If you walk into a doctor’s office and learn that your physician is board certified, this designation communicates something to you…even if at first blush you aren’t sure what it means. In the field of medicine, board certification is voluntary, is assessed against established industry standards (based on specialty as well), and is an widely accepted indicator […]
Last Friday I shared some of my evolving thinking around the No Child Left Behind replacement act, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Certainly there are valid criticisms of the law as written, but that doesn’t change this first key fact: When Our State Shifts Policy, Teacher Voice Will Be Key Believe it […]
More than half the number of people in Washington who actually vote consistently vote in favor of initiatives designed to support education and teachers. More than half the number of people in Washington who actually vote consistently vote in favor of initiatives for reducing or eliminating or restricting taxes. Some of those voters have to […]
Before morning recess on day two, the salaries and benefits for two experienced full-time teachers would be fully funded for the whole year. That was my first thought when I read that the Washington State Supreme Court is fining the State of Washington $100,000 a day for failing to establish an acceptable plan to meet the […]
By Tom White It looks like the lawmakers in Olympia have finally passed a budget. This came after a third special session, and it’s still not completely clear that they’re finished, since they haven’t decided how to handle the fact that they aren’t fully funding Initiative 1351. But let’s look at it anyway. First the […]
In southwest Washington, this is being referred to as a “Day of Action.” I previously shared my struggle with this particular action, and when it came time for our local to vote, I spoke in opposition of the Walk Out and voted along with 34% of my local against it. In a democratic system, though, […]
This is something I was hoping to go through my whole career without having to face. I am so incredibly torn over the issue of teacher walk outs or work stoppages in protest against the legislature’s non-support of public education. I understand that desperate times call for desperate measures, and that the goal is to […]
Recently a teacher came to my room asking for advice. She had a little girl reading well above grade level, and she wanted to know how she could address her needs. We talked about options, and I shared some of the materials I use. She left feeling like she could better meet the needs of […]
One year I team-taught in a school where I was one of two teachers for 25 fourth through sixth grade students! In that small class I could creatively meet the needs of a wide range of student abilities, from non-readers to nine-year-olds reading Shakespeare plays with me. By the way, my students who were non-readers […]
One thing I am constantly learning as I grow as a teacher-leader is that systems are all far more complex than they may seem from the outside. This week at the Washington Educator Conference in Seatac, I-1351 and the McClearly case have been frequent topics of conversation. In particular, I found AWSP’s position on 1351 […]