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No, Thank You Brita
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This editorial by Director Brita Butler-Wall appeared in today's PI. Well-said, Brita.
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Anonymous said…
While I appreciate the effort Brita made to move to the middle during her tenure, I find it interesting that most of the accomplishments she cited occurred with a superintendent she refers to as a non-educator.
I think the 2003 board is giving themselves a lot of credit for work that was the result of the efforts of a lot more people than just the board, specifically, very dedicated staff members.
Anonymous said…
Brita, you are right. This board accomplished A LOT.
You personally accomplished A LOT, and you were always available to your constituents.
You should be proud of what you accomplished, and I am honored to have had you leading the board.
I wish you would have run again, but I certainly understand why you didn't. Who wants a thankless volunteer job, that can accomplish so much, with so little recognition. Not only little recognition, but continual bashing, and vile public outcry at every turn.
I don't blame you one bit for not running.
I thank you for your service and wish you the best in your new endeavors, whatever they may be.
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
I think the 2003 board is giving themselves a lot of credit for work that was the result of the efforts of a lot more people than just the board, specifically, very dedicated staff members.
You personally accomplished A LOT, and you were always available to your constituents.
You should be proud of what you accomplished, and I am honored to have had you leading the board.
I wish you would have run again, but I certainly understand why you didn't. Who wants a thankless volunteer job, that can accomplish so much, with so little recognition. Not only little recognition, but continual bashing, and vile public outcry at every turn.
I don't blame you one bit for not running.
I thank you for your service and wish you the best in your new endeavors, whatever they may be.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU