work. Let's say we had school choice. How would you deal with 2,000 students choosing Garfield High School or 700 students choosing View Ridge Elementary? The buildings do not have elastic capacities. Do you remember that we tried school choice ...

Posted Thu, Mar 17, 5:36 p.m.

This is a much more thoughtful perspective than we had seen previously from Mr. Robinson. Thanks for that. The solution to the academic achievement gap isn't difficult at all. 1. Identify the students who are working below grade level. 2. Give them the support they need to quickly catch up ...

Posted Thu, Mar 10, 10:13 a.m.

I suppose I understand Mr. van Dyk's faith in "leadership", but the superintendent, no matter how great a leader, isn't the person who teaches students to read or do long division. That work is done by classroom teachers. There's been a lot of nonsense talk about "teacher quality" by people ...

Posted Tue, Mar 8, 6:17 a.m.

Mr. Lilly is so right once again. Instead of focusing on the statistic (the achievement gap), focus on the reality: some students lack necessary skills. Once you do that, the solutions become obvious. We need to identify the students who are lacking the skills and get them the help they ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 4:59 p.m.

Kate Martin is right. The board is not kept in the dark; they choose to be in the dark. The Board had plenty of independent information that they chose to ignore. It came from well-informed members of the community. It was members of the community who pointed out the misinformation ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 4:44 p.m.

Hey, Knute, want to know how to get people to trust you? Be trustworthy. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Keep your commitments. Seattle Public Schools isn't trusted because Seattle Public Schools has proven itself not to be trustworthy. The District almost never keeps its commitments to ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 2:34 p.m.

As for governance in the School District, there can be none until we elect school board directors with vertebrae. Directors Sundquist and Martin-Morris must go. This fall will do, but sooner would be better. They still don't believe that they have any duty to oversee the District. They still choose ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 2:26 p.m.

The job of Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools is not an impossible job. Not at all. It is, in fact, a fairly simple job for any competent manager or administrator. Unfortunately, the public K-12 education industry does not develop competent managers or administrators. It is highly unlikely that we will ...

Posted Tue, Mar 1, 5:50 p.m.

By the way, I notice that Mr. Brewster doesn't provide any seat at the table for the community. That's a tragic oversight. As for Mr. Watson's contention, they are non-sense. The most important factor in education is the active involvment in the student's education by an adult in the child's ...

Posted Tue, Mar 1, 5:44 p.m.

I agree with #1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. Let's find some real, professional management for Seattle Public Schools. Let's bring in someone who understands how to run an organization with transparency and internal controls. Let's redefine the central office and strictly narrow the central administration's mission. As for the ...

Posted Sat, Feb 26, 3:07 p.m.

We are learning that the superintendent and the CFOO knew about the problems in this program. Not only did they not take appropriate steps to fix the problems, they actively worked to cover up. That is the real scandal. Watergate was just a small-time burglary until the White House started ...

Posted Thu, Feb 3, 8:02 a.m.

R on Beacon Hill wrote: "[i] In Seattle, too much activity of school board members is meddling and nit-picking in response to small groups of noisy parents and neighbors.[/i]" That simply isn't true. The current school board is totally un-responsive to the community. They take their orders directly from the ...

Posted Mon, Jan 24, 5:51 p.m.

Why do politicians propose sweeping reforms that lack detail and have no hope of gaining support? Is it just so they can later distance themselves from the (inevitable) failures of the un-reformed bureaucracies? Whom does that serve other than the politicians? Watch as the governor slashes education budgets and then ...

Posted Mon, Jan 24, 5:09 p.m.

Does anyone buy teacher39's claim that the Education Reform Movement is focused on early education rather than teacher contracts? Anyone?

Posted Mon, Jan 24, 5:07 p.m.

Wilbur_Watson writes that "the US is at the top of the global chart of money spent per child on K-12 education" I challenge the validity of this statement. The average spending per student in the US is seriously skewed by some students who are remarkably expensive to serve. Other countries ...

Posted Mon, Jan 24, 4:32 p.m.

The mission of the school district central administration needs to be severely narrowed and re-focused. The central office should handle the district's non-academic operations such as HR, communications, facilities maintenance, capital project management, food services, and IT. It should also take care of the central planning for capacity management and ...

Posted Thu, Jan 13, 12:53 p.m.

There are problems with our education systems, but the solutions will not be found in the teachers' contract. The solution will be found by identifying and addressing the root causes of the academic achievement gap. Surely everyone is for that, right? But neither the current school district administrations nor the ...

Posted Sat, Jan 8, 10:53 a.m.

I am father of two teenaged daughters. While some presume that presents challenges, it does not. I know - or can figure out - how to raise a daughter. My daughters are smart, funny, well-adjusted young women who make me happy and proud every day - and I tell them ...

Posted Fri, Jan 7, 5:52 p.m.

There are a number of issues jumbled up together here and none of them are answered by the extreme proposals from either of the polarized camps of thought on any of them. Yes, we want our children to master computational skills and the standard mathematical algorithms. And yes we want ...

Posted Tue, Dec 28, 11:55 a.m.

I would like to return to the core questions Mr. Royer posed: Why don't citizens trust the government? and What can the government do to restore trust? The answers are simpler than anyone wants to admit. The government isn't trusted because it has proven itself untrustworthy. It can restore trust ...

Posted Tue, Dec 14, 9:50 a.m.

The central administration of Seattle Public Schools does not function as it should. In an ideal situation, the District should allow academic freedom and autonomy to schools and teachers who are performing well. They should be monitoring the quality and efficacy of schools and they should intervene with support when ...

Posted Tue, Dec 14, 9:41 a.m.

I think we need to expand the definition of "college" to include all post-secondary instruction. Yes, it means 4-year universities and colleges, but it also means 2-year colleges, vocational schools, apprenticeships and more. That said, K-12 education is not intended to be vocational training. Neither, for that matter, is undergraduate ...

Posted Sat, Dec 11, 7:18 a.m.

It would be nice if the discussion of this situation stuck to the actual facts of the situation. Mr. Berger didn't know the facts before he spoke on the radio and it appears that he still does not know the facts - particularly if he is relying on media reports ...

Posted Sat, Oct 2, 12:59 p.m.

Almost none of the Education Reform's efforts actually address - let alone fix - the problems in US K-12 public education. Charter schools do nothing to fix bad schools, in fact, they make bad schools worse. Merit pay does nothing to replace bad teachers nor does it do anything to ...

Posted Mon, Sep 20, 7:09 a.m.

Good news, Djinn. Teachers are proud of the job they do, they don't mind a yearly evaluation, and they get yearly evaluations. It does happen. Djinn confidently states that there are far more bad teachers then there are excellent ones but also claims that there is no yearly evaluation for ...

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 9 a.m.

Here's an old joke. A man worked for years and years on a philanthropic project - to arrange the transfer of the money that the rich don't need to maintain their lifestyle the poor who need it. After years and years of work he declared that the work was about ...

Posted Thu, Sep 16, 8:05 a.m.

Mr. Startz writes: "Teachers and their friends have to realize that there is no public sympathy for keeping teachers immune from evaluation." Gee. That's probably why teachers are not immune from evaluation. Mr. Startz has bought the big lie that teacher job performance isn't evaluated. It is. Kinda shoots a ...

Posted Fri, Sep 10, 8:03 a.m.

The last question I asked is becoming, more and more, a question that concerns me deeply. How is it that the local media - the Times, the TV, Crosscut, Publicola, the PI, etc. - but mostly the Times as the dominant news source in the city, completely misses the story ...

Posted Thu, Sep 9, 12:48 p.m.

How does the local media continue to miss the real story about Seattle Public Schools?

Posted Thu, Sep 9, 9:17 a.m.

seattlecenter's anger is misplaced. It is the responsibility of the principal, as the teachers' supervisor, to identify and remove abusive or incompetent teachers. The presence of bad teachers is conclusive evidence of ineffective principals. Second, the new evaluation written into this contract should be the effective evaluation that you are ...

Posted Sat, Aug 28, 6:59 a.m.

There won't be a response from the Councilman, LeslieH. This was a drive-by.

Posted Tue, Aug 24, 6:27 a.m.

Then there is the turd in the swimming pool that no one wants to talk about: the provision in the District's proposal that allows the superintendent to over-ride any teacher's evaluation with her own - an evaluation that is not subject to appeal of any kind. How does that make ...

Posted Tue, Aug 24, 6:24 a.m.

Ack! What a typo! I meant to write "no one is suggesting that ineffective teachers NOT be dismissed."

Posted Tue, Aug 24, 6:23 a.m.

Let's be clear. No one is suggesting that teachers not be evaluated and no one is suggesting that ineffective teachers be dismissed. The discussion falls into two general areas. 1) The strength of the rationale for using student test scores as a part of teacher evaluations. There is neither evidence ...

Posted Mon, Aug 23, 9:29 a.m.

Councilman Burgess makes so many misstatements that I cannot believe he volunteers for this sort of abuse. "Response to the essay was mixed" No it wasn't; the response was overwhelmingly negative. You would think that a politician could count the vote. Oh... he didn't count the vote; he counted the ...

Posted Fri, Jul 30, 11:31 a.m.

Here's what I know and want to know about the tunnel: 1) The deep bore tunnel won't have downtown on-ramps or off-ramps. So where will the the volume of viaduct trips that start or end downtown go instead and what are we doing to improve capacity on those roadways? 2) ...

Posted Wed, Jun 2, 7:13 a.m.

In the end we are seeking accountability. Some, like Mr. Lilly, hope to find it through testing. The simpler answer - but more difficult path - is for the adults in the system to find the moral courage to do what's right. Everyone, from the school boards, to the superintendents ...

Posted Mon, Apr 5, 7:35 a.m.

Mr. Lilly is exactly right. The leadership of Seattle Public Schools sees only schools, not students. They review their numbers and find the schools that they think are struggling and then send help to those schools in the form of coaches to train the teachers. But it isn't the schools ...

Posted Sun, Mar 21, 11:34 p.m.

Also, with every single politician in Olympia claiming that they care deeply about education, who are the ones - yes, please name names - who are voting against fully funding public K-12 education. I can name one: Christine Gregoire.

Posted Sun, Mar 21, 11:31 p.m.

So if a Court determined that I was violating the state constitution, do you think they would give me six years to stop doing it? If I were breaking the law, would the Court allow me to continue breaking it for six years as a figured out a way to ...

Posted Sat, Mar 6, 9:02 a.m.

Stuka - THANK YOU! You wrote the best and most lucid explanation of what's wrong with the public sector and how to fix it that I have ever read. I'm going to keep this. More than that, I'm going to share it with others.

Posted Tue, Feb 16, 7:27 a.m.

For me, this is a prime example of what is most frustrating about our state government. Every one of the politicians in Olympia love to spout off about their deep commitment to K-12 education and how they want to provide our children with the best schooling in the world, and ...

Posted Fri, Feb 5, 12:52 p.m.

This case wasn't just about math pedagogy; it was also about how the Seattle School Board works and arrives at decisions. The Board, in their decision-making process, was arbitrary and capricious. Let's focus on that.

Posted Mon, Feb 1, 6:51 a.m.

Voting down the capital levy will improve things if the District comes back with a revised capital levy that focuses on the higher priorities.

Posted Wed, Jan 27, 10:08 a.m.

One of the biggest expenses in the BTA III levy is $27 million for heat pumps and high-efficiency boilers at six schools. This is a totally unnecessary expense. The energy savings will not begin to cover the cost of the work and equipment now at the schools is relatively new. ...

Posted Wed, Jan 13, 12:58 p.m.

Mr. Lilly writes: "The WASL and its ilk in other states set themselves up as 'standards' tests, aiming to glean from a kid's score the assurance that he or she has learned something in high school. We used to have a different system for that." We still do. It's called ...

Posted Thu, Dec 24, 10:56 p.m.

Either the author of this article did not exhaust her options or simply didn't write a complete description of the options she considered. There are, as others have mentioned, a number of different choices that should have satisfied - including Ingraham and Sealth (with IB), NOVA, Shoreline, and others. For ...

Posted Tue, Nov 10, 11:06 a.m.

When thinking of the costs of education it is not helpful to calculate the average spending per student because there are some students who are extraordinarily expensive to educate. So while $12,000 may be the average, it is by no means typical. The fundamental problem with the District is their ...

Posted Mon, Nov 2, 3:59 p.m.

The central administration of Seattle Public Schools is a textbook example of Parkinson's Law. The administration grows at a constant rate, completely independent of the body it administers. The administration has grown even as enrollment and the number of schools has shrunk. It is time for a re-definition and narrowing ...

Posted Tue, Oct 6, 11:38 a.m.

Mr. Lilly has nearly everything right in this informative article. He does a nice job of summarizing the history and the path that has brought us to where we will be this afternoon at 4:00. He is also correct in his analysis that once we are no longer distracted by ...

Posted Wed, Sep 23, 11:39 a.m.

The D has counted towards the 20 credits a student needs to graduate and it will continue to count towards the credit element of the graduation requirements. But there are graduation requirements other than credits. They include earning a certificate of academic achievement (passing the WASL), a culminating project, a ...

Posted Fri, Aug 7, 12:43 p.m.

For Mr. Van Dyk to say "I favored Patu because I admire her fierce dedication over a long period on behalf of kids coming up from the bottom. I think it important that the Board have such a member." would be equivalent to endorsing a former beat cop for the ...

Posted Wed, Aug 5, 10:56 a.m.

Mr. Van Dyk, Thank you for your many explanations. Could you also explain how you can vote for a school board candidate in district 5 and another in district 7? While you are voting in multiple districts, can you explain why Michael DeBell in district 4 did not earn your ...

Posted Fri, Jun 12, 11:59 a.m.

livfinne makes a common mistake by confusing "average" with "typical". While the state may spend, on average, $9,500 per student, that doesn't mean that the state spends that much on a typical student. The state spends a lot of money to educate a students with disabilities and much less on ...

Posted Thu, Feb 19, 11:48 a.m.

The tunnel can have two lanes instead of three because, without downtown entrances or exits, it will only need to replace the two-thirds of the trips on the Viaduct that are through trips - people bypassing downtown. So what will be available for the other 30,000 plus daily trips that ...

Posted Thu, Jan 29, 2:25 p.m.

If all Cheryl Chow is ever going to do is rubber-stamp whatever the staff recommends (in three years she has yet to vote against even a single staff recommendation), then why bother to have her in the job? Director Maier's amendment is only for students in closed programs - not ...

Posted Thu, Jan 22, 11:58 a.m.

I agree that Van Asselt should remain in place. It makes no sense to move it to within three blocks of Wing Luke and try to pump it up to over 600 students. It also squanders a K-8 building to put a K-5 school into it. A better solution would ...

Posted Thu, Jan 22, 11:45 a.m.

With or without a budget crisis, the District needs to manage its capacity. It needs to expand capacity where there is too little and reduce capacity where there is excess. The current plan does not adequately expand capacity in the northeast if it cannot find an acceptable new location for ...

Posted Mon, Jan 5, 1:37 p.m.

The plan is unduly complex. Something should be done - to add capacity where needed and reduce it where there is excess - but simple changes would suffice. Instead of asking Thornton Creek to simultaneously transform from a K-5 to a K-8, absorb two schools of new students, and relocate, ...

Posted Tue, May 27, 7:27 a.m.

Part of the problem: I am always bemused by people who complain about a problem at the same time that they contribute to it. Prime example: people in their cars in traffic who complain about traffic.

Posted Thu, Mar 6, 10:30 p.m.

RE: Viola!! LOL (Or as the French say, Voila!): Spike writes that the benefits of smaller schools are self-evident. No, they aren't. At least not in Seattle. The smaller schools in Seattle tend to be the lower performing schools. The most notable exceptions are Montlake and McGilvra, but I would ...

Posted Wed, Mar 5, 8:06 p.m.

RE: Viola!! LOL (Or as the French say, Voila!): There is nothing magical about small schools. The results at Rainier Beach, don't support the idea that small schools work; they do just the opposite - Rainier Beach is one of the lowest performing schools in the District and has been ...

Posted Tue, Mar 4, 8:52 a.m.

Where's the Accountability?: The Southeast Initiative, touted in the Times article by Emily Heffter and again here by Dick Lilly, was supposed to include an accountability element. The framework approved by the Board that authorized the Southeast Initiative included a long section on accountability that required the schools getting the ...

Posted Fri, Nov 9, 10:54 a.m.

Double standards at work - part 2: Another unsupported statement was his assertion that the $34 million that was overspent was "properly spent for school purposes". While this is likely true, no investigation was even done t o confirm it and it is unwise to state it as fact rather ...

Posted Fri, Nov 9, 10:53 a.m.

Double standards at work: There are a couple of double standards at work in Mr. Lilly's article. It is also rife with unsupported statements. The double standards begin with his suggestion that the decision by Directors Butler-Wall and Stewart not to seek re-election indicates that "something went wrong on the ...

Posted Wed, Oct 31, 2:36 p.m.

The Facilities policies are part of the problem: The effective working policy on facilities at Seattle Public Schools is to defer all maintenance until the structure is so decrepit that there is no option other than replacement. The District has a number of buildings which are essentially uninhabitable. They were ...

Posted Tue, Oct 30, 3 p.m.

RE: From A Student's Point of View: Annie, I think you just made the opposing argument's case. You just got done telling us all of the wonderful things that have happened at Garfield - WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE REMODEL. In short, you've told us that all of this success ...

Posted Mon, Oct 29, 12:12 p.m.

RE: Lazy Journalism: This is a good point. So where is the extravagance? It's there. Some of it is in the original designs - have you seen the Commons at Ballard High School? The African American Academy has amazing spaces and high end fixtures. It was built to hold about ...

Posted Sat, Oct 27, 5:29 p.m.

small correction: In his excellent comments - good point about the timing of the complaint - Ken Shear wrote "The School District could not at this point simply revise the whole plan as I understand it." Actually, regardless of what projects the District may describe in the days leading up ...

Posted Sat, Oct 27, 2:18 p.m.

Misplaced priorities: It's not just that so much is spent on the total renovations. Yes, that does seem wasteful by itself. But it becomes even more disheartening when you think of what other things could be done with that money. It couldn't be spent on teachers or other operating costs ...

Posted Wed, Sep 19, 10:24 a.m.

You tried to heal the wrong wound: Mr. Vance and his colleagues in the legislature saw that students were graduating high school unprepared for college or careers. They believed this was due to a problem in the schools, so they instituted reforms to try to hold the education community accountable ...

Posted Tue, Sep 18, 5:40 p.m.

RE: Simply not true: Students have not yet been denied diplomas through direct action by the state, but surely they will. Doesn't Mr. Vance contend that they should? As for right now, how many students have already dropped out specifically because they don't believe that they will ever pass the ...

Posted Tue, Sep 18, 1:15 p.m.

Accountability has come for some: Mr. Vance is correct that "we are still waiting for real accountability". In the interim, we have a warped version of accountability, one in which all of the wrong people are facing consequences. So far, the only people who have to suffer any consequences are ...

Posted Sat, Aug 18, 8:03 a.m.

RE: Seattle School Board Needs More Light & Less Heat: sarajane2h didn't put much light on the school board races. First, sarajane3h labelled a majority of the Board as "troublemakers" - good amount of heat with no light there. Second, sarajane3h continued the misinformation that Director Soriano joined in a ...

Posted Tue, Jun 19, 11:27 a.m.

Re-open Lincoln: Capacity needs to match demand. The district needs to re-open Lincoln as a smallish (800) comprehensive high school, probably co-located with Summit K-12. There is no need to wait for 2012. The District can use Wilson-Pacific or Jane Addams as the north-end interim site. Summitt K-12 needs a ...

Posted Tue, Jun 19, 11:19 a.m.

Predictability isn't always good: Of course there are conflicting goals! Otherwise the problem would be easy to solve this issue would have been handled back when Mr. Lilly was on the Board. Predictability itself has conflicting sides. Predictability has been promoted as a positive, but it is only a positive ...

Posted Sat, Apr 21, 5:33 p.m.

What leadership?: David Brewster wrote: The first surprise has been the performance of School Board President Cheryl Chow, the former teacher, principal, and Seattle City Council member who has proven to be a forceful leader. Ummm.... Did I miss it? What leadership has Cheryl Chow shown? Did she show leadership ...

Posted Sat, Apr 21, 2:57 p.m.

West Seattle Students Need an Advocate: Public school students from West Seattle need better representation in the District leadership. West Seattle has only one alternative school: Pathfinder. This school does a terrific job and has a fiercely loyal following, but the Distict can't (or won't) find a building for it. ...

Posted Fri, Apr 13, 5:04 a.m.

RE: hold the platitudes: Does Peter Maier's campaign have a web site where we can read this platform for ourselves? Here's a Seattle Times article that describes Mr. Maier's political chums. I notice that they supported Cheryl Chow's opponent. Some of the contributors to that PAC, along with Mr. Maier, ...

Posted Fri, Apr 13, 4:57 a.m.

Appoint the Board, Elect the Superintendent: I would be okay with an appointed Board if we could elect the Superintendent. Superintendent is the position with all of the authority. The Board can write policy, but they can't enforce it. All they can do is ask the Superintendent, pretty please, to ...

Posted Fri, Apr 13, 4:20 a.m.

RE: Soriano/Bass are part of problem: Please get the facts straight. Directors Bass and Soriano are not, and did not, sue the District. Please stop spreading this disinformation. You will not find any litigation anywhere that names either of them as a party to litigation. Director Soriano provided an affidavit, ...

Posted Thu, Apr 12, 5:28 p.m.

But did she say Yes?: I understand that they have offered the job to Dr. Maria. Did she say "Yes" or are we still waiting for the other shoe to drop?

Posted Wed, Apr 11, 9:59 a.m.

Assume good intentions: I am glad that Lynne Varner assumes good intentions all around. When she re-states Dr. Caprice Hollins' statement about Summer Vacation, it comes out clearer, more meaningful, and less objectionable. When she provides a sympathetic re-telling of the experience of affluent families at Madrona, their helpful intent ...