Seattle School Board Race, District 5 - White v Song

This is a very interesting race between two candidates who are both very qualified to serve. I would say that even with Director Joe Mizrahi and Director Sarah Clark running, Janis White probably knows the district better than they do. Clearly, Vivian Song has served previously and did much better in the primary than White but I still think White deserves a look.

Both of these candidates have invested the time and effort to know this district; I echo what others have said that I wish that one or the other was running from another district. 

If I were a voter here's what I might consider and one trait they both have that might give me pause.

White's expertise in Special Education is phenomenal. There just hasn't been a candidate like her before (though some have said they knew a lot about the subject). She is a thinker and knows the district. 

Song's expertise in budget matters - doing the work to really try to get in there and figure out what is happening - is great. 

What is rare is to have two candidates in a single race that both can really get into the weeds of the ins and outs of this district. Except that maybe they might let too many details bog down the work. Could that happen? Maybe, maybe not. I think for both, SOFG might slow those wheels.

Both said they are committed to the full four-year term in office.

On Closing Schools

Song is opposed to closing schools. She said that when it came up in her first term, she did research, talked to other directors throughout the country and asked for advice and that she found that, uniformly and across the board, closing schools "is very hard on communities and students." 

She said the SPS analysis on cost savings in the spring was poorly done. She mentioned that closing a school building - even to rebuild - will cause a district to lose students. "It costs money to close schools." She said she had been on Schools First (the community levy group) and she said she felt they owed the voters "an explanation of the process in naming schools (to be closed)." She twice mentioned "a culture of contempt for parents" from the district.

White also doesn't feel school should be closed. If the district insists, then White says there should be "a critical mass of school communities brought into the process" plus "how the district is spending the money we have." I think that's a key point to school closures - if it to save money, then the budget books should be much more detailed and transparent as White says. 

On SOFG

Both candidates said early on, they went into the idea of SOFG governance wanting to understand what it would mean. 

Both candidates found that SOFG governance would limit the number of issues the duly elected board members could raise concerns about as well as the time spent discussing them.

White criticized the hyper-focused goals based on test scores and the lack of transparency. Song said after doing the training with AJ Crabill, she knew it was not for Seattle. She voted against ending most of the Board committees. 

Both said there were other governance models to consider. 

Budget Ideas

I asked them both about any of their own ideas to help the budget crisis. Song said she felt that there needed to be Board representation on the WSS (Weighted Staffing Standards) Committee since that is a huge part of budget determinations. 

White pointed out something I had been wondering about for years - the district spends millions of dollars sending some Special Education students out of the district. She said that need should be better explained because perhaps some of those students could be served within the district. (She is not, of course, meaning those with severe disabilities.) 

HCC

Somehow my interview with White got to this topic (rather than the superintendent search) so I'll provide her thoughts on HCC.

White said she felt the district should keep the cohort schools "for now." She feels between trying to return both HC and more Special Education students to classrooms that "it's asking too much of the system" to turn out well. She said she thought perhaps Special Education needed its own strategic plan. She said there were probably more 2E students out there who could benefit from services. 

Superintendent Search

I got to this topic with Song.

She said that she spoke to thousands of parents during the primary season as she went door to door and that, consistently, voters "really, really care about our schools and students" and SPS passes its levies. That's something a new superintendent ought to know.

She said there are two cultural challenges in SPS. One, JSCEE exists to serve schools and somehow that has gotten flipped. She said there should be "a culture of service to schools." Two, that the district has contempt for parents and an attitude of "we know better." 

Final Statements

Song

I’m feeling energized and we are tackling hard problems. I've had such positive conversations with parents and educators. People want change and I hope I get the opportunity to serve and hope to earn those votes because of my skills and relationships. 

Note from me - I did ask Song about her husband and any kind of relationship with The Stranger as part-owner, manager, etc. She said there is none. Unless any of you have actual proof, I will not print any other comments about that issue. 

White

Being a School Board Director is a tremendous responsibility and I thought long and hard about that before deciding to run.  I believe I have the knowledge of the district -- especially the historical information providing context — and the skills to enable me to be effective on the School Board.  I'm not afraid to ask tough questions or have difficult conversations but I am always respectful and strive to be collaborative.  If elected, my first priority will always be the students and I will put students first in my decision-making.