Wow! If you haven't seen the report from Seattle Public Schools, take a look here (a word of caution, it is a pdf...). An interesting place to look for updates and commentary is at the Save Seattle Schools blog. In addition, Jessica Blanchard of the PI does good work, and her story is here.
From a district-wide standpoint, this is not simply the same old band-aid fix. This is yanking off the band-aid that was there, and doing some major reconstructive surgery. From a cost standpoint it makes sense to try to build the existing programs in modern buildings (some of the buildings being closed were not very good structurally- old as one measure). I worry about growing school size, as gone are the days of the 300-350 student school... My elementary school in CT was no more than 300, and the graduating 6th grade class was 35 kids... I worry about the disconnection with caring adults.
There are some curious moves to be sure... Summitt K-12 moving from the north to Rainier Beach?! My guess is there will be staunch resistance from North end parents. Closing Meany MS? How do you close a middle school, particularly when you have another middle school that is in the last step of AYP (Aki)? What does moving an APP program (Lowell) to 2 buildings in the south end mean? Is that like creating an upper and lower class in the same building, or will there be a common sense of community?
From a student teaching, soon to be job seeker's perspective: I don't really know what to think. I am not sure there is any job creation, likely not. But I also don't think there is any job reduction. Jobs are shuffled between buildings, and grade levels. There is a creation of a new north end elementary school, so perhaps some job creation (did you know that SPS had an enrollment increase for the first time in a decade?!). I'd prefer to work in the south end, but preferences are really out the window.
We are where we were yesterday... Is it bad to hope that people will retire, and ineffective teachers will leave the profession (or decide Seattle is not for them)?
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I've also been following the ongoing Seattle schools closure discussion, which really includes so many layers. It'll be interesting to see all this unfold. Thinking about community- how will these school communities adapt when moved to other neighborhoods/ buildings? Maybe there are potential opportunities for school communities to grow when put into a new neighborhood. In terms of Summit- I went there for middle school, in the building they are in now. Summit started out in a building in the central district and then moved north to a bigger building. Students came from a range of areas to that school, and while moving to the far south end would be frustrating for some families I think the bigger issue for Summit, is that they would have to share a building w RB highschool. The community fought for their own space and now?? Where is that balance between providing the best education for all students and the realities of funding???
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