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Joni Balter says that the search has been the "Re-election Security Act for four School Board members who need to be replaced"
What would she propose? Mr. Manhas announced in October his intention to leave at the end of his contract. Does Ms Balter think it would have been responsible of the Board to NOT conduct a Superintendent search?
Ms. Balter says that Sally Soriano and Darlene Flynn have not earned re-election - Sally because she "was suing the district over the school-closure plan. In essence, she was suing herself." This is not true and it burns me up that Ms. Balter intentionally misreports this. Sally was not a party to the suit; she provided an affidavit. As for Darlene Flynn being divisive, I'm not sure what Ms. Balter means by that. Whom did Darlene divide? What interests did she further polarize? I will say that Darlene rides the staff very roughly. She shows more impatience with them than would be wise.
Ms Balter says that Directors Stewart and Butler-Wall are "weak-willed". Again, I'm not sure what she means by that. I think it means that they wouldn't do what Ms. Balter wanted them to do.
Ms. Balter says that our schools have sputtered and stalled under this School Board. I would say that the schools have sputtered and stalled under this Superintendent and his CAO Steve Wilson. They had a much greater influence than the Board ever will.
I don't remember Ms Balter editorializing like this when Mr. Manhas was named Superintendent as one of the final acts of another Board. The Times lauded the choice. They didn't cynically call the quickie selection the "Re-Election Security Act" back then.
As for the language of school politics becoming too divisive and driving families away from our schools, I would say that the Times has been at the front of that parade beating the biggest drum they could find.
Anonymous said…
Also, given Chow's inability to respond in any kind of a timely fashion to her constituents, I just don't get the Times' support of her. She just seems to hate interacting with us - we're such a drag, I guess.
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong. It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Update 5 It appears that there is another person running in Director Rankin's district, Michael Christophersen. He has run before. From past interactions when he was running before, he's not school board material in the least and he comes off as creepy. (The King County Elections listing is unclear; he's on there as both running and withdrawing.) If he stays in the race, it will mean a primary for that district. That could be interesting because then you would see if Rankin - after pretty much ignoring Ingraham High parents as well as Broadview-Thomson parents and their safety concerns - truly has support in her own district. As well, there is another contender in District 6 and she's Maryanne Wood. Ms Wood's LinkedIn page says she is a "shift lead" at Kinetic Builders but there are no dates for her employment. The company is a general contracting company. I can't find much more about her. end of update Update 4 - To make it clear: District 1 (Ranki
Comments
What would she propose? Mr. Manhas announced in October his intention to leave at the end of his contract. Does Ms Balter think it would have been responsible of the Board to NOT conduct a Superintendent search?
Ms. Balter says that Sally Soriano and Darlene Flynn have not earned re-election - Sally because she "was suing the district over the school-closure plan. In essence, she was suing herself." This is not true and it burns me up that Ms. Balter intentionally misreports this. Sally was not a party to the suit; she provided an affidavit. As for Darlene Flynn being divisive, I'm not sure what Ms. Balter means by that. Whom did Darlene divide? What interests did she further polarize? I will say that Darlene rides the staff very roughly. She shows more impatience with them than would be wise.
Ms Balter says that Directors Stewart and Butler-Wall are "weak-willed". Again, I'm not sure what she means by that. I think it means that they wouldn't do what Ms. Balter wanted them to do.
Ms. Balter says that our schools have sputtered and stalled under this School Board. I would say that the schools have sputtered and stalled under this Superintendent and his CAO Steve Wilson. They had a much greater influence than the Board ever will.
I don't remember Ms Balter editorializing like this when Mr. Manhas was named Superintendent as one of the final acts of another Board. The Times lauded the choice. They didn't cynically call the quickie selection the "Re-Election Security Act" back then.
As for the language of school politics becoming too divisive and driving families away from our schools, I would say that the Times has been at the front of that parade beating the biggest drum they could find.