http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/microcosm-of-the-city-garfield-principal-navigates-racial-divide/
There are a lot of other interesting issues raised in the article but relevant to our focus is this paragraph:
"Part of the answer may lie in more money for counselors trained in dealing with trauma and for academic tutors. But Howard is no longer waiting. Next year he intends to abolish most out-of-school suspensions and, in response to a push from the faculty, cut honors history and English for ninth grade, chipping away at a system that traditionally tracks gifted middle-schoolers — mostly white — into Garfield’s Advanced Placement curriculum."
There have been whispers that this might be coming but as far as I can tell this is first official confirmation. (Why has this not been discussed in more normal channels?)
Assignment to the classes was not based on HCC eligibility but respectively:
English: "Students will be assigned based on their HSPSE test scores and their grades in 8th grade Language Arts."
World History: "Passing the Reading and Writing sections of the previous WASL exam and reading at or above grade level, or approval of History Dept Chair"
PTSA Email
Here's the email from the Garfield PTSA received today:Garfield HS PTSA
June 25, 2016
Dear Garfield Community,
As you may have seen, the Seattle Times published an article this morning about Mr. Howard and Garfield. The in-depth article addressed race and equity issues at Garfield and quoted a number of people, including Mr. Howard, the Mayor's education adviser, students and parents.
In the article, Mr. Howard says there are plans to make changes to the Honors Social Studies and Language Arts program for incoming ninth-graders. The PTSA is now engaging with the administration, teachers and parents to learn more about the plan. Specifically, we are asking for an implementation plan that addresses the timing and requirements to launch this change.
We are planning to have a meeting next week with the school to ask questions, share parents' concerns and learn about the preparations the administration and district has and is undertaking to make this change a success.
We appreciate that many of you have questions and concerns, and we would like to hear them. Please email or call Barbara or Sally with your thoughts. We will update you as we learn more.
http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/microcosm-of-the-city-garfield-principal-navigates-racial-divide/
Regards,
Sally and Barbara
sally_hulsman@yahoo.com 206.992.0924
bjkelley62@hotmail.com 206.349.1697
Garfield HS PTSA
Please treat each other respectfully and think before you post.
203 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 203 of 203I know you are irritated with us, Maureen, but I think it is reasonable to ask if the student had ever been in an HCC class or not when the family is making judgements about whether gen ed (or honors in name only) will be sufficient for the following year. I don't think it is necessarily accusing. HC is just a little vague- is s/he saying s/he is excited about a broader range of students than the student had access to in middle school or is s/he saying his/her student has been fine in gen ed all this time, and she was too in high school, so be quiet, it's fine.
Different points.
Personally I am still digesting that this is supposed to be fine because if the students are so gifted they should seek learning outside, go "deeper" elsewhere. Would we expect that of gen ed or special ed students? Wouldn't we just expect the class to give them what they need? Or at least purport to?
-sleeper
This discussion is revealing. The elimination of honors classes at Garfield isn't being done to help kids learn, it's being done to attack innocent HCC kids who are, through no fault of their own, being told that they are the root of the problems other kids have. Those who defend this proposal aren't talking about underachieving kids, because they don't actually care about them and because this isn't about them. Neither is this about student learning, as neither the teachers nor the parents supporting this idea have been able to explain how different learning levels will be accommodated - it's not even an afterthought. It literally doesn't matter to them.
There is no objection to this proposal that is deemed legitimate, because its defenders dismiss any criticism as coming from a place of racist privilege. Parents are now no longer allowed to advocate for their children's needs and if they do, they'll be gaslit as fragile or as hostile.
This proposal will be deemed successful as long as it blends all kids in one class. Even if advanced kids and underachieving kids don't have their learning needs met, it won't matter, because their teachers are saying that those needs don't count and are not relevant. That's a pretty horrifying development and one that should scare every parent in SPS - especially parents of color, who are being told that their kids should be denied the advanced classes they'll need to get into college.
Madness
I'm closing this off due to the high number of comments.
You can continue discussing here:
http://discussapp.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-number-of-comments-has-grown-to-be.html
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