Part 1(somehow the software isn't displaying the comment correctly)
The superintendent does not have any control over many of the things you wrote about. It would be illegal for the superintendent to be involved.
First of all, local school districts have almost complete legal control over their districts, especially curriculum. There are only specific ways in which OSPI can get involved in the issues in a particular school district.
The OSPI does administer some kinds of academic standards and has a say in the overall graduation requirements. Chris' clear position is wanting to reduce the number of requirements and have more electives and individual choice. He does not have the authority to do that unilaterally.
The superintendent has no say over curriculum. The State PESB and the State Board of Education are involved in that. The Office of the Superintendent sends one board member to the PESB.
What I don't understand is how the RCW directs the superintendent to develop ethnic studies content, but somehow, it is being controlled by the PESB. I don't know the role of the State Board of Education. The two commissions are appointed by the governor.
This is the mess that our education system it is, because it is being run by various groups spread out all over the place, and the superintendent has no control over them.
Chris said in a zoom call that the anti-Israel walkouts are against the rules. This is not allowed to happen during classroom hours. During those hours, students are legally considered to be a "captive audience." However, the only way the superintendent's office can enforce it is that a parent or student or staff member has to make a complaint to his office. The local school boards have all control. The only power the superintendent has under the law is to investigate a complaint and determine whether a rule was violated. It seems to be a high legal bar. I am not sure whether members of the public or organizations have the standing to file a complaint.
Part 3 (to get the software to display this properly)
Laws are weak if it depends on people making complaints. Legal experts in the state legislature and Congress would have to comment on that. It's the same thing that happens in fighting discrimination against women in the tech industry. The burden of making a complaint is on the party that experienced the discrimination.
Title VI discrimination complaints can be made at the federal level. But that's not over curriculum issues.
In another zoom call, David Olson talked about having conversations with the various sides and trying to resolve disputes. However, this doesn't have a legal standing of a formal investigation of a complaint.
Also the OSPI doesn't control a school district's budget.
Last night at Maria Cantwell's event, I was able to speak to Chris briefly despite all of all of the loud music in the room that prevented detailed conversations. He is meeting with the Jewish Federation to develop policies for the school year. I think other organizations should try to get involved too.
To me, the environment that allowed the low academic quality academic standards of ethnic studies to develop is occurring because there are no clear lines of who is responsible for what, or the relationship between what is in the various education RCWs and the specific responsibilities of the OSPI, the PESB and the State Board of Education. It is also about the use of outside companies, nonprofits and consultants rather than putting the certificated teachers in charge of what happens in their classrooms and schools. Somehow, WAESN has been able to navigate this murky space of undefined responsibilities and get people to advocate for its curriculum. Our community has failed to understand and navigate that space and to get people on these boards and commissions.
In other words, this seems to be an issue for the Attorney General candidates. The Attorney General's office would have to straighten out who is responsible for what and whether anything isn't being decided in the right place. And then the law is pretty strict about school districts having almost total control over everything, and it isn't easy for a state agency to overrule a school district. It's also a discussion to have with candidates for state legislature.
So perhaps an interview with some expert education lawyers would help.
The bottom line is that people should run for school board and support the best candidates. Some of us wanted to get a candidate elected in the Northshore School District. There was nothing we could do without donors for a mailer and strategy to win. This is nonpartisan and shouldn't be partisan.
The office of OSPI also has the power to investigate a certificated teacher for violations of the conduct rule. For example, a teacher posted something on private social media suggesting death to Jews. He said that sounds like a violation. (He is not allowed to make a definite ruling because it has to go through their formal processes.) He encouraged parents and students who saw something like that to file a complaint. But the students or the parents have to bring the complaint to his office before they can do anything. This is a formal hearing over a teacher's certification. The OSPI can't tell a teacher what to say or not say. They can decide whether a teacher has violated the terms of certification.
I think that it's best for affected parties to hire an education lawyer and file the complaints with OSPI. They will do an objective investigation.
In answer to my question, he also thought it was against the rules for teachers to have a video on youtube saying that white students shouldn't be called on in class until after the BIPOC students have spoken. But unless students and parents from that classroom bring a complaint to him, he can't do anything. His office has the authority to investigate complaints against certificated teachers.
Because WAESN, for example, is an independent organization and not a certificated teacher, the OSPI has no authority over them. When content or instruction are outsourced beyond the scope of certificated teachers, OSPI doesn't have authority to micromanage a school district. So the funding of all of these nonprofits and consultants is getting around the authority of certificated teachers to control what is taught, and then it actually undermines the authority of OSPI to enforce anything. You can see where that is headed from the standpoint of education policy.
"I'd get in my car and drive to that school and demand to see the principal and the superintendent and get in front of all the teachers and say, if you don't stop this, I'm going to take your funding."
I don't think OSPI can take away a school's funding and I don't think the superintendent can go to a school district and override them like that.
On the subject of graduation rates: There is nothing to demonstrate that the superintendent is responsible for graduation rates. In fact, Chris Reykdal wants to reduce the number of graduation requirements after, years ago, the now-failing "make them shape up" approach to education was adopted, with students having to take completely useless courses such as most of the second semester of Algebra 2, and ethnic studies in its current iteration. The Eastside school districts did an actual social science study of their graduation rates. A main factor in lower rates was race, with Black and Hispanics showing lower graduation rates. But there was a another more pronounced fact that confounds the data: the economics status of the parents. There is a 40% difference in graduation rates on the Eastside (Bellevue, Lake Washington Issaquah school districts) because of the economic status of the students. Just think of the difference between the advantages and possessions the wealthy parents can provide for their children, as well as help from educated parents or from paid tutors, as compared to the families where a single mom needs to get socks and shoes for her kids through the Buy Nothing groups. The superintendent isn't a big factor in graduation rates.
Part 1(somehow the software isn't displaying the comment correctly)
The superintendent does not have any control over many of the things you wrote about. It would be illegal for the superintendent to be involved.
First of all, local school districts have almost complete legal control over their districts, especially curriculum. There are only specific ways in which OSPI can get involved in the issues in a particular school district.
The OSPI does administer some kinds of academic standards and has a say in the overall graduation requirements. Chris' clear position is wanting to reduce the number of requirements and have more electives and individual choice. He does not have the authority to do that unilaterally.
The superintendent has no say over curriculum. The State PESB and the State Board of Education are involved in that. The Office of the Superintendent sends one board member to the PESB.
What I don't understand is how the RCW directs the superintendent to develop ethnic studies content, but somehow, it is being controlled by the PESB. I don't know the role of the State Board of Education. The two commissions are appointed by the governor.
This is the mess that our education system it is, because it is being run by various groups spread out all over the place, and the superintendent has no control over them.
Chris said in a zoom call that the anti-Israel walkouts are against the rules. This is not allowed to happen during classroom hours. During those hours, students are legally considered to be a "captive audience." However, the only way the superintendent's office can enforce it is that a parent or student or staff member has to make a complaint to his office. The local school boards have all control. The only power the superintendent has under the law is to investigate a complaint and determine whether a rule was violated. It seems to be a high legal bar. I am not sure whether members of the public or organizations have the standing to file a complaint.
Part 3 (to get the software to display this properly)
Laws are weak if it depends on people making complaints. Legal experts in the state legislature and Congress would have to comment on that. It's the same thing that happens in fighting discrimination against women in the tech industry. The burden of making a complaint is on the party that experienced the discrimination.
Title VI discrimination complaints can be made at the federal level. But that's not over curriculum issues.
In another zoom call, David Olson talked about having conversations with the various sides and trying to resolve disputes. However, this doesn't have a legal standing of a formal investigation of a complaint.
Also the OSPI doesn't control a school district's budget.
Last night at Maria Cantwell's event, I was able to speak to Chris briefly despite all of all of the loud music in the room that prevented detailed conversations. He is meeting with the Jewish Federation to develop policies for the school year. I think other organizations should try to get involved too.
To me, the environment that allowed the low academic quality academic standards of ethnic studies to develop is occurring because there are no clear lines of who is responsible for what, or the relationship between what is in the various education RCWs and the specific responsibilities of the OSPI, the PESB and the State Board of Education. It is also about the use of outside companies, nonprofits and consultants rather than putting the certificated teachers in charge of what happens in their classrooms and schools. Somehow, WAESN has been able to navigate this murky space of undefined responsibilities and get people to advocate for its curriculum. Our community has failed to understand and navigate that space and to get people on these boards and commissions.
In other words, this seems to be an issue for the Attorney General candidates. The Attorney General's office would have to straighten out who is responsible for what and whether anything isn't being decided in the right place. And then the law is pretty strict about school districts having almost total control over everything, and it isn't easy for a state agency to overrule a school district. It's also a discussion to have with candidates for state legislature.
So perhaps an interview with some expert education lawyers would help.
The bottom line is that people should run for school board and support the best candidates. Some of us wanted to get a candidate elected in the Northshore School District. There was nothing we could do without donors for a mailer and strategy to win. This is nonpartisan and shouldn't be partisan.
Part 2
The office of OSPI also has the power to investigate a certificated teacher for violations of the conduct rule. For example, a teacher posted something on private social media suggesting death to Jews. He said that sounds like a violation. (He is not allowed to make a definite ruling because it has to go through their formal processes.) He encouraged parents and students who saw something like that to file a complaint. But the students or the parents have to bring the complaint to his office before they can do anything. This is a formal hearing over a teacher's certification. The OSPI can't tell a teacher what to say or not say. They can decide whether a teacher has violated the terms of certification.
I think that it's best for affected parties to hire an education lawyer and file the complaints with OSPI. They will do an objective investigation.
In answer to my question, he also thought it was against the rules for teachers to have a video on youtube saying that white students shouldn't be called on in class until after the BIPOC students have spoken. But unless students and parents from that classroom bring a complaint to him, he can't do anything. His office has the authority to investigate complaints against certificated teachers.
Because WAESN, for example, is an independent organization and not a certificated teacher, the OSPI has no authority over them. When content or instruction are outsourced beyond the scope of certificated teachers, OSPI doesn't have authority to micromanage a school district. So the funding of all of these nonprofits and consultants is getting around the authority of certificated teachers to control what is taught, and then it actually undermines the authority of OSPI to enforce anything. You can see where that is headed from the standpoint of education policy.
"I'd get in my car and drive to that school and demand to see the principal and the superintendent and get in front of all the teachers and say, if you don't stop this, I'm going to take your funding."
I don't think OSPI can take away a school's funding and I don't think the superintendent can go to a school district and override them like that.
On the subject of graduation rates: There is nothing to demonstrate that the superintendent is responsible for graduation rates. In fact, Chris Reykdal wants to reduce the number of graduation requirements after, years ago, the now-failing "make them shape up" approach to education was adopted, with students having to take completely useless courses such as most of the second semester of Algebra 2, and ethnic studies in its current iteration. The Eastside school districts did an actual social science study of their graduation rates. A main factor in lower rates was race, with Black and Hispanics showing lower graduation rates. But there was a another more pronounced fact that confounds the data: the economics status of the parents. There is a 40% difference in graduation rates on the Eastside (Bellevue, Lake Washington Issaquah school districts) because of the economic status of the students. Just think of the difference between the advantages and possessions the wealthy parents can provide for their children, as well as help from educated parents or from paid tutors, as compared to the families where a single mom needs to get socks and shoes for her kids through the Buy Nothing groups. The superintendent isn't a big factor in graduation rates.