Stranger Endorse the Levy

Because it's for the kids. Stranger Endorsements.

Comments

Aunty Broad said…
Morons.

They pretend to want to be "grown-up" and "analyze" politics 'n' stuff, but are really incapable of insightful writing unless it's all about themselves.
10/14/10, 5:59 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
They didn't even get it right (and I need to tell them so). 80% of the budget does NOT go for teachers and school staff salaries. It goes for ALL salaries and wages in the entire district. Fine if they don't agree about the levy but at least get your facts right that you use in your reasoning.
10/14/10, 8:20 AM
Anonymous said…
i'm confused..why are you against the levy?

-pat
10/14/10, 8:43 AM
Charlie Mas said…
Pat,

There are a variety of reasons that people are opposing the levy.

Some folks just don't want to put any more money into the dysfuctional system which is Seattle Public Schools.

Some folks are opposing the levy as a vote against Education Reform.

Some folks, and I am in this group, regard the levy as a referendum on the District's leadership and this is my opportunity to hold that leadership accountable for their mismanagement and failure to supervise.

I'm sure there are other reasons to oppose the levy as well as combinations of reasons.
10/14/10, 10:07 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Pat, some of us are part of a committee, the Committee for Responsible Education Spending, that oppose the levy.

Here's our website:
http://enforcetopdownreform.blogspot.
com/
10/14/10, 10:33 AM
Bird said…
It should be noted that this is not the usual operating levy that we have every year.

The district has always used that levy to fill in basic operating costs unfunded by the state. We passed that levy back in February.

This is an addditional levy. The legislature gave districts expanded ability to collect money from levies back in the last legislative session.

So this is new moneys for the district. The district says it is to backfill cuts made by the state.

A lot of it is actually going to a new teacher evaluation system. A system that will be a new and ongoing funding drain that will have to be funded out of the budget going forward whether more monies can be raised in the future or not.

So some folks think the end result of this levy will be that more money will be drained out of classrooms to fund a performance management system with unproven utility.
10/14/10, 10:52 AM
Unknown said…
I'm sure the Stranger is funded by Broad/Gates, right?
10/14/10, 1:48 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Oh Rosie, you kidder!
10/14/10, 3:29 PM
lendlees said…
But...hot off the press, The Seattle Times does NOT endorse the levy and recommends voting NO!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2013164155_edit15levy.html

Shocking!
10/14/10, 4:52 PM
owlhouse said…
Holy Cow!?!?! Thanks for the heads up lendlees.

"VOTERS should reject Seattle Public Schools' $48 million levy. A message needs to be sent to the district, and this is the one unmistakable way to send it."

The Times sites the audit, calls it "pretty damning". They are clear that a no vote is NOT a vote against kids.
10/14/10, 5:02 PM
another mom said…
Lendlees- thanks for the headsup and its about time that the Times finally acknowledged the audit.

They were very careful not to hold the Superintendent accountable only those around her. No mention of the Board either. Puhleez both MGJ and the Board were as Melissa says "called out" in the audit. The buck stops with them.
10/14/10, 5:16 PM
Charlie Mas said…
While I might rely upon The Stranger for advice on a City Council race or a Judicial one - and I am definitely regarding them as the experts on the liquor initiatives - they have amply demonstrated that they are in the "don't know - don't care" camp when it comes to school issues.
10/17/10, 8:42 AM
chunga said…
This was disappointing because usually the Stranger is pretty good with their endorsements, besides being pretty humorous. They also don't shy away from calling BS when they see it. It seems highly unlikely that this endorsement was paid for by Gates. I just think they were lazy in analyzing the levy.

I've actually thought we (being us concerned citizens) should encourage the Stranger to do a story on so-called ed reform in Seattle and how MGJ and company are attempting to do it. As far as I can tell, they're the only local news source who could do this.
10/17/10, 10:02 PM
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