Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2012)
Local News Schools Juneteenth continued from page 1 The audit dings state school officials for overstating how much money is spent on class- room instruction by adding in a second number called teaching support. The approach implies Washing- ton spends 70 percent of school dollars in the classroom, which would be more than any other state in the nation. The federal government paints a different pic- ture. Washington and 11 other states spent about 60 percent of school dollars in classrooms, according to a 2009 comparison by the National Center for Education Statistics. Another 18 states spent more and 20 spent less. Washing- ton’s numbers have improved slightly since then, but no more recent national comparisons are available. The rest of the money goes to transportation, food, nursing, counseling, outside help for spe- cial education students, adminis- tration and a variety of central district office functions. The audit recommends the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction improve its transparency by taking the federal approach and use just the dollars B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. doing this on some reports and would look into the possibility of changing others. The audit also urged the office to maintain the database the audi- tor’s office created for the pur- pose of the study, saying it would help districts save more money if they could continue to see their operations compared to their peers. Dorn said he would discuss the He noted that for every teacher laid off since 2008, 12 other school workers have lost their jobs as custodians, or secretaries or cafeteria workers, etc that pay for teaching when it reports expenditures for class- room instruction. Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn respond- ed to that section of the audit by saying the office was already © 2011 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. C John Oliver III, a drummer for Doc Maynard and Company performed Saturday, June 9, at the 29th Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Pratt Park. The 3-day event included music, food and “Church in the Park” on Sunday. SUSAN FRIED PHOTO “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” O M M U N idea with his department’s data management committee and see if they think it would be worthwhile to find the money to keep track of this information in the future. School reform advocate Liv Finne commended the auditor’s I T Y C report for its wealth of informa- tion and practical advice for school districts. Digging a little deeper and read- ing between the pages can reveal a lot about the choices individual school districts are making, said Finne, director of the Center for Education at the Washington Pol- icy Center. For example, she found it par- ticularly interesting that Seattle Public Schools spends 59.7 per- cent on teaching, while many neighboring districts push a lot higher percentage of their money toward the classroom. The Bellevue School District, for example, puts 65.6 percent of its dollars into teaching and Lake Washington directs 65.5 percent toward learning. ``That instruction number is very important,’’ Finne said. ``It reflects who is influencing alloca- tion decisions in the district and what the priorities are in the dis- trict. Clearly they’re not making instruction the priority.’’ She notes that most private schools and public charter schools A L E N D do an even better job at this, because they do not have much of a central office staff to support and private schools do not have to pay for transportation. The union that represents most of the school workers outside of the classroom, plus teacher’s aides, found the auditor’s report troubling. ``The auditor’s report goes in a completely opposite direction than what the courts and the Leg- islature have all been saying over the past few months, that we need more investment in education rather than less,’’ said Rick Chisa, spokesman for Public School Employees of Washington. He noted that for every teacher laid off since 2008, 12 other school workers have lost their jobs as custodians, or secretaries or cafeteria workers, etc. Instead of finding 1 percent more money for teachers, Chisa would spend those dollars on teacher’s aides and add 3,000 more adults helping kids in the classroom. A R S EATTLE 2012 If you have an event you want to share with the community, email it two weeks in advance to The Skanner at info@theskanner.com Saturday June 16 Thursday – Friday June 21 – 22 IRANIAN CULTURAL ROOTS AND CONTEMPORARY INFLUENCES AT THE IRANIAN FESTIVAL. Influences of Persian cultures, live entertainment, Rumi poetry, and much more. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Seattle Center Armory Center House. ROCK-N-ROLL MARATHON HEALTH & FITNESS EXPO. 60 exhibitors will offer free samples, showcase the latest in running gear, sports apparel and much more. Free admission and open to the public. Thursday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Century Link Field Event Center. Friday June 15 Saturday & Sunday June 16 &17 YESLER COMMUNITY CENTER HOSTS JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION. Yesler Community Center invites the community to celebrate Juneteenth from 5 – 8 p.m. The evening will be filled with entertainment, arts, crafts, food from various cultures and more. 917 Yesler Way. FREMONT FAIR. The 41st annual Fremont Fair is a community celebration. Fair includes local bands, arts & Crafts, shopping, food and drinks and much more. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Phinney Neighborhood Center Gallery, 6535 Phinney Ave. N. Page 2 The Seattle Skanner June 13, 2012 Friday – Sunday June 22-24 BOOK ON OVER TO WARREN G. MAGNUSON PARK: FRIENDS OF THE SEATTLE PUBLIC MINI BOOK SALE. The book sale is open to the public from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sunday. 7400 Sand Point Way NE, Building 30 Workshop.
