26 Replies to "Arbor Heights charter school Summit Atlas finalizes groundbreaking-ceremony plan"

• GivemeaBreak January 26, 2017 (4:53 pm)

  Great. Thanks for taking money from Denny/Sealth  This is the stupidest idea and location.   #Lame

  • WSMom January 27, 2017 (7:04 am)

    It’s not only Denny and Sealth the school will be training money from, also Evergreen and Chinook in Highline.   

• Chuck D January 26, 2017 (4:55 pm)

  Its sad to see this Trump School opening in our neighborhood.  

• PSPS January 26, 2017 (5:13 pm)

  Utterly disgusting that private parties like this can freely loot taxpayer money for this.

• clark5080 January 26, 2017 (5:16 pm)

  Yea for choice! It is good to have schools that can teach in different ways than public schools

  • Mike January 28, 2017 (8:37 am)

    They could have good education, they could also end up like schools in Texas where they teach all sorts of fun alternative facts.  There needs to be some level of regulation.

• Mizliss January 26, 2017 (6:38 pm)

  Whatever you think of charter schools, I’m still mystified by the choice of this spot. Busy corner, no green space for a playground, and nowhere to safely pick up and drop off.

• Abyk January 26, 2017 (7:39 pm)

  For profit charter schools are not allowed in Washington state. Nobody’s making a profit here. From my understanding, private donors like the Gates foundation pay for the start up costs like furniture and the salaries of people to get things started like the principal, etc. but after that they get the same dollar per kid that the regular schools get. I thought the only difference is that there is no elected board. Still learning what it’s about though. 

• ttt January 26, 2017 (8:03 pm)

  Watch out for Grizzly bears… 

• VTH January 26, 2017 (8:09 pm)

  I live in the neighborhood and am happy to see something being done with an otherwise run down and vacant building. Furthermore, as a taxpayer I welcome the competition and choice in education that parents and students will have as a result of charter schools. Good luck Summit!

• Park Lover January 26, 2017 (8:52 pm)

  McCleary still isn’t resolved but, with a wave of the magic wand lawmakers found money for charter schools.  I say we take that money and put it toward the levy cliff.  

• Beverly Kershaw January 26, 2017 (10:34 pm)

  Charter schools drain $$ from public schools.  If you want your kid to go to a private school, pay for it YOURSELF.

  • Over taxed January 26, 2017 (10:44 pm)

    I pay taxes! Probably more than the average bear and I pay for my child to go to private school. So you do realize that all parents who’s children attend private schools are tax payers and actually are paying for your kids to go to school also. 

    • Chuck D January 27, 2017 (5:14 am)

      Paying taxes isn’t really optional, unless of course you have the BEST accountants…. But I digress. And yes, we all realize that all tax payers fund schools and everything else our government spends. Whether you also happen to spend money on private school on irrelevant. Lots money on college or tutors or school supplies and yes private schools. That doesn’t mean unaccountable corporations should be handed our tax dollars, even “non profit” ones. It should be noted, however, that these “non profit” corporations employ about a dozen shell groups and management companies and are about as transparent with their finances as Donald Trump.  It should be illegal to be taxed and then habe that money handed over to unaccountable trump schools. I hope the supreme court shuts this down, again. 

    • Mike January 28, 2017 (8:35 am)

      Bears don’t pay taxes, much like many parents of kids that attend private school.  They do eat a lot.

  • Scott January 27, 2017 (12:33 pm)

    Summit Atlas is will be a public charter school and could hardly be considered a private school.  

    I welcome Summit Atlas and the increased choice in education opportunities it offers our community. The real threat to public education in Washington State is the continued failure of the state to budget for and fully fund public education.   It pains me to see neighbors turning on each other and fighting for crumbs vs. organizing and directing these sentiments where they belong – toward our elected representatives.   We are better than this.

• AJP January 27, 2017 (8:13 pm)

  Fully fund public schools first. Give them the resources to succeed. Then you can think about shiny schools that may or may not be accountable to anyone or any standard. 

• anonyme January 28, 2017 (7:11 am)

  Pro-charter folks love to talk about choice.  What about taxpayers?  Do we get a choice as to whether or not we fund your choice to send the children you chose to have to private schools?  Why not??

  If parents expect that others must fund their private decisions, then I as a taxpayer demand that I be allowed to choose how my tax dollars are spent.  What’s good for the goose….

• Chuck D January 28, 2017 (8:35 am)

  Scott, I’m guessing you work for summit or a related shell company/advocacy group?

  Let’s imagine for a minute that 35th ave sw is filled with potholes and in need of repair (hard to imagine). What is the solution? Most world argue that taxpayers should pay to have it fixed. Charter people are essentially arguing, don’t fix it, what we need is to open up an entirely new arterial that only some can access and everyone pays more for. Meanwhile 35th stays filled with potholes, but now the funds that could have fixed or maintained it are in the pockets of private companies. It’s a boondoggle. In some states the charter operators just take the money and run leaving people with one pothole filled road and no money. 

  The electorate is on to you charter scam trump schools. 

  • Scott January 28, 2017 (1:18 pm)

    No, Chuck, you misguess;  I am employed in a completely unrelated technical field.  

    I was for many years of a position that charter schools  were evil and siphoned off “our” monies and preferentially benefited the few at the expense of the many.    I have since educated myself further about charter schools in general and the Summit Public Charter Schools in particular.  I do  have the benefit of having observed the operations of the Summit Sierra School for the past 1 1/2 years as a parent of a student there. There is a lot of potential benefit to SPS if even a fraction of the innovative methods utilized at the Summit schools can be implemented district wide.  But that’s not going to happen if people continue to politicize the issue, making comments like “trump school” and bringing DeVos into the argument.    DeVos is not the face of “charter people”, and to imply such is intellectually dishonest.  (i.e. fake news).    

    And remember Chuck –  the funds that could have fixed the potholes are not in the pockets of the Summit.  The funds weren’t there to begin with.    If you want to fix the potholes,  I respectfully suggest you step away from the blog and call your representative. 

    • Chuck D January 29, 2017 (8:24 am)

      How is having kids watch videos on a computer and completeing online worksheets (what summit calls “playlists”) innovative? How is it innovative to hire admin with no training or certification? How is it innovative to short change ELL and SpEd students? If it is so innovative why has the NAACP called for a moratorium on charter expansion since they increase segregation?  If you have done the research on charters how could you conclude they perform well? You mist really be cherry picking your evidence. There is overwhelming evidence that they perform no better, and in many caees much worse than actual public schools. Look at Detroit, Florida or New Orleans (where many summit employees seem to come from).

      If Summit is so great why do they have so many open seats? As of december they were at 70% capacity, down from being nearly full their first year.  Their incoming class was smaller than their inaugural class.

       I am hoping that the whole point is moot come the next supreme court decision.  I’m glad that all three judges that Gates and the various faux charter groups funded didn’t win.  Im also glad that we have a head of OSPI who is opposed to allowing private groups to siphon off public resources.  Keep in mind as well that this area voted against the charter initiative by a large margin.  I also find it interesting that many of the kids attending these schools dont even live in the service area. 

• Chuck D January 28, 2017 (11:28 am)

  Here is some info about DeVos and who the charter people hope to work with and what they are hoping to accomplish.  Its nothing short of tying to destroy our democracy. Don’t let trump school boosters tell you “we are in it together”. That is more “alternative facts” from well funded advocacy groups bent on destroying commonly shared public resources.   https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=47OC7wZbwzM 

• zark00 January 30, 2017 (11:13 am)

  Chuck, you’re right, Scott, sorry to tell you your assessment of charter schools is factually incorrect.

  Charter schools are ALL FOR PROFIT.  This misnomer of a ‘not for profit’ Charter is simply a lie.  For example, a privately owned firm (Summit for example) owns all the equipment and leases it to the school which pays for those leases with money from the state.  There is zero oversight of these lease contracts.  That is one small example of how this shell game scam works.  Just ask yourself why would a large corporation get into charter schools?  Goodness of their hearts?  No – they do it for profit.

  This is not an opinion, it’s a fact.  There is no such thing as “choice” in education.  You are literally buying the advertising campaign they are selling you with zero critical thinking.  Choice in education isn’t really a thing.  It doesn’t exist, you aren’t making any choice here.   It’s almost like people think the traditional public schools and charter schools teach differently.  I wonder where they got that idea because it’s demonstrably false.

  Two little-understood policies helped pave the way for the kind of charter growth we are seeing today. The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), gives hedge fund managers and wealthy real estate investors opportunities to cash in on the charter school boom; framed as a useful tool that builds communities up by the Govt.
  Investors enjoy a 39 percent tax credit that more than doubles returns on charter chools investments within just seven years.

  This is a tax credit on money that they’re lending, so they’re collecting interest on the loans, as well as getting the 39 percent tax credit. The federal government also piggybacks the tax credit on other kinds of federal tax credits, like historic preservation or job creation or Brownfield’s credits. The result is an investor (hedge fund manager), can put in $10 million and in seven years double your money.

  Until recently, most of this money has been filtered through large non-profit organizations like the Gates Foundation, but now for profit companies like hedge funds just needs to give to something classified as a ‘Community Development Entity” – aka Charter Schools. 

  Andre Agassi set up a $500M fund, Zuckerberg gave $500M in stocks to another, it’s about profit not about education.

  Then there’s David Brain, who may be dastardly but at least he’s honest.  He just explains straight up – Charter schools are about making money for land developers and investors – period.  He heads Entertainment Properties Trust.
  When asked about the most profitable sector in real estate investment, he said, “Well, probably the charter school business. We said it’s our highest growth and most appealing sector right now of the portfolio. It’s the most high in demand, it’s the most recession-resistant. And a great opportunity set with 500 schools starting every year. It’s a two and a half billion dollar opportunity set in rough measure annually.”

  Yeah that doesn’t sound for profit at all does it?

  http://www.alternet.org/election-2014/who-profiting-charters-big-bucks-behind-charter-school-secrecy-financial-scandal-and

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/28/separating-fact-from-fiction-in-21-claims-about-charter-schools/?utm_term=.b4f03cc1fcca

  https://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/the-inherent-racism-of-summit-sierra-charter-school/

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/charter-school-executive-profit_b_5093883.html

• SummitParent January 30, 2017 (6:37 pm)

  This thread is very disappointing.  There are so many accusations that are “Alternate Facts”.

   “You are literally buying the advertising campaign they are selling you with zero critical thinking. “-  Scott has a child at Summit for the past 1 1/2 years.  How is that buying an advertising campaign?

  Chuck and Zark00- do you have a child in high school?  Zero critical thinking?  When you have a child in school, you think critically EVERY DAY about whether or not this is the right choice for your child.

  And Chuck: “How is having kids watch videos on a computer and completing online
  worksheets (what summit calls “playlists”) innovative? How is it
  innovative to hire admin with no training or certification.”

  Chuck, it was named one of the 14 most innovative schools in the world!!

  http://www.businessinsider.com/most-innovative-schools-in-the-world-2-2016-10?r=UK&IR=T%2F#summit-sierra-in-seattle-washington-the-school-that-gets-personal-1

  I am also extremely disappointed with the accusations that Summit would turn away kids for not having a high enough GPA or for not having involved parents.  I suspect they have a MUCH higher rate of kids with IEPs than any SPS school- and they are meeting their needs in ways I never witnessed at SPS.

  Washington State Charter Law ensures that all teachers are certified- for one.  So this is false.  Someone else said the teachers do no more than proctor the kids.  The teachers at Summit are unbelievably invested in teaching.  While didactic work is done online at a student’s own pace- no different than homeschooling- the teachers spend their time in project based learning.  They provide “office hours” after school, and offer free summer school for 2 weeks to allow kids to catch up.  Before opening Summit, the staff spent a year trying to recruit students from southwest and southeast Seattle, students of color, students who are from low income neighborhoods, students whose parents are recent immigrants, students who were performing below grade level.  Their goal is to show that any child can succeed with the right model- regardless of their situation at home.  They also want to demonstrate that if the school is invested in every child, every child can succeed.

  Summit Sierra has a higher rate than Seattle average for students of color and for free and reduced lunch. 

  There are NO religious charter schools in Washington State- another Alternate Fact.  The charter law also addresses this.  Summit is innovative, involved, invested in our community and our kids.

  I am not arguing for or against “charter schools”.  I can tell you first hand though that nearly every child at Summit is there because public schools were not meeting their needs.  Summit is.  And if it isn’t, those kids can transfer back to their public schools.   There has been a number of kids switching in and out- as with any high school.  Some kids need a bigger school, some a smaller school, some just need a change.  Some don’t do well with a teacher at the front of the room lecture style learning.  Some don’t do well with a self-paced online program.  How lucky we are to have a choice! 

  I, like Scott, thought I was anti-charter.  I have been humbled by Summit and am so happy it will be an option for kids in south Seattle- especially South Park- where options are otherwise pretty slim.

• SummitParent January 30, 2017 (6:56 pm)

  Sorry- just need to correct one more Alternate Fact.

  Summit is not about profit, or real estate.  They are building and developing a learning platform that can be used, and is offered, to every school who wants to use it – for free, forever. 

  http://info.summitlearning.org/program/personalized-learning-platform/

  “About 20,000 students in more than 100 charter and traditional public
  schools, including in the D.C. area, are working with the program, a
  rapid expansion from a handful of West Coast schools two years ago.

  “We’re
  pushing really hard to make it so it can go to as many who want it next
  year and in the future,” said Diane Tavenner, chief executive of
  Summit, which runs schools in California and Washington state. The
  network provides Basecamp to other schools at no cost, aided by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

  Here is more info if you are interested:

  https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-04-26-spreading-personalized-learning-results-from-summit-public-schools-first-basecamp-run

• Chuck D January 31, 2017 (12:56 pm)

  Summit Parent,

  I said that the admin isn’t certified, and that is true.  The teachers are certified, but usually very new to the teaching profession.  Part of the Charter plan seems to be to move teachers up or out somewhat quickly.  The goal of rapidly expanding the schools keeps spots open for new “admin”, and the usually horrible working conditions keep people moving out.

  I agree that of Charter schools, summit is one of the better charter chains, but that isn’t saying a whole lot.  Being the best of the worst isn’t really something to brag about.

  I realize that for some students summit might offer them a better option, due in part to much lower class sizes due to private financing (Gates et. al.) and federal grants.  There probably isn’t a school in the world that wouldn’t see an immediate increase in achievement and engagement if they went from class sizes of 33 to 18.

  In terms of Summit’s ELL and SpEd numbers you are wrong.  They are significantly below the average of the schools around them.  Summit Sierra presently has 8 students who qualify for ELL services out of 184 (or about 4%).  They started the year with 10, but two must have dropped out…I wonder why.   Olympus has 12 out of 127 (9%) which is closer to the neighborhood schools.  Keep in mind that Olympus has capacity for 240 students — if they are so innovative why are they only about 1/2 full?

  I admire the spirit of the teachers from Summit that I have met, but this alternative route is a scam that diverts funding from actual public schools.  As a society we should want great schools for all of our kids, not inequality and segregation masquerading as “choice”.  The whole choice argument is bogus anyway.  In Seattle and Highline there are already more than a dozen public choices students can make.  Creating another false choice, while simultaneously harming the choices of other isn’t really a choice — its robbing Peter to pay Paul.

  Again, I am hoping that Supreme Court (again) shuts down this massive waste of funds to unaccountable corporations (even non-profit ones).

Sorry, comment time is over.