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Levy story in the Times
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The Seattle Times ran a brief story today about the upcoming levies. Mel was quoted.
But you'll note (both on radio and tv) that the Schools First people always get more quotes.
They did leave out the overall bond/levy rate including BEX III which raises that tax level quite a bit.
What would happen to the 5 reopening buildings if the BTA levy fails is that the district would continue doing what it has already started doing (and done in the past) - they'll take the money out of BEX III. And guess what? Ingraham's project is on the ropes anyway - they said so at the last BEX Oversight committee meeting.
As for the costs of another election, there are a couple of things to understand. The district has the choice of when to run the election. They could do it in November and save the money and don't. Also, Mayor McGinn is thinking of running a levy in the spring; if the district loses, they could join forces and each save some money.
I just want to point out (and I'll write my own thread) a couple of things:
1) it is easy to look through an SPS parent lens and say vote yes. I ask you all to step back and think of how it looks to those in Seattle who either don't have kids or whose kids are not in the system any longer. They see schools closing, then opening. They see a $500M backlog and then see a new program costing millions opening. It could be confusing to them. Because there is no accountability of money, it's confusing. For parents, it may be okay that the money goes for some school somewhere. For other taxpayers, that might not be enough.
2) I was accidentally sent an e-mail where someone said my argument made no sense. I honestly understand if someone says "I don't agree with you, Melissa, and I want the money for the schools."
My argument does make sense if you are willing to admit that you know the district has been neglecting and deferring basic maintenance to the point where we have this huge backlog. BUT, you are okay with this even in the face of knowing that repairs will cost more now and you have no real idea where that basic maintenance money that was cut so long ago from the budget has actually gone to all these years.
It's fine, democratic, whatever to disagree with me. But be honest about it. Say, "I'm okay with deferred maintenance, I'm okay for paying more for repairs, I'm okay with fewer repairs made because we have to pay so much extra for repairs. I'm okay with not ever really knowing where the money from the cuts to the basic maintenance budget went over the last 15+ years."
Say that and I know you have the full picture and are being totally honest about your vote. But don't just say, "it's for the kids" and let it go at that. I know these aren't pleasant truths but they are true.
Interesting. The story has disappeared from the Times' webpage. It's there if you put it into the search box but poof! And it wasn't even there one day. Odd.
Melissa, it's still there under the Local section, just not on the front page.
As new headlines come in during the day, the old ones eventually get pushed off the homepage. Since the levy story was posted last night, it's now made its way to the "inside" of the paper, er website.
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.)
Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
Via the SPS webpage: The public is invited to attend or stream this forum for candidates for appointment to the District 2 and 4 School Board Director seats. All finalists will have the opportunity to share why they are interested in serving on the Seattle School Board and answer questions selected by the Board and Student Members. More information about the appointment process, including a timeline and candidate webpages, can be found on the appointment process web page . SPSTV Streaming: The meeting will be live streamed on SPSTV and broadcast on television on Comcast 26 (standard-def) and 319 (hi-def), Wave 26 (standard-def) and 695 (hi-def), and Century Link 8008 (standard-def) and 8508 (hi-def). The agenda reflects the above wording - the meeting will be two-and-a-half hours. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 27th at the Performing Arts Center at Lincoln High School, 4400 Interlake Avenue North from 6-8:30 pm. The Board's schedule reflects announcing
Comments
*head* *desk*
Helen Schinske
They did leave out the overall bond/levy rate including BEX III which raises that tax level quite a bit.
What would happen to the 5 reopening buildings if the BTA levy fails is that the district would continue doing what it has already started doing (and done in the past) - they'll take the money out of BEX III. And guess what? Ingraham's project is on the ropes anyway - they said so at the last BEX Oversight committee meeting.
As for the costs of another election, there are a couple of things to understand. The district has the choice of when to run the election. They could do it in November and save the money and don't. Also, Mayor McGinn is thinking of running a levy in the spring; if the district loses, they could join forces and each save some money.
I just want to point out (and I'll write my own thread) a couple of things:
1) it is easy to look through an SPS parent lens and say vote yes. I ask you all to step back and think of how it looks to those in Seattle who either don't have kids or whose kids are not in the system any longer. They see schools closing, then opening. They see a $500M backlog and then see a new program costing millions opening. It could be confusing to them. Because there is no accountability of money, it's confusing. For parents, it may be okay that the money goes for some school somewhere. For other taxpayers, that might not be enough.
2) I was accidentally sent an e-mail where someone said my argument made no sense. I honestly understand if someone says "I don't agree with you, Melissa, and I want the money for the schools."
My argument does make sense if you are willing to admit that you know the district has been neglecting and deferring basic maintenance to the point where we have this huge backlog. BUT, you are okay with this even in the face of knowing that repairs will cost more now and you have no real idea where that basic maintenance money that was cut so long ago from the budget has actually gone to all these years.
It's fine, democratic, whatever to disagree with me. But be honest about it. Say, "I'm okay with deferred maintenance, I'm okay for paying more for repairs, I'm okay with fewer repairs made because we have to pay so much extra for repairs. I'm okay with not ever really knowing where the money from the cuts to the basic maintenance budget went over the last 15+ years."
Say that and I know you have the full picture and are being totally honest about your vote. But don't just say, "it's for the kids" and let it go at that. I know these aren't pleasant truths but they are true.
As new headlines come in during the day, the old ones eventually get pushed off the homepage. Since the levy story was posted last night, it's now made its way to the "inside" of the paper, er website.