Friday Open Thread

Opening with some sad news; a fifth grader in killed himself this week.   Please talk to your kids about their stresses and offer them ways to defuse those.  From KIRO-7 tv:

"Terminal Park Families, with deep sadness we send this letter to inform you of a recent tragedy,” Maegan Hall Both read to us in her living room in Auburn.

"One of our fifth-grade students passed away Friday, May 18th. With respect to the privacy of the family we are not sharing further details at this time."
But Maegan -- whose 11-year-old daughter, Bridget, is also in the fifth grade at that Auburn school-- very quickly learned the death was a suicide.
Roberson is the counselor at another elementary in the Auburn School District and part of a crisis team that goes to any of the district's schools when there is a tragedy. Roberson says this tragedy necessitates opening what can be an uncomfortable dialogue between parents and kids.

"Instead of focusing so much on the why and the how, we want to focus on how that makes us feel -- with the little kids, make sure that they know every emotion is normal,” Roberson said.
From district Communications:
U.S. News & World Report has recognized several Seattle Public Schools high schools among the top schools in Washington state in their annual report. 

According to U.S. News & World Report, Roosevelt High School ranks #7 (#320 in national rankings), Garfield High School ranks #10 (#706 in national rankings) and Ballard High School ranks #15 (#1118 in national rankings). 

Among the top 100 high schools in Washington, Nathan Hale High School ranks 35th, Franklin High School ranks 41st, Cleveland STEM High School ranks 47th and The Center School ranked 49th. 
The highest ranking Washington State school nationally is the International School in Bellevue.
To note, one charter group - BASIS - has the largest number of top-ranked high schools in the country.  I'll have to write about this group sometime as BASIS is seen as a more competitive charter school but their demographics don't follow their districts.

Two items coming out from the Department of Education via Secretary DeVos:

- Under Trump's reign, he wants schools to deny services to undocumented students.  OSPI has fired back saying our state's constitution provides for serving ALL students within our borders.  It doesn't say anything about citizenship.

From Superintendent Rykdal's press release:

Our students who are undocumented and their families are vital members of our schools and communities. Our schools should be safe places, focused on learning and helping students reach their highest ideals. Schools should never serve as a channel for the federal government to make students feel unsafe.

Section I of our state Constitution is very clear in stating that our public schools must serve every single student who resides within our state’s borders:

“It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.”
Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear in Plyler v. Doe (1982) that all children in the United States – including those who are undocumented – are entitled to a free public education.

- DeVos is holding to her "you can't make me visit public schools" tour when she visited NYC. Did she go to a traditional public school? No.  A charter school?  No.  From the NY Times:

Instead, Ms. DeVos visited two Orthodox Jewish schools, and offered her strongest comments to date in support of public funding for religious schools in a meeting with Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan and other Catholic dignitaries.

“I know very well there are powerful interests that want to deprive families their God-given freedom,” to choose private schools, she told the cardinal and the Alfred E. Smith Foundation, which supports Catholic charities, on Wednesday morning, according to her prepared remarks. “I know that those sycophants of ‘the system’ have kept legislators here from enacting a common-sense program that would open options to thousands of kids in need.”
So choice is now being framed as "a God-given freedom?"

Saturday director community meetings:

Director Patu from 9:30-11:00 am at Raconteur, 5041 Wilson Ave S
President Harris from 3:00-5:00 pm at Delridge Branch Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW

What's on your mind?

Comments

Anonymous said…
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2018/05/18/school-staff-contact-student-about-pot-find-stolen-gun-in-his-bag/

crisis averted?
Grouchy Parent said…
Has director DeWolf scheduled a make up community meeting to make up for the one(s) that got canceled?
Nope but you’d have to ask him about that. I don’t get it.
Anonymous said…
We have alot of great high schools in Seattle and it is terrific many were mentioned in the report. However, parents should not get hung up on the US News report's rankings as an assumption that some schools might be "better in outcomes" than another. Here is why. The US News ranking is skewed to favor schools that require students to take a single AP course.

This is the only reason why Roosevelt ranks a bit higher (#7) than Ballard (#15) for example in this report, but the schools are nearly identical in outcomes such as grad rates, test scores etc. In fact Ballard has a slightly higher grad rate and higher test scores in certain areas than Roosevelt in recent years. This is what the Ballard principal had mentioned at one point about why they don't require every student to take an AP course.

"Our statistics compare extremely similarly to Roosevelt on numerous measures. There are some measures where Ballard is slightly higher and there are others where Roosevelt is slightly higher. The only measure that Roosevelt consistently is higher than Ballard on is the percentage of students taking a college level course, as they require all Sophomores to take AP Human Geography and AP English Language as either a Junior or Senior. I think that is great and I would love to have a similar type of policy, but there are limitations to those policies. Human Geography only vaguely meets the state graduation requirement and really doesn’t meet the SPS requirement at all. It is also offered in very few places and is only preferable to them because it was designed as a one semester class that they teach over the course of two semesters. Since they let students choose which year to take their AP English Language class, they do not offer AP English Literature. We offer both AP courses and many students take both."
Ballard Mom
Andrew said…
So, the Seattle high schools that didn't make the list were:
Ingraham
West Seattle
Rainier Beach
Sealth
NOVA

Are they less good? Is it just the IB thing (vs AP)?
Michael Rice said…
While being on the US News list is nice, we (Ingraham) don't put much stock in it. These ranking ebb and flow. Ingraham was on the list as one of the top 10 schools in the state a couple of years ago, but now we are not, even though we have not changed anything, and our enrollment is up. We have a large percentage of students taking IB classes. We have a large percentage (over 90%) of diploma candidates getting the IB diploma. Our on-time graduation percentage and 9th graders being on track to graduate after 9th grade is above the district average. Our graduates are admitted to the best universities in the country and they are very successful at whatever university they matriculate to.
Anonymous said…
@ Andrew agree with Michael Rice & Ballard mom about AP skewing. The report does not compare apples to apples. Also, For example the US news report also adjusts rankings due to its % of diverse students as well as how well the school is serving students of color in relation to other high schools etc. Ballard, Roosevelt & any white majority school lose in this category if they have low minority enrollment. Garfield which has a majority of racially diverse students, alongside the HC demographic ranks higher on their list due to that factor. Garfield has much lower overall graduation & test score rates (than for example Ballard etc) yet it ranks higher on their report due to this factor. The Bellevue schools which are ranked in the top 5 have a majority of Asian (but also affluent) students, and the report skews their ranking toward the top because they get higher ranked for their "non white" students doing well. If you compare a majority white school with the same (test, grad etc) outcomes, the school would be ranked lower. Link to methodology https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings
Data
Anonymous said…
Seriously, people.

If you were less concerned about status, and more about actual learning and accomplishment, the world would be a better place.

Job
Job, I presented those rankings as a news item and people are commenting that it is very based on AP classes, etc. That’s not calling out status.
Anonymous said…
@ Job, uhhh...taking AP classes goes not grant you status. For many students, it gives them the opportunity for "actual learning and accomplishment" that they might not be able to get in a GE class. Are there students who take AP classes purely because they thin think it'll look better on a college application? Probably--but hopefully the AP class is challenging them a little more, which is a good thing.

The "world would be a better place" if people like you recognized that people are different and might have different needs.

all types

Anonymous said…

i may agree with jobs. hcc seems to some as a 'status?' i think of it as an education type. they may be saying don't judge a hs just by usnwr status rankings. to me that makes sense as their criterion are very subjective and very likely are not yours.

and thanks for posting mw. always good to see these relevant school items.

no caps
Getting Ridicuous said…
The county and city just signed an agreement to solve the region's homeless crisis. Meanwhile, King county wants to drop $190 Million taxpayer dollars on the Mariners. They want to help the team build a brewpub, club level premium seating and other amenities. This, at a time when the city will ask taxpayers for $700M for prek and other educational services.

Our property tax has increased over $1400 dollars this year.

How many people will want to vote for the upcoming city and district levy?






Anonymous said…
The Mariners are a corporation and corporate welfare comes before the welfare of citizens in the US.

-Cynic
Getting Ridicuous said…
Exactly, Cynic.

The county and city could use those dollars to house homeless students and provide prek. With a property tax increase of $1400 this year, I'm not inclined to support another levy. I guess Dow Constantine didn't learn his lesson when the arts levy failed.

Perhaps they will try their usual trick...beg for money and claim that there is no money for police or fire fighters.
Anonymous said…
$1400 increase? Your house must be worth several million dollars. Don't you think you should pay extra since you benefit from all the public services and must make a pretty good living?

Karl Marx
Jet City mom said…
Karl, did you miss the articles about how much assessments and taxes have gone up?
We are on fixed income, and live in a 970 sq ft, 117 yr old cottage.
Our assessment has increased $60,000 every year, for at least the last 5 yrs.

The county doesn’t need to raise taxes to get more money, just raise the assessed value.

http://kuow.org/post/love-air-and-big-property-tax-increases-are-mail
Another Name said…
Many Seattle residents bought their homes for a modest price. They can't afford increasing taxes, Marx.
Another Name said…
Last time I checked, paying an additional $140 per month in taxes was fair amount. The city wants to heap an additional $20 per month for the Family and Education Levy.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Voting No. said…
A few more of these "fare amount" property tax increases and I'm going to be forced to sell the home I bought years ago with the intention of staying here until I died.

A latte a day here, and a latte day there, pretty soon and you're going to find yourself with a proposition 13 here in Washington.
Anonymous said…
The last tax revolt was almost 20 years ago with multiple propositions that were all about limiting taxes.

In the cyclical nature of politics, we are about due for another serious push backs on taxes. I agree with the poster above who noted that the failure of the "arts tax" has not slowed down the multiple new tax initiatives.

The big property tax increase from the State for the "McCleary solution" is really just beginning to hit people. That combined with these new levies and big increases on existing levies ... the amounts are really adding up quickly.

Sooner or later, voter are going to say no, simply because property taxes and "making a good income" don't necessarily have anything to do with each other.

- also voting no.
Hands Off said…
It's not just the amount of the taxes. Can someone point to a government program that has come in on budget and on time in the last several years? Is anyone happy with the level of service or the quality of the public works build in the last two decades?

"Fair Share" is always a more than what is being paid now. You don't like the services? Well, it's because we have a regressive tax structure. Do you want well funded schools? Well, sue and change the system we have. Don't like the result of the lawsuit? Demand a change to the constitution so we can have an income tax.

If we had a capital gains tax, an income tax and even some kind of a net worth tax...there would still be demands for more.
Anonymous said…
It's come to the point where it seems that we have to spend a dollar to get 15 cents of value. This happens when long term benefits gobble up short term funding. I think that's where most public service agencies are at these days.

The only way out is for cities to bid out work to the public sector. Competition for public services will drive down cost and if properly managed the quality will improve along with public perception.

--JS

Anonymous said…
We bought our house years ago, and it was right at the King County median price. That was quite affordable at the time. We remodeled the house (because we couldn't afford to move and stay in the city limits), so the house is worth slightly more than median now. Even without the remodel, the median house price dollar amount has well more than doubled since we bought the house. I's a 15% increase in the past year alone. Very modest homes easily go for $1 million in Seattle now; an equivalent home in Spokane or Boise might go for $250,000. (Yes, we've considered moving.)

The new property tax is an increase for us of nearly 35%.

There is equity latent in the value of our home, true, but that value is strictly on paper, since we can't pull out any of that value without taking out a loan in addition to the mortgage. In practical terms, the levy situation in Seattle is a cash flow problem: can home owners afford to pay, in cash, levies about a third higher on houses whose values, on paper, are skyrocketing?

We are in a double-bind this year, because our property taxes went way up, but also our escrow account is accordingly short as I imagine everyone's is, so we are slowly repaying the escrow account every month as well as most mortgage providers have you do.

Between the property tax increase and the annual increase in health insurance premiums, which we happen to pay out of pocket for in full, I would not say that middle class people like us are faring particularly well. Even people with employer insurance are paying more and more (but you might check your HR department and find out the total cost of the premiums for your plan, if you don't know, because you'll be shocked). The cost of living is definitely stretched to the limit for middle class people in Seattle now, as it has already been for low-income people for some time.

Given that simple fact, and even though we are whole-hearted supporters of the schools not only in dollars donated to PTAs and chipping in for teacher gifts but also in serving considerable volunteer hours, we are planing on voting no on all new levies, period. Transportation, schools, parks: no on them all. It's simply too much money for us.

Frieda
Anonymous said…
I'm starting a gofundme for individual street potholes, it's the only way they are going to get filled.

Boo
Ouch said…
I'm with Frieda. Time to starve the beast.
Anonymous said…
@Karl Marx:

You do seem not to understand how assessments work, which leads me to believe you are not the owner of any property, or at least not in Seattle. Note: this blog is Save Seattle Schools, not Save Peoria Schools. Anyway, assessments are based on the market value of the property. Even if property taxes did not increase at all, property values go up every year, so your property tax would go up accordingly. In a modestly growing city, your house might increase in value from $200,000 one year to $205,000 the next. If you pay 1% in property tax, that's only $50 increase. No big whoop.

Now in Seattle, property values have been increasing by double digits annually, 15% last year. So if last year your house was worth $500,000 (median house price, for a nice but fairly modest home), and the tax rate were 1%, you would pay $5,000 per year, or $416 per month. But if your house increases in value by 15%, then the following year, your property value would be $575,000. If you then pay the same 1%, that would be $5,750 for the year, or $480 per month, and a real increase in tax dollars paid of 15%. That's with no increase in tax rate.

But the property tax does not stay at 1%. It increases due to various factors (not just levies). So if your house adds on $75,000 in value per year AND your tax increases to 2%, then you would need to pay $11,500 in tax that year, or $958 per month. That is a 230% increase in tax dollars paid. That is literally like a second mortgage. This is exactly the boat many Seattleites are in: the reality is that some people's total dollars paid in tax go up by 30% to 100% per year or more.

Even a very good socialist should be able to see it's not right to put so much financial pressure on middle and lower class home owners, asking them to increase their total housing budget by a third or more annually (or double it, in some cases), especially when wages remain stagnant, while the top earners are not really impacted by these increases.

Frieda
"The only way out is for cities to bid out work to the public sector. Competition for public services will drive down cost and if properly managed the quality will improve along with public perception."


Hasn't worked for construction/healthcare so there's that.

Actually this blog hasn't been "Save Seattle Schools" for years; we just kept the URL so as to not confuse/lose readers. That said, it feels a little like trying to save Seattle Schools from themselves.

I am very worried about all three education levies. But I will be blunt to all my friends and co-workers - it would be sad to lose the Families and Education levy but losing the school district levies would be a disaster. That's not hyperbole; it's a fact.

But again, that said, if that BEX V list doesn't look realistic (meaning, among other things, no new downtown high school), I would consider not voting for it.

I will echo what others have said - who gets to live in this city? To have higher property taxes and NOT get to keep that money for our schools adds insult to injury.
Kate (Belltown) said…
Frieda, you have done an excellent job of explaining the untenable situation the situation here in Seattle. I hope that you've conveyed this same message to the Mayor and Council.

We also are just clinging to remaining in the middle class, and now find ourselves in the position of having to vote against levies that we wouldn't have given a second thought to not that long ago. I think that the Mayor, Council and SPS are going to be in for some very rude surprises when these enormous levies start going down. We desperately need to find a way to fix this impossibly regressive tax system.
Getting Ridicuous said…
Nice job, Freida.

Concerns about escrow accounts and increasing health care premiums are real. I personally feel strangled.

I wish Seattle Democrats would begin to pressure the city council. They are doing a horrific job managing taxpayer dollars. I would like to hear calls for accountability. However, I may wait forever for Seattle Democrats to call for fiscal responsibility.

I'm a solid NO vote on the Family and Education Levy.
Anonymous said…
Why don't you change the name and have a URL redirect for this name to the new site?

-LOL
Anonymous said…
@Frieda
I agree also that you've summed up the situation very well. I too am a no vote for every single levy coming up and it pains me to say this because so much is at stake. But our leadership is simply...not showing leadership and money is not unlimited. I hope the school board is reading this. I hope SPS is reading this. I hope our city, county and state leadership is reading this. My hope is that this language plants a seed in all of them that perhaps the taxpayers have hit a tipping point. Leadership across the board has not shown good stewardship with the funds they have.
-long road
Anonymous said…
I will vote yes on operations and probably yes on BEX but absolutely no on Family and Education, for the reasons outlined by Frieda above. It's impossible to live here as a middle class person. I can't in good conscience vote for a levy which is supposed to help families of k-12 students and is now instead being siphoned to the preschool boondoggle and now this free community college idea. If it was still support and wrap around services, maybe.

I've never voted no on any taxes or levies before. This will be my

First Time
Jet City mom said…
I have been volunteering at a city subsidized outdoor preschool and when folks who can afford nannies are often the families using this great benefit, I can’t help but wonder if that is best use of funds.

Low income families need child care, not part time preschool.
If the city wants to get involved in really helping parents who need it, maybe something that allows parents to work?
Anonymous said…
Well said, Frieda.

Let's not forget the shocking increase in car tab fees beyond what the Times analysis predicted.

And the homeless levy.

It's becoming...

Fiscally Untenable
Childless in Seattle said…
Only about 20% of Seattle households have any children under the age of 18 living in the household. There's a reason for this. This is an impossibly expensive city to live in with school age children. Second only to San Francisco in the low-child rate among major U.S. cities.

It's dispiriting. My family is in the same boat Frieda describes. Down to the escrow shortage repayment problem. If we had the cash flow to just pay the increase in property tax in full, we wouldn't be in the escrow account repayment boat. But we don't have that cash. You know where my cash went? To the kids' PTSAs to buy copier paper and a librarian and pencils. All the frills. It's dispiriting.

Anonymous said…
If you own your home, you are fortunate and whining about your taxes is pretty rich when the rest of us who rent, or got kicked out of our rentals, can't afford to even live in the city. At least you own your assets, have a choice, and can decide how to spend your money. Others of us can't and the entitlement evidenced here is glaring.
-NP
Anonymous said…
Most people who live in Seattle own their own homes. 60%. That is not a fortunate few. It is harder and more expensive to sell a home than to move rentals. These levies are too expensive and not worth it.

First Time
Anonymous said…
@NP, have you looked at how high many rents are? Many of those who rent are bringing in more than those who own. The idea that owners are more fortunate than renters is overly simplistic. There will always be owners and renters, and there will always be those who are more or less fortunate. They don't necessarily align exactly how you think. And pricing owners out of their own homes via property taxes and levies isn't a good long-term strategy for the city.

Anonymous said…
@NP - That's true about home ownership. Those who own are fortunate, even as taxes raise. Many will also inherit from parents in the future. I rented (with kids) until I was 40 because we could never afford to buy. Then inherited a small amount (from death of the sole surviving parent) which enabled us to buy a very small fixer years ago. I consider myself very fortunate, although I do know many of my neighbors are much better off than us. We could never afford to rent in Seattle now as the cost of rest is much more than our current mortgage payment plus taxes. My friends who were renting moved far away from Seattle awhile ago.
Ballard mom
Anonymous said…
Does Seattle have any program for reduced property taxes for seniors and people under a certain income, like in New York? My grandmother who bought a house 60 years ago on Long Island did not pay anywhere near the full amount of taxes. There is not an income restriction I don't believe for the age related exemption, as long as you are 65. They also have a senor citizen tax exemption for those seniors who are low income. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/exemption/seniorexempt.htm
There is also a reduction based upon income for those under 65. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/star/eligibility.htm
KM
I'm Done said…
There are costs associated with homeownership. Roofs and siding need to be replaced. Water heaters, furnace repairs, rodent infestations etc.

The increased Family and Education Levy ask will increase rents.

I'm done.
Anonymous said…
in many countries in europe there are taxes of 25% on everything, from diapers to donuts and on all services too. they have great schools and great health care and good roads to drive on. taxes are directly related to quality of life and we need more, not less taxes. what we need is a new system to collect them and to hit the rich much harder.

peapod
Seems So said…
I think the writing is on the wall that Seattle is following the San Francisco model: outrageously expensive housing, very few kids, lots of young, mostly male tech workers. The good news is that S.F. is a vibrant, thriving city. The bad news is that a lot of people who used to live there were gradually priced out.

The United States used to be a rural nation of mostly prosperous small farmers. Children didn't go to school; they worked (many in factories or mines). Then the Industrial Revolution turned us into an urban and suburban nation of mostly prosperous blue- and white-collar workers. Children went to school so they could work on the factory floor or in corporate or government bureaucracies. And now we're going through the next Big Shift.

Could S.F. have done anything differently to keep some of their former residents? Do less wealthy Seattleites (yes, even the ones who own homes) just have to leave? Is the writing on the wall?
KIM, yes, there is s senior exemption for low-income seniors.
I'm Done said…
Seattle mismanaged their pension fund. As a result, taxpayers are providing an additional $100M per year to make-up for city incompetence.

Seattle Public Utilities will be increasing their fees 30% over the next 5 years.

I'm done.
Anonymous said…
Good we have a program for low income seniors. But do we also have an exemption program for veterans, people with disabilities, and people under 65 who make under a certain income, as well as all people over 65 (regardless of income) as well? Take a look at the NY Star exemption program and the variety of people who can claim an exemption. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/exemption/index.htm
KM
Anonymous said…
Our primary home is in a city with much higher property tax rates and I've long said that Seattle is a bargain, especially for how much you receive in city services.

However, our other home/city has a cap (10%) on year-over-year taxable "assessed" valuation increases until a property changes hands, so assessed vs. market valuations diverge sharply in fast rising markets. I think that's a fair compromise between Seattle's limitless increases and California's perpetually fixed-at-sale valuation which erodes gov't funding over time. People shouldn't face losing their homes over rising property taxes since valuations are beyond their control, and Seattle's approach renders budgeting for the future impossible.

FNH
Value Added? said…
Peabody, are you suggesting we switch from an income tax system to a value added tax? We get so much yowling with a sales tax, I suspect people's heads would explode if we went to a VAT system.
Anonymous said…
The VAT in most places is a national tax. I would love if we got rid of the national income tax and went to VAT tax. I would only by used items from garage sales or go without. It would also bring back the repairing items. VATs usually squashes frivolous spending and consumption based business groups in the US will fight to the death to defeat the VAT.

Could you imagine spending $7.50 for a latte at SB, not me.

I would also like to see our state tax like Oregon does plus remove property tax or limit it to .001% of true accessed value or allow you to deduct property taxes 100%. The danger with having a state income tax and no sales tax is that there are deductions you can claim on income taxes but most people can't make deductions on sales tax at the time of purchase, if ever.

PJ
Anonymous said…
"especially for how much you receive in city services. " So tell me exactly how I get $9,200 in city services each year?

JS
Getting Ridicuous said…
Other states have property taxes, income taxes and sales taxes. In this particular state, your property tax bill could be around $17K per year.

Please don't aspire to this type of ridiculous.
Anonymous said…
A use tax would be the best. If you use it you pay otherwise you don't.

Just give me a first aid kit, a 4 wheel drive truck, a 357 and fire extinguisher and I'm good.

Self sufficient
Self-sufficient, and that's great...for you. But that is not the case for everyone.

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