My Endorsements for Seattle School Board 2025
Editor's note: I have 12 good comments sitting in my comments box but all are posted anonymously. I would love if you might try again but give yourself a name/moniker (Princess Leia or Sleepless in Seattle). Please
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Before I start, one item. At the end of each candidate interview, I said, "Pop quiz!" and asked three questions. Those were:
1) What are the two capital levies? Answer: BEX and BTA
2) How many students were enrolled in SPS last year (within 500)? 49,226
3) How many SPS schools are there? 104
These are all fairly basic questions that I would hope anyone who wants to help guide this district would know if they run for school board.
I am happy to say that, for the most part, the candidates got the answers close enough (these answers are all easily found at the SPS website). What gave most people difficulty was BTA and a couple of people guessed the City's education levy.
All of these races, except D7, were very difficult to call because the candidates are solid.
District 2 - Kathleen Smith vs Sarah Clark
I really liked Katie Smith and felt like she truly cares about the district. But many of her answers were somewhat vague and I never got the impress that she had done a lot of digging into the mechanics of the district.
I was pleasantly surprised by Sarah Clark because she gave a relaxed but knowledgeable interview. I like the fact that she feels connection to both the north and south end communities. She has learned a lot in her short time on the Board. I endorse Sarah Clark.
I do have concerns over her health because it is important to be able to see directors working in person. She needs to keep that in mind going forward.
District 4 - Laura Marie Rivera vs Joe Mizrahi
This one was also tough because both have good qualifications. I went back and looked at what I wrote about each during their interview with me.
Honestly, I don't think either would be a mistake. But, for this time and place, I think Laura Marie Rivera is who I am endorsing.
Because as the superintendent search is playing out, Mizrahi's comment that he's "in a place of trying to trust the HYA process" troubles me.
I also like Rivera's answers on public engagement and the "doom loop with the district's Let's Talk." I have been hearing more and more parents say the same thing. Public engagement is not just allowing people to express their thoughts but getting feedback as well. I also like that Rivera talked about Highly Capable in a knowledgeable manner because this is a topic that is now heating up.
And, while Mizrahi has been a Board director, I'm not sure he knows SPS better than Rivera.
District 5 - Janis White vs Vivian Song
You might recall I rolled my eyes at The Stranger's thinking in choosing Song over White. They had so much good to say about White AND Song and favored Song because she knows the ropes. I confess I have come to that thinking as well.
I think Vivian Song is in a better place to help this district and she has my endorsement. But I also want to echo others who said they sure wish these two were in different races so you could elect both. (If either was in District 2, I would favor them over who is running now.)
District 7 - Carol Rava vs Jen LaVallee
As you may recall, I only interviewed LaVallee because Rava put conditions on any interview I would do with her. I have never done that for any candidate and I wasn't going to start now. What made it offensive to me is her trying to gaslight me by saying many groups/media tell candidates what the questions are in advance. That's just not done that often. I checked with a few media people and they said no.
But I am happy to endorse Jen LaVallee because she has done the hard work of getting out into the community she lives in. Her family chose a Title One school for their child. She is not for SOFG and wants more transparency in budgeting. She seems bright and capable and would be a good addition to the Board.
If you vote for Rava, you are voting for a corporate person for the Board. Just keep that in mind so if she gets elected, you aren't surprised.
Comments
-Watching
Seattle Voter
If Smith wins she's going to sound like and vote like a Rankin clone for her two years on the board, until she gets ousted in 2027 by an angry public. We should avoid that entirely and just re-elect Clark.
Ballardian
It does seem that Smith is incredibly new to district affairs. I find it interesting that she doesn’t have a single person endorsing her campaign. Why is that? Clark clearly is the strongest candidate in this race.
I am looking for candidates that care about the financial health of the district. Rava fits the bill.
- Feeling Sad
Whoever is hired as superintendent, we still need a board that will reverse SOFG and reassert the board's power. Mizrahi and Clark will do this. We can rely on them to reverse 5 years of the Hampson-Rankin agenda. Smith is a hardcore supporter of that agenda, and we don't know where Rivera stands on it. So Mizrahi and Clark still deserve our support because of how they'll fix the board, even if I wish the superintendent hiring process were unfolding in public.
Ballardian
A point of clarification, the lack of Oct Shuffle drama is NOT because schools are being adequately staffed, nor because kids are being properly served. It’s because the 2FTE rule continues to deny additional staffing to schools who desperately need it. The result? Continued overstuffed classes but less shuffle. Don’t be fooled by District rhetoric that they have made any progress in accurately projecting enrollment or prioritizing school-based student-facing funding of staff before central office obfuscation. I’m confident Jen LaVallee would agree.
- Enrollment Watcher
Truthfully, I can't bear voting for any of the incumbents who are on the ballot; Clark is incapable of basic meeting attendance, and they have all signed off on a lackluster Superintendent search process, abrogating their responsibilities by deferring to an uninspiring and minimalist search consultant. The result is a decision process conducted behind closed doors, unfortunately fueling a narrative of SPS secrecy and dishonesty.
TJB
Change SPS
Change SPS, it's one meeting a month now. I think that Clark should show up at one legislative meeting a month. I have no issue with her being virtually present at other types of meetings. Indeed, Director Hersey hasn't been in-person in months without explanation.
At the last meeting - on picking superintendent finalists - NO one was in person. Having a bunch of floating heads is not really a meeting. And surely not on a regular basis.