Seattle Schools Community Forum

Two important stories that should worry school officials, both public AND private. Both stories come from the New York Times. I put these stories forth, to show some parents are fighting back and getting some measure of justice for the loss of their child and it may encourage parents who have kids being bullied not to give up on the system. That it took lawsuits to get there isn't good but it puts every kind of school on notice. The first story came out in April of 2023 about Jack Reid, a 17-year old "at one of the nation's elite boarding schools" who killed himself. On Sunday, the anniversary of Jack’s death, the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey offered an extraordinary admission of failure, publicly acknowledging that it had been aware that Jack was being bullied by other students, but that it had fallen “tragically short” of its obligation to protect him. “The school acknowledges that bullying and unkind behavior, and actions taken or not taken by the school, li...

This time the issue is the near-destruction of the Advanced Learning program. The editorial does a good job in laying out its case. Lots of people are confused about the idea of equity, apparently including those at the helm of Seattle Public Schools. Ouch. Rightly criticized for maintaining a separate program of high-achieving students filled with white and Asian kids, Seattle’s education leaders have chosen not to widen the pipeline into their Highly Capable Cohort. Instead, they are dismantling those classrooms in the name of fairness. That’s a flawed interpretation of the concept. It should mean giving a boost to students who start out with less in order to even their access, not diminishing opportunities for all. But Seattle Public Schools, rather than making individual classes dedicated to accelerated learning more available, is simply taking them off the table. Equity shouldn’t require shrinking the playing field. Done right, it could mean opening advanced-learning opportuni...

As part of elections work, King County allows candidates a two-minute video presentation and then uploads them for the public to view. I have now watched all the videos that were made and have these highlights to offer. (All the videos are unedited. Several candidates did not have videos; I assume the other two candidates either declined to create a video or didn't show up.) All the candidates spoke confidently and I saw no real issues in their ability to communicate to the public. District 1 - There are videos only for Debbie Carlsen and Liza Rankin. Debbie Carlsen Both Carlsen lays out her past experience and frankly, comes out looking pretty good for someone who hasn't spent all her time in PTSA. She said she wants to be "a strong LGBTQ voice" and help all kids to feel safe in their schools. Liza Rankin Rankin makes many claims on what she has done and I do want to call out a couple of things.  One is "access to outdoor learning." This seems like it wou...

 Great reporting on this day-long event on Tuesday by the West Seattle Blog . The hearing examiners said she would give a written judgment within 20 days. It's my experience that Seattle Schools generally wins the day on this kind of thing but I found the arguments compelling. The background is that Seattle Schools is rebuilding Alki Elementary to be a much larger school - going from X to X. Like the other elementary schools they are greatly enlarging - like Viewlands, Rogers and Montlake - the district has never clearly explained why this is necessary if they are losing enrollment.  (As my spidey sense tells me, it's because they want to close near by small schools and move those small populations into these larger buildings. I have looked at the map for Alki and I'm not sure I get why it is happening there.) But Alki is really a special situation as the entire school will have zero parking with a single ADA spot available across the street. What seems odd is that the clos...

  KUOW is interviewing candidates by district in the races for Seattle School Board. They are getting some illuminating answers that might be of interest to voters. This round is for candidates in the District 1 race , Debbie Carlsen, Blaine Parse, Michael Christophersen, and Liza Rankin. NOTE: These responses have been minimally edited to improve clarity and style. Christophersen did not submit answers to KUOW's questionnaire.   Editor's note: I am going to pick out highlights for each question. Please go to the KUOW site for full answers. As well, kudos to KUOW for questions that don't exactly speak well of the current Board. 1) If you’re elected to the school board, what would be one of your top priorities and why is it important to you?   Carlsen: The board should be able to explain the budget in a digestible way to the public, SPS families, and state legislators. To ensure our schools are fully funded, the board needs an independent party to examine the di...

KUOW is interviewing candidates by district in the races for Seattle School Board. They are getting some illuminating answers that might be of interest to voters. This round is for candidates in the District 6 race, Rosie McCarter, Maryanne Wood and Gina Topp. McCarter did not submit answers to KUOW's questionnaire. NOTE: These responses have been minimally edited to improve clarity and style. Editor's note: I am going to pick out highlights for each question. Please go to the KUOW site for full answers. As well, kudos to KUOW for questions that don't exactly speak well of the current Board. 1) If you’re elected to the school board, what would be one of your top priorities and why is it important to you? Topp said four things; improved equity, safe, inclusive and welcoming environments, empowering education with growth and professional development, and engaging parents and communities " to create a collaborative educational system that restores confidence in th...

KUOW is interviewing candidates by district in the races for Seattle School Board. They are getting some illuminating answers that might be of interest to voters. The first round of interviews were with District 3 candidates : Ben Gitenstein, Christie Robertson and Evan Briggs. Ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline to turn in ballots, KUOW asked each of the candidates about their top priorities if elected, what solutions they'd support to address another budget gap next year, their stance on some students and educators' push to require ethnic studies and Black history classes, and how the district should boost academic achievement. NOTE: Candidate responses have been minimally edited to improve clarity and style. (Editor's note: I am going to pick out highlights for each question. Please go to the KUOW site for full answers. As well, kudos to KUOW for questions that don't exactly speak well of the current Board.) 1) If you’re elected to the school board, what would be one of yo...