Seattle School Board Candidate Updates, July 8, 2025

 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 White. 

In District 2, challenger Kathleen Smith got the nod from The Stranger. 

The Times had some interesting reasoning.

The slate of five includes a veteran lawyer, a finance professional and a youth advocate focused on crime prevention. (A fourth candidate, Landon Labosky, declined to participate in an interview; another, Allycea Weil, missed The Times’ deadline for responding. And Vivian van Gelder bowed out of the race on Monday.) 

Each of the three remaining has valuable skills. But Janis White, the attorney, wins The Times editorial board’s endorsement for her deep knowledge of special education and the law — areas of expertise the school board needs badly. 

White says her first priority would be getting a handle on the district’s budget. She also wants to enlist parents as advisory analysts. (Several have already demonstrated their acumen, devoting hours to combing through spreadsheets and uncovering trends that district professionals seem to have overlooked.) This demonstrates welcome initiative and willingness to tap the community’s considerable brainpower, a refreshing change.

I love, love, love the idea of tapping the acumen of parents and have advocated - for years - for the district to do this.

White is also forthright about the finite horizon for her work: “I don’t have any other political ambitions,” she told the editorial board. 

This was perhaps a dig at opponent Vivian Song, who was previously a school board director. Bright and ambitious, Song holds a master’s degree in business from Harvard University and she knows how to dig for information. But while on the board, from 2021-2024, Song applied for an appointment to the Seattle City Council, suggesting a fickle commitment to schools. Soon after, it came to light that Song had moved out of the area she was elected to represent — without announcing that to constituents — and she resigned.

And remember when I said SOFG (Student Outcome Focused Governance) would be talked about during this election?

White said she would vote to get rid of SOFG if given the chance (Song, too), which could change the balance of power on the Seattle School Board and, hopefully, auger brighter days ahead.

Meanwhile in District 4, Laura Marie Rivera has the endorsement of National Women's Political Caucus (as does Vivian Song AND Janis White in District 5). Interestingly, the National Women's Political Caucus is NOT waiting until the General Election and has endorsed Jen LaVallee for District 7 over her only opponent, Carol Rava.

Rivera and incumbent Joe Mizrahi are really having a duel over endorsements. Rivera's include State Superintendent of Schools Chris Reykdal and King County Councilman Girmay Zahilay. Mizrahi has a slew of union endorsements (no surprise considering he works for one) as well as Governor Bob Ferguson and Representative Pramila Jayapal.