Post Alley Story on Director Chandra Hampson's Lawsuit
I was asked to write about the lawsuit that Director Chandra Hampson is continuing against Seattle Public School by Post Alley. I was glad to do so because I still believe it's a news story that needs to be understood as well as have a wider public awareness.
Woven into it is a story of another school board member - this time in San Francisco - who also sued her district.
In San Francisco, parental and public frustration with their school board reached a boiling point over the board’s decision, while schools were shut down during due to the COVID pandemic, to spend months of effort in 2021 on developing a controversial – and mistake-riddled – plan to rename 44 public schools due to the perceived historical sins of their namesakes (including Abraham Lincoln), instead of focusing on how to get kids back into in-person learning. Public anger grew further when one of the San Francisco school board members, Alison Collins, sued her own school district for $87 million after she was removed as board vice-president when old tweets surfaced, in which Collins made racially inflammatory and disparaging comments about Asians.
Collins’ lawsuit against her district – which was also quickly dismissed by a judge – became a major news story (and recall campaign issue) in San Francisco.
Story here on the recall of three of the members of the San Francisco School Board including Collins.
A commenter at my Post Alley story linked to a blog by an Oakland USD board member about what is happening in her district that also aligns with what is happening in SPS.
Comments
Noted
This is what Eden Mack wouldn't and couldn't have said, and WEA-owned Hersey wouldn't even think about saying, but this courageous OUSD Board member said:
"OUSD is not a jobs program, or a social justice organization, or a small business incubator, or a housing organization, although those things are important. ..."
Furthermore:
"yet other districts with similar levels of poverty and/or funding are achieving much greater results. One reason is that our teachers' association has consistently resisted efforts to address school quality, and organized others against such efforts as well. ...
"The OEA did everything they could to prevent returning to in-person instruction, even though they knew that we weren't meeting our legal and moral obligations, in particular to our most vulnerable students. ...
"In the time I have served on the board, I have noticed two tactics that OEA and its allies consistently use to try to shut down debate of topics they don't agree with:
Accusing leaders of being racist or anti-Black in response to disagreement. It is irresponsible and intellectually lazy to call leaders racist due to disagreement. This is a cheap attempt to stifle the reasoned debate that is necessary in a functioning democracy and avoid discussion of the substantive issues in question. ...
"I believe we need leaders who are willing to take responsibility for solving the challenges facing the district, and who are responsible in their speech and actions. Oakland has some of the most generous taxpayers in the state, and we receive more funds per student than most districts. We can do better to honor and respect the generosity of our residents by using our resources better, to focus relentlessly on student needs."
Why are Board Members used to shield the management from the aggressions by Teachers Unions? What are Superintendents and senior management teams there for? Be focused on their self-preservation and self-enrichment?
Banal Wimps
Thanks for flagging this! This woman is my hero! She also appears to be a woman of color who has paid her labor dues over her lifetime so who are these goons to call her a white supremacist? Who else would do the hard work of being a board member as volunteer wages (if any) to be treated like this? Can we please agree what white supremacy actually means, or will we lump together the micro aggressions of 2022 with the heinous acts of murder by hooded mobs from another time?
It never sat well with me that primarily white women with masters degrees called folks who wanted to return to their humble public schools racist and that’s a legit argument in this town. Shame on them. Shame on us too.
Do Better
And anyone who thinks you can get elected to the school board in Seattle by taking on teachers unions is deluded.
It's also not like SEA has much sway over SPS. When SEA's president asked the board to slow down on the decision to hire Brent Jones, the board told them to pound sand. Same thing when SEA asked to be part of the decision on masks.
What happened in SF was the reasonable left and the constructive center came together to oust three totally incompetent board members. The comments on Melissa's Post Alley article suggest this is possible in Seattle too, but people will to have to leave aside the anti-teacher union stuff, and not complain about equity or "wokeness" or stuff like that. People are really furious with SPS, and if they try to close schools in the near future as is increasingly rumored, that fury will turn into a widespread revolt that ousts not just Hampson but her enablers like Rankin and Hersey and replace them with people who want a good school district that works for everyone.
Clean Sweep
Appreciate you finding the nuance here. I do think there is more to the story than left vs middle, or whatever triangulations the media is oversimplifying.
Respectfully disagree that SEA has no sway over SPS. SEA knows they have political juice in this town, and that is why my child spent many many afternoons sleeping in front of a remote school monitor and slowly falling into depression. It’s not like bargaining rights are peanuts either. It bothers me to no end that SEA absolves itself of any role in SPSs successes or failures. They do not have positional power, but they do have power to keep building doors closed, and they did.
And perhaps this UOSD Board Member made an unpopular decision, but I take issue with the first word out of anyones mouth is that she’s racist. Let’s assume the best of each other and set aside editorializing in favor of discussing facts and building back relationships. People got so used to reaching for the gas can.
Mouse
VP Hampson simply did not want to vote on bell times; she felt that the superintendent- not the board- should be making those decisions. Awful!
Rankin put forth an amendment that would have allowed the superintendent to determine bell times. Awful!
We got an awesome data report from Director Vivian Song Maritz which is refreshing because we have not have such analysis by incumbent board directors.
It is past time for Hampson and Rankin to be removed from office. Hersey is following in their path and we need to expect more from the board president.