http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/ Superintendent Manhas says that school closures are now "off the table," but that the district, with additional community involvement, will "continue working on a revised student assignment and transportation plan for implementation in 2006-2007." The future of TOPS, and of all Seattle alternative schools, will be greatly affected by the outcome of this process. We, as members of the TOPS community, and citizens of Seattle, wish to have our perspectives, analyses, and hopes included in this discussion. The original 'reshaping plan' and much of the current discussion seems to suggest that it will be reasonable for alternative schools to draw only from a single cluster. This presumes that all alternative schools are essentially the same, and that students seeking an alternative education will be well-served by whichever particular alternative school is in their cluster. We disagree. Seattle has many fine, very different alternative schools. Many of these schools draw from large portions of the city. Their variety, and the freedom that families have to seek enrollment for their children in a particular alternative school whose curriculum and structure are matched to their children, are the very essence of Seattle public alternative education. There are many kinds of children in our city, with many different learning styles. Some of these children flourish in traditional programs, whose continued improvement we also seek. But many children thrive only, or thrive best, in the less traditional settings offered by particular alternative schools. In order to serve our children -- all of our children -- we need to preserve and strengthen both traditional programs and alternative schools. All schools must be well-funded, and have reasonable class sizes. Alternative schools need something more: they must be supported so that they can evolve in their own way, attracting students from across the city who are well-matched to their particular alternative nature. Further, to ensure equity and to provide access to every family in the city, we think it imperative that free transportation be available to alternative schools throughout the city. We are of course open to creative efforts to reduce the cost of this transportation as much as possible. To summarize, * We ask that the district recognize the unique character of each alternative school. * We ask that each alternative school continue to be available to families throughout the city. * We ask that every effort be made to maintain free multi-cluster transportation to alternative schools. Sat, 21 May 2005 04:1:55 CDT en-us 3 http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig5739887 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST I support this petition. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig755076 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig755075 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig755073 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig755070 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig750200 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig748520 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig744687 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig739477 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig739464 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig734907 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig734905 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig732438 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig727974 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST I'll do this for my grandaughter. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig726451 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig726123 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST The impact of alternative schools drawing from a single cluster would be devastating -- both for children who would like to attend the best alternative school for them (which includes my pre-school daughter because we do not live in the TOPS area) -- and the children who are already attending TOPS and other alternative schools. The change in character of these schools would be huge, and to say the least disruptive to the educational process. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig724288 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig717383 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig712928 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST TOPS is our first choice for our daughter in 2006.Because TOPs is close to the University, where we work, we look forward to participating in science education at TOPS. We do not have this opportunity at our neighborhood schools. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/keepustogether/#sig712908 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST