Seattle School Board Candidate Questions
I'm reaching out to all the candidates for School Board and I'm thinking about what to ask.
Naturally, I will be asking most of the same basic questions to all the candidates but then, asking about what they would bring to the table.
What would you most want to ask a candidate?
Naturally, I will be asking most of the same basic questions to all the candidates but then, asking about what they would bring to the table.
What would you most want to ask a candidate?
Comments
I also want to know who believes in in class differentiation as the standard for advanced learning so I can vote against them, but that is more nitty gritty and much less of a discussion starter.
I am hopeful that we have a good slate of candidates, and thankful to all of them for giving up their time and trying to help our kids. It is a really hard job they are asking for.
-sleeper
Ask them what books on education they've read recently, and what they've learned from them. Ask them who are the educators they admire most? Who are the people who have influenced their thinking most? Whom do they disagree with most?
What percentage of budget should be allocated to central administration? If the current allocation is too high in your view, what specific steps would you urge Superintendent Banda to take to reduce it?
Are too many big decisions made in this district hastily, at the last minute, in a crisis? If so, what specific steps would you take to reduce the effectiveness of crisis politics on bypassing the School Board's oversight role?
To a great extent, funding is the biggest issue in the district. Maintenance, repairs, and seismic retrofits have a deep backlog. Many schools struggle to provide basic supplies and meet children's needs, and even our flagship schools make do with surprisingly small levels of funding (Garfield, for example, has funding of merely $5,600 per student). As a school board member, do you see any role in advocating for more funding? If so, what specifically would you do to try to get more funding?
In 2009, the district and school board closed several schools and sold properties and committed to long-term leases. In 2010, the district found itself with a shortage of schools and with increasingly severe capacity problems. Why do you think this happened? What could have been done to prevent it? As a school board member, what specifically will you do to prevent decisions like that one from happening again?
This seems to be an issue in many states/school districts that have a large number of older/unsafe buildings and are in high-quake risk zones.
Seems addressing these issues in an adequate and timely manner is beyond what a single school district can accomplish - but I would like them to think about how could they work with local and state government to make our schools safer (grants/funding/promoting legislation?), and at a local level how could they better prioritize use of BEX levies to ensure all buildings at least meet the minimum structural safety standards and all have eviqualent disaster-preparedness kits/equipment/planning (independent of PTA/school funding and involvement).
Disaster Aware
Eager to see the replies.
Least Photogenic
S parent
RaceToTheRingWraiths
Who do you consider your stakeholders to be?
-katy.did
Estay is well known in political circles. She claims the ability to raise $100=$150K. Who are her donors and who will she represent?
I'll echo mirmac's question. I guess that's two votes for this one. And I'll add: with no way at all for parents to opt out.
How would you address the lack of equity in access to good schools and in the mix of good opportunities to a variety of programs?
How would you approach the issue of the achievement and opportunity gaps?
What are your thoughts on capacity management?
How would you address the lack of equity in access to good schools and to a variety of good and popular programs?
From Estey:
"So in Renton, I was very involved with Friends of Renton Schools and the Community Center for Education Results/Road Map"
The question begs: Will Estey continue to support grants that allow for sharing of student's personal and identifiable information?
HIMSmom
The lack of district clarity around Spectrum also limits access for qualified students as some students have access to Spectrum classes, and other schools are relying on in class differentiation.
Also, some schools have been able to choose alternative math texts, while other schools are tied to the district texts. How is that equitable?
These are all inequities that stem from district choices and policies. All this talk about equitable access is confusing in light of disrict actions.
parent
How would YOU define equity?
With the way the district and School Board bandy about this word, you'd think that they would have a clear message as to what this means. They don't. Ask a parent what they feel it means and you add in a third definition.
Forcing families into their neighborhood schools BEFORE establishing equity between offerings simply codified the socio-economic discrepancies between neighborhoods. The "haves" continue to have and the "have-nots", well... have not... with the difference being that the families in the have-not schools no longer have choices.
Do you support option schools?
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Do you support advanced learning opportunities for students who excel in reading, math, or science, but not all? Math and science acceleration isn't possible through "differentiation" within a single classroom. How would you accomplish this?
Thousands of kids are not getting their needs met because funds and attention are spent on remediation but not acceleration outside of Spectrum and APP. Do you see this as an issue?
What fantastic questions, wow!
I'm in the process of fine-tuning my platform and will have that info up soon on my site and in my campaign literature.
I'm going to save all your questions and ponder them all.
Best,
Sue Peters
Sue Peters for Seattle School Board, District IV
suepeters4schoolboard.org
suepeters4sps@yahoo.com
REMEMBER TO VOTE - AUGUST 6, 2013!
In the meantime, please know that I support:
New K-8 math text adoption ASAP.
A plan and visionary new leadership for AL in general, reinstatement and investment in Spectrum in more locations, home for north-end APP.
A definition of equity that includes attending to the needs and abilities of all the kids of SPS.
Addressing the neglected needs of SPED community.
Meaningful investment of resources in schools where kids need extra help.
Decrease in standardized testing.
Cancellation of the MAP entirely (not valid or necessary for K-8 either)
Safe buildings for our kids (I was in San Francisco for the 1989 earthquake).
This is not a complete list nor in any particular order.
-- Sue
Sue Peters for Seattle School Board, District IV
suepeters4schoolboard.org
suepeters4sps@yahoo.com
REMEMBER TO VOTE - AUGUST 6, 2013!