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Enrollment system for homeless students creates new barriers

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

A new way to enroll students in the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) online raised eyebrows within the service provider community. What was meant to help their vulnerable clients get enrolled in school instead created new barriers for homeless students.

The online enrollment system, developed by PowerSchool, allows families to enroll their children from home using an online web portal.

Treehouse raises the graduation rate for Washington youth in foster care

by Stephanie Hoover | August 30th, 2017

Treehouse CEO Janis Avery said the Graduation Success program is designed to introduce stability into the lives of foster kids and young adults, often for the first time, by pairing them with an education specialist they meet with weekly. The specialists help students set goals, make plans and advocate for themselves.

Get familiar with the laws that protect homeless students and the barriers they face

by Hillary Coleman | August 30th, 2017

Over the next week, staff at public schools across the 19 school districts in King County will welcome students, thousands of whom will be coming to school from somewhere other than a house. During the 2015-16 school year, 8,442 students in King County public schools were identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal law that defines student homelessness and establishes crucial guidelines for schools to ensure that homeless students are able to participate fully in education.

Education Opportunity Center opens for low-income, veteran and first-time college students

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

The Robert Smith building on South Seattle College’s West Seattle campus is less of a building and more of a complex that houses the ancillary functions and services staff, the administration and students need to get through the school year.

Registration? Head to RSB. Need a book for class? The library is there. Planning a student protest? The administration offices can be found near the visitor parking.

Fighting the emotional and physical trauma of student meal debt

by Alex Visser | August 30th, 2017

For children whose families struggle to pay off school lunch debt, the pangs of hunger are made more severe by the stigma of social shaming — performing lunch chores, watching perfectly good food be thrown into the trash and receiving stamps on the arm that read “I owe money.”

The cost of education

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

Funding for public colleges and universities remains low a decade removed from the Great Recession, according to a recent study.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) found that public funding higher education at two- and four-year colleges is $9 billion less than it was in 2008, when the U.S. financial system collapsed under the weight of bad loans packaged into risky and poorly understood financial products.

From Exile to Artist: Tatiana Garmendia’s city gallery installation centers the displaced

by Lisa Edge | August 30th, 2017

Inside the Seattle Presents gallery, Tatiana Garmendia’s exhibition, “No Hiding Place Down Here,” addresses one of the city’s most visible problems: homelessness. In January, 11,643 people in King County were without a permanent home. Of that number, 5,485 were unsheltered, often in cars, tents or exposed to the elements. Garmendia faces this reality every day while driving to work. Alongside the road she sees tents as well as havens configured with cardboard and tarp.

First Thursday Guide - Sept. 7, 2017

by Lisa Edge | August 30th, 2017

On the first Thursday of every month hundreds head to Pioneer Square to check out the latest art shows. Seattle’s oldest neighborhood is home to dozens of galleries and first Thursday is when they often showcase new exhibitions and artists from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

First Thursday parking is free from 5 – 10 p.m. at Frye Garage (117 Third Ave. S.) and Butler Garage (114 James St.). To redeem, pick up a voucher at participating Pioneer Square stores, restaurants or galleries.

Here are a few shows you may want to check out.

Director's Corner: My time at Real Change has forever changed the person I am

by Alan Preston | August 30th, 2017

This is a bittersweet column to write. After eight years at Real Change, I am leaving in order to attend to a family member’s pressing health issues.

Adventures in Irony - Jeanette Dyal Schimmelbusch: There needs to be many more like her

by Dr. Wes Browning | August 30th, 2017

I want to talk about a fan of Real Change who I just found out died almost two years ago. But first I want to talk about child abuse. So I guess this won’t be a very funny column.

People often speculate that my writing has been informed by pot, LSD or ‘shroom usage in my college days. Not so. I only inhaled a dozen times. I stayed away from the tricksy stuff.

What I learned about our criminal justice system from inside a jail cell

by Cynthia Linet | August 23rd, 2017

Ever since the Valve Turners bravely shut off all those pipelines coming from Canada, I have known that direct action is now our only hope of stopping climate catastrophe before it’s too late. We’ve tried everything else.

So when I learned that Tacoma Direct Action was about to act at the Liquified Natural Gas Storage Facility to prevent its further construction, I wanted in. I had no idea, however, that I would be so privileged as to expose the criminal behavior of our local criminal justice system itself.

Director's Corner: The story of America is drenched in blood

by Timothy Harris | August 23rd, 2017

Charlottesville. During the war, the direct fighting mostly missed this town. The people here instead supplied swords, uniforms and artificial limbs to rebel soldiers. A 500-bed military hospital tended to a total of 22,000 sick and wounded Civil War soldiers.

In 1861, the 19th Virginia Regiment recruited troops from here and lost 60 percent of its men in the Pickett Campaign two years later. In 1865, town leaders surrendered Charlottesville to General George Custer.

Custer. The Indian Killer. Better for him had he retired then.

The Peoples Party and Nikkita Oliver: Election Night and the next steps

by Gui Jean-Paul C... | August 23rd, 2017

Nikkita Oliver announced Seattle Peoples Party simultaneously as she announced her candidacy for Mayor on March 8, International Women’s Day. She has already made a lasting imprint on Seattle politics and abroad.

How do you know when a Candidate is really for the People?

Perceived potholes in freshly paved car camping regulations leave some jittery

by Ashley Archibald | August 23rd, 2017

New regulations meant to help people living in their vehicles got off to a bumpy start in August after an early draft was leaked to the media. People frightened that the city and their neighborhoods would be overrun by an army of car campers seized upon the legislation and flooded a recent meeting of the Seattle City Council’s Human Services and Public Health committee to voice their concerns.

Radical Humanity: In poetry and song, Gui Jean-Paul Chevalier seeks to rebuild lost connections

by Aaron Burkhalter | August 23rd, 2017

Whether in song, poetry or his monthly columns in Real Change, Gui Jean-Paul Chevalier invokes a sense of humanity in every word. The writing always speaks to a piece of humanity we’ve lost, to the connections that have been broken.

Seattle transfers property to community organizations

by Ashley Archibald | August 16th, 2017

The city of Seattle is preparing to pare down its real estate portfolio with a series of land transfers that could benefit nonprofits that serve Seattle’s most vulnerable residents.

The Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) initiated a process in August that would allow the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) to take control of the building that houses the Greenwood Senior Center. FAS also intends to use the same process to give Neighborcare, a nonprofit provider of health services, ownership of its clinic on Rainier Avenue South.

Cashless smartphone app gives Real Change vendors new way to sell paper

by Jason Bono | February 22nd, 2017

Standing at her usual spot right below Seattle City Hall, Real Change vendor Mellie Kaufman made one of the first paper sales using a cashless payment app.

The customer was a regular of Kaufman’s. He logged into the Venmo app, found Real Change, typed in Kaufman’s name and badge number and paid her $5, $2 for the cover price of the paper plus a $3 tip.

“It was a neat experience,” Kaufman said. “I physically gave him a paper but the money was right there when I came down to the office.”

Director's Corner: My time at Real Change has forever changed the person I am

by Alan Preston | August 30th, 2017

This is a bittersweet column to write. After eight years at Real Change, I am leaving in order to attend to a family member’s pressing health issues.
- Read more about Director's Corner: My time at Real Change has forever changed the person I am
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Get familiar with the laws that protect homeless students and the barriers they face

by Hillary Coleman | August 30th, 2017

Over the next week, staff at public schools across the 19 school districts in King County will welcome students, thousands of whom will be coming to school from somewhere other than a house. During the 2015-16 school year, 8,442 students in King County public schools were identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal law that defines student homelessness and establishes crucial guidelines for schools to ensure that homeless students are able to participate fully in education.
- Read more about Get familiar with the laws that protect homeless students and the barriers they face
- Comments
Education Opportunity Center opens for low-income, veteran and first-time college students

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

The Robert Smith building on South Seattle College’s West Seattle campus is less of a building and more of a complex that houses the ancillary functions and services staff, the administration and students need to get through the school year.

Registration? Head to RSB. Need a book for class? The library is there. Planning a student protest? The administration offices can be found near the visitor parking.
- Read more about Education Opportunity Center opens for low-income, veteran and first-time college students
- Comments
The cost of education

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

Funding for public colleges and universities remains low a decade removed from the Great Recession, according to a recent study.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) found that public funding higher education at two- and four-year colleges is $9 billion less than it was in 2008, when the U.S. financial system collapsed under the weight of bad loans packaged into risky and poorly understood financial products.
- Read more about The cost of education
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The lucky 13th

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

Mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan unveiled a proposal Monday to guarantee Seattle high school graduates two years of free tuition at a local community college.
- Read more about The lucky 13th
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Enrollment system for homeless students creates new barriers

by Ashley Archibald | August 30th, 2017

A new way to enroll students in the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) online raised eyebrows within the service provider community. What was meant to help their vulnerable clients get enrolled in school instead created new barriers for homeless students.

The online enrollment system, developed by PowerSchool, allows families to enroll their children from home using an online web portal.
- Read more about Enrollment system for homeless students creates new barriers
- Comments
Book Review: “Dark Age America: Climate Change, Cultural Collapse, and the Hard Future Ahead”

by Joe Martin | August 30th, 2017

John Michael Greer predicts the unavoidable extinction of the industrial world

In 1969 population biologist Paul Ehrlich published a short work of fiction entitled “Eco-Catastrophe!” in a now-defunct, leftist magazine called Ramparts. In a terrifying story of Earth’s deteriorating environment, Ehrlich described widespread pollution, unfettered population growth, precarious food production, dying oceans, the eradication of sea life, the disappearance of birds and explosion of pesticide-resistant insects.
- Read more about Book Review: “Dark Age America: Climate Change, Cultural Collapse, and the Hard Future Ahead”
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The Middle Ground by Sam Day 8/30/17

by Sam Day | August 30th, 2017

View previous editorial cartoons by Sam Day.

Wait, there's more. Check out articles in the full August 30 issue.

Real Change is reader supported. Just $5 a month provides work for more than 300 active vendors and keeps community journalism strong.
- Read more about The Middle Ground by Sam Day 8/30/17
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The dimwit’s list for avoiding homeless people

by Rev. Rich Lang | August 30th, 2017

It happens every time. A church opens its parking lot for a homeless community, and neighbors complain. They throw out hysterical accusations that their homes will be broken into, women will be stalked, children kidnapped and safety will plummet.
- Read more about The dimwit’s list for avoiding homeless people
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Adventures in Irony - Jeanette Dyal Schimmelbusch: There needs to be many more like her

by Dr. Wes Browning | August 30th, 2017

I want to talk about a fan of Real Change who I just found out died almost two years ago. But first I want to talk about child abuse. So I guess this won’t be a very funny column.

People often speculate that my writing has been informed by pot, LSD or ‘shroom usage in my college days. Not so. I only inhaled a dozen times. I stayed away from the tricksy stuff.
- Read more about Adventures in Irony - Jeanette Dyal Schimmelbusch: There needs to be many more like her
- Comments