Here is a letter that the group sent to the state in protest of the change from the 4 to the 6 period day. You can contact her to and let her know what you think.
WEST SEATTLE PARENTS & CONCERNED CITIZENS FOR
EQUITY & EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION
Working to uphold and promote equal, quality and equitable education for all students
April 7, 2008
Arcella Hall
Director of Secondary Education Reinvention
School District Improvement
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
1551 Broadway, Suite 410
Tacoma, WA 98402
RE: Public Appeal of West Seattle High School Waiver Reversal Due To Lack of Proper and Fair Procedures by the Seattle Public School Administration and the 2007 Seattle School Board
Dear Ms. Hall,
We are writing this letter to protest the Seattle School District Administration's decision to refuse requesting a schedule waiver for West Seattle High School (WSHS) which would allow the school to maintain a 4-period day. We ask that you review the information we provide here and then inform us, West Seattle Parents & Concerned Citizens for Equity & Excellence In Education (WSPCCEEE), what we can do to stop this mandated change from the 4-period day to the 6-period day. We strongly believe that the Seattle School District Administration (SSDA) did not follow proper procedures in making their decision. We also contend that Carla Santorno never completed the formal Impact Report on this decision that she promised to finish and make available to the public in 2006.
The SSDA's first flagrant oversight of proper procedure was failing to take an organized vote of high school parents and teachers to gauge the desires of the majority of the WSHS community. The SSDA's refusal to consider a formal grievance filed by the teachers at WSHS in protest of SSDA's decision to impose the 6-period day on their school constitutes the SSDA's second flagrant disregard of proper procedure. In response to both improper actions, WSHS's teachers have demanded formal arbitration of the matter. The teachers base their grievance on the fact that the 4-period day is a successful program. It is a program the teachers at WSHS received grant monies 14 years ago to study and implement, and through that process, a program that they, the teachers, determined to be the best program for their school. WSHS teachers believe strongly that the SSDA's sudden decision to mandate changing a program that was thoroughly studied and determined to be working, makes absolutely no sense and will have severe, negative consequences.(attachment 1-WSHSteacherspositionpaper)
Many families in the West Seattle Community support the 4-period day at West Seattle High School because they believe it clearly benefits their children's learning. The improvement in student achievement at WSHS substantiates that benefit. According to WAC 392-410-117, by granting the waiver of the 6-period day and instituting the 4-period day, families can expect "substantial equivalence" to a program offering the minimum 150 hours of planned instruction per credit normally provided by any Washington State high school. WSHS has delivered this equivalence for 14 years. Despite this fact, the SSDA now wants to discontinue the waiver.
WSPCCEEE strongly disagrees with the SSDA's willingness to abolish a school schedule popular with the majority of the school's staff, students and parents. The fact that the WSHS staff put student's needs above their own by protesting the SSDA's decision to move to a 6-period day exemplifies the popularity of this schedule. In response to the teachers' protest, the SSDA made further threats to the staff and imposed a gag order preventing staff from informing the community about this issue or making their objections public.
Instituted through the careful application of several grants from a number of foundations, the 4-period day is a progressive schedule created and implemented in an effort to improve the academics and general learning climate of WSHS. For 14 years, it successfully achieved both goals. Inside this model, an 85-minute class period replaces the conventional 55-minute class period, giving teachers more time to do in-depth studies in subjects, to help students better understand difficult subjects, and to teach lessons that meet the needs of a variety of learning styles. At WSHS this progressive schedule has increased attendance, decreased dropout rates and improved WASL scores, especially those of minority students. It greatly distresses us that the SSDA has denied WSHS's waiver application for the 2008-09 school year in complete disregard to14 years of successful implementation of the 4-period day at WSHS.
As further evidence of the 4-period day's success at WSHS, we have attached the Waiver Application Cover letter dated June 26, 2007. That letter provides clear evidence of the following proof of 4-period day's success at WSHS. (Attachment 2- waiverapp2007-2008)
1) Continued improvement on WASL scores at WSHS clearly connected to the 4-period day. The SPD district in-house review by the REA dated October 2006 and titled, WSHS Four-Period Schedule Program Evaluation, describes one of its key findings in the following terms. "There is a statistically significant and positive relationship between attending WSHS and achieving a higher score on the 2006, 10th grade WASL."
2) Under the 4-period day, WSHS students experience a greater sense of personalization and satisfaction with the general school climate than compared with other high schools. To express their satisfaction, the students at WSHS created a club to support the 4-period day and marched in protest of the Seattle School District Administration's mandated change to the 6-period day.
3) The 4-period day promotes more effective and in-depth instruction and content coverage than the 6-period day. Spending 85-minutes per class receiving instruction instead of 55-minutes gives both teacher and student more time for instruction and learning.
4) Under the 4-period day, WSHS's math department offers students more time with a subject than does the standard district math curriculum. Inside an 85- minute class period, teachers spend more time each day working with students on new material.
5) WSHS uses school time more efficiently under the 4-period day by increasing total instructional time by 10-minutes per day. The clear improvement in both attendance and WASL scores at WSHS supports this claim.
In addition to the benefits listed above and explored in the Waiver Application Letter, here are more reasons to support the 4-period day. (Attachment 3-ursino4x4scheduleprimer)
1) Because the 4-period day includes fewer transitions, students spend less time transitioning between classes and more time in class learning.
2) The longer class period provided by the 4-period day enables students greater focus.
3) Inside a 4-period day, teachers see fewer students and can develop a closer relationship with each which provides an opportunity for greater personalization of curriculum.
4) The 4-period day offers teachers a longer preparation period giving them time to personalize their curriculum and approach.
5) Inside the 4-period day, a student completes one year of curriculum in each semester.
6) With fewer subjects to juggle, students can better manage their workload inside the 4-period day.
IN SUMMARY
The SSDA's decision to refuse requesting a schedule waiver for WSHS for the 2008-09 school year and by doing so, to mandate WSHS change from the 4-period day to the 6-period day does not rest on valid reasoning. Therefore, that decision needs careful review by a neutral, outside party. The SSDA's use of misleading and contradictory claims to support its position seriously invalidates its decision to force an entire school to change a program that isn't broken and in fact, clearly works. Each year, for the past 14 years, the SSDA and the Seattle School Board have requested a schedule waiver for WSHS under WAC 393-410-117. Each year their request included evidence of the positive impacts of the 4-period day on WSHS. (Attachment 4-Ed.advocatesaudit) Throughout those 14 years, WSHS's curriculum always proved itself on par with the rest of the district's curriculum.
It greatly disturbs us, The West Seattle Parents and Concerned Citizens for Equity and Excellence in Education, that the SSDA's decision to discontinue the waiver was made under pressure from a small group of parents and without serious, comprehensive input from the larger community. We find the bully tactics used by this group of parents to stifle their opposition very disturbing. We also find offensive the current CAO's insistence on implementing an agenda that mandates large changes without assembling cohesive educational reasoning for these changes through a formal Impact Study. The process used to impose the 6-period day on WSHS was both undemocratic and cruel.
We ask that you guide us in capturing the attention of the Seattle School District Administration and the Seattle School Board. Up to this point, all of our appeals have been ignored. Our goal as an organization is to ensure that all students at WSHS receive the best education possible. We are counting on you to uphold equal, quality and equitable education for ALL students not just a select few.
Sincerely,
The West Seattle Parents and Concerned Citizens for Equity and Excellence in Education
(Non-Profit Organization EIN# 26-1703215)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
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