All of our kids, ready for life
Rise Up for Students is a blog advocating for racial equity and radical empathy in our schools, in Seattle and beyond
Four years ago, I wrote a weird essay about Seattle’s choice to hire Denise Juneau as superintendent of schools.
“I like this decision,” I wrote, “but it’s more of a long-term play than an immediate game-changer. And since our long-term plays have literally never worked, well, is this going to be different?”
Unfortunately, no.
Read MoreIt’s been hard to find the right words during this pandemic. And as a dad with four kids — two toddlers, a would-be first-grader, and a newly moody teenager — it’s been hard to even find moments alone to think about what those words might be, let alone to write them down.
But look at me now! Alone in front of a computer. Still, each time I start to write, I start to feel overwhelmed. There’s too much to try to figure out all at once.
Read MoreThere is a great deal of work to be done to ensure that the broader public education system is working for all students, and it will take time for changes in policy and practice to be implemented. But for families in communities who have students who have been underserved or failed by the traditional system — we cannot wait.
Read MoreIf the health and well-being of our community is a priority, the district must train staff on anti-bias, restorative discipline practices. And above all, the mental health of our community must be prioritized over any attempts to standardly assess, bridge learning “gaps” and return to status quo.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in celebration of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Trent and Ericka Pollard who are shaping the future.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Gary Ladd II who are shaping the future.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Sue Beyers who are shaping the future.
Read MoreBlack History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond, and recognizes the people like Dr. Keisha Sopher-Scarlett who are shaping the future.
Read MoreEden Mack has resigned from the Seattle School Board.
Mack posted her letter of resignation on Facebook today, saying she could no longer represent District IV because she could “no longer participate in the ongoing systemic dysfunction that is not serving the students and families of Seattle.”
Read MoreWe’ve had seven superintendents in Seattle Public Schools since 2000. We’ve proven to ourselves exhaustively that the next person (doesn’t matter who it is) will not be the one to save us.
We have to right this ship ourselves.
And so when I think about what that line in the sand would look like for myself and my kids — when I consider how I could throw everything I have behind this, once and for all — I have a question of my own:
Is it time to boycott Seattle Public Schools?
Read MoreBy Matt Halvorson
I’m not sure we need to retain Juneau, and I’m not sure we need to let her go. I just feel that it only makes sense to let Juneau go if we are fully committed to being this hard on every part of the System — only if we are finally we are committed to transforming everything — right now.
Read MoreThe Seattle School Board will decide soon whether or not to extend Superintendent Denise Juneau’s contract, which is set to expire next year, and the process has given rise to a storm of unexpected questions and controversy around a leader who had previously been seen as strong and under-appreciated.
Read MoreAdvocacy takes on many forms. As leaders within communities fight to have equitable representation for all children in schools, we have the power to stand behind them and demand authentic response and actions from school district leaders.
Read MoreIn case you missed it, there will be no police presence in Seattle Public Schools moving forward.
Following the lead of student activists, SPS ended the practice of having police officers — known as “school emphasis officers” — stationed in five middle schools. This announcement came days after Seattle Police used a middle school parking lot as a staging area for anti-protest response without permission
Read MoreIf you are a parent, George Floyd named you by name. We are on a path toward abolition. Consider that it took a Civil War to end chattel slavery, and that the Montgomery Bus Boycott alone lasted 382 days.
How committed are you to this? What will you do? And what will you keep doing?
Read MoreAs we consider how and when formal education will resume after this period of quarantine, we must ask ourselves: is what we are doing liberatory? Or is it oppressive?
Read MoreSeattle Public Schools announced that all high school students will receive an “A” in every class for the spring semester, a move that quietly eliminates — for the time being — one of the primary ways an unjust education system sorts and tracks our kids.
Read MoreHere we are, basking in the first fresh days of not only a new year, but a new decade. So, what better time than now to take a peek in the rearview mirror? Hindsight is 2020, after all.
Let’s revisit 2019 by taking a look back at the most widely read posts from the last year on the Rise Up for Students blog.
Read MoreThe Highly Capable Cohort (or HCC) program in Seattle Public Schools was created decades ago in an attempt to limit white flight from the district. It has been a driver of inequity in our school system ever since. This year, for instance, in 2019, Seattle’s HCC program is roughly 65 percent white. Less than 2 percent of HCC students are Black.
Suddenly HCC in Seattle’s schools is a topic of much conversation and much debate, because Superintendent Denise Juneau has proposed to do away with the highly capable cohort model entirely, shifting so-called “highly capable” students out of their segregated cohorts and back to neighborhood schools.
Read MoreEnjoy a recorded conversation between Stephan Blanford, former Seattle School Board rep, and Brandon Hersey, who was appointed last month to represent District 7 in Southeast Seattle.
Read MoreCheck out music from Matt Halvorson
