AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE: Official state hearing for what would be West Seattle’s first charter school

SUMMARY: Twenty people spoke tonight at the only local hearing the Washington Charter School Commission will have for Summit Public Schools‘ proposal to open West Seattle’s first charter school in a supermarket-turned-church building in Arbor Heights. Only one was a charter-school critic. Another voiced some skepticism. The other 17, including Summit employees and even a recent graduate from a Bay Area Summit school, voiced strong support. The speakers were chosen in a drawing; when they were done, time remained, and many more numbers were called, but almost all those ticketholders seemed to have vanished. Meantime, the commission will make its decision in mid-August and is still taking written comments.

Below, our as-it-happened coverage of tonight’s meeting:

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6:12 PM: We’re at what will become, if the state Charter School Commission approves, the home of the first charter school in West Seattle, where three commission members are in attendance for an official public hearing/forum on the proposal. Summit Schools, a California-based charter operator, wants to open a middle-/high-school campus at 9601 35th SW, just purchased by a charter-development firm from Freedom Church (which is leasing back the space until the project gets under way). We’ll be reporting live as the hearing goes.

Joshua Halsey, executive director of the commission (whose members include West Seattleite Steve Sundquist, former member of the Seattle Public Schools board), has just welcomed attendees and explained the process, that the commission will vote to approve or reject Summit’s application in mid-August. Two other commissioners are here, including Trish Millines Dziko, who leads the Technology Access Foundation, which has its headquarters in White Center.

Halsey says speakers will have up to 2 minutes each (longer if they need translation services). A stenographer is here to record the comments. A rough estimate of the crowd? Maybe 100 people, seated in the Freedom pews. Written comments are being accepted, by e-mail and postal mail, between now and July 31st, Halsey says.

And with that, Jen Davis Wickens, Summit’s chief regional officer for Washington, begins her presentation. (We spoke with her for our most-recent story on the proposal, which we’ve been covering since the first of the year, after finding out about it via an application in city Department of Planning and Development files.)

She first shows, on the big screens here in the cavernous former supermarket, a shot from “signing day,” a celebration of college acceptance among Summit schools.

(99 percent of this year’s Summit seniors were accepted to “a 4-year college or university,” according to a slide later in the presentation.) As she had told us in our interview earlier this month, all Summit students are on a “college track.” To go over what that means, she hands the microphone over to Greg Ponikvar, who, if the charter is approved, would lead the West Seattle school.

He talks about the curriculum weaving different subjects – math and science, for example – together. And he discusses the “personalized learning plans” that Summit students receive. The content, he adds, “are organized along the lines of the Common Core subjects.” He says that if attendees visited Summit’s California schools – they have none open in this state yet, though two are set to open next month, in Tacoma and in Seattle’s International District – they could ask about a “growth mindset,” a phrase he says every student knows. And he explains the philosophy of a mentor for each student (one mentor per 18 students, Wickens had told us). Finally, he explains Summit’s “Expeditions” program, which he led, 18 weeks of immersion in an “elective or enrichment … to tap into students’ passions.” In California, they offer more than 45 topics, Ponikvar says.

6:35 PM: Summit’s presentation just ran out of time, after barely 15 minutes. Next, Halsey says those who wished to speak were given a number, and they randomly chose 20 numbers.

First to speak, Sili Savusa, from the White Center Community Development Association, saying she’s talked with Summit leaders about the possibility of White Center students going here. She is a former Highline Public Schools board member. “Parents want choice,” she says. “… The thing I want to be honest about is that, when you have charter programs, I don’t want it to take away all the high-achieving kids out of the public schools … (This) is about education. We need to do this together. Our kids deserve this.” She says charters and regular public schools need to collaborate/cooperate.

Next, Tom Franta, CEO of the Washington Charter School Association, saying he’s here to express full support for the Summit program, and that he sees Summit as an important partner in the launch of charters in our state. He points out that “1 in 5 Washington students does not graduate on time” and says that’s why Summit’s methodology is needed. He calls Summit “a national leader.”

Third speaker, Michael Orbino, a Summit Public Schools board member in Washington, says he grew up in West Seattle and went to Sanislo Elementary, and then says he went through nine other schools before his family found another school district (unnamed) that was appropriate for him. “So this is personal for me.”

Fourth speaker identifies himself as a parent (hard to hear in here, with children playing in the back of the room), saying he was looking at West Seattle High School for his daughter, then heard about Summit, and liked its project-based curriculum, so they pursued it and were accepted.

Fifth, Chris Korsmo from the League of Education Voters, says she is here as a parent, and a West Seattleite. Her son goes to nearby Arbor Heights Elementary. She says this location excites her because it is on (almost) the White Center/West Seattle border, which means the Highline/Seattle districts’ border. “Every one of our kids deserves the opportunity to be one of the 100 percent who get the chance to change their lives, change the trajectory of their family’s lives, (by going) to college.” She looks forward to her son, going into 4th grade, then into Summit for middle/high school.

Sixth, Lindsay Hill, from the Raikes Foundation, says she believes in neighborhood schools and in “high-quality options for all our kids.” She says she is a resident of South Seattle and was the only family on her block to choose the local Seattle Public Schools elementary. She asks the commission to approve the school “for West Seattle.”

Seventh, a woman who says she founded PRIDE Prep, a charter school in Spokane, authorized by the public-school district there, not by the state. She says PRIDE has received a lot of training from Summit.

Eighth, a man named Raul who says he’s from 92.7 FM radio (speaking in Spanish and translated), saying they’re working with Summit and that they’re in White Center, to support the Hispanic community as well as the rest of the community: “We’re here because we believe in education and that we do believe there is a better future, that we can truly bring an impact to society if we are educated.”

Ninth, Kim, who says she will have a child in the Tacoma Summit school this fall and is looking forward to it because she believes his voice and hers will be heard.

Tenth, Laura Rodriguez, who says she is a Summit employee and parent who works from Tacoma. “I have to be honest, a few months ago, when I heard of Summit, I didn’t know much about charter schools,” but she “fell in love with the school and the model” when she went to tour Summit in the Bay Area. She expresses enthusiasm for the area, though referring to it as White Center (this location is in Arbor Heights).

Eleventh, Tiana Lopez, who says she is a Summit employee as well and recently moved here from San Diego, and is the parent of a daughter who recently graduated from a “Summit-type model” of school. She speaks of the importance of the “cognitive skills” on which there’s a focus.

Twelfth, Audrey Gomez, who says she is a founding teacher for one of the Summit schools that’s about to open, and speaks of the importance of teacher diversity. (Earlier, it was noted that Summit so far has hired a teaching staff that is 50 percent of color.) She says she is most excited about Summit because “it has no tracking – all students are held to the same and very very high standard.”

7:06 PM: Thirteenth, James Heugas, director of facilities with Washington Charter Schools Development, which bought this location and will develop it for Summit. He says he is a West Seattle resident and has built many charter schools but is excited finally to be an “internal stakeholder.” He offers high praise for the Summit team members with which he’s worked, and says it’s important to have choices – something he says he didn’t have, going to school in another country.

Fourteenth, a woman who says she is a lifelong West Seattleite with daughters in private schools because she felt “they didn’t have a choice … didn’t have the opportunity I would like them to have.” She recalls having gone to West Seattle schools, including Madison, which at the time had 1,000 students, “too many” in her view. “I would love to see my daughters have the opportunity, growing up on the ‘wrong side of West Seattle,’ which doesn’t exist except when it comes to boundary lines … have the chance to be nourished and fostered and cared for.”

Fifteenth, Colleen Oliver, who says she is here as the Sheri and Les Biller Foundation director: “We support quality public education … whether it’s a district school or a charter school they’re all public … and we believe that we can never have enough high-quality schools.”

Sixteenth, Julie Ortiz, a member of the first graduating class at a Summit school in the Bay Area: “I was asked to reflect on (that) … I connected with the teachers very well … Summit has a quality education, but what’s the (point) if you’re not comfortable at your school?” She grew emotional, saying that the mentor with whom she worked was a big reason why she was comfortable. “I really miss it, that’s why I’m (crying),” she apologized, continuing with the help of notes on a laptop, summarizing it as an “unforgettable experience … I hope others can experience it as well.”

7:15 PM: They’ve gone through all the speakers whose numbers were called and are now calling other numbers – but after dozens more numbers were called, only one more person has come up, a man who says he works for an independent school, which he acknowledges will get competition from Summit, and wants to know how the individualized plans will work for students with different learning needs – “how do you (ensure they move ahead) if there is no tracking?” Next, Nancy, who says she is an Arbor Heights resident and a parent of a fifth grader who is glad for the option, because he otherwise would have to go to a “giant public school” or private school, or outside the district.

Next, Rachel Pelander, who says she too is a parent, and has several concerns about the public-school system – her children are “very different learners,” in some cases requiring that they “work very hard as a family to compensate for (their challenges.” The test-driven system, she adds, brings an artificial pressure, “and it’s heartbreaking to see your second- or third-grader in a panic before school” because of a testing day in which a high score is expected. She also is concerned that a love of learning is not cultivated in regular schools. She concludes that she has many questions about the curriculum and how the classes are structured, and is hoping for a chance to learn more.

Next, a man who is the first person with criticism – he says he’s a Highline teacher and that he believes Summit is making promises on which it can’t deliver, and that its lower class sizes “are at the expense of local taxpayers.” He says their system also equals “taxation without representation” because Summit is not accountable to local taxpayers, and has its own board rather than being accountable to community oversight. He also alleged that the people who didn’t show up when their numbers were called was proof that Summit had stacked the deck with speakers. “Our community deserves better than this corporate sham – please vote against this.” While the pro-Summit speakers drew strong applause, he drew a bit of applause from somewhere in the back of the room.

No more speakers – though more numbers were called – so Summit gets five minutes to make a closing statement, which will conclude the hearing.

But first, commissioner Millines Dziko has a question: She wants to know if the community members who help with teaching the “Expeditions” are paid, and how they are found. “We can hire and pay to bring them into our schools,” replied a Summit rep, adding that some internal teachers also are used to teach these. He then says in summation, “What I heard is there’s a community here who wants a school just like this … we have spoken with hundreds of parents in the community … for our first two schools, we had more than 400 applications …” He recaps more of the high points, and then goes on to mention that Ponikvar, who’s been with Summit for seven years, will spend the next year getting to know the community (assuming the charter is approved). He declared that Summit believes it’s “part of a public-school solution … part of a larger public-education reform …” and he mentions that Summit wants to partner with districts and with other charters who can “take anything we’re using and use it for free.” He mentions stats that Wickens had told us, 82 percent students of color in the first classes at the ID school, 78 percent in Tacoma, and says that’s important.

And Halsey says the forum is over, reiterating that they’ll take written comments until July 31st. (Here’s where to send yours.) The commission’s meeting on August 13th will be at the Georgetown campus of South Seattle College. You can read Summit’s full West Seattle application – 400+ pages – here.

POSTSCRIPT: The first state-authorized charter school in Washington opened in Seattle last year. Six more, including Summit’s first two, are opening this fall. Washington voters approved charter schools in fall 2012, after saying no to three previous proposals. The measure would permit up to 40 to open over the span of five years.

55 Replies to "AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE: Official state hearing for what would be West Seattle's first charter school"

  • miles July 21, 2015 (6:38 pm)

    The slowly but surely trend of the (not so) fringe (now) not funding and supporting public schools was and is why we are on this slippery slope.

  • AH-parent July 21, 2015 (7:19 pm)

    Interesting how most of the speakers are pro-charters. We’re they hand-picked to speak?

    • WSB July 21, 2015 (7:51 pm)

      I’ve never seen anything like that – speakers drawn by number, and then after the first group of those called, almost no one was still there – this wasn’t a long meeting, not even an hour and a half. But toward the end it was, “anybody else?” and that was it. Since this is the first proposal for West Seattle, this is the first time I’ve been to a forum like this, so I have no context for whether the “public comment” at other hearings has gone the same way.

  • Evergreen July 21, 2015 (7:57 pm)

    I know many excited parents who want this option for their kids. Glad Summit is coming to West Seattle. If they succeed as is anticipated, hopefully their practices will infuse into the 2 WS high schools. Diversity and low SES are no longer excuses for substandard education and poor outcomes.

  • Miles July 21, 2015 (8:08 pm)

    “Greg Ponikvar, who, if the charter is approved, would lead the West Seattle school “talks about the curriculum weaving different subjects – math and science, for example – together. And he discusses the “personalized learning plans”

    Why not have the public schools teach all the subjects with qualified teachers in each area and let the students do the weaving…oh yeah, that would require more public funding…….lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

    Greg looks like a used car salesman…..

  • Josh July 21, 2015 (8:27 pm)

    I like it for one reason: I hope it spawns changes around the ugly intersection. Maybe a coffee shop or something other than a pot shop!

  • Greg July 21, 2015 (8:30 pm)

    I was the last public speaker. The reason no one else came up is because summit signed up dozens to speak who had no intention of speaking so they could get all the speaking places to prevent public comments. Their handpicked speakers didn’t eat up enough time so a few community people were able to talk. This school utterly lacks integrity and character. If you want proof of how much they truly value community input you now have your answer.

    • WSB July 21, 2015 (8:54 pm)

      Thanks, Greg, I’m sorry I didn’t catch the name. As noted, a preponderance of speakers listed affiliations, and so I was able to turn up spellings via Google, otherwise this would be nameless in its entirety. – TR

  • G July 21, 2015 (8:58 pm)

    Charters are a well established and generally accepted part of the educational landscape in California; they are not some educational “one-night stand,” so to speak. They may not be for everyone and are not perfect, but their approach to a curriculum is refreshing and in some ways meets the criteria mandated by the State of WA better than public schools. Moreover, charter schools are better able to maintain discipline, a big problem in public schools where teachers are literally afraid to enforce rules or discipline kids.

  • Greg July 21, 2015 (9:04 pm)

    G,
    I’ve taught in Highline for the past 18 years and you are off the mark about public schools. In fact the evergreen and tyee campuses already do just about everything summit promises. Also, there is nothing public about summit other than that they take our tax dollars and take away our voice. It’s a corporate sham funded 18 different ways by billionaires and right wing foundations. Follow the money.

  • au July 21, 2015 (9:15 pm)

    wow. what’s an ‘internal stakeholder’? how is it that near half of the speakers were financially (or one extremely emotionally) affiliated with this organization?

    this sucks that public tax dollars will be going to a ‘a leading charter management organization’ based in California. Check out their board of directors, impressive list of venture capitalists and such, nice, although i’m not sure how that will really work out down the road. maybe i’m just overly cynical but just in case I expressed my disapproval to the Charter School Commission.

    I will have to say though that Summit has an extremely slick website. The first thing that popped into my mind after combing their site was, wow! this seems too good to be true,

  • Melissa Westbrook July 21, 2015 (9:16 pm)

    First, that “99%” of Summit students going to college – the question is what was the freshman size and what was the senior size and who made it all the way thru? It’s easier if you weed out less motivated students.

    Chris Korsmo’s org, LEV, are huge charter supporters and, in fact, there’s been talk at Arbor Heights that some may be trying, under the charter law, to flip that school to a charter. Not good.

    Hill is the former region director for Teach for America which serves mostly charter schools (and TFA has gotten almost no traction in the Puget Sound region to the point where the UW College of Ed program for TFA is running in the red).

    As for the Summit grad, was she paid to come? I ask because other charter applicants have flown in teachers/parents/students and paid for their stay, etc.

    As for the parent who worries about testing, you can continue to worry. Charters have to give ALL the same state tests that other public schools do.

  • AmandaKH July 21, 2015 (9:25 pm)

    Thank you Melissa. I know you are a tireless activist for our kids and schools, and your opinion (in My opinion) carries a lot of weight.

  • Ron Swanson July 21, 2015 (10:58 pm)

    Good to see we’ve got real publicly funded options coming. SPS is one of the most dysfunctional organizations around.

  • Lynn July 21, 2015 (11:43 pm)

    So Mr. Ponikvar didn’t mention that the “Expeditions” leaders don’t have teaching certificates? Charter schools are required to hire certificated teachers and provide the same minimum 180 days of school as public schools. Yet kids at Summit Charter Schools spend 18 weeks of the school year without actual teachers. How would this go over at Chief Sealth or West Seattle?

    Melissa,

    Thanks for pointing that out about Arbor Heights. I’d like to hear how people living in the neighborhood feel about losing their local public school now that it’s finally being rebuilt.

  • G July 21, 2015 (11:48 pm)

    Greg,

    If we followed the money it might lead right back to the SPS who – as long as we’re being cynical and assigning nefarious motives – might fear having to share part of their funding with charters; in my opinion, this is less about educating kids, and more of a fight for territory and money. Perhaps a sad commentary, but this is what I believe is the case, dedicated teachers notwithstanding.

  • JanS July 22, 2015 (12:33 am)

    money is needed in SPS…it’s underfunded…so, yes, I can see where they’d be worried about having to share the money. So, someone please explain to me the difference between a charter school and a private school, as I understand the charter school does not have to accept everyone who applies , up to their capacity, but can reject kids if they feel that they are low performers. Thank you.

    • WSB July 22, 2015 (12:48 am)

      Not true that they do not have to accept everyone who applies, according to our interview with a Summit exec and more importantly this line from the charter law (Initiative 1240)

      ” (iv) Require that public charter schools be free and open to all students just like traditional
      public schools are, and that students be selected by lottery to ensure fairness if more students
      apply than a school can accommodate;”

  • JanS July 22, 2015 (12:36 am)

    Also, why arer so many of you so excited about giving public funds to Charter schools, yet you complain about more money going to public schools? I don’t get it.

  • Greg July 22, 2015 (6:24 am)

    Charter schools in Washington do have to accept everyone who applies until they hit their cap. If they have more applicants than spaces they need to define a system for how to choose. Summit says it uses a lottery system.

    The major difference between charters and actual public schools is that charters get tax payer money but have their own appointed school board. In summits case the board had no real authority anyway since the summit bylaws as outlined in the rfp don’t give them any actual power. So in essence they appoint their own watchdogs and then leave them tied up in the backyard.
    G- your comment that “if” we followed the money we’d find that sps is secretly finding charter schools is absurd.

    What if you actually followed the money? Who donated the most money to the charter school ballot initiative? Who is finding the shell company that bought the land summit will be on? Who is paying for the new building summit will lease on that land? Who has made donations to summit #2 to the tune of millions? I can guarantee you it’s not sps and it certainly isn’t Highline.

    If you think spa is bad imagine what they’d be capable of without public oversight or accountability.

    ?

  • anonyme July 22, 2015 (7:11 am)

    If the lottery is run anything like the drawing for speakers at the meeting, there is little chance that student selection will be anything resembling free or open. This whole thing reeks of snake oil.

    And if charters attempt to take over Arbor Heights, you can count on a fight.

  • Community Member July 22, 2015 (8:41 am)

    At future meetings, the Charter Commission needs to manage the speaking slots. Inviting the public to speak is an important part of the process as defined by Washington State Law, and the public needs to have confidence in that part of the process.
    .
    Stop being so impressed by the fact that they get their students accepted to 4-year colleges. Any school can do that. Note that they are NOT saying that the students attended the schools, or that the families could afford the tuition.
    .
    For example, in this state, you have schools like The Eastern campus at Tri-cities; it’s a new program and looking for students. Any Seattle high school grad will be accepted.
    .
    I am not against charters in general. But when I attended a Summit informational meeting, I was encouraged to sign -without reading – a form that was asking the commission to approve Summitt and saying I had children I wanted to enroll. This was dishonest, and raises my suspicions that Summit is/will manipulate numbers implying public support.

  • Greg July 22, 2015 (9:15 am)

    Anon you ate thinking just like I was thinking. If the cheat at a publicly held forum run by an outside public commission, what will they do at their own forums? Can you trust them not to cheat when reporting their “data”? When something sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true. They said they guarantee college acceptance for 100% of the students who enroll at summit #2. How can they possibly make that claim. As noted above in another comment their claim that 100% of their students in California get accepted to college must have a lot of fine print attached. This was a sales pitch by a private corporation funded by a few exceptionally wealthy people. The best way to shut them down is for no one to enroll.

    More info on charters at https://news.vice.com/article/the-free-market-isnt-very-good-at-running-schools

  • Edna K Westerman July 22, 2015 (9:29 am)

    People, do your homework. These Summit schools are not here to help students or families. Read the comments from a parent and a student below. All you have to do is look — these schools are based on greed. Follow the thread back to see who is operating and you’ll find the answer. The longer comment below from a parent in March of 2014 but first a shorter one from a student who attended one of the Summit schools…

    As a student at summit charter school in san jose, it is terrible the things we go through. All unseasoned teachers. I have started losing my education since they rolled out the “go at your own pace” learning last year. Terrible things.
    ————————-
    As a parent of a Summit Public Schools charter school student (north of San Jose) I strongly caution any parent considering sending their child to a Summit high school as things currently stand. If you are hoping to transfer in to a junior or senior opening (there are likely plenty of openings due to attrition), for the sake of your student, find a predictable school with a stable teaching model where your student can focus on studying without having to learn how to overcome all the challenges of the “Blended Learning System”.

    To clarify “Summit Public Schools” (SPS) is the independent overseeing organization which manages/presides over the (currently) 6 charter high schools, include Summit Public High School, Everest Public High School, Rainer,… It decides the overlying initiatives, infrastucture and lay of the land for the individual charter schools.

    The blended learning environment suggests a variety of learning or teaching approaches and is largely a misnomer. The core academic teaching curriciulum is delivered in all on-line media at my child’s school, i.e. slide presentations (like a PowerPoint), Google docs to read, YouTube video’s, and links to other web-sites for further research. A more honest name would be “online multimedia learning system”.

    We were told the radical drive toward this new revolution since the previous years (my child had solid grades from the prior 3 years) was due to students leaving high school without being four-year college ready. Sanity check: this Blended Learning Environment is perfect prep for an online degree, but not for a four-year college.

    Granted, there are some good things happening. These are mostly exceptions to SPS’s wishes. One teacher bravely delivered in-person lectures, workshops, etc. in my child’s entire academic career this subject has been an ongoing struggle until this year. Now this subject is by far my teenager’s favored and most successful subject. We applaud the teaching model demonstrated by this fearless teacher. Another teacher returned to giving in person lectures/workshops (as in a traditional high school class) a few months ago; after 5-10 of these, they’re back to the blended learning system again for that subject. The other subjects are all ‘taught’ 100% via the ‘blended’ learning system.

    The basic publicized philosophy behind charter schools is valid and good: challenge the traditional public high-school status quo by offering a high quality educational alternative to classic (large) public high schools. The intent was to raise the bar on education standards on offer to the public introducing healthy competition for regular public high schools to encourage positive change.

    However, prior to the advent of this new system, the students loved their schools their teachers, and had a real sense of ownership in their school.

    Some key changes you need to know about when the Blended Learning Environment was introduced:
    -There are three types of work to be done: 1. Basic curriculum modules (“Power Focus Areas”, all content (playlists) are delivered online, and an online assessment taken to ensure understanding); 2. Project work (often group-based); 3. Additional curriculum modules (“Additional Focus Areas”, same as basic but more challenging content)

    The ways this actually plays out is the student must pass all Basic content assessments at 70%. This is mandatory and half of the requirement to achieve a C- grade. This means re-doing playlists and re-taking the assessment for the same module over and over again, until they achieve a 70% passing grade. If your child passes on the first or second attempt, it is productive and reasonable. However, if your child is passing after between 4 to 10 attempts (common) it is taking them 3 to 4 times as long to achieve that most basic of passing grades.

    Projects are supposed to take up 70% of the students’ time, but with so much effort required to pass the basic modules there is little time to do this. Projects must also be passed at 70% as the other half of the requirement to attaining a C- grade for the subject for the year. For some it is taking 70% of their time to pass the content assessments for the Power Focus areas alone.

    Additional focus areas also have assessments and contribute toward raising your grade off the C- floor. A higher than 70% score on a project also contributes to a higher than C- grade.

    The “pioneering” CEO of SPS is dangerously out of touch with reality, out of touch with what our students at the schools governed by SPS have gone through this year, and engaged headlong on a mission which correlates less with the success of the SPS schools’ students and more with her own political success. She is absolutely resolute and unwavering from her vision. Distraught students, high attrition numbers, letters of complaint, student petitions, innumerably parental visits with principles, and student’s failures and need to repeat a year cannot sway her.

    Shenanigans? Advertising for the forthcoming year’s freshman intake has been focussed on the more prestigious neighboring cities of Menlo Park, Palo Atherton and Atherton, and Portola Valley, while ominously avoiding the less affluent Redwood City, East Palo Alto.

    SPS’s CEO visit’s each school to meet with parents. The school’s each have tremendous challenges with the delivery of the new curriculum, delivery systems, and the challenge of how to learn from the new system. Each school is painted as the “only school” under the SPS umbrella with any issues. All the others are fine, why are you having problems.

    Most revealing of all. SPS’s CEO told my sons school that she had a child at the SPS charter school called Summit Public High School. She did not tell us that her child’s school had only a partial “light version” of the Blended Learning System and was significantly supplemented by classic teaching, and that our school had the full on no-warning full Blended Learning System implemented.

    Most distressing of all for the future of the schools and it’s current students who will return next year… My child’s school has the most amazing and credentialed teaching faculty you ever saw in a public high school, with 75% of the teachers having graduated from Ivy Leagues schools. Until this academic year, the teaching quality was absolutely amazing, inspired, and the administration had proudly told students and parents alike how idyllic and forward looking their teaching model was. Last summer almost everything changed. Does this mean that everything they had believed they were working toward prior was wrong or misguided? We’re just not understanding. Teachers seemed active, engaged and engaging ir not a little overworked with the high demands of their jobs. Now most of their in-class time seems to be spent ushering and ensuring people are on the expected web-page. If I had a $150k student loan hanging over me from my Ivy League education, I would probably want to be putting my abilities and experience to better use, more actively engaging in teaching my students than this. How much attrition of these excellent teachers should we expect at the end of the current school year?

    sincerely,

    A now struggling parent–previously blissfully happy with the prior three years at the same SPS school.

  • Terri S July 22, 2015 (9:43 am)

    If you want to know how ‘well’ charter schools function, check out Diane Ravitch’s blog, which aggregates literally thousands of instances of problems with charter schools throughout the country. Makes for very sad reading.

  • G July 22, 2015 (9:48 am)

    Greg,

    And who is funding the “hit” on charter schools? Look at the money pouring into a massive campaign to discredit charter schools in a negative light. Who is funding it? Teacher’s unions. Throw more money are education? Study after study has shown that more money does not result in better performance; many countries spend less per student and get better results. Yes, some are uneasy about transparency but charter schools don’t operate in a cloistered environment, hid away from public purview, parents will be giving ample feedback, and I assume if someone wanted to walk in and make an unannounced visit they could. As far as public schools go, there are MANY parents out there who want their kids to go to school and simply receive a good education, not a healthy helping of partisan politics along with it. Question: If this subject came up in your classroom, is this how you would frame the issue – malicious corporations and noble and completely altruistic public schools?

  • Mark J July 22, 2015 (10:27 am)

    Seattle didn’t even vote for charter schools, and yet more than 90% of the “public” speakers at the meeting were in favor of this school. Glowing descriptions of a program that hasn’t taught its first student, much less evaluated its result. And finally this: “to be one of the 100 percent who get the chance to change their lives.”

    Someone needs some serious remedial mathematics lessons.

  • M July 22, 2015 (10:37 am)

    Well said, G. If I’m not mistaken, Seattle Public Schools have one of the highest cost per student nationally (could be wrong there, but I believe that is the case), with performance that doesn’t match those funding levels (assuming there should be a correlation between funding and performance). I happen to think more options, included Charter schools, are better.

  • Edna K Westerman July 22, 2015 (12:03 pm)

    M, you are gravely mistaken. You are way off and I am glad you thought you might have made a mistake. We (Washington State) rank 40th in per pupil spending in the nation. We spend some $7342 per pupil. States which spend less than us include Oklahoma, Utah, Idaho. The national average is close to $9,000 per student and, as a comparison, schools in, say, public schools in Poughkeepsie, NY spend more than $18,000. Still, our public school students consistently do well on national tests such as the SAT — they tend to be somewhere around fourth in the nation among states that have similar population of students taking the test (so adjusted for socioeconomics, etc.). The bottom line is that voters in Washington voted down charter schools three separate times. Corporations and their foundations paid enormous amounts of money to push them through because, let’s face it, there is so much money to be made in the charter school industry. I agree with Teri — read Diane R’s blog to get a real representation of what is going on with charter schools.

  • Edna K Westerman July 22, 2015 (12:14 pm)

    This article may help those who are trying to find out the people behind Summit in West Seattle and other areas. https://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/summit-high-school-the-skinny-on-the-gates-backed-charter-school-set-for-seattle-brad-bernatek-remember-him-and-a-host-of-others/

  • Community Member July 22, 2015 (12:19 pm)

    M – that is incorrect.

    Some city comparisons available here: http://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-least-efficient-spending-on-education/9390/

    Some state comparisons available here:
    http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html

    That was just a quick search; if someone wants to spend some time looking up figures, I sure they can get something more accurate.

  • Melissa Westbrook July 22, 2015 (12:40 pm)

    “Seattle Public Schools have one of the highest cost per student nationally (could be wrong there, but I believe that is the case)”

    Nope, and it would good to look up “facts” before you write things down. First to know, Washington State itself does not fund to the national average. Not even average. Seattle Schools gets the same baseline funding as the state plus whatever federal dollars come for special needs students, grants (via city or state or feds).

    Charters overall do not serve the same number of Special Ed, homeless or ELL students. They can create their programs so that they can exit those students and send them back to real public schools who have to serve everyone. (Does SPS does this well? No but they are certainly trying.) It’s easier to do better when you can mold your student body.

  • Greg July 22, 2015 (2:01 pm)

    M, not to beat a dead horse, but you are way off.

    G, the unions are being massively outspent by Gates and his dozens of front organizations (and fellow billionaires including Zuckerberg and the Walton Family). Besides, the Charters are doing an excellent job of discrediting themselves. Just look at New Orleans. There are no unions there and a high percentage of the students are in charter schools. The tale there is not a good one for charters.

    G, you also claim that “study after study has shown that money does not result in better performance”. First, I assume by performance you mean standardized test scores. Second, can you name one of these studies? I happen to know that money alleviates a lot of problems — lower class sizes, better materials, better learning facilities, attracting and retaining better teachers etc.etc.. It certainly seems to work for Gates own children. Lakeside costs parents $29k a year (compared to the $9600 per pupil costs in Washington State as reported by the above web site).

    I have no problem with Summit if they want to operate as a private school like Kennedy High School or the many others in the area. What I object to is they are taking local tax dollars and are not accountable in any direct way to local tax payers. That is “taxation without representation”. The King County Superior court basically came to the same conclusion in the recent lawsuit (http://www.sbe.wa.gov/documents/CharterSchools/CharterSchoolSuperiorCourtRuling.pdf). It is currently on appeal.

    If it came up in my classroom I’d handle it the same way I handle all controversial issues — I’d allow for people in class to examine all sides of the argument and draw their own conclusions. Unlike the Summit people I feel that strong public schools are the root of our democracy. Public forums by definition need to be open to all points of view. Of course it helps if those points of view are supported by facts (as opposed to beliefs) and well reasoned arguments. I wonder how Summit schools would handle that. Since they are allowed under Washington State charter law to come up with their own discipline plan perhaps they kick students out who don’t show enough reverence for the “summit way”?

  • G July 22, 2015 (2:32 pm)

    Edna,

    You’re making the case against yourself. By your reasoning, underfunded WA state should have students performing substantially worse, not better, than the national average on standardized tests. So, why do we need charters? Students from stable environments can do well in the public school system, but charters provide a subset of students the environment to learn and achieve whatever goals they have, particularly those who have the natural ability to go to college, but are still falling through the cracks. As far as I’m concerned, that’s it. Transparency? Well, that’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand we all want it, but don’t you think the opposition is waiting to jump on anything they can use to shut a charter down? You better believe it.

    This is not even a subtle hit campaign, frankly. Anti-charter websites like the one your reference have gone into full conspiracy wacko mode, listing a names of “wealthy” backers as if that is final proof. It’s insulting.

  • Greg July 22, 2015 (3:02 pm)

    G, you are aware that students in Highline and Seattle can go to any school in the district right? Both districts have dozens of high school options for students to choose from. There is also running start.

    At any rate, student choice is a fake issue that charters bring up to sell their product since Americans love their freedom to choose.

    The issue at hand for me is: should a private entity be entitled to take public tax payer money without accountability to those tax payers? Do you like the idea of your tax dollars being spent without any accountability? Say what you will about district administration (or politicians in general for that matter), but even if they are horrible in terms of accountability how is it a logical conclusion that the solution is to throw out even the broken/limited accountability that we do possess?

    By this logic what is the point of democracy at all?

  • Lynn July 22, 2015 (3:06 pm)

    G,

    Kids in our schools who have stable, secure homes and well educated parents have high test scores. They perform well even though the state isn’t providing the ample funding for education the constitution promises them. Kids who live in poverty, have experienced trauma and/or have disabilities are being failed by the state. Their parents aren’t able to make up the shortfall between what is necessary and what the state provides.

    To be honest, I don’t think even those lucky kids who are academically successful should be shoved into overcrowded classrooms in overcrowded schools (elementary schools with four lunch periods). I don’t think parents should have to pay for school counselors, copy paper and cleaning supplies. I don’t think high school teachers should have to work unpaid overtime to keep up with grading the work of 150 students.

  • Melissa July 22, 2015 (6:46 pm)

    Is there a place to send in a letter if one couldn’t make the meeting? Thanks.

    • WSB July 22, 2015 (6:47 pm)

      That’s mentioned at several spots in the story, including at the end, postal and e-mail contact for the Charter School Commission.

  • Greg July 22, 2015 (9:16 pm)

    Melissa, the Washington charter commission will accept written comments up to July 31st I believe. Maybe I am too untrustibg after what I witnessed last night, but I’d send it registered mail. It will be part of the public record too.

  • au July 22, 2015 (9:27 pm)

    One can comment by email until the end of the month: colin.pippin-timco@charterschool.wa.gov

  • Highline Parent July 22, 2015 (9:49 pm)

    Greg,

    Just a quick correction. Students in the Highline School District CANNOT go to any school in the district. They are strictly assigned based on address – no variances. This is a huge issue in Highline as Evergreen and Tyee High schools offer far fewer and less rigorous courses than the other two High Schools, Highline and Mount Rainier. NO CHOICE is a huge issue in Highline.

  • Greg July 23, 2015 (6:44 am)

    I worked at a high school in Highline for the past 18 years and we had tons of in district transfers. We also had a lot of kids from Kent, auburn, federal way, and Seattle with fake addresses. For what it’s worth HSD doesn’t really check too hard. Enfield changes the policy about two years ago making address verification almost a nonissue. The only time it matters at all is for sports. That is the only time people get scrutinized. So if your student is good at sports and wants to play on a decent team then they are rigid.

  • Greg July 23, 2015 (6:45 am)

    Oh, also under NCLB I believe the district is required to allure school choice since every school is now “failing” but not having 100% of their student passed the state standardized tests.

  • Greg July 23, 2015 (7:21 am)

    Sorry for the comment spam. HSD parent I’d be glad to try and help offline. I don’t know the protocol for direct contact via WSB, but there is a lot more I can say via phone, but I don’t want to leave my number here.

  • anonyme July 23, 2015 (8:05 am)

    Public schools, by default, must serve not only as educators, but as social workers, correction officers, babysitters and a host of other roles. It is not the charter school model or curriculum that provides the magic wand that allows students to succeed (if that is even really the case). The only way this can happen is by excluding students who might negatively influence their stats. As a so-called “public” school (albeit one with limited oversight), how is this legal?

    I agree that the SPS is not ideal and needs reform to allow newer and more flexible teaching methods. Perhaps public schools need funding from other sources, as many of the issues encountered are not related to education. But charters really aren’t doing anything differently, except for blurring the stats regarding their own success, while simultaneously diminishing opportunity for kids in public schools.

    If Gates and his buddies truly wanted to improve education, they could invest their money into schools in a way that did not guarantee their own private profit at taxpayers expense.

  • A teacher July 23, 2015 (1:30 pm)

    1. Slight correction: Expeditions is 8 weeks, not 18 weeks.

    2. The teachers for Expeditions in CA are a mix of credentialed internal teachers and teachers from community organizations. There are pros and cons to this model, but when I was a public school middle school teacher, I was assigned the elective of Computer Skills just because I had a teaching credential – not because I had any actual skills with computers (many of the kids knew more than me and I had to wing it). I know several credentialed public school teachers who have been thrust into elective roles like me – not because they like or know anything about the subject, but because the school has a job to fill. Are you so sure that is a definitively better model than actually making use of successful community resources?

    3. What is this about Bill Gates and his buddies profiting from these nonprofit charters? You really think public education is the best idea Gates could think of to increase his private profits? And even if that were true, does he really need whatever imaginary money you think he’s making off of barely-making-ends-meet charter schools? Come on. It’s one thing to be skeptical about a new system – change is risky – but it’s another thing to assume that every instance of donating money involves a corporate scam for profit. How cynical. We ask corporations to be more socially responsible and give back – and when they do – look how they are vilified. I’m as suspicious of corporate interests as the next guy, but this suspicion of any wealthy person trying to use their influence for good feels like a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. If you were rich, what would you do with your money? Wouldn’t you try to use at least some of that money to better things in the world you care about?

    4. Yes, public schools need more money. Guess what? Charter school people agree. It’s not one or the other. If you want to take on that uphill battle of raising taxes for public schools, great. Most charter schools will have your back. They see themselves as public schools too, just public schools with more direct control over how they do things so they can try new methods, make changes faster, and have control over things like smaller class sizes and hiring teachers who share their passion for social justice.

  • Greg July 23, 2015 (2:24 pm)

    A Teacher,

    I don’t think gates is doing this to make money. I think he had an idea one day while on his treadmill and pumped millions into it. It’s the summit school creators who benefit from gates grants and “management fees” aka tax payer dollars taken from property owners and handed over to them run provide a well marketed inferior product. And while charters in Washington might see themselves as public, that doesn’t appear to be how the courts see it. No direct public control in my view makes it a private entity ie. taxation without representation. As for the innovation part, that is all nonsense. I’ve been teaching in a public school for a long time and they’re is nothing you are doing that could not easily be done in the public school. That is just one of those fictions that charter people repeat because it sounds good.

  • evergreen July 23, 2015 (8:53 pm)

    http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california

    One of their schools is the 7th best high school in California. The school body is racially and economically diverse, kids are enrolled by lottery, and yet their readiness for college is significantly greater than the mean for schools in that district.

    About their model:
    https://www.edsurge.com/n/2014-06-01-a-peek-inside-summit-s-personalized-learning-software

  • Highline Parent July 23, 2015 (11:45 pm)

    Greg,

    I would love to talk with you more about HSD. I am on Yahoo for email; polenta55@

    Thanks!

  • A teacher July 24, 2015 (1:03 am)

    Hi Greg, thanks for writing and addressing my comments. (And thanks Evergreen for including the links!)
    I have a few more thoughts, if you care to continue the dialogue:
    1. Yes, district schools, in theory, could do what charter schools are doing in terms of innovation. But are they, really? Are they able to move and change policies and plans and procedures quickly? To me, it’s like a big company vs a start-up; there are clearly advantages and disadvantages of both. One of the disadvantages of many school districts is that they tend to move very slowly and are subject to so many competing interests in a restrictive context that it can be tough to make change happen at all, let alone quickly.
    2. I hear you that you’re skeptical of charter schools. I too share concerns about the long-term ramifications of charter schools…but on the other hand, I have concerns about the long-term ramifications of staying the course with our public schools (or letting the right wing extremists restart their obsession with vouchers and de-funding public schools entirely). So what’s the better action? No idea. I don’t think any of us do, given that public education really is a grand experiment (like parenting, like life!). Are you willing to try something new and see where it leads? Clearly, many parents are willing to try – even though they know they are taking a risk with their own kids. Why not let them take that risk, that opportunity to try what they think will be better for their kids. For many parents, it works out quite well….and for the others, they take their kids out. Talk about public accountability – if the charter schools don’t have enough students, they don’t survive! And they are accountable to the charter board – if they don’t show better than average results, they get their charter revoked!
    3. There’s rhetoric and there’s reality. I’ve actually taught in both district and charter public schools. This doesn’t make me an expert, but I can speak to my experience. If you’re curious, here’s what I noticed (this is based on public schools in the NW and in CA, as well as two different charter orgs in CA).
    – You’re right that charters aren’t perfect. They have problems, some typical of any school and some unique to the start-up environment of charters. But both charters I worked for had the following: Smaller class sizes, by 5-10 kids per class. Strong, mission-driven faculty cultures where it felt like everyone really was on the same team. There were different ideas and personalities of course, but it felt like a family in that everyone would help and support each other. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was there for one reason: the KIDS. NO one was there for the pension. NO one badmouthed or gave up on a kid or the sometimes frustrating parents. NO one slacked off and made others pick up their work for them. Can you honestly say that about district public schools? Sadly (really, I found this very depressing), in all three of the regular district schools I worked at, I experienced an astounding lack of consistency in the quality of teachers and leadership. One teacher, supposedly my mentor, openly told me he only became a teacher for the retirement benefits. He used racial slurs to describe his classes with majority African American kids in them and literally – I’m not kidding – his lesson plans often entirely consisted of reading entire chapters out loud from the text book – to 12th graders. Another teacher kept her middle school classroom freezing cold to “keep the kids awake” and used screaming as her #1 classroom management policy. Another used to gossip about her 6th graders with the same vindictiveness that her adolescent students used against each other. Several teachers were so behind on tech they didn’t even know how to find, let alone use, Google Docs or PowerPoint….and this was just last year. The teachers had anywhere between 32-38 students per class and 6 periods a day: approx 200 students per day! How can a system like this possibly serve its students (or its teachers)?
    Conversely, at both charters, the class sizes were 23-27 per class, with 4-5 sections per day. That’s a little over 100 students — still too many, but getting closer to reasonable. At both charters, the classes were mixed racially, economically, and ability-wise, rather than tracked and segregated like at the larger district schools. The kids became friends with people different than them, people they never would have talked to, let alone gained respect for. And the schools were small enough that the kids, parents, and teachers had a voice! Yes, in these supposedly corporate-influenced laboratories, I felt waaaay more voice and respect for myself as a teacher than I ever felt as a district school employee, where clearly district staff were making decisions on their own, often far away from my actual school site – and I was just there to smile, nod, follow along — not to contribute, not to have a voice. Faculty meetings alone showed this disconnect – the majority of staff was either late, passively or actively resisting the latest district announcement, or just counting down the minutes until it was over. These were generally quite kind, thoughtful people as individuals, but the context turned them into bored teenagers! I wish you could see what it was like at the faculty meetings I attended at the charter schools – an entirely different world. With your passion, Greg, and desire to make a difference – I can only think you would have felt right at home.
    Anyway, this is long; thanks for reading if you made it this far. It’s a tough issue. Those are at least a few of my experiences that lead me to say: I hear and share your concerns, but to me, change isn’t necessarily so bad.

  • Greg July 24, 2015 (7:15 am)

    Evergreen–

    This comment thread has probably run its course, but this issue is one I am passionate about since I have spent my life teaching in public schools.

    As for the US News ranking. I notice that only one of your California schools made it — what is different about that one in particular? Also, while I was already highly skeptical of charters to begin with, after witnessing the utter lack of integrity with regard to the speaking process at Tuesdays meeting I (and hopefully the community) am starting from the premise that all Summit charter statements are 1/2 truths at best until proven otherwise.

    With that in mind, I started reading about the US News selection methodology. Its all largely based on standardized test scores — but in California for the past two years the state tests have been optional as part of the transition to CCSS and the SBAC exams. This makes me wonder if there is some gamesmanship taking place (again akin to signing up 60 people to speak to ensure you can lock down 20 spaces and use up all the speaking time). Additionally, as a new exam (and one in a trial period especially) I’d be wary of putting too much stock into those results.

    But hey, good for you guys. I am not opposed to people trying out new things. BUT — I also don’t believe there is a silver bullet out there. There is no way to make learning happen faster and cheaper every year to meet stock holder expectations. People are not products. Until brain implants come along people are still going to have to learn largely the same way they did in Plato’s Academy.

    Finally, and I can’t say this enough, if you want to do your thing as a private school go ahead! BUT — don’t take millions of taxpayer dollars and then shut the public out of your so-called “public” school the same way you shut the community out of this forum.

    Taking taxpayer money without giving them a say into how it is spent is literally the definition of “taxation without representation”. The only thing public about your proposed model is that you use tax payer money for your corporate run school.

    I am looking forward to the court ruling as such.

  • Greg July 24, 2015 (7:49 am)

    A Teacher–

    I think we should create schools like Lakeside for everyone — that is my suggestion for improving education.

    We need to pay salaries that bring in the best people, and then treat them well so they want to stay.

    We should provide quality resources and have quality facilities.

    All of this will cost money — money which the McCleary decision says the Legislature is not paying. You can’t get Lakeside quality for $5500 in actual classroom spending.

    Your anecdotes about bad teaching are disappointing, if true. There were 32-38 students in a class? In Highline (especially on the Tyee and Evergreen campuses) I know the 38 number isn’t true. No teacher there is seeing 200 students a day — 145 is the contractual maximum for secondary. Also, public school teachers usually teach 5 sections a day (no one teaches 6). I saw all of the HSD class overload data from last year and I know 100% that your comment is completely fake data. (but admittedly I don’t know about Seattle, so maybe things there are different …but I doubt it). Which again makes me wonder about the validity of the other anecdotes.

    If the teachers at Summit schools love it there so much why is there 20% staff turnover each year? Working people to death and taking advantage of youthful optimism is not a sustainable employment model. Teaching for 4 years to then become a “coach” or “regional recruitment whatever” should not be the only option to avoid burn-out.

    “Work-life balance” is the current corporate speak for what I am talking about. I’d also suggest that reading the book “Drive” by Daniel Pink might help with Summit’s turn-over problem.

    I have a number of questions I’d enjoy hearing answers to at your next public forum — which hopefully will allow for a more free exchange of ideas and the outcome will hopefully not be rigged next time.

  • A teacher July 24, 2015 (10:46 am)

    Hi Greg,

    Thanks for your thoughts. I wish I were just some shady marketing person and those were made up anecdotes and numbers. It wouldn’t scare and sadden me about the inconsistent state of how we’re educating our kids in public schools, which I so want to believe in. But I promise you these stories are 100% true things that I experienced working as a district teacher over the last several years in different states. I’m glad the numbers in Highline are capped at 145 and classes aren’t at 38. That particular story – about the 6 periods per day and teachers seeing 32-38 students per class – came from my experience in a Bay Area public school, where 6 periods are very much allowed. (But even at the standard 5 periods per day, of ~30+ kids per class – isn’t ~150 too many?) The other stories were a mix from my CA and my NW school experiences.
    I agree with your concern about work-life balance and turnover. That worries me too. However, in my experience, work-life balance at regular public schools was no less of a challenge — I felt more isolated, had more students, more preps to manage, a less supportive admin and colleagues. Challenges of a different nature – still challenges. I didn’t leave at 3, even though at a district school I could. I stayed and worked until 7, 8, 9, at night because I had to if I wanted to do a barely decent job of meeting my students’ needs.
    I agree completely with everything you wrote in your first 5 sentences. We need more money coming in – for so many reasons. I wish we could work together and fight for that.
    Last, great suggestion about Drive! I had to smile because though I don’t work at Summit now, I know some of the people who do, and they read and discussed Drive together. Next time there’s a public forum or something – ask them about that, and about why they changed their model a few years ago to the personalized learning system. From my limited understanding, it’s not only to do with students, but also to try to work towards a sustainable system for teachers, too.
    Anyway, thanks for the civil discourse here – when teachers can talk about concerns rather than fight it gives me hope.

  • No 1240 July 28, 2015 (11:57 pm)

    Looks like quite a horse and pony show. Here are the questions that anyone considering Summit Charter school should ask:

    https://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/a-checklist-for-parents-considering-summit-charter-school-in-seattle/

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