Seattle Schools Community Forum

You find out the most fascinating information at the PDC ( Public Disclosure Commission ) about candidates.  To note, school board campaigns are generally not big money campaigns in any way, shape or form. But anything over about $25K merits a look.  These races are a lot like races for judges - people feel kind of lost about who to vote for.    If you look at voter stats, the number of people who vote for mayor is quite high but as you go down ballot, voter numbers drop off. So WHO you can get to vote for you for school board, those numbers get hugely important. If you have people/groups who can mobilize in numbers, you are likely to win because of those low voter numbers for school board.   But more importantly who drives campaigns forward - influential people and groups - that helps a candidate win for school board.  Let's dive in. (I am only going to address the two highest in each race with one exception.)   District 2 - Sarah Clark...

Update: I am hearing that not only do Clark, Mizrahi, and Song seem to be a slate but joining them is Carol Rava, one of two candidates in D7.  Word is that the Four are showing up at events together and they appear to be the only Seattle School Board candidates invited.  More details in my next post on my visit to the Public Disclosure Commission to check donations and who is supporting whom. end of update    Way back in 2002, there was a Seattle School Board election with the majority of seats (4) up. That majority was made up of business-types who had overseen the death of John Stanford and then, the financial scandal of his CFO who became superintendent after Stanford. That would be one Joe Olchefske. Voters were urged to stay the course with that Board majority. Four strong but completely different women ran against them. Somehow, along the way, those four women became a slate and that slate overturned that majority. It was a pretty thrilling election and it was...

 

 Update: The Seattle Times has endorsed Joe Mizrahi for the District 4 seat. And, Mizrahi has some bold things to say. (Bold mine) Anyone who wants to correct a problem must name it first. Joe Mizrahi, running to retain his seat on the Seattle School Board, is doing so, calling out a near total dearth of leadership within Seattle Public Schools. “I was expecting bureaucratic inertia, some incompetence, but the real lack of accountability in this district has been quite shocking to me,” he said after 15 months of observing the inner workings at SPS. Watching the litany of lawsuits , scandals and crises that have beset the district in just the year since he was appointed, Mizrahi often wonders, “How does this person still have a job?” His first meaningful opportunity to address that question will be hiring a new superintendent. Mizrahi says he’d oppose any candidate currently working in the district. He wants an outsider without baggage or loyalties, someone willing to “be a little ...

Update: KUOW joins this chorus about when a new superintendent might come AND gets a big quote from Board president Gina Topp. First, she's all "participation" and "process" "and that we really care about who's leading our public schools here. If we need to take some more time to make sure that we get this right and do this right, we're going to do that." Okay. It's stated that she could not predict a date for a new superintendent and... "There could be a candidate we like and they can start two weeks later. Or maybe the right candidate can't start until January or June," Topp said. "Is that acceptable, and is that what the board wants to do moving forward? I think those will have to be conversations the board has when we get to that point." Oh my. If the right candidate can't get here until Jan or June, then the Board should just extend the application process into November and get a much bigger (and possibly...

Update: more good news via SPS Facebook: Big congratulations to Roosevelt and Lincoln High Schools' (teams) for taking top honors at the 2025 Washington State Envirothon, hosted by King Conservation District at Camp Kirby on Samish Island! Roosevelt claimed 1st place overall, earning the highest score in Aquatic Ecology. Lincoln took 2nd place, standing out with top scores in Wildlife, Forestry, and Oral Presentation, proving their strength across multiple environmental science disciplines. With over 50 students from 11 schools competing, these teams showcased not only their knowledge, but their passion and leadership in environmental stewardship. Congratulations! end of update Let's start with some good news.  From the Westside Seattle: West Seattle High School music teacher Ethan Thomas was honored with a shout-out from Barry Manilow during Manilow's July 12th concert in Seattle. Manilow also awarded Thomas $10,000 from the Manilow Music project. Manilow read from the s...

Seattle Public Schools is working together with One Roof Stadium Partnership (ORSP) - a group including the Seattle Karken, Climate Pledge Arena, and One Roof Foundation - as well as the City of Seattle to fund a new Memorial Stadium. (All bold mine.) From a press release from the Schultz Family Foundation in January, 2025: The philanthropic milestone announced today includes a lead gift of $5 million from Seattle Kraken owner Samantha Holloway and Climate Pledge Arena developer and operator Oak View Group , plus the project’s first corporate commitment from WaFd Bank , which donated $2 million. Then we see a story in today's Seattle Times about Oak View Group: A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the co-founder of Oak View Group, developer and co-owner of Climate Pledge Arena, for allegedly rigging a bidding process for an arena project at a public university in Austin, Texas.   The indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that ...

 In District 5, an open seat, Vivian van Gelder has dropped out. She said on Facebook that: After careful reflection, I've decided that now is not the right time for me to run, personally and professionally.  She has endorsed Janis White for the position.  To note, both The Stranger and The Times are rolling out their endorsements over a series of days. I cannot seem to find a link for The Stranger's school board endorsements. I confess to being a bit confused about the Washington Education's PAC endorsements and the Seattle Education Association's. According to the WEA-PAC, they endorse: District 2 - Kathleen Smith District 4 - Laura Marie Rivera and Joe Mizrahi District 5 - Vivian Song District 7 - Jen LaVallee  It appears that the SEA has endorsed Kathleen Smith, Joe Mizrahi, and Jen Lavallee. In endorsements for District 5, The Stranger has endorsed former board director, Vivian Song, while The Seattle Times has just announced their endorsement for Janis Whit...

Quite a lot happening so let's catch up. From the Times, news that the School Board is going to allow more time for input on the superintendent search. Good idea.  The School Board this week decided to leave open a survey until around mid-July and add more meetings for the community to give input on what they’d like to see in a new superintendent.   I mean, two in-person meetings in the SE really didn't cut it.  The recommendation came after Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the firm helping the board with the search, held nearly two dozen meetings and focus groups with parents, students, district staff and community-based organizations from the end of May through June.  While some had good attendance, others did not. An online session hosted by the Seattle Council PTSA on Monday night, for example, at one point had about 47 people, including interpreters, the HYA moderator and media. About 40 attended one in Cantonese. However, only one community member showe...