Latest School Board Election 2017 Tally Results
No new tallies have moved the dial especially in the more contested District V race so I think these will be the final candidates.
Here's the updates:
District IV
Eden Mack - 70.45%
Herbert J. Camet, Jr. - 7.77%
District V
Zachary DeWolf - 47.17
Omar Vasquez - 17.54%
District VII
Betty Patu - 68.36%
Chelsea Byers - 21.02%
Final results will be certified by King County elections on August 15th.
The PDC shows these campaign amounts:
Eden Mack - raised $15,952.34 and spent $13,926.74
Herbert J. Camet, Jr. - $0
Zachary DeWolf - raised $19,166.00 and spent $4,644.97
Omar Vasquez - raised $15,215.97 and spent $13,271.49
Betty Patu - raised $1,340.00 and spent $0
Chelsea Byers - raised $6,353.60 and spent $139.65
One interesting item to note: Vasquez paid Leadership for Education Equity $500 for "campaign consulting services." Who is LEE? A TFA alumni support group.
Here's the updates:
District IV
Eden Mack - 70.45%
Herbert J. Camet, Jr. - 7.77%
District V
Zachary DeWolf - 47.17
Omar Vasquez - 17.54%
District VII
Betty Patu - 68.36%
Chelsea Byers - 21.02%
Final results will be certified by King County elections on August 15th.
The PDC shows these campaign amounts:
Eden Mack - raised $15,952.34 and spent $13,926.74
Herbert J. Camet, Jr. - $0
Zachary DeWolf - raised $19,166.00 and spent $4,644.97
Omar Vasquez - raised $15,215.97 and spent $13,271.49
Betty Patu - raised $1,340.00 and spent $0
Chelsea Byers - raised $6,353.60 and spent $139.65
One interesting item to note: Vasquez paid Leadership for Education Equity $500 for "campaign consulting services." Who is LEE? A TFA alumni support group.
Comments
That will change with Vasquez for sure and probably Byers.
Just because he taught in TFA doesn't discount him.
Experience in the classroom matters. If the guy made a difference
with his students and knows how schools fail kids, more power to
him.
This district is a tale of two cities in terms of education. Neighborhood schools made it the situation embedded, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
Sob stories on this blog are mild compared to the real failure it's doing to students in highly impacted schools.
Wake up and smell the coffee instead of being fixated on "issues".
messenger
To start, he sits on a charter school group board. And he wants to be on a school board that has rejected being an authorizer. A school board that has a resolution against charter schools. I think there's a disconnect there (I also think if he wanted to be on the SPS board, he should have stepped down off his current board.)
Just because he was a teacher, doesn't mean he was a good one. What's your evidence on that?
"Neighborhood schools made it the situation embedded, and that isn't going to change anytime soon."
Whatever that cryptic statement means. Be clear, okay?
You like charters? Fine. The majority of people in Seattle don't.
If the issue is student success, look at his website. I'd say he has a better track record than many readers.
I am NOT a charter supporter. I am against them in most cases. But when you look at SPS, it's hard to keep advocating for business as usual.
Students are failing by demographic, race, income, ELL, FRL, and disability.
This blog is mostly about HCC and whining.
Wake up. Adherence to issues is a cognitive blindspot.
messenger
Well, not all my readers are teachers so sure, you could say that.
Messenger, well, let's see what happens come November. I'm saying right now that it will be Mack, Patu and DeWolf.
I'm talking about pigeon-holing someone who, at least for a few years, walked the talk and, according to his website, had a school experience of his own that shows that his ample success was not always certain.
He didn't need to step up but he did.
messenger
My 2cents
PATU, Peters, Harris and Burke supposedly are all in sync when it come to what needs to be fixed, RIGHT? You could also pull in Pinkham and Gerry, RIGHT. So that's 4-3 or 6-1.
So what the F has been going on? Seriously if this board could not make drastic fixes then tell me what board could? If you get an ed reform stacked board in I can tell you they would quickly get their agenda rolling. Peters was elected to save the district from the ed reformers, well Sue maybe you should step up and so families and tax payers that we don't need ed reformers to have a well functioning district. YA THINK!
Did the manufactured budget crisis scare the board? 1.5 years is enough time to make serious inroads. What could be the problem? Has Peters given up?
Radar
I certainly would agree that change is too slow for my taste. But I have seen much pushback from this Board and I expect that continue. And, the next Board will put in a new superintendent who WILL have the vision to move this district forward. I truly believe that.
Ed reformers would just muddy the waters.
And you should watch your tone, Radar. Director Peters had the courage to step up and run and then win and then serve. Don't knock that unless you did something equally courageous.
Every parent that deals with SPS is courageous, running for board is nothing compared to fighting SPS via due process! Gee I wonder how many board members have gone thru the citizen compliant process or due process. My guess is ZERO!
SPED Parent
Perhaps if she hadn't leveraged her SPED litigation experience so heavily during her campaign we would feel differently.
Then there is the whole running for another office while on the board. If her hearts not in this then let's bring on 3 new board members come November.
Are there any legitimate reasons for her to remain on the board?
SPED Parent
messy
messy
Radar
But two things.
One, you can tell by the chart on Sped costs presented at the press conference on McCleary yesterday, that the district is very frustrated by the state not really covering the costs of Sped.
And I'll be honest - Sped costs are a big issue to every single district. Those costs - and the different types of Sped services needed - are why most charter schools don't want to deal with Sped students. And, if you ever read the comments at the Times when Sped is discussed, it's just plain horrifying. From the thinking that it's no big deal to be dyslexic to believing that kids with high-level problems should be put into homes for life. It's insane stuff.
Everyone knows there is a real live federal law about a free and appropriate education but no one wants to pay to ensure that happens.
Two, Charlie and I have said for forever and a day, this district does not perform well operationally and until that gets done, academically you will not see much progress. That superintendent after superintendent either doesn't get that or can't change that is problematic.
And by the way, just what are these sped "services" that are so hard to fund? Well, there still is no accounting for that claim: no reasoning, no best practices, no curricula, no assistive tech, NOTHING that describes the actual "service" or its costs. What exactly is a "sped service"? It's still just a staffing ratio. Eg. A pricetag. And how do you prove that a student deserves a given pricetag? Well really, you can't prove that any kid needs a particular pricetag. And therefore you can never prove that you really need money.
So, do we really need more money for sped or not? Sure more money is always great, but where does it go? Until there is a crystal clean description of funding, where the money goes, how it follows the student into all the various settings, types of services in terms of actual work, and a true accounting of how special ed staff is used - there is no way to determine if special ed is underfunded, or overfunded, or just right.
Another SPED parent
The OCR investigative lead was Ms.Schmidt who left the USDE OCR to take a position with SPS as the Student Civil Rights Compliance Officer and those cases remain unresolved to this day.
Ms. Schmidt never initiated any form of corrective action regarding AT but she did advise the Special Educational Legal Round table on the nuances in law and ways to finesse the wording of 504 plans to achieve compliance.
In Feb 2016 a lawyer for SPS emailed OCR asking for guidance on creating policies on 504 plans involving AT. This means SPS as of 02 2016 still had not dealt with the problems outlined in the 2013 complaint and OCR had not notified SPS of the need to correct such violations.
I understand that Ms. Schmidt has left the district and now owns Advance Law Office, PLLC, is the solo law practice of Kelli Schmidt she provides OCR investigation, training, and consulting services to public schools.
Take your time to digest the level impunity
SPED Parent
ROI
Whatta waste
I am saddened by the real disconnect between the Sped staff and parents, both at the school-level and the district-level. That it continues on and we have more angry and frustrated parents should be a signal to the district and the Board.
Too often, I see at meetings and staff gives a rosy picture of what is being done but not about outcomes or parent satisfaction which really should be the measure of achievement, not just output. What is it that the district doesn't understand?
I think Sped should be a major focus given the high degree of unhappiness. And yes, Director Geary should take that lead.
Whatta waste, I don't agree with your summary. This last year, the Board did not just pass resolutions but did push back, a lot, on staff. They got those waitlist moved and that would NOT have happened without them.
Think again.
Let's look at history. Years ago, Seattle had a corporate backed "reform" board. These individuals came from the professional class. We had a lawyer, Boeing executive and alike.The board was in place during the great recession. A time when the district closed a funding gap of $125M over 4 years. What did the reform board do? They a) allowed the superintendent to increase administrative spending from 5%-6% to 9%. The 9% figure represented approximately $12M. At the same time, counselors and support staff were cut. b) SPS's audit went to hell. The auditor found 12 findings. Other districts had zero. c) Due to lack of fiscal infrastructure, the auditor told the public that public assets were at risk. Ultimately, there was a scandal. d) signed onto an assessment without realizing that the superintendent sat on the board of the testing company. Can't recall the dollar amount for this test.
Assertions that a "reform" board will hold the district accountable rings hollow.
What is wrong with Vasquez? He supports charter schools; something that will ultimately serve to weaken our existing public school structure. When Vasquez first registered to run for school board, his professional bio indicated that he was involved with charter schools. Those references are now gone. Transparency counts.
The district has 147 open positons. Some of those positions are for math teachers. Perhaps Vasquez should return to the classroom.
As for this boards work on the wait list, yes it was good to see the DISTRICT keep it's written and spoken word on Whitman. I would not call it a huge effort because not doing it would have caused a tremendous amount of bad will and disruption. They took the path of least resistance.
It's sad to hear from the parents who were forced to choose RESMS over WMS because of losing transportation. Shame on the board and the district for using extortion to populate a school.
Radar
Radar
I disagree. Staff did NOT want to do this at all. This was the will of parents and the Board listening.
Many students want to finish middle school at WMS but their parents need the district to provide transportation. Once again it's an equity issue were wealthier families can afford to provide their own transportation solutions to keep their student at WMS and those who can't get bused out of the area to RESMS.
Radar
Another Sped parent
I don't think there's a clear vision of exactly what public schools are trying to achieve. The state constitution could not be more vague in describing the public good and how to measure it in meeting the paramount duty expectation.
I think it's time for a major reset or a renascence in public education. Less play time and more learning. There just so much time and money wasted these days.
My 2cents
My 2cents
It's true. Parents are not clamoring for more money. We want our kids educated and prepared to face the world after school. We want them treated fairly with respect to school assignment and being truly included as part of their neighborhood and community. We want effective use of our students Gened and Sped funding (they get both no matter what setting they're in). They deserve access to real classrooms, not "Study Skills".
Annually, staff trots out their tired canard about burning money on SpEd. At the same time, we see them spend on the wrong things (staffing ratios) or misdirecting it (recess monitors, subbing for a gened teacher).
Geary is the wrong person to "lead" the board on SpEd matters. She's too besotted with Wyeth Jessee and falls for his BS. All too often the other directors simply follow her lead, even when it is in the dead-wrong direction.
Play what?
skilz
Study skills class is a one size fits all excuse for services. See over the dozen or so special ed citizen complaints wbere school were found to be warehousing SPED students in study skills classes never providing any SDI.
Nothing has changed regardless and in spite of OSPI.
SPED Parent
skilz
Go to the OSPI web site and read for yourself. SPS is defenseless, so why are you trying?
FYI there's not and type of SDI that is study skills!
SPED Parent
Well SPED parent, Study Organization is an SDI area of special ed qualification. Theoretically a study skills class would teach these skills. Unfortunately these skills can't be taught in isolation, at least not effectively. Do any Sped teachers circle around to see if the students are more organized in their regular classes, or have effectively taken notes in their regular classes, or know when the next test is, or study effectively? Uh no. They never check on anything that would indicate that study skills is working or not working. Seriously, if this is a great class, then why do kids have to take the same class, literally, for at least 7 years. That is an indication that whole thing is completely bogus. Next up on the bogosity charts, general math.
Another SPED parent
"Specially designed instruction (SDI) means adapting, as appropriate, to the needs of an eligible child under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of a child that results from the child's disability; and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum."
So if the entire school is taking study skill class the SDI would be applied to that class but not be the class, again that's two different things.
In of its self study skills class is not SDI nor appropriate as meeting a students SDI minutes.
SPED Parent
I'm disappointed to hear, however, that the homework assistance piece was (apparently?) eliminated, as I agree with Another SPED Parent that that was the most valuable component. Is that a recent change, or are schools maybe ignoring it? I heard that homework assistance did happen last year...
Oh, and SPED Parent, I'm not trying to "defend" SPS. Sheesh. Not everything is an attack; sometimes people just have questions or different perspectives. Directing me the OSPI website doesn't really answer the questions I asked you, but whatever--if you don't care to explain, that's fine.
skilz
The MAN
Skilz , the service you seem to be describing is accommodation and modification. The actual study skills requirements do not increase because the complexity of the subject matter increases. People use the study skills classes as tutoring for regular ed. And that does not really develop general skills. Really and truly, if your kid mastered note taking, or planner maintenance, project scheduling, then that would not be the thing holding them back. Maintaining planners, staying organized, and taking notes.... can not be taught separately from the actual core classes where the skills are needed. Think about it. Does it make sense to teach note taking in a class that has no subject matter? Whether or not homework assistance is provided in study skills depends on the school, but at many schools it's gone. And really, that isn't SDI. It's useful in the short run, but doesn't really address many problems long term. OSPI definitely said it's not SDI and should be something provided by general ed, not special ed.
Another thing to consider. Your kid gets 0 electives if they are forever warehoused in Study or Life Skills bologna. That might be sort of ok in middle school where most of the electives suck. In high school electives are the crucial piece of education, the thing that really develops skills and determines their next step. With CORE 24 you don't have time to waste on tutoring irrelevance.
Another SPED parent
skilz
Another Sped parent
It's because you tried to speak authoritatively but really have no idea what you're talking about. If your child needs tutoring that is a huge difference from SPED students who require SDI in their IEPs. BTW 504 plans are about accommodations and has nothing to do with study skills class.
Your nonchalant flipped comments are insulting to all the students and parents who have suffered from SPS's abuse of the study skill class.
SPED Parent
Your nonchalant flipped comments are insulting to all the students and parents who have suffered from SPS's abuse of the study skill class.
I doubt (opinion, not authoritative(!) that many parents and students other than yourself were particularly insulted by my well-meaning questions and comments, but if any were, I regret that. I suspect (opinion again!) however, that most were able to see my comments for what they were--a serious effort to understand why some consider study skills classes to be "warehousing," while others consider that to be a useful part of the day, for whatever reason.
I suppose I could turn your comment around on you and say that "your nonchalant, flippant comments about 'warehousing' are insulting to all the students and parents who have found value in SPS's study skills class," but I don't really want to engage you on that level.
I think it's a shame that some SPED parents like to shame and berate others who have a different experience or who have questions or who are unfamiliar with whatever the current complaint is. Some of the SPED posters on this blog "seem" to like to complain that nobody understands how bad SPED has it and nobody helps to advocate for SPED, but then, often as not, if someone makes an effort to chime in they are shot down. It's unfortunate. (Or excuse me--I mean, I FEEL it's unfortunate.)
skilz
To reply to your last comment, there are a few EBD students that have found that going into the study skills class room was a good TIME OUT from the stress of the gen ed classes, but again THIS IS NOT SDI nor proper use of SPED funding.
From my personal observations of many study skills class rooms, I found no SDI being provided and the teacher to be incapable of meeting the needs of 20 plus students because of the wide range of student needs. This not the fault of the teacher but of the school and the district per OSPI's documentation.
SPED Parent
Do you approve of President Obama? Did you vote for him knowing he was on a charter board?
Perhaps if you faced the achievement gap personally, as a student and teacher like Vasquez has, you might be less inclined to write someone off based on charter affiliation.
--B-Rig
Also, you may not know my background but when Vasquez and I sat down and talked, we had quite a lot in common. You might not want to make statements when you don't have complete information.
You later spent two years out of college, help other recognized minorities who were at-risk for failure?
Is that why you have trashed Vasquez as a tool and puppet at every chance except this time you were directly called on your privilege (despite any relatives in the closet, because most of us can do that...ie Elizabeth Warren).
Please...
Tell More
Also, I have not called Vasquez "a tool" or "a puppet" and I'll wait while you go verify that.
I have previously explained my background and no, my relatives aren't in a closet (which in itself is a distasteful phrase but you used it).
Look, even if Vasquez wasn't pro-charters, I wouldn't be for him. He doesn't know this district or this city. That's another big reason.