get on the Special Education Task Force to implement the new policy for Seattle's School District

and I learned a lot from doing this. I was intimidated initially but went ahead – which is difficult for me. I prefer working on more intimate projects, like volunteering at my son’s school or working on fundraising for NBA where Max gets regular therapy. So I am glad I did this – but it’s not a good fit for me.

Went to Olympia yesterday with a busload of Washington State PTA members and Nancy who (like me) is from the Special Ed PTSA. Governer Christine Gregoire spoke for a half-hour; it was very moving. Representative Ross Hunter talked for a half-hour also; it was informative, inspiring and reassuring (he was very articulate and was speaking ex-tempore). Max had woken up in the middle of the night so I was very sleep-deprived. I wasn’t sure how “fun” the day would be – but in the end I’m so glad I went! I learned a ton. I ended up feeling hopeful about the future of Education in my state. It was great to be exposed to the Legislative process and come away feeling like things could be accomplished.
The next official Task Force meeting is Monday March 3rd. The ‘retreat’ to begin outlining the new policy will be over and the project manager should have something concrete to discuss with us.

Dr. Goodloe-Johnson, the new Superintendent of Seattle Schools came for the first half of the meeting. She answered questions from the parents (great attendance again, at least as many folks as the December meeting) about inclusion, self-contained, transition, collaboration, professional training: lots of great questions. I read three articles yesterday before the meeting, all by Ilene Schwartz. She’s in the Education department at U of W. I bought a text-book she co-wrote from betterworldbooks.com, it should arrive in the mail no later than Monday. She makes the concepts around inclusion programs easy to understand. February 13th Special Ed PTSA goes to Olympia to meet with Legislators. I’m going! The Task Force is going to meet for the first time next week, we should be getting the date/place info by Friday. So far there are nine parents and three teachers, nice mix!

we’ll see what happens. I went to a meeting at Stevens Elementary last night. There were about 30 parents, 4 teachers and 2 people from the District. The idea was to generate a list of questions and concerns about the report that just came out about Special Ed. in Seattle and how this team of consultants recommends Special Ed services be changed. I am so used to the world of Information Technology where any large project has well-defined requirements, milestones, success criteria, assumptions and risks. There is no real policy as of yet. This report makes recommendations based on documents and interviews. There’s no mention of other Special Ed programs (either here or elsewhere in the nation) that have successful inclusion programs. There is no definition of what “inclusion” means! I’m a little overwhelmed – but decided to dive in anyhow. I don’t expect much to happen until after Christmas, but at least I feel like I’m starting to make the right connections to get more involved.