Newest School Board Candidates
Update 2: Yet another candidate for Peters' position - Jennifer Crow.
There is one Jennifer Crow with a LinkedIn profile says she is the Clinic Operations Supervisor for the Breast Imaging Center at Swedish Medical Center. She was a mentor in the early 2000's for Youth in Focus.
There's 24 hours before the filing deadline. This should be interesting.
end of update
Update: more candidates
District1 4- Sue Peters' district - There are five candidates.
Herbert J. Camet, Jr. - Mr. Camet has no website yet. His LinkedIn page says this:
There is a LinkedIn page for a Jeff Jones at the Gates Foundation but given that his name is fairly familiar one, I don't know if it is him. I doubt it.
Update: the Jeff Jones at the Gates Foundation is not the candidate. I'll try to find the correct one.
Megan Locatelli Hyska - Ms. Hyska's filing has a website for Foothold North, Making higher education accessible to all through student loan assistance and advocacy. No other info available there but her Facebook page has this statement:
The races are getting more interesting.
There are two candidates in the race for Sue Peters' position, District IV (she has not filed as of this date).
One is long-time PTA activist and a founder of Washington's Paramount Duty, Eden Mack. Her website. From her announcement:
From his personal statement:
There are just a couple of more days to file and I suspect there will be more candidates for both the Blanford position and Peters position. I do wonder who will be running in Director Patu's spot but my sources say she is going to but has not yet filed.
Also to note on District V candidate, Zachary DeWolf; his filing has his name as Zachary DeWolf Pullin (I'm thinking the latter name is his married name).
There is one Jennifer Crow with a LinkedIn profile says she is the Clinic Operations Supervisor for the Breast Imaging Center at Swedish Medical Center. She was a mentor in the early 2000's for Youth in Focus.
There's 24 hours before the filing deadline. This should be interesting.
end of update
Update: more candidates
District
Herbert J. Camet, Jr. - Mr. Camet has no website yet. His LinkedIn page says this:
Professional educator, teacher, school principal, education consultant, training manager, business owner, and ESL program manager in 10 countries (USA, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, U.A.E., Germany, Cambodia).Jeff Jones - Mr. Jones has no website yet.
U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Yemen as ESL supervisor and general management training specialist/advisor to National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) at Yemen government sites.
Successful blend of teaching, administrative, and business experience in domestic and international settings.
Designed, implemented, and managed ELT/ESL programs in 9 countries.
Update: the Jeff Jones at the Gates Foundation is not the candidate. I'll try to find the correct one.
Megan Locatelli Hyska - Ms. Hyska's filing has a website for Foothold North, Making higher education accessible to all through student loan assistance and advocacy. No other info available there but her Facebook page has this statement:
Here's my statement (currently pending)
Every student deserves an affordable and equitable education. I believe that our public schools should be the cornerstone of this value, and should be on even footing with charter and private schools to provide a successful future. I believe in teaching a balance of science, humanities, the arts, health/physical education, and foundational life skills. These life skills include mental health, depression and bullying; non-violent communication and conflict resolution; critical thinking and privacy in the age of social media; preparing for death and grief legally and emotionally; credit cards and money management; and making healthy food choices (how to compare prices, shop, and cook).end of update
I am not a mother yet myself (except to Boomer and Molly the cats), but have been an aunt since 1996 and am currently trusted to give love and support to nine niblings (AKA nieces and nephews).
I have worked in non-profits for 12 years have participated in education reform advocacy and volunteer work throughout that time. I have been a co-facilitator of the anti-racism committee (and white caucus) at Solid Ground Washington, Free Tax Prep volunteer for United Way of King County, classroom helper at First Place School, and receptionist at Ballard Senior Center.
I am currently the Principal at Dellaloca Design and the Executive Director of Foothold NW. Dellaloca Design supports the mission of nonprofits and local artists by providing affordable digital and print marketing consulting. Foothold NW is a non-profit startup looking to disrupt and change how higher education is funded. We focus on education, student loan assistance and advocacy. Follow our work at http://www.footholdnw.org, on Facebook & Twitter (FootholdNW), and on Instagram (FootholdNorthwest). You can also find my work and education background detail on LinkedIn at https://tinyurl.com/linkedinMLH.
#bethechange #ourrevolution Thanks to Our Revolution for emailing me with info on all the open positions and filing info!
The races are getting more interesting.
There are two candidates in the race for Sue Peters' position, District IV (she has not filed as of this date).
One is long-time PTA activist and a founder of Washington's Paramount Duty, Eden Mack. Her website. From her announcement:
The other candidate is Sean Champagne. His website motto says, "Curious and Determined." The website itself is one of the more interesting ones that I have seen from a candidate.“I’ve spent the last 3 years engaging deeply in advocacy for public education and am excited by the opportunity to serve on the school board to help guide policy to ensure that every one of our 53,000 students reach their full potential. The schools of our diverse district have great successes to celebrate due to our supportive students, families, and communities, committed administrators, skilled educators, and dedicated support professionals, in spite of the substantial challenges posed by chronic underfunding from Olympia, crowded and run-down buildings, and racial and economic inequity. Our schools are the center of our neighborhoods, communities and democracy. I’m committed to advocating for every student and furthering equity for all of our schools’ needs in school board policy decisions.”
Eden Mack is a recognized leader on public education issues in Seattle and in Washington State. Mack has served for the past three years as Legislative Chair of SCPTSA. In 2015 she co-founded and served as founding President of Washington's Paramount Duty, a grassroots organization dedicated to pressuring the State to amply fund basic education as required by our state’s constitution. Mack was recognized as a "Superhero" by ParentMap in 2016 for her education advocacy.
Eden Mack lives in District IV with her husband, and their three elementary aged children who all attend Seattle Public Schools. Mack is a returned Peace Corps volunteer, and holds a BA from Western Washington University and a Masters in Public Administration degree from the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy. She has also served as the Youth, Schools and Education Committee chair for Seattle City Neighborhood Council and recently on the Seattle Public School Capacity Management Task Force.
From his personal statement:
I am a Pacific Northwestern personal banker in Seattle, Washington. I love running, kayaking, going to breweries among many other activities. I am married with dachshunds Hansel and Wimbledon. In light of recent events with the election of President Trump and the values of his administration, notably Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, it is paramount that ordinary people step up for public office and agree to be a part of the change.His platform issues include busing and transportation, having at least one Board meeting a month on a Saturday, license plates that represent the district for drivers, looking for ways to cut costs in SPS, paying teachers more/subsidizing their housing, and more STEM courses.
I work at Inspirus Credit Union, the former School Employees Credit Union of Washington, and work every day with educators, school employees, and their families in order to find ways to help them save money in their personal lives. My passion for education and my sincere interest in advocating for Seattle students encouraged me to run for school board. In addition, having an employer that is a not-for-profit financial institution that cares as deeply about education as I do is a huge advocate for me in this endeavor.
There are just a couple of more days to file and I suspect there will be more candidates for both the Blanford position and Peters position. I do wonder who will be running in Director Patu's spot but my sources say she is going to but has not yet filed.
Also to note on District V candidate, Zachary DeWolf; his filing has his name as Zachary DeWolf Pullin (I'm thinking the latter name is his married name).
Comments
She is:
fiercely intelligent
completely ethical
curious
relentless
honor-bound
hard-working
student-focused
independent
EXCEPTIONAL.
Director Peters always puts student welfare first. She thinks about and cares about all kids and all families. She does NOT allow staff to lead her around by a nose ring. Yet she is also totally professional and completely collegeal.
She started her tenure by being the only one to vote against approving Robert Eagle Staff middle school construction because it didn't have an auditorium. She spoke about Hamilton's situation without an auditorium, and she knew that the future students of Eagle Staff deserved to have what JAMS, Whitman, Eckstein kids had: a space to support arts education and community building.
That is just ONE example of her clarity and focus on long-term big-picture.
She was a rock star to get the elementary math adoption done.
She was the one who has pushed, pushed, PUSHED to get middle school math adoption done, so that no child has to suffer CMP2 any more. She did this despite staff tell the board there was no money. It was director Peters who insisted that a small amount needed to be earmarked to get this done. By preserving this line item, so preserved the ability to move forward. And that is what is happening now, thanks to her. She had support on the board, but, it was her who led the way.
When Queen Anne families, (that is her own neighborhood), voiced dissent regarding the placement of an interagency program in a QA facility, she listened, but, using her investigative journalism skills, she concluded that the evidence pointed to the placement as being workable. She supports all students, even when doing so is politically unpopular. That is leadership. That is moral courage. She cares about all students, including the vulnerable ones who traditionally have had no voice.
There are so many examples of her working with sincerity on behalf of students. Please, Sue, stay. We know it is thankless, difficult, arduous work, but, you impact directly the lives of 53,000 students. And, the well-being of an entire city (so as our schools go, so goes our city).
Please, Please, Stay
SUE ROCKS
Please, Sue, you make a huge
I hope Betty Patu runs again. And it looks like we still need a good person to run in Blanford's old seat - someone who knows the issues well and is a proven defender of public education.
I think there will be a race in Blanford's district.
eighth grade
I echo the sentiments expressed. Please Sue! You have done a really great job. We need you!
If Sue has not decided to run again, please please vote for Eden Mack. She would be great as well.
-K
--Sarajane Siegfriedt
BAMN
NO ONE from the Gates Foundation, please!
-bystander
I feel sad that Director Peters is stepping down.
"It's important that the city elects school board members that reflect our culture and values, and in our changing city I think it's important to understand the well-intentioned parents that run for school board often times are weighed down by the requirements of parenting and the bias of seeing the school district through the lens of their own children that can actually misguide the direction of the school district.
Anyone who runs for school board has a passion for education and obviously wants to do the right thing and make a positive impact, but it will take initiative and an unwavering determination to more aggressively demand more from our state and federal legislators.
It's important to find ways to cut overly bureaucratic spending so we can begin investing in modalities that will truly show our support of our educators, like subsidizing rental housing for teachers and increasing teacher pay.
In my opinion, simply because something unconventional has never been tried before does not mean it won't work nor does it mean we shouldn't try it. Our city is teeming with smart, vibrant, and ambitious people and as our city has embraced nation-leading policies such as $15/hour, work toward universal daycare, and paid family medical leave shows me that the voters of our city have an appetite for ambitious policies.
Additionally, Seattle Public Schools became a leader in the fight to change school times to allow high school students sleep in later and elementary school students start earlier based on their biological clocks. Logistically, the work has just begun on that and we will need to continue holding a steady hand to continue allowing that policy to be implemented across the school district."
There's a lot to unpack there and I'll let readers have at it. I think in general people who are parents can, as in any elected office, be good public servants AND good parents. As well, there have been many parents on the Board who had grown children (but I'll assume that he meant parents of school-aged children).
As well, I'm sure WPD would love to know how to be more aggressive with state legislators to get fully-funded schools. I'm not sure what he means for federal officials.
I know many of you have varying opinions on later start times so I'll ask him more on that.
Why has not one single school board in the past 10 years put the breaks on runaway spending?
PO
"The Seattle school board should be focusing on SPS issues not state issues."
While I agree that operations are not well-managed and need real oversight, you can't divorce state mandates from what they do.
SPS legal should be insuring SPS is following state laws and the board S/B asking the super for proof SPS is in compliance. It seems it's parents or advocates that are always pointing out the lack of compliance and lack of oversight in SPS to the school board.
I was personally hoping Harris would drive legal oversight and perhaps dig into exactly why the Student Civil Rights Compliance Officer quit after only one year.
PO
Then, dismissing the value of Board members with children in SPS? Wow. I think he just ended his campaign right there.
As always, Melissa, thanks for keeping us informed.
-parent
Agreed that SPS could be better run. So could most organizations, and I think some things have improved in SPS over the last few years, though clearly there's still a long way to go.
But "SPS is not underfunded!"
Oh, please. Look at class sizes; the fact that some buildings are horribly out of date; the fact that the district had to debate the choice between funding current staff levels and some new curricula this year; the fact that we don't have a full-time nurse in every school; the fact that even in "good" high schools like Roosevelt, kids can't always get the classes they need because things are so overcrowded. Even if you could glean the efficiencies you're suggesting by improving overall management, you wouldn't find enough money to cover all the needs that the state should be funding under basic education.
If you want to talk school funding anytime, come join us at Washington's Paramount Duty - we have a whole group of parents who'd be delighted to tell you what they see and why they run themselves ragged trying to fill the gaps our legislature isn't funding.
-Rebecca, WPD board member
Albert
What kind of society thinks saving money is more important than educating children? One that made Donald Trump president, I guess.
Albert
If you were so inclined you could construct a large list of SPS financial mistakes (JSCEE for example) the technology oops alone tabulates in the 20-50 million dollars range.
Letting buildings deteriorate by neglecting maintenance is mismanagement and seems to be by design to keep cit zens approving levies.
Those who think endless funding is the solution for all problems at SPS must be the reason Clinton lost!
Be thankful for what you have.
Ah you see that's the trick question that No one will ever answer.
SPS waste dates way back. I remember SPS painters making 64K a year back in the 80s.
64k to paint walls in SPS schools.
JHC
If you want a thread on how money is spent in SPS, ask for it. (Also this - "per pupil expenditures north of $15,000" - hilarious and not provable but that Uncle Albert for you.)
JHC
I hope the 2-3 new members don't go down the SPS poor rhetoric path.
Parent
And PS to anyone who is running who reads this: The school board is not a springboard to higher office. After a term on the board, a quarter of the people in the district will hate you. A quarter (if you're lucky) will like you, and half won't remember your name but will blame you for everything bad that happened to your student.
JD
Broken System
Broken System
President Peters supported the notion of mitigation funds. Millions of dollars were to be set aside to prevent classroom disruption in October. Thank you.
She's the type of person who will actually go out to see the schools that are the subject of something. I have confidence that she will show up for schools, given how much she shows up in Olympia for ALL the students in the whole darn state.
I've commented here for years - Eden Mack has my vote.
-- Math Counts
I have known Eden since she started working on the sustainability and capacity issues regarding the development of the Licton Springs (nee Wilson Pacific) campus. She has been a tireless advocate for our children, with a particular eye towards improving equity and sustainable policies. Eden has the technical background to understand how the district can make difficult decisions, and the district knowledge to consider many sides of the issues. I think Eden may have a better grasp on capacity and population issues than anyone else in the city...
Yeah, in short, I see that there are a number of interesting candidates running in the 4th district. I hope that means we'll see some productive conversations. But I think it would be follow to lose the opportunity to have Eden working on the board.
A couple of the others look well meaning and perhaps are even progressive, but don't show any evidence of knowing education issues generally or SPS issues specifically.
Interesting tidbit on Herbert J. Camet, Jr. Based on his linkedin profile, it appears he works at http://taischools.com/index.html, which appears to be a for-profit education company that's heavy on the marketing, though their website is pretty half-baked with missing content and generally shoddily done. Looks pretty suspect.
I have worked with Eden Mack for 3+ years in various capacities and am infinitely impressed by her strategic problem-solving skills, her tireless advocacy for all children of Seattle, her unending quest to understand and improve complex systems, her team- and relationship- building capabilities, and her through knowledge of all things SPS.
I endorse Eden Mack wholeheartedly, without reservation.
Hillary Shaw
Co-founder, Fairmount Park Elementary PTA
Past President (max term), Fairmount Park Elementary PTA
Co-author, Washington State PTA Top Five legislative platform issue, "Amply Fund Basic Education."
Melissa Taylor
Parent to a 2nd grader
Volunteer, Washington's Paramount Duty
Seattle School District 1, Director District 4
Eden Mack
Sean Champagne
Herbert J. Camet, Jr.
Jeff Jones
Megan Locatelli Hyska
Jennifer Crow
Darrell Toland
Seattle School District 1, Director District 5
Zachary DeWolf Pullin
Alec Cooper
Omar Vasquez
Andre Helmstetter
Seattle School District 1, Director District 7
Betty Patu
https://info.kingcounty.gov/kcelections/Vote/contests/who-has-filed.aspx
update
Yes agree with Sarajane's statements. Mercer Island's city council and mayor imposed developer impact fees and have used the fee's toward building new schools etc. City of Seattle apparently studied implementing impact fees to pay for the impact of our population growth on schools etc a few years ago according to what I found online....but?
-JG
DMC
Then why was the not the case for Mercer Island as well? They used the funds to build new schools etc.
-JG
One of the details that limits fee collection in the city of Seattle: In general the fee can only be collected on new housing expected to generate significant numbers of school-age children. Contrary to some of the current popular wisdom, few kids are generated by market-rate apartments and almost none from condominiums.
Over 90% of new housing units in Seattle are either apartments or condos.
The growth in SPS enrollment is coming mostly from turnover of already-built SF homes, and the rest from the small number of new SF homes being built.
Maybe we also need commercial linkage fees. Knowing the capacity challenges the district is facing, the city should have included school funding in these, not just affordable housing. And the district should have been lobbying the city, hard.
https://www.theurbanist.org/2015/11/10/toward-affordable-housing-seattle-adopts-a-commercial-linkage-fee/
morepeople moreschools