Along with important local council races and ballot measures, four of the seven Seattle School Board member seats will be decided in the general election on November 3. PTAs cannot endorse candidates, but we can provide voters with information about candidates and take positions on ballot measures. I-1366: Washington State PTA has endorsed a NO vote. This initiative would require lawmakers to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to establish a two-thirds majority; if they fail to do

Join Washington’s Paramount Duty Facebook group. It is a city-wide source on Funding Basic Education: Sign up for WA PTSA Action Alerts  (Schmitz Park PTA Local Unit #023234, Seattle is in Region 6 of the WA PTSA) MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Civic engagement at the State level will be key in fixing our under-funded school system. A state-wide rally will be held on the Capitol steps in Olympia on February 3rd, 2016. Schmitz Park’s goal is

Sound exciting? Want to help Schmitz Park guide education related decisions locally, within our community, district-wide and at the state level. Our legislative Co-Chairs, Emily Giaquinta and Angela Cough are developing a plan for focusing efforts on specific initiatives that require a group of people to coordinate efforts over the next year and beyond. We can’t do it alone. We need YOU to make these initiatives a success! Don’t assume that someone else will sign

Harder than pronouncing that headline is coming up with adequate revenues to Fund Basic Education. Why? See attached and consider the following facts: Washington State funds 55.3% of Seattle Schools General Fund. Local Levies approved by Seattle voters support general education programs and operations. Levy funds will provide $190.7 million or 25.3% of budgeted resources in 2015-2016, and are the second largest funding source for Seattle Public Schools. PTA’s raised and funded over $2M worth

Join PTA’s, parents and education advocates at the Senate Education Committee’s “Listening Session” Monday, October 19 from 5 – 7PM at Puget Sound Educational Service District Main Office, 800 Oakesdale Ave SW, Renton, WA 98057. A panel of Senators want to hear from parents, students, teachers, and taxpayers on how the State can meet its constitutional paramount duty to fully fund education. Wear green or your neon P-is Great T-shirt! Bring green signs (not on sticks) or signs with

Seattle Public Schools has been analyzing start times across the district since mid-2014 for Elementary, Middle and High School groups, to determine whether or not it is warranted to change start times for Middle & High School based on data suggesting that later start times allow for a better learning experience. Their determination is that it is warranted; the discussion now is exactly how to implement a later start time, and how that change impacts

Attend the Schmitz Park PTA Meeting tonight,  Thursday, October 15 at 6:30PM to hear updates and next steps to advocate for our kids and all students across Seattle.   We offer free babysitting in the gym for school aged kids.  Other agenda items include: budget, Direct Give Campaign and an update from our volunteer coordinator on requirements for volunteering.  We will also show the sexual harassment video at the end of the meeting (15 min), which is one

Microsoft Word – Executive Committee Meet.docx (1) Passionate about the recent cuts at your school (or last year’s)? Join #KidsNotCuts advocates at Seattle School Board’s Executive Committee meeting of the Whole Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14th at 4:15 pm John Stanford (JSCEE) 2445 3rd Ave S (at Lander St), Seattle, WA 98134 Important Specifics: Meeting is a specially scheduled public meeting of the Executive Committee. The agenda reflects they will talk about the City’s pre-k program

Fairmount Park Elementary PTA  invites members of the West Seattle Schools Community to join them for an overview of the current education funding situation and a candid conversation about how schools can come together to effect change on Wednesday, October 14 from 7 PM – 9 PM. Agenda *Welcome from FPE PTA Leaders *Show Us The Money: McCleary & Washington State Budget – Heidi Bennett *Coming together to create change: How can community members work together to

Last week, SPS announced staff cuts at 25 elementary schools across the district, including Schmitz Park and 4 other West Seattle Schools. To organize a collective community response, 40 Seattle Public School Parent Leaders from Legislators to PTA Presidents held an emergency meeting on Sunday to accomplish one thing: develop a strategy to put a full stop to the current staff cuts. Important action items this week: Two rallies have been organized at the John Stanford Center