Think of the children! The fate of their education in Seattle's public schools is in your hands. Read up on each of the candidates in the 4 district positions to help narrow down the race in November. more ›

Test scores, taggers and terrible humans in today's news. Also, a gleeful reminder that we can soon put The Killing behind un. more ›

Last week, the State House released its proposed 2011-2013 budget, one that slashes $4.4 billion in spending from education and health care, sparking protests and outrage. Last night, the Senate's Ways and Means Committee released their own, and it doesn't look too good, either -- it cuts $5.3 billion in spending and, unlike the House's plan (which raises money through leasing out the state's liquor distribution), it does not include any plans for raising revenue. more ›

If you've been following the negotiations between the Seattle teachers union and the Seattle School Board over a new three-year contract, then you might be a bit confused, or totally clueless. Not to worry. The new contract, which the union voted in favor of yesterday evening, should make Seattle's teachers work a little bit harder, and we'll all be smarter for it (or Seattle's kids, at least). The new contract will implement a unique system to evaluate teacher performance and reward great teachers while flagging those who perform poorly. It's quite unprecedented actually. more ›

KOMO reports that UW is testing out the use of the Amazon Kindle in their classrooms this fall. The University's Computer Science & Engineering Department will give every CS&E graduate student a Kindle DX, which will replace textbooks and research papers in their first-year courses. Kindle-edition textbooks and other materials will also be given to them free of charge. Amazon's sending Kindle DXs to six other universities throughout the United States. UW will be the first to get the book-killers. more ›

First the Seattle Public School teachers put a spike in the heart of summer, by agreeing to a one-year contract (not ratified until Monday, August 31, kids, so get out there and lobby). Now Shoreline's teachers have reached a "tentative contract agreement," and will vote on it tomorrow. That leaves Kent facing a strike vote at 5 p.m. today. The teachers want smaller classes, better pay. When do they want it? Now! more ›

The P-I says that the Seattle school board voted to adopt (4-3) the Key Curriculum Press Discovering Mathematics textbooks series--for algebra, advanced algebra, geometry, pre-calculus and calculus classes across the district. (Statistics classes get an Addison-Wesley textbook.) more ›

• Feeling lonely? The Daily Weekly says Larry Phillips will email you if you email him. (Wonder if he'll send pics, too.)
• Publicola says Gregoire does not support a state income tax, so stop asking. Goldy at HorsesAss is not so sure he's entirely against the idea.
• Fourteen percent university tuition hike, anyone? The Capitol Record reports on why that might not be feasible.

The Seattle Times discusses how the planned Senate budget cuts "roll back much of the party's agenda." Publicola has four "angry press releases" on behalf of service workers, NARAL, low income housing, and childen's health. And Schmudget lays out the cuts in the areas of education and health, pointing out that some cuts are so deep, they effectively cut twice, by losing access to federal recovery funds. more ›

In announcing his run for mayor of Seattle [video], Michael McGinn wanted to say three things: schools, broadband, buses. But staying on message isn't easy when you have a whole press conference to fill, and McGinn, despite his Greenwood Community Council and Sierra Club past, looked like a rookie early on. He whiffed on what should have been softball questions in the Q&A: "Why are you running against Greg Nickels?" and and had no public safety plank. more ›

The School Board voted last night to approve proposed changes to school start times. In the fall, elementary schools will begin class at 9:30 a.m. and K-8, junior high, and high schools will begin at 8:15 a.m. We've heard from usually reliable sources both that kids learn better in the mornings and that mornings are bad for learning, so since that one's apparently still up in the air, we'll whine about what an ill thought-through decision this is with regards to working parents. more ›

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Their kids scored big fat zeros on the Washington Alternative Assessment System (WAAS) last year, and this year parents asked Green Lake Elementary special ed teachers Lenora Stahl and Juli Griffith not to put their children through an ordeal they say has unreasonable and inappropriate standards for students with special needs. more ›

INTERNATIONAL TIPPLE TASTING: As a Pacific Rim port, Seattle should really be more broadly acquainted with saké than it is. Enter tonight's premium sake tasting at Umi Saké House in Belltown, a Saké Nomi event designed to familiarize attendees with thirty of the world's finest (and in some cases, rarest) brands. You and your fellow fermented rice enthusiasts will be able to sample a saké whose brand hails straight from 1505 as well as an igloo-brewed variety called "Divine Droplets." Kampai! more ›

Back in early February, we were reporting on the education reform bill HB 1410 and the debate about the merits of the reformation. Then we asked you to lobby up--pro or con--because lawmakers were listening. Today Publicola has the news that HB 1410 has been tabled and a new, even more vague idea for a notion of education reform has "sailed out of Rep. Haigh’s education appropriations committee." Just to point up the Titanic/deck chairs angle for those of you watching from home, neither of the two bills had a defined funding source, which you'd think would be an important place to start in a state facing an $8 billion deficit. more ›

A teacher friend of ours, who is in fact National Board certified, is all hot under the collar about HB 1410 and SB 5444, two bills that are touted as steps toward education reform elsewhere. more ›

The Seattle school board voted last night to approve Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson's proposed list of closures, which means that a total of eight programs will be re-located or shut down completely. The following schools will close: Genesee Hill, T.T. Minor, Mann, Van Asselt, and John Hay the Old Hay building. In addition, the following programs and school entities will be discontinued: African American Academy, Meany Middle School, Cooper Elementary, T.T. Minor Elementary, and Summit K-12. Cooper Elementary's building will house Pathfinders K-8, displaced by Genesee Hill's closure. See the Seattle Public Schools press release for more detailed information about program relocation. more ›

Rainier Valley Post has a few reasons why it's wrong to close the African American Academy. (Sable Verity wholeheartedly disagrees.) West Seattle Blog was on the ball this afternoon and has an updated post about the school board's proposed amendments to what were supposedly the final recommendations for school closures. The board votes on the recommended list tomorrow. Not everyone was thinking about school, though. MyBallard, for instance, was contemplating cottage-style housing developments. And Central District News learned from SDOT that 23rd Avenue is in such bad shape, it will take more than the usual time and effort to repair it. more ›

OLD-TIMEY MONEY-SAVING TECHNIQUES: Channel your great-grandmother and learn how to use old-timey techniques to get more for your buck at the Redmond Whole Foods class on breaking down whole chickens. It's really not that hard, and home-made chicken stock tastes lip-smackingly bright and delicious. Knowing how to handle a whole bird will boost your sex appeal by 300 percent, we can attest. But don't take our word for it: go to Redmond tonight and see for yourselves. Call (425) 881-2600, ext 3, to reserve your spot. more ›

In just a few hours, the new state schools superintendent--a man named Randy Dorn--will announce his new vision for standardized testing in Washington. Dorn campaigned on the promise that he would revamp the public schools assessment strategy, replacing the often-criticized Washington Assessment of Student Learning with "a simpler, fairer test." So far, it looks like the 10 a.m. announcement will be related to his expected support of a bill before the state Senate this session that would create a three-part assessment system (including, yes, a "state-administered summative achievement assessment" of some kind) to replace the WASL. Fingers crossed that the new test and other measures will accomplish that perfect balance between tough and fair, and that Dorn can cut through all the politically correct educationese we find so repugnant to speak about our school systems honestly and directly. more ›

So Malcolm Gladwell shows up at Town Hall and asks the audience which talk they'd like: a long, in-depth talk with minimal Q&A; a medium-sized, generic talk with lengthier Q&A; or all Q&A. The event is sold out with people who have all paid $5 to hear Gladwell speak, but only three or four people raise their hands for the first option. Everyone else votes for the chance to hear themselves speak once Gladwell gets through with whatever he plans to go on about. more ›

SWEDISH SUGAR POP: Swedish songstress Lykke Li returns to Seattle to vamp and stamp and otherwise sex up her blend of hook-tastic bubblegum and Euro-artsong. Here's her video for her single "Little Bit," but we warn you that after listening to it, you will fall deeply in love with the very next person you see. That only lasts about 15 minutes, but trust us, it can get awkward. High-energy Britpop/electronica group Friendly Fires opens. This is definitely a dance-friendly evening. more ›

There are three weeks until Election Day, and three issues in our state's gubernatorial race (four if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. more ›

Pacific Northwest Ballet has been putting on a terrific series of educational events the last few weeks: there was the Twyla Tharp-narrated rehearsal of her two new works, and then Doug Fullington gave us firsthand foreign policy experience by showing us real Russian choreography. more ›

WAMU'S KRAUSS PLANT: Tonight's the night: some old dude named Robert Plant is appearing with the angelically voiced Alison Krauss. They're touring for the album Raising Sand, which Rolling Stone praised for its "relaxed, smoky harmonies and reverbed midtempo rockabilly." All ages. Or you could go see Great Big Sea with all these people. more ›

Most news reports and editorials that reference the striking Bellevue teachers list salary as the primary motivator for the strike, which is the easy play because it's always about money. Except when it isn't. The striking Bellevue teachers we've talked to (full disclosure: Seattlest's wife is a striking Bellevue teacher) list the current implementation of the centralized curriculum as the primary motivation for the strike. more ›

This test seemed so all-fired important at one point in our life. SATs: outdated? Insensitive to the strong creative potential of our students' delicate, possibly-bad-at-testing souls? A great idea? Regardless, way to go, Washington state seniors! You rocked that test. more ›

Last Friday we were at Shorecrest High School after-hours for "Coffeehouse," an open-mic put on by the school's literary journal Tattoo. It was our second time around, so we had a better idea of what to expect: the cafeteria was packed to the rafters. Seriously, Friday night and this is what the kids of today are up to? Near the end of intermission we were looking over the art gallery in the hall when this girl ran past us, calling to her friends, "Hurry, it's about to start again!" Which is the first time we've heard someone say that about an open-mic event when they weren't running away. more ›

What do you do with hardened, scary misdemeanor criminals when there's no room in the county jail? Create new programs that focus on counseling, job training, and other rehabilitative services? Feed cash to community centers and mentoring programs that help head off the problem before it starts? No, stupid, you build more jails. more ›

Get your name on the official list for Experience Music Project's 2008 Pop Conference, taking place in our very own Hendrix-drenched, spring-obsessed city from April 10–13. That's next weekend! This year's theme is "Shake, Rattle: Music, Conflict, and Change," and EMP has gathered over 160 writers, speakers and musicians to expound on the many facets of the subject. (The conference is completely, gloriously free.) more ›