Too Funny

The Stranger Slog (ever the smarty-pants bunch) gave the three District Position 1 School Board candidates a pop quiz today.  From the thread:

In front of the SECB right now are incumbent Peter Maier along with challengers Sharon Peaslee and John Cummings, who appear sane but must be nutters because they want—actually want—to be on the Seattle School Board.

First we're giving them a civics quiz—eight questions you're required to know in high school—then what do you want to know? Put your questions in comments and we'll try to ask 'em

Unfortunately, they didn't print the questions but I'll try to ring someone up tomorrow and ask what they were.  Congrats to Peter Maier who came in first at 87.5%, Sharon Peaslee at 87% and John Cummings at 75%.  It is pointed out that those scores are all better than most Americans and most educators (again, no idea where these stats came from). 

Comments

dan dempsey said…
While some would find it shocking that the questions were not reported and that the assumption that their results were "better than most others could do" were only anecdotal.. not me. I have no problem with this as I am used to reading the Seattle Times.

I was shocked that actual numerical results were given as percentages correct for each candidate.

One question bothers me about the results. If there are 8 questions the scores reveal Maier got 7 of 8 correct = 87.5%

and 75% = 6 of 8.....

But what about 87% for Sharon Peaslee .... Why was she scored at 87%? Did she forget to dot an "i"?
none1111 said…
Did she forget to dot an "i"?

Haha. Yeah, I was going to make some similarly silly comment, but you beat me to it.

Perhaps the slog folks wanted to make Peter look better? More likely: they just can't do math.
dan dempsey said…
Checking my Slog Racing Form I see....

It may be a photo finish and Peter is leading by a nose at the end of the first furlong. +0.5%
Charlie Mas said…
Once again, the Stranger shows that they don't take School Board races seriously and that they are out of their depth when interviewing candidates.
John said…
In my defense, the two questions I got wrong were about the similarities between aristotle, plato and aquinas and what levee funding and national defense meant for citizens or something like that. both of my competitors got those right but didn't know where the "....government by the people shall not perish from the earth." quote came from.

still, i choked, i admit it. my shame hangs on me like an albatross as if i were the one who shot it.
dan dempsey said…
John,

Thanks for helping us out with a few of the questions.

Too Bad there were no questions about the SPS. While I thought the Strangers asking WASL questions to Bergeson and Dorn in the race for SPI was on the mark, this quiz was NOT.

Looking at the decision-making of the current incumbent ... your answers do not lead me to believe that Mr. Maier is the more qualified candidate for SPS Director.

Mr. Maier might be more qualified for applying Greek Philosophical reasoning to National Defense issues than are you.

The Fact remains that Mr. Maier is unable to intelligently apply relevant data to decision-making in the SPS.

Go John, Go Sharon.
dan dempsey said…
In 2007 the Stranger endorsed Sundquist. As did most of the "experts" in 2007.

The Stranger also labeled me as an "unhinged Bomb-thrower" ... based on my six months of school board testimony during the waning months of the Manhas administration.... Everyday Math was adopted in May 2007.

Wish my bombs had effectively hit some targets ... there was a real shortage of evidence based testimony in early 2007 .... Testimony from a variety of individuals is really on the mark now.

Clearly in 2007 the Board was all about trusting their hired professionals ... and to hell with both the evidence and the public. Michael DeBell has improved quite a bit since then. DeBell is the only Director left from that crew.

"All about trusting their hired professionals ... and to hell with both the evidence and the public" can be said for every director elected in 2007.
sharpeas said…
This is Sharon Peaslee speaking. Peter and I got the same question wrong. Our scores were identical. Shame on the Slog for giving him an extra half point.
Joy Anderson said…
Still waiting for the Position #6 interviews. which was supposed to be 23rd June, Stranger said they couldn't get a hold of Marti McLaren, and Steve Sundquist allegedly wouldn't return their calls.

Joy Anderson
dan dempsey said…
Hey maybe Steve is figuring his Stranger endorsement for 2007 will just carry over to the 2011 election.
John said…
Hey, So out of the 60 or so minutes that we chatted with the sloggers, the only thing that is up on the slog is the quiz? I cannot find anything else. I know that, judging by the quiz results, I am the stupid candidate, but am i missing something here?
Terrence J. Menage, Ed.D. said…
I was disappointed that my quiz score was 87.5% correct, but did enjoy the discussion we had at The Stranger today. It is my understanding that the good people at The Stranger will be providing information gleaned from all Board of Directors candidate interviews when they publish their endorsements in the near future.

As I became accustomed to dialogue and discussion as a classroom teacher and graduate school professor, I am uncomfortable that the blog postings on my website are failing to initiate any conversations. I invite the concerned citizens in our community, including any candidates for the Board of Directors, to join me on my website. Jump right in the water's fine.....

www.menage4seattlekids.com

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