KING-5 TV Piece on Meg Diaz Report
Thanks to Dorothy for letting us know about the report on KING-5 TV about Meg Diaz' analysis of central administration spending in SPS. Reporter Meg Coyle did a very good job (and I would rarely say that about any local tv reporting because of the skimpy nature of what usually comes out). She had Meg compare her charts of Tacoma and Seattle and I think it very effective and told the story in a way that words alone couldn't have conveyed. Steve Sundquist was left to say that it was interesting analysis that the district and Board would look at in the coming weeks.
The next meeting of the Board's Audit and Finance Committee is next Thursday, the 5th from 3:30-5:30 p.m. I hope it's the first thing on the agenda. I'll have to go just to hear the twisted explanation from staff. I'm sure they are going to say that Meg (1) didn't use the "right" data or (2) didn't have all the data or (3) didn't understand the differences between reporting to the Board and reporting to OSPI. Or, who knows, maybe something else. What I can say with almost certainty is that they will NOT admit she's right. I mean I believe in Meg's analysis but they will try to shoot it full of holes.
The next meeting of the Board's Audit and Finance Committee is next Thursday, the 5th from 3:30-5:30 p.m. I hope it's the first thing on the agenda. I'll have to go just to hear the twisted explanation from staff. I'm sure they are going to say that Meg (1) didn't use the "right" data or (2) didn't have all the data or (3) didn't understand the differences between reporting to the Board and reporting to OSPI. Or, who knows, maybe something else. What I can say with almost certainty is that they will NOT admit she's right. I mean I believe in Meg's analysis but they will try to shoot it full of holes.
Comments
PR 101: If the District straightforwardly recognizes it's acting not in Best Practices, and addresses it with candidness and correctiveness at the next meeting, then it has the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.
But...that will take courage in both the operations and communications departments at John Stanford. I really hope for the good of the District and their own professional reputations they choose courage over stonewalling.
http://www.king5.com/archive/64605487.html
Meg Coyne I think her earlier piece on the levy and reopening schools showed thoroughness and a lot of legwork.
I am really hoping that Meg Coyle, Phyllis Fletcher, maybe even Dick Lilly and other journalists attend the Audit and Finance Committee next week.
In rereading my previous comment I note it is full of typos. Sorry, Meg Coyne!
I've been to a lot of committee meetings and I can tell you that "a lot of people" would be more than four. I can also tell you that the Board members act a whole lot differently when as many as ten members of the puble show up to their committee meetings. It's another type of performance art altogether.
http://www.kplu.org/news.html
KPLU News: Today's Stories
New Report Raises Serious Questions for Seattle School District
Mon Nov 02 01:29:03 EST 2009
After recovering from a 34 million dollar budget deficit, the Seattle School District says it’s heading into the next budget at least 16 million in the red. Now, a new report from a mom with two kids in the district is raising some serious questions about how the district is spending its money. More from KPLU’s Jennifer Wing.