Seattle School Board Races Info
District 1
Scott Pinkham; so far, no campaign website or campaign Facebook page
Michael Christophersen; so far, no campaign website or campaign Facebook page
To note, I spoke with the PDC because, in reviewing the school board races, I see that neither Pinkham nor Christophersen has registered with them.
According to PDC rules, once you do one of several things - including announce your candidacy - you have to register with the PDC. They said letters are going out this week to candidates in all races where the candidate has announced but not registered with the PDC. The PDC is not an enforcement agency but said that if there is no reply to the letter, then a hearing is scheduled in late July and if no reply there, those names are turned over to the county auditor. They don't know if candidates who don't register with the PDC would be kicked off the ballot but they would be subject to fines.
District 2
Laura Obara Gramer
Laura Obara Gramer for School Board
Rick Burke
Rick Burke for School Board
Rick Burke for School Board Facebook
Burke has the endorsement of (partial):
District 3
Jill Geary - Geary has a kick-off event this Thursday, at the University Heights building, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Jill Geary for Seattle School Board.
Jill Geary for School Board Facebook
Geary has the endorsement of (partial):
Lauren McGuire
Lauren McGuire for School Board
Lauren McGuire for School Board Facebook
McGuire has the endorsement of(partial):
David Blomstrom; so far no campaign website or campaign Facebook page. (Editor's note: Blomstrom has run about 20 times for various Washington state offices. He has said vile things about past Board members and can come off in his writings as anti-Semitic. I will not be mentioning him again.)
Stephen Clayton; so far no campaign website or campaign Facebook page.
District 6
Leslie Harris
Leslie Harris for School Board
Leslie Harris for School Board Facebook
Harris is having a kick-off event this Wednesday the 17th at Camp Long in West Seattle, starting at 6pm.
Harris has the endorsement of (partial):
Marty McLaren
Marty McLaren for School Board
McLaren has the endorsement of (partial):
46th District Democrats
MLK County Labor Council
Kay Smith-Blum, former Seattle School Board President
Sherry Carr, Seattle School Board President
Sharon Peaslee, Seattle School Board Director and former President
Harium Martin-Morris, Seattle School Board Director
Nick Esparza; so far, no campaign website or campaign Facebook page
Scott Pinkham; so far, no campaign website or campaign Facebook page
Michael Christophersen; so far, no campaign website or campaign Facebook page
To note, I spoke with the PDC because, in reviewing the school board races, I see that neither Pinkham nor Christophersen has registered with them.
According to PDC rules, once you do one of several things - including announce your candidacy - you have to register with the PDC. They said letters are going out this week to candidates in all races where the candidate has announced but not registered with the PDC. The PDC is not an enforcement agency but said that if there is no reply to the letter, then a hearing is scheduled in late July and if no reply there, those names are turned over to the county auditor. They don't know if candidates who don't register with the PDC would be kicked off the ballot but they would be subject to fines.
District 2
Laura Obara Gramer
Laura Obara Gramer for School Board
Rick Burke
Rick Burke for School Board
Rick Burke for School Board Facebook
Burke has the endorsement of (partial):
- Martin Luther King County Labor Council
- 36th Dems
- 43rd Dems
- 46th District Democrats
- Local 609
- King County Young Democrats
District 3
Jill Geary - Geary has a kick-off event this Thursday, at the University Heights building, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Jill Geary for Seattle School Board.
Jill Geary for School Board Facebook
Geary has the endorsement of (partial):
- Martin Luther King County Labor Council
- King County Democrats
- King County Young Democrats
- 46th District Democrats
- King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski
- Seattle City Councilmember Mike O'Brien
- Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn (fmr)
Lauren McGuire
Lauren McGuire for School Board
Lauren McGuire for School Board Facebook McGuire has the endorsement of(partial):
- 46th District Democrats
- Rep. Gerry Pollet, 46th District
- Rep. Reuven Carlyle 36th District
- Rep. Brady Walkinshaw 43rd District
- Sherry Carr, Seattle School Board Director*
- Michael DeBell, former Seattle School Board Director*
- Harium Martin-Morris, Seattle School Board Director*
- Sharon Peaslee, Seattle School Board Director*
David Blomstrom; so far no campaign website or campaign Facebook page. (Editor's note: Blomstrom has run about 20 times for various Washington state offices. He has said vile things about past Board members and can come off in his writings as anti-Semitic. I will not be mentioning him again.)
Stephen Clayton; so far no campaign website or campaign Facebook page.
District 6
Leslie Harris
Leslie Harris for School Board
Leslie Harris for School Board Facebook
Harris is having a kick-off event this Wednesday the 17th at Camp Long in West Seattle, starting at 6pm.
Harris has the endorsement of (partial):
- State Sen. Maralyn Chase
- State Rep. Eileen Cody
- King County Executive Dow Constantine
- County Councilman Rod Dembowski
- County Councilman Larry Gossett
- WA State Supreme Court Justice Faith Ireland, Ret’d
- King Co. Superior Ct. Judge Paris Kallas, Ret’d
- Adam Kline, former State Senator
- City Councilmember Nick Licata
- County Councilman Joe McDermott
- Tina Podlowdoski, former City Councilmember
- Sally Soriano, former Director, Pos. 1, SPS
- Irene Stewart, former Director Pos. No. 6, SPS
- Phil Talmadge, former State Senator & Ret’d WA State Supreme Court Justice
- 46th Leg.Dist. Dems (dual)
- King County Young Democrats (sole)
- 32nd Leg. Dist. Dems (sole)
- 34th Leg. Dist. Dems (sole)
Marty McLaren
Marty McLaren for School Board
McLaren has the endorsement of (partial):
46th District Democrats
MLK County Labor Council
Kay Smith-Blum, former Seattle School Board President
Sherry Carr, Seattle School Board President
Sharon Peaslee, Seattle School Board Director and former President
Harium Martin-Morris, Seattle School Board Director
Nick Esparza; so far, no campaign website or campaign Facebook page
Comments
Sherry Carr, Seattle School Board Director*
Michael DeBell, former Seattle School Board Director*
Harium Martin-Morris, Seattle School Board Director*
Sharon Peaslee, Seattle School Board Director*
Kay Smith-Blum, former Seattle School Board President
Wonder when Steve Sundquist or Peter Maier will pop up.
Worried 1
No Charters
see Query Contributions
reader47
It was a dual endorsement.
-- Ivan Weiss
Both Sue Peters and Betty Patu urged Leslie to make this run. Leslie, who had supported Marty in her race against Sundquist, gave Marty months of notice that this was coming. Marty's part in the rush job to appoint Nyland was the tipping point.
Peter Maier, Michael DeBell, Tim Burgess, Chris Korsmo and that lot aren't going to stop Leslie from getting elected, and they know it. Regular readers of this blog who don't know her should make the effort. She will reward your support with a high level of responsible, dynamic, creative governance.
Leslie's campaign kickoff is tomorrow night (Wednesday June 17) from 7 to 9 PM, at Camp Long, off 35th Av SW in West Seattle. See you there.
-- Ivan Weiss
Just Helping
The only candidate I see listed for position 1 is PEASLEE SHARON D.
What's going on?
I see someone has raised over $20,000 and spent $13,000, OMG that's obscene! I don't think that's a grass roots effort, I'm suspicious when big money shows up in a local board race. Is this a pro charter candidate that's running?
I Google ed some of the contributors and I'm a little nervous by what I found.
No Charters
Just Helping says the PDC is behind and that's why we don't see District 1 candidates. We'll see.
Well, I'm concerned about the other candidate running in this race. There is an individual that hired one of the most expensive campaign managers in the city, and grassroots candidates don't have the funds to hire this type of consultant. Keep watching the PDC; I fully expect this individual's account to see some hefty donations.
Where can I see that type of information? Is it listed in the C3 section on the PDC site? Do you mind telling us the managers name? Maybe $20k isn't that outrageous since Peters spent $49K and her opponent spent $149K...WOW. I voted for Peter's because her opponent played dirty and it was all a word of mouth effort by her supports. I never saw a single sign or other type of ad, so I don't know where the $49K went or the $149K for that matter. In the end it was still very close as I remember.
No Charters
Go to the PDC, hit "Search the Database" in the top line of tabs. Then hit the "Mount Rushmore" photo for "Candidates."
At the "Candidates" page, hit "Local." At the Local page, hit the arrow for the very end of the section which takes you to page 67. Go back to around page 55-56 where you will see names and "Seattle School District 001."
Peruse at your leisure.
Money does NOT win elections; votes do. Money can help but school board elections are unlike any others. Getting the vote out is what counts; not tv campaigns.
In addition to that posted, am very pleased to report a dual endorsement from the Martin Luther King Co Labor Council, a sole endorsement from IUOE Local 609 (non-teacher classified staff, maintenance, nutrion, et. al.) AFL-CIO, sole endorsement from the 11th LD Demos tonight (I was a former chair and state committeewoman from the old 11th), Recc'd for sole with King Co. Demos Central Committee, and Frmr State Rep Velma Veloria. More to come!
I humbly ask for your vote and support.
Leslie Harris
candidate, SPS Director No. 6
206-579-2842
Harrislsh@comcast.net
www.harrisforschoolboard.com
-flibber
-flibber
CT
(And ugh - after what he did to FL public education....)
in 2007 the four winning candidates (Maier, Carr, Sundquist, Martin-Morris) spent a combined $480,000. Of that Maier spent the most around $167,000
When Maier lost in 2011, Crosscuts had an op-ed that more money should have been spent by Maier.
What is the oligarchy up to these days?
-- Dan Dempsey
--Christina
We will be lucky to have her on the board.
Go Lauren
"Candidate/Committee" has first dropdown box, containing the candidates I mentioned in my June 17 comment.
Christophersen Michael is between Christoferson Glen H and Christopherson Tyron J.
Pinkham Scott is between Pinkham Glen and Pinneo Benjamin
Candidates have to be entered into the PDC database or comma delimited file before they can show up on a dropdown list.
--Christina
I don't actually see status quo in any of the candidates because I don't believe in this imaginary "status quo." I don't know a parent or community member here or elsewhere in the country who thinks all is well with public education.
But, for me, there are two things that matter in a candidate:
1) do you see the issues with Seattle Schools clearly and acknowledge that many of the decisions currently being made at JSCEE are not based on what is happening on the ground in our schools?
2) since we are all agreed that things have to change, it depends on HOW any candidate plans to create change and what would they change.
The very significant change I see from last election when I helped Peaslee and McLaren run is that they WERE for challenging the staff and not being rubberstamps for what the Superintendent said. That certainly has borne out, especially in the last year.
I don't want someone who goes along to get along - I want someone who will stand up and ask hard questions and not be good with answers that are not reality-based. And I want that in a team of people who stand for parents, teachers and taxpayers.
again
half cocked
HP
Go Lauren
McGuire is smart, and from FACMAC she'd probably address capacity somehow... which is more than the District is doing left to their own devices. But still, the endorsements she puts at the top of her page are mostly people I see as part of the problem, who think the role of the board is to shut up and wield their rubber stamps except when it's necessary to replace the super.
Go Lauren, have you never heard of the power of the incumbency? C'mon. DeBell certainly does have some influence but he has turned to ed reform so that's valid to say.
Half Cocked
sent from my iphone 6
So you are against "ed reform" ? Interesting. Most parents, but not all want some sort of education reform. DeBell being unopposed speaks volumes for his agenda and what the people in his district thought.
Go Lauren
I've personally have gone to every director's community meeting and asked each one (except peaslee)why various areas in SPS where neglected over the past 3 board cycles and most blamed it on lack of funding (the 2008 recession). Do you agree since 2008 there were funding issues that lead SPS to neglect special education?
I know Lauren wants to change the board's culture of turning a blind eye to violations of the law. I hope she gets a chance to show you she does care about all students.
Go Lauren
You will not be influencing folks many when you equate corporate "Ed Reform" with needed changes.
Opposition to "Ed Reform" is not a vote for status quo.
-- Dan Dempsey
You seem to think anyone who questions special education expenditures is "outing" someone in special education. It looks to me DeBell was simply questioning why services where being outsourced for millions of dollars per school year. I would expect every board member to ask the same type of questions. That's not "outing" any particular person, that's providing oversight.
Go Lauren
You have no idea what IDEA violation I'm referring to with respect to outing. I suggest you pay better attention.
MC CURDY KEVIN 6/26/2015 $579.00 P MENLO PARK CA 94025 SELF-EMPLOYED ATTORNEY
McCurdy & Fuller LLP specializes in the representation of insurance companies in a variety of insurance coverage matters, including insurance coverage litigation, counseling and opinions. Mary McCurdy and Kevin McCurdy, who founded the firm in 2003, each have over 25 years experience representing insurers.
That's just one example, there are more and if you really want to be disgusted look some of the cases these lawyers have handled.
Go Lauren
Rick Burke: I worked with Dr. Nyland on the Washington State Board of Education Math Panel in 2007, and recently had an opportunity to talk with him as a School Board candidate. I have found him to be experienced and reasonable, and also believe that some of his actions in the last year show a lot of promise for the future. Based on this perspective, I rate him a solid 7, and look forward to the opportunity to work with him and refine that number.
Specifically, I’m supportive of his recent “100 days of customer service” initiative, which I would like to see continue as the new normal for SSD. I have also been pleased with improvements in special education and his candid handling of recent district mis-steps, such as the response to the inadvertent release of over 7,500 student records containing personally identifiable information.
There goes my vote!
Sped parent
11/1/15
Some claimed that Lauren McGuire is professional. I have a hard time with an individual that looses significant endorsements and then goes negative by spreading misinformation. From the Geary campaign:
"My opponent has been spreading some misinformation about me and my campaign. I can assure you these attacks aren't true. I'm sad that it has come to this. I've asked her to take responsibility for her actions and run on issues rather than attacks. Tomorrow is the big day and no matter what the outcome is, I am grateful. You all have been on this incredible journey with me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. We have so much work to do to ensure every child in Seattle gets the education they deserve. My last request is that you make sure your friends and neighbors have turned in their ballots and join me in standing up against the status quo. Thank you for everything. Jill"
We can only hope that McGuire does not make it onto the board.