District 3 Candidate - Ben Gitenstein- Speaks Out Against School Closures

 Gitenstein doesn't pull any punches in a worthy piece at Post Alley. (Partial excerpts) I note in the comments that former Board member, Dick Lilly, agrees with him. The comments are telling.

This move to shutter schools is the wrong policy direction and will only hurt kids, families, and neighborhoods.

Always true.

Debating whether or not closing schools is a good idea should be at the center of the current school board races. It should be garnering significant public attention. But it is not, in part because district leaders haven’t been forthright and fully transparent.

Also true because that's the way the district wants it - they've decided to do this and there will be no discussion. 

While they aren’t stating these arguments publicly, the District and some members of the current School Board are privately claiming that closing schools will shrink our budget deficit and will more efficiently deploy fixed costs — such as principals — by consolidating into larger “well-resourced schools.”

But these arguments are flawed.

First, closing schools will not shrink our budget deficit. The District has no plans to lay off the teachers, staff, and service providers who work in those schools. In fact they just signed new contracts with teacher and custodial unions. They intend to re-assign teachers, not reduce their ranks.  

He's right on this one. I hope parents understand that newer teachers will absolutely be the first displaced. Like the one at your school that your kid talks about all the time.

Second, schools should not optimize for efficiency, they should optimize for learning. 

We need to focus on reversing the slide in enrollment, and even more importantly, closing our shameful achievement gap in which only a third of the students most in need of our help are meeting math and reading standards. 

He gives this example:

If you don’t believe me, just look at Chicago. As The Sun Times reported, Chicago Public Schools closed 50 neighborhood schools in 2013 because of low enrollment, “inefficiency,” and chronic budget shortfalls. The Mayor and the Superintendent promised better outcomes for kids by consolidating them into fewer schools which would have more resources. Sound familiar?

The results in Chicago were a failure. Kids from closed schools had lower graduation rates and fared worse on standardized tests than those whose schools stayed open. Even worse, all of those students went through years of “educational destabilization.” Hardly optimal for learning.

What can be done and what has the current Board done?

Admittedly, this will take resources and money. The best place to find those resources is Olympia, where we have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust with budget writers. We can start by reinvesting in transparency and accountability at the School Board and District. Seattle Public Schools has a $1.2 billion budget, but our Board recently did away with the standing Finance Committee. That’s unacceptable: No other organization of this size would forgo such oversight.

We need a new vision for Seattle public schools. We need to expand the programs that bring families to Seattle Public Schools, not eliminate programs and schools, and in the process push families away. We need to embrace neighborhood schools, not close them.  

We need clarity and straight talk from the school board and SPS leadership, not spin.