Parents Rise Up Against Board President Liza Rankin

Updates:

Here's a link to the group, Recall Rankin, that filed the recall papers. 

In their press release, they give this information:

Under Washington State law, the King County Superior Court will review the recall petition to determine if it can proceed. If a judge allows it to proceed, petitioners will then circulate the petition for signatures. 

A recall requires the valid signatures of legal voters equal to twenty-five percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for the office to which the officer whose recall is demanded was elected at the preceding election. The total number of votes in the 2023 election for the District 1 seat on the Seattle Public Schools board was 194,633, which means 48,659 valid signatures of legal voters are required to place the recall on the ballot.

From the Times editorial board:

The drumbeats around a possible School Board recall in Seattle have been growing louder for quite some time. But its main target, board President Liza Rankin, has not changed course.

On Friday, the parents behind this nascent effort filed their first notice of official action, a petition targeting Rankin for “numerous acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and violations of her oath of office.”

But the petition charges more problems than just school closures, outlining a pattern of holding families at arm’s length and refusing to respond in any meaningful way to their concerns.

Here's an excellent point:

Rankin might not argue this point. She has made no secret of her interpretation of the School Board’s role: less time spent responding to community emails, and more conceiving broad, districtwide policies.

Hundreds of voters in Seattle disagree. A poll of 613 likely voters conducted in late October found that a majority disapprove of the direction of Seattle Public Schools. Forty-one percent said they would vote to recall the school board.

This editorial board had serious reservations about Rankin when she ran for reelection last year, endorsing her opponent instead. The edit board called out Rankin’s failures on fiscal stewardship because she voted for a teachers contract knowing it would plunge Seattle Public Schools into a severe budget deficit. But her seeming obliviousness to the concerns of constituents was equally troubling.

Here's a link to that poll that is mentioned in the editorial that was done by the Northwest Progressive Institute. They state:

The poll, which consisted of 613 likely voters, was conducted by Change Research for NPI between October 28th and November 2nd. 

Voters in Seattle are extremely unhappy with the austerity measures being proposed to close a financial shortfall in Washington's largest school district and ready to bring in new leadership...

Outright majorities of likely 2024 Seattle voters tols us in a survey that they are unsatisfied with the direciton of SPS, disapprove of the school board's performance and oppose the district's plan to close elementary schools. 

Strikingly, a plurality are even prepared to vote to recall the schools board members if they get the opportunity to. 

They also state:

Districts are limited by state law in how and when they can raise revenue, which means that the Legislature will need to step up if we're to solve the problems collectively facing our school districts. However, officials in Seattle have chosen deliberately to pursue austerity measures in response to the situation, rather than standing up for students, parents, and educators. That's not acceptable.

Voters in Seattle are extremely unhappy with the austerity measures being proposed to close a financial shortfall in Washington’s largest school district and ready to bring in new leadership that will put youth and families first, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s latest survey of the Emerald City electorate shows.

Outright majorities of likely 2024 Seattle voters told us in a survey that finished fielding at the beginning of this month that they are unsatisfied with the direction of Seattle Public Schools, disapprove of the school board’s performance, and oppose the district’s plan to close elementary schools. Strikingly, a plurality are even prepared to vote to recall the school board members if they get the opportunity to. 

The poll, which consisted of interviews of 613 likely voters, was conducted by Change Research for NPI between October 28th and November 2nd.

Voters in Seattle are extremely unhappy with the austerity measures being proposed to close a financial shortfall in Washington’s largest school district and ready to bring in new leadership that will put youth and families first, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s latest survey of the Emerald City electorate shows.

Outright majorities of likely 2024 Seattle voters told us in a survey that finished fielding at the beginning of this month that they are unsatisfied with the direction of Seattle Public Schools, disapprove of the school board’s performance, and oppose the district’s plan to close elementary schools. Strikingly, a plurality are even prepared to vote to recall the school board members if they get the opportunity to. 

The poll, which consisted of interviews of 613 likely voters, was conducted by Change Research for NPI between October 28th and November 2nd.

They go through the questions they asked and the answers received. It's worth looking at. 

One very interesting finding:

Only around a fifth of Seattle voters are prepared to vote to reelect the current school board members. The other four-fifths are either inclined NOT to or aren't sure.  

We are a year out from the next school board election but I think as closures play out, the possibility of flipping the majority of the board members becomes ever more possible. It has happened in the past. 

You might start looking for candidates. 

Voters in Seattle are extremely unhappy with the austerity measures being proposed to close a financial shortfall in Washington’s largest school district and ready to bring in new leadership that will put youth and families first, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s latest survey of the Emerald City electorate shows.

Outright majorities of likely 2024 Seattle voters told us in a survey that finished fielding at the beginning of this month that they are unsatisfied with the direction of Seattle Public Schools, disapprove of the school board’s performance, and oppose the district’s plan to close elementary schools. Strikingly, a plurality are even prepared to vote to recall the school board members if they get the opportunity to. 

The poll, which consisted of interviews of 613 likely voters, was conducted by Change Research for NPI between October 28th and November 2nd.

Voters in Seattle are extremely unhappy with the austerity measures being proposed to close a financial shortfall in Washington’s largest school district and ready to bring in new leadership that will put youth and families first, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s latest survey of the Emerald City electorate shows.

Outright majorities of likely 2024 Seattle voters told us in a survey that finished fielding at the beginning of this month that they are unsatisfied with the direction of Seattle Public Schools, disapprove of the school board’s performance, and oppose the district’s plan to close elementary schools. Strikingly, a plurality are even prepared to vote to recall the school board members if they get the opportunity to. 

The poll, which consisted of interviews of 613 likely voters, was conducted by Change Research for NPI between October 28th and November 2nd.

Voters in Seattle are extremely unhappy with the austerity measures being proposed to close a financial shortfall in Washington’s largest school district and ready to bring in new leadership that will put youth and families first, the Northwest Progressive Institute’s latest survey of the Emerald City electorate shows.

Outright majorities of likely 2024 Seattle voters told us in a survey that finished fielding at the beginning of this month that they are unsatisfied with the direction of Seattle Public Schools, disapprove of the school board’s performance, and oppose the district’s plan to close elementary schools. Strikingly, a plurality are even prepared to vote to recall the school board members if they get the opportunity to. 

The poll, which consisted of interviews of 613 likely voters, was conducted by Change Research for NPI between October 28th and November 2nd.

 end of update

From the Seattle Times:

Parents file recall petition against Seattle School Board president 

A group of parents launched a petition to recall the Seattle School Board president amid lingering dissatisfaction over the district’s school closure plans and concerns about ongoing multiyear budget shortfalls.

The five parents allege that Liza Rankin oversaw a rushed and improper school closure process and failed to engage communities or be transparent about critical district decisions. The parents also charge that Rankin did not perform the level of oversight expected of a school board director and has not held the district accountable for improving student academic outcomes. Seattle Public Schools has not met the math and English language arts targets it set for Black male students.

“Each of these repeated failures not only rise to the level of misfeasance, malfeasance, and/or violation of oath of office,” the petition read. “They endanger the future of Seattle Public Schools, they hinder and undermine the education of Seattle’s children, and they do damage to the public’s trust in a foundational civic institution.” The parents filed the petition in King County Superior Court on Friday.

The parent petitioners are:

- Ben Gittenstein, a 2023 School Board candidate and parent

- Janai Ray, a parent of three SPS students

- Annie Becker, the co-advocacy chair at Sacajawea Elementary School and parent of four SPS students;

- Rebekah Binns, a former SPS teacher and parent at Graham Hill Elementary School

- Nancy Bacon, a former SPS parent

To note, this petition has to get the sign-off from a judge - meeting some lawful standard - and THEN the parents can start gathering signatures.

They’ll need the valid signatures of legal voters equal to 25% of all votes cast for Rankin’s seat the last time it was on the ballot — or 48,659 signatures. Rankin was reelected last year.

According to Rankin:

Rankin said Tuesday afternoon that she’d just received the petition. Legally, she said, she bears no more responsibility for the School Board’s actions than other directors do.

“My vote has no more weight than any other board member,” she said. “As board president, my job is to run the meeting.”

Yes, her vote is the same as other directors. However, she does have power that they don't like who is on committees, what gets on the Consent Agenda, etc.

The petitions also say the board stepped back district oversight when it removed key committees, including Audit & Finance, in 2023. Doing so eliminated oversight of consequential administrative decisions, and the fallout has shown up in many ways, including in cost overruns on major construction projects, they said.  

The parents also accuse the board under Rankin’s leadership of reducing opportunities for public participation by halving the number of monthly public meetings and making it harder for residents to participate.

Honest thoughts from Ms. Binns:

Binns said she signed the petition because Southeast Seattle has often felt neglected and ignored by the School Board and she wanted the region’s schools to have a voice.

She’s been critical of the district’s community engagement efforts on school closures, which she likened to a check-the-box exercise. None of the sessions over the summer was held in South Seattle, Binns said.  

“My hope is that because the district seems to listen to lawsuits, they’ll actually listen,” Binns said. “It’s a shame it takes taxpayers’ money for them to listen, as opposed to engaging. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to engage with people, talk to people, visit them and ask them what they need.”