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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.)
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
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.