Disqus - Latest Comments for Janet_K

Re: Laing worthy of trust - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:34:08 -0000

So, Mr. Laing doesn't want a neighborhood destroyed needlessly, while better alternatives exist? And this is a bad thing?

We need someone who will stand up to the big developers from Seattle, and the heavy hand of Sound Transit, which doesn't think it needs to be accountable to elected officials.

Why are you so willing to rollover for the moneyed interests of developers?

By the way, the contributions from Mr. Freeman are independent. He is responsible for reporting his expenditures. Have you chided Mr. Stokes for the same thing? His independent cash is much more offensive: it is anonymous. Who is pouring over $50,000 into the local campaigns? Why are they hiding behind non-profit organizations? Why won't they tell us who they are?

At least we know who is giving to Mr. Laing, and where Mr. Freeman stands on issues. Transparency. It is something Mr. Stokes, and his contributors are afraid of. Why is that?

Re: Is 'Tea Party' a step to breaking up US? - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:44:19 -0000

So, let me get this right. When your pals are in office, things are just fine, but when the other guys get elected, it is the end of the empire? Seriously? I happen to think the Democrats in DC are bringing our economy down, but I'm not screaming Armageddon. Instead, the tea partiers worked in the American way - they persuaded people, and won at the ballot box. I fail to see where the scary part in that is.

Please, send me one link to a tea part organization that has a position on the wars we are involved in. You can't, because it isn't on their radar.

Re: Ill-timed cartoon - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 19:28:38 -0000

Seriously? You found that offensive? Why the quotes around "back in session"? I'm at a loss as to what the problem is with this cartoon. Our legislators face a truly daunting task. It won't be fun.

Let's save our outrage for that which is truly over the line.

Re: Taxes on rich the wrong approach - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 21:35:10 -0000

First, it is I-1098, not 1091.

Second, I-1098 applies to married couples earning over $400,000.

Third, there were so many loopholes in the 1950's top tax bracket that very few paid it. When Kennedy lowered the rate, collections exploded, as people stopped paying fancy lawyers to evade the tax.

Re: Feces smeared on Muslim's van near Bellevue mosque - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:37:43 -0000

This is a stupid prank. No one was harmed, no one was threatened. A cruel hate crime? Really?

I suspect that members of other religions have suffered bigger indignities and threats than having feces smeared on a van. I hope whoever did it is found, and charged with malicious mischief.

Re: Feces smeared on Muslim's van near Bellevue mosque - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:18:50 -0000

What is sad in this story is the first thought for some people will be that this was motivated by hate against a religion; and the first thought among others will be that this was a set up, perpetrated by those who want to stir up sympathy for a religion.

There is no excuse for threats and intimidation for those who just want to exercise their freedom of speech and religion. There is also no place for stirring up antipathies, and the resultant silencing of critics.

I hope this is nothing more than a childish prank.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:30:49 -0000

I find it astounding that a group of parents are so hide-bound on this issue that they are willing to destroy the Bennett community. If one trip, that lasts four days out of six years, that conflicts with the district curriculum, does not provide equal access to education, and is hugely expensive, is worth it, then go for it. This is why I told Joe earlier in this thread that I'm tired of arguing. Go ahead and wreak the havoc you are so determined to do.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:30:05 -0000

I kind of feel like we are all friends!

I don't have any inside information. I just listen to what is actually being said, and look at the big picture. I also don't have a stake in the decision, so it is easier for me to be dispassionate. I figured if the school district was supporting the principal in making this decision, that they all had good reason to do so. I also understand that the district has the final say.

I am frustrated when I hear parents say that they haven't been given a good enough explanation. That implies that the district is acting out of spite, or out of ignorance, or maybe just out of disregard for the Bennett students. None of these made sense. In the end, the district makes the call they think best, given all factors. You may not know what some of those factors are, due to confidentiality. It is just a given. But it seems to me to be healthier for everyone to assume that those in leadership roles are there for a reason. They act in the best interest of the whole child, and the whole school. It is painful for me to listen to well-meaning parents berate a good principal, and calling her deceptive, implying lying or other bad faith. Can't there be another explanation?

I feel for you, that your child will not be able to participate in the planned event. I don't pretend to have all the answers on how the district should apply "equal access" or accommodate special needs. There are a slew of legal constraints, and there are also moral ones that the district people I know wrestle with daily. I trust that they are doing the best they can.

I hope that the Bennett community can come together, and become stronger over this. It will take a big dose of empathy and understanding, and recognition that parents have all the best intentions, but not always the best answers. Given the passion I have seen in Bennett parents, I have every expectation that your school will be the better for this. I hope so. The alternative is unthinkable.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:24:42 -0000

Sorry - wrong place to reply.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:05:48 -0000

I am still amazed at your insensitivity to students with special needs. That the district did not share the specifics with you, but only mentioned it in general, is because of privacy laws, not as a means to evade the topic. They cannot share with you that parents have come forward to express their concerns with not having access to the same opportunities as other children, because of their situation. They do not share with PTA when parents express that the trip presents a hardship.

It is none of your business.

But it is the responsibility of the district to address these needs, as well as those of teachers and other staff. They should make it clear, but when the explanation gets into confidential territory, what would you have them say? Maybe if you listened with the intent of understanding, rather than with the intent to argue and rebut, you might hear what is being said.

Even here, you can't admit that this trip excludes children, or puts them into a situation that is stressful and not constructive. It isn't theoretical. I don't doubt that the school district has stopped talking to those who have no intention of understanding. What is the point?

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:45:09 -0000

I have listened to the arguments, and I'm just trying to present an alternate view. Instead of any acknowledgement that there might be valid views other than your own, and that it is possible for someone to not buy into the view that Islandwood is the greatest thing to ever happen to a kid, you continue to argue. My points have been respectful, and yet they are "addressed".

Is it possible that there are some students who are not comfortable being away from their home for four days, in a place with which they are not familiar? And that it might present a burden to the parents to be there (or not be there)? Can you at least acknowledge that point? And that money or an aide is not going to solve the problem?

I don't understand your question about FTE's, and what you are implying about my thoughts. I have not made any comment about the extra staffing paid for by PTA at Bennett. It had nothing to do with my comment about equal access. My concern was strictly related to Islandwood. A student who is not comfortable, for whatever reason, being away from home for four days in a strange environment, and that environment is now the mandated classroom for that amount of time, puts that student at a disadvantage. They can attend, and experience what could possibly be a negative situation (possibly outside of the "classroom" time). Or they can stay behind, and miss out on the curriculum.

Are you open enough to at least acknowledge that this situation could exist? And that you may not be privy to the situation? Students have a right to privacy, and do not have to disclose to PTA that they have special needs. You do not know the requirements of all those students, and should not be aware of them. The school district is.

This situation is still somewhat present in a day field trip. But those outings do not present the same challenge as being out of the familiar for 24 hours a day. Plus, missing that is only one day of curriculum, not four consecutive days.

That is part of my concern.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:11:50 -0000

BennettParent: Thanks for helping me make my point.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:18:04 -0000

It is interesting. No matter what is said, there is a comeback. All reservations are dismissed as either: "we have the money", or "you just don't understand". Further comment is pointless.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:48:55 -0000

A public school teacher needs to consider all the students in the classroom, not just those whose parents contribute lots of money. Not every student is well served by being removed from their normal environment for four days, and put into an unfamiliar place with teachers they don't know. They don't all respond well to being away from family and support services. Glad you can afford to buy a para for them, but will that really substitute? The para only works 8 hours a day, not 24. And not every student who won't do well in the situation is necessarily identified as special ed, or special needs.

Prefer to leave those students behind, if they can't fit in? There is a thing called "equal access".

Not every parent can afford $250 for a four day trip. But pride, and parent peer pressure, will keep some of those parents from asking for PTA assistance.

Teachers can't all just rearrange their lives to be on a four day trip. But when parents bully them, and ask them point blank if they agreed to go, or have a problem with the trip, what do you expect them to say? They are only human, and will tell you what you want to hear. Then they will go to their union rep and file a complaint. You won't see that part of the process.

Attributing the increase in test scores to the trip has a couple of problems. One, this is a trip experienced once, so test scores should see a one time increase, and then sustain at that level. The trip this year's students take doesn't increase the test scores of next year's class. Also, you are attributing a statistically significant increase on a four day trip. Is it possible that the increased rigor of the curriculum, instituted four years ago, and covering everyone in the school, could be a major contributing factor? The improvement would be cumulative.

I like anecdotal evidence as much as the next person, but just because you talk to someone who wants to home school their child doesn't make it a statistically significant event. If you can get hard data, showing that the decrease in the Bennett enrollment is due to the cancellation of the Islandwood trip, and isn't a demographic shift, then present it. The trip was just cancelled, but you attribute the recent declines to that cancellation. I'm not understanding. Are you saying that next year's enrollment is down?

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just want to understand the opposition of the parents to the district's decision.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:42:38 -0000

I am sure that the three day trip is beneficial to many of the students. But are you really sure that it is the sole factor accounting for why Bennett had high science test scores? I suspect that the overall curriculum had something to do with it. What have the numbers been for the last four years, when Islandwood was in place? Was this year consistent with those results, or was this an anomaly?

I wonder if the message has been sent as to why this decision was made, but those wanting the trip to happen have not been receptive to the rationale given.

I'm curious about your claim that more parents are home schooling or going to private schools, so Bennett enrollment is not growing. I have not heard this before. But I have heard that demographics have shifted, and most all elementary schools are seeing a decline in numbers. Do you have evidence to the contrary? I would be interested in seeing it.

Parents are a part of the education process, but really aren't in a position to "buy" what they want taught. Public education is what it is. Equal access, consistent curriculum across the district, accountability to the school board and state. Any administration has to balance competing constituencies. The goal is the best education possible for the most number of children, with teacher demands being taken into account. I have learned that what teachers tell parents isn't always consistent with what they tell administrators or their union representatives.

This is a difficult situation. But I am sure that the school will absorb the news, and adapt.

Re: Students at Bellevue's Bennett Elementary protest end to island field trip - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:34:46 -0000

Let me get this right. This is a school field trip, taken during required school attendance hours. The principal, along with the district and the teachers, have decided that it does not fit into the curriculum that the school district is responsible for, and which is approved by our elected school board members.

I am baffled. If you want to dictate the content of the school day, then home school your child.

Re: Stop the furor over health care reform | Editorial - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:24:07 -0000

It is unfortunate that a few crazies have been given so much attention. They have always existed, but seem to be getting more publicity now. Could it be that they serve to cast aspersions on those who are not in favor of the health care reform? Guilt by association?

Re: Help Bellevue schools make the right cuts | Editorial - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:49:47 -0000

This is great advice. I hope everyone acts.

Besides the suggestion to turn down the temperature in the buildings, the next easiest call to make is "pay to play". I don't think it is unrealistic to ask athletes to pay a portion of what it costs to provide their sports. It has to be accompanied by the expectation that those unable to pay will be given assistance. It is a far better solution than cutting programs.

The deadline is midnight, Wednesday, March 24th. Don't be left out of the conversation.

Re: Discussions 'one-sided' in Bellevue math debate - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:01:45 -0000

Gosh, Bellevue Parent, this is exactly what I have been advocating for quite some time. It is what the district offered to pull together. Parents want to learn about the texts, and how well they meet the goals of the district. The meeting held last week, which was the same one planned on Feb 8th, was not this meeting. I withdrew our sponsorship of this meeting precisely because it did not meet the goals agreed to by the Council with the organizers. The flyers that they asked me to send out for publicity were misleading and did not represent the true content of the evening. I could not have PTA misrepresented in this manner.

I am all for open discussion. When I see the meeting that has it, I will gladly recommend PTA sponsor it.

Re: School district should drop Discovering math curriculum from consideration - Bellevue Reporter

Janet — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:48:37 -0000

Yes, I believe it is the legal authority of the elected school boards to decide policy. There is no violation of the state constitution when a school district decides to use one curriculum over another. If you are so adamant, by all means, join the legal and democratic process and run for the school board.