Editorials / Opinion

As part of The Seattle Times’ ongoing series on school discipline, Education Lab recently asked readers to share their experiences with student discipline. A selection of these responses are below. Go the the original post in Education Lab for more responses.

Want to add your own two cents? Go here to share your thoughts. The blog may publish another round of responses at a later date.

How have you seen discipline handled well?

Discipline has worked when I’ve seen adults willing to be a mediator for helping students listen to each other. Establishing agreements (not rules) beforehand and continuing to revisit them is also helpful. When children know they can trust, they will be heard, they are more willing to listen and learn and be guided.

–Marcia Christen, Poulsbo

I see more schools using positive behavioral supports. We have to teach kids how to behave and the right social skills to get their needs met. Suspending them only makes it worse.

–Lori Lynass (teacher), Shoreline

More

Thanks to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray [“Fix Outdated Federal Education Law,” Opinion, Jan. 13] for her common-sense ideas about the education today. I can remember sitting at a faculty meeting in 2002 when No Child Left Behind was first introduced to us. We, the teachers, looked at each other in bewilderment, knowing NCLB wouldn’t work. All…

The recent Seattle Times editorial “Early education’s promise needs funding” [Opinion, Jan. 12] extolled the undisputed benefits of investing in early learning. In recent years this call for investments has grown and enjoyed widespread support. Advocating for policies that fund early learning has always been relevant to promoting school success, closing the achievement gap,…

I fear Danny Westneat’s enthusiasm for President Obama’s free college proposal [“Ahead of the curve on the free college idea,” Local News, Jan. 9] is a bit misplaced. As he admits, it certainly sounds too good to be true. While the calculations of Sara Goldrick-Rab and others are technically accurate, they exclude considerations of…

State Sen. Christine Rolfes in her guest column “Spending more on public education” [Opinion, Jan. 7], stated that “no one wants to pay more taxes.” I do not want to quibble with the absolute “no one.” However, if education needs more money, why not increase the gasoline tax by 5 or 10 cents per…

Kelly Shea / The Seattle Times

Editor’s note: Last Sunday, The Times Opinion page asked readers what the Legislature’s priority should be this session. Here are selected responses:

The environment

In laying out its priorities for the Legislature in 2015, The Seattle Times editorial board hit on an agenda that is absolutely important. But it overlooked a crucial item: preserving natural infrastructure.

We need clean water to drink, a resilient Puget Sound, vibrant forests and clean air to breathe. These are foundational to all other issues. A healthy environment underpins human mental and physical health and our region’s livelihoods.

Caring for Washington’s environment is caring for the bedrock of our state. Living in the midst of natural beauty, we sometimes take for granted the incredible natural resources that are the foundation for our state’s economy and quality of life.

Mary Ruckelshaus, Seattle

Fund public education

As the state constitution declares, the state’s first priority is to amply fund public education. The constitution is very

In “Spending more on public education” [Opinion, Jan. 7], state Sen. Christine Rolfes asks, “Do we look for more revenue, even though no one wants to pay more taxes?” The same issue reports on the latest Elway Poll finding that 48 percent of those polled said lawmakers should raise taxes to fund schools…

The Washington Legislature convenes Jan. 12 for its 2015 legislative session. The Seattle Times editorial board published its priorities to focus lawmakers on the big tasks ahead. The No. 1 priority is education, followed by transportation, medical marijuana excesses and a failing state mental-heatlh system. What are your priorities for the Legislature? Why? Fill…

The editorial “To save money, provide quality pre-K, not incarceration” [Opinion, Dec. 29] is a most timely argument. Along with comprehensive social and nutritional support, making literacy and numeracy concrete realities in young lives reaps benefits both for the kids and for society. I have been in human services for nearly four decades. In that…

Differentiation is not new to teaching [“We can do better for students with special needs,” Education Lab, Dec. 22]. In high school, I remember receiving permission to take an assignment in a new direction. I remember working with my social-studies teacher, allowing me to contract a course so that I could fit more…