The Strange Stranger Seattle School Board Endorsements

Alas and alack, I managed to overwrite my post on the Seattle Student Union endorsements on my Stranger post. 

Basically, flawed thinking, not rational in some points and The Stranger forgot about some key events (like the murder at Ingraham High School). 

They endorsed both incumbents - Liza Rankin  in D1 and Lisa Rivera Smith in D2 as well as Evan Briggs in D3 and Gina Topp in D6. 

Liza Rankin

Oddly, The Stranger didn't mention that Rankin is using endorsements from 2019 at her webpage (including The Stranger's). She even has one from MLK Labor (who endorsed her last time) when her opponent, Debbie Carlsen, is the sole endorsement for MLK Labor THIS time. Devious tactics.

On declining enrollment - If housing and birthrates are the only reason for this issue, then there is nothing she can do besides complaining to the City Council and going to PTA meetings and urging members to make more babies.

What's hilarious is she brought an iPad to show them graphs and such AND sent several follow-up emails  and they found that annoying. That is CLASSIC Rankin who cannot keep two ideas in her head at once. She does this at Board meetings all the time. 

And policy review? Why is that top of her list with SO many other issues? Hmm.

Rankin has even said she KNEW they were going into debt approving the last teachers contract. So she is part of the budget problem. 

Memo to The Stranger - Rankin was a rank amateur board member when she got elected; ALL new members start from scratch. And every incumbent always uses that line.

Comments at The Stranger

#1

Liza and Debbie aren't functionally different though there is no universe where Liza is "effective." She is likable, which is obviously enough for the vibes based SECB.

#2

What is with you endorsing Liza Rankin??! Have you not heard about the Ingraham shooting that left one student dead and another in juvenile detention? Have you not heard Friends of Ingraham beg for district to acknowledge continued fears SEVEN months after the shooting- and when another kid showed-up with a gun in the parking lot? 

And Rankin led the district off of a financial cliff with a budget deficit of $131M and another $100M next year.

In regards to Student Focused Outcome Governance, Cruickshank is spot on.

You have made a grave mistake.


Lisa Rivera Smith

The Stranger says "she likes to challenge the status quo at the Board." Name one time when she did it with force or courage? I'll wait.

The Stranger again says that the falling enrollment (which is going to cause schools to CLOSE by school year 2024-2025) just can't be because of SPS quality (or lack of). So what WILL Rivera Smith do about this?

They claim she said she wants to "shape" SOFG. She has done NOTHING to shape SOFG. Zero. And they call her "mild" and that is definitely the word to use for Rivera Smith. She never really stands up for anything. 


Evan Briggs

The Stranger's endorsement of Evan Briggs in Board district 3 is the worst of their endorsements. She's a hand-picked dilettante from director Chandra Hampson (who couldn't run because of her bullying of senior Black staffers as well as a lawsuit against SPS that Hampson is STILL carrying on today). If Hampson picks a candidate, vote the opposite.

Here's The Stranger's reasoning on Briggs' qualifications. The school she was pushing back against got too toxic so she ran off to another one? And she's in the PTA and that's a good reason to put her on the Board? Even Hampson was at least a PTA president.

"She also wants to work to find ways to more equitably distribute PTSA funds across schools and to dramatically improve community outreach."

So the $350,000 that the Green Lake Elementary PTA raised to put in speciality play equipment for kids with disabilities should have been spread out to other schools instead of using it for that project? Were those parents being selfish trying to help disabled kids who go to that school as part of a district program? I wished they had asked Briggs that question.

If The Stranger thinks - as they said in the Briggs endorsement- that the board is "a dysfunctional mess," why endorse Rankin and Rivera Smith, the incumbents? That's doesn't make for a good argument. And The Stranger complains about "low-quality community outreach?" This Board is THE poster child for that. Please.

Vote for Ben Gitenstein or Christie Robertson - much better and more thoughtful choices. 

Comment at The Stranger:

I don't really care who you vote for in district 3, but it definitely shouldn't be Evan, who has barely stood up a campaign and is the puppet of the less popular Chandra(she did all her speeches at LD endorsement meetings- typically candidates do their own), not actually Brandon, who is more popular in SECB circles. 


Gina Topp

Their endorsement of Topp - well, she is the best candidate in the bunch. 

However, this word salad is bullshit:

"She argued that if (Student Outcome Focused Governance) SOFG lets the board set policy and hold the superintendent accountable for results, which it does, and if the superintendent doesn’t deliver on implementation, which he might not, then the school board will still be able to delve into the policy work to ensure the district delivers on the board’s goals, which it could."

So even if the superintendent's actions do not deliver, blame it on the policies and not his work? Oh boy.

She's no Leslie Harris.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Really they went with Rankin? The stranger didn't go with one of their own? Man that speaks volumes about Debbie, in my opinion.

Oh well it's done now. I hope the folks in the north understand they better circle the wagons because unless they kick Rankin out in the primary where they have 100% control Rankin will get re-elected in a city wide vote.

Maybe it's time for me to move to Edmonds.

Darn it
7/13/23, 4:28 PM
Just Wow said…
It is really time to dismiss The Stranger. Here is what The Stranger had to say of Rankin's endorsement:

" Cuts suck, but Rankin’s elimination rubric aligns with securing the best basic outcomes for students, even if it means losing out on mock trials and beloved jazz bands. "

Does The Stranger not realize that cuts to jazz band and mock trial were in south end schools? Did The Stranger not realize that Washington Middle School feeds into Garfield; a school known for music.

The Stranger lost all credibility.
7/13/23, 5:09 PM
fooled twice said…
Both the ST and SECB should have passed on endorsing any candidate for the primary. The ST or SECB did not do their research and that's just plain lazy on their part.

I have to believe that an outside political influence from Olympia was involved here. To be clear I believe The Stranger was paid for the endorsement by a PAC connected to P****. It will be hard to ferret it out but its totally legal for campaigns to pay for endorsements and its actually common if reported as an expenditure.

These Pacs will double down and contribute to at least two candidates in primaries as an insurance policy. I'm also going to dig into SEA's and WEA's involvement here. Remember they just need to get one of their selections into the general where they can then mobilize their troops and overwhelm any opposition.

Please dont get fooled twice by Rankin!
7/13/23, 7:32 PM
Aramis said…
Because the Stranger no longer is a legit newspaper, it the Socialist Alternative weekly. They care about xfer payments and equity Uber alles. That bit about the $350K isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
7/14/23, 12:30 AM
Anonymous said…
Fooled Twice - SEA and WEA didn’t endorse any incumbents on their site, although that’s where my mind went too.

Bananas
7/14/23, 7:03 AM
Anonymous said…
Really, at this point, unfortunately, this type of blog post is truly missing the point IMHO:

WHO SITS ON THE BOARD NOW, IT DOESN’T MATTER, IT’S IRRELEVANT

Because at this point, SPS is truly in a death spiral, and who sits on the board, it doesn’t matter because the spiral is locked and loaded.

(/b)Enrollment is driven by education policy.(/b) Education policy is a grab bag of everything, from curriculum choice, to starting times.
For example, if the SPS district was replete with true immersion uni-language option elementary schools offering either Spanish or Chinese, then private schools and Catholic schools would lose enrollment, bleed enrollment. If Seattle chose and highlighted the textbooks/curriculum they use for , for example, middle-school science or high school language arts because the materials were so well-known and esteemed because they were so effective at inculcated learning, families would be pleased and grateful to enroll their kids in their local public schools. If SPS re-implemented a true advanced learning program, with ability-based cohorts (not groupings or the non-existent “differentiation”) restoring HCC (98th% IQ & 95th% reading & 95th% math achievement) so the kids could take AP world history in ninth grade as the program used to do, AND an additional tier “Spectrum” (90th% reading & 90th math), then again, parents would stay and ‘invest’ in SPS as their kids would be receiving a free and appropriate education. Families would move to Seattle to gain access to these sorts of pedagogy.

BUT, NO. A tiny handful of elementary immersion schools that have 2 languages not just 1 (creating complications, as well as in efficiency, as well as internal division) (ps - as an aside, look to Canada: you don’t need to have parents raise $100,000 for the operation of immersion schools). Middle school science curriculum that is an absolute sham and completely unfit for purpose, that later bleeds into high school curriculum for chemistry and physics, which is so bad, it drove outstanding science, teachers to retire early. English curriculum for high school doesn’t exist. Discovery approach used for math, which is proven to be bad for student learning is still used in SPS. And ability-based cohort model, which is proven to successfully support student learning, has been pillaged in the name of almighty equity, even though BIPOC gifted students are hurt the worst with its demise (opting into APP/HCC from the Eckstein middle school service area was 69%, opting into it from the Aki Kurose middle school service area was 100%).

The budget is out of control, because the folks in the glass palace are out of control with their political agenda, and more specifically the political ideation of the higher ups in JSCEE is not fit for purpose.

There’s no way a board could ride heard on the superintendent unless they themselves were elected as a unit of people who were absolutely sophisticated in their knowledge of the budget and operation and were determined to not just reign this out of control institution in, but shift it’s direction to focus on evidence-based education policy. Not a single one of any of these candidates has what it takes to do this, let alone all of them together collectively.

Not any of this shoddy education policy or warped budget is the fault of teachers. Paying teachers well is not a problem. I would argue that the public is disinfected with respect to Seattle public schools, and that is a problem. Eventually, they will fail a levy if abused badly enough, passed their breaking-point. Then and only then might there be a cataclysmic course reset in SPS.

Vote No.

Frankly, I would be surprised if they actually understood the budget, in contrast, Sherry Carr and Michael DeBell did, even though I definitely was not a fan of them, at least I had the comfort of knowing they thoroughly understood the disbursements.

7/14/23, 10:06 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Vote No, I would not disagree with your comments.

But this:

"...because the folks in the glass palace are out of control with their political agenda..."

In your comments, you don't use the word "equity" nor do you reference that as the focus for the district. I'm going to assume by "political agenda" that is what you mean.

All the things you list as good things could be offered to ALL the students in SPS. And that is what the senior leadership in SPS just don't get.

The district could be HELPING all students have successful academic careers. Resources are needed at schools where students struggle.

The district needs ALL parents and, for too long, this Board and this Superintendent have thumbed their noses at this idea.

The Stranger may think it's just a few parents who left SPS because they were unhappy. I think they are dead wrong and in a few short years, it will absolutely be even more true.
7/14/23, 10:13 AM
Anonymous said…
Vote No

You’re not wrong, but please don’t fault readers and commenters here for caring. We want accountability with this election even though, yes, the future looks pretty grim no matter who is elected. In some ways, it does seem fair that Ms Rankin would be at the helm while the district goes into receivership and she is ultimately stripped of her job. There’s no faulting some other Board who crash landed this district back into operations after COVID or ignored the many safety issues that led parents to pull kids from schools, who used equity as a bludgeon to strip education to the bare minimum of required offerings while test scores (student outcomes!) plummeted. Of course we want to show this woman the door even if the metaphorical building is still doomed.

Don’t Blame Us
7/14/23, 10:36 AM
Anonymous said…
Well when you have 7 board members and the public meetings laws it's difficult for a group of 4 to strategize to right the ship. Maybe they could meet in pairs that rotate members for each meeting. Is that a conspiracy to defeat the open meeting act law? That might work but who would be the willing members? I doubt any of the SOFG operatives new or old would go along.


SOFG NO
7/14/23, 10:56 AM
aramis said…
@anon

Yep, downward spiral. Remove benefits to the middle class, watch some peel away. Lower revenue coming in, lower services, more peel away. Rinse, lather, repeat. Eventually, engaged parents who don't have the means or opportunity to walk away start demanding charters to escape. More peel away.

Eventually, you have DC Public Schools, a system only those who have no choice or are too lazy to try and find a choice go to. I estimate 10 years to get there fully.

The sad fact is that for today's parents, it's already too late. Even if you got a good board, fired a ton of the educrats that got us here, it would take years to reverse the damge...longer than any parent is going to give.
7/14/23, 2:36 PM
Anonymous said…
Discovery math was an absolute disaster for our boys some years ago. We used outside math tutors which most lower income families cannot afford. What they are using is terrible for kids with ADHD or those with English as a second language. Also not great for others, judging by the Washington state test scores.

I tried to explain this to Michael DeBell and spoke up at school board meetings. Direct instruction math would have been much better.

After the pandemic SPS could do summer school or tutoring to catch up students. Even better, they could improve the curriculum. But they won’t.

I am sick to death of SPS talking equity and diversity and using curricula that is terrible for students of color and many others. Seattle deserves a much better public school system, which many families would welcome.

District watcher

7/14/23, 4:33 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
SOFG NO, it may end up that the SOFG supporters will be the majority and nothing can be done. Topp certainly seems to be leaning that way.

But when the house of cards starts falling, no policy making will save that from happening. And this crazy notion that if the superintendent's implementation of Board policies fails, it's the fault of the policy is just astonishing.

There are less-than-successful superintendents with less-than-successful ideas of how to enact policies. They often fail and it has nothing to do with the policy itself.
7/14/23, 4:45 PM
Anonymous said…
SOFG NO, you’re right. Board members meet all the time in “two-bys” with staff to discuss issues off the public record. This started long before SOFG for emergent issues like budget, but now without the standing committees there is no space for newer board members to even have a say in policy discussions, and of course the public is completely shut out of the loop.

Democracy Dies
7/15/23, 9:17 AM
@DemocracyDies said…
You are so right. Board members recently had 2x2 to discuss the special education budget. The public has been left in the dark.

Board members used to be able to hold back half baked work in committees. No more. You simply need a board majority and all kind of stuff is getting moving forward- including a half baked HC plan to OSPI.
7/15/23, 12:42 PM
Anonymous said…
How did an outsider with no children become the school board president?

If that's is possible then I say let it fail. It's 100% cheaper to rebuild than to keep patching this sinking ship.

So sad
7/16/23, 2:04 PM
Patrick said…
So Sad, I don't see having children as a requirement for being on the board. The board is there to exercise oversight over the district on behalf of the taxpayers - all the taxpayers, both parents and non. (At least that's how I see it, though the current board may disagree.)

Letting the district fail would probably let us in for 10 to 15 years of very poorly educated kids before it could be fixed. State appointed administration and charter school invasion, likely. The great majority of the teachers and building administrators are fine and it would be a waste, to say the least, to get rid of them.

7/16/23, 10:03 PM
Wowza said…
The Sranger really brushed aside the Ingraham shooting- not even a mention!
7/17/23, 10:51 AM
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