Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It
There was an article in The Seattle Times today about the first 100 days of Superintendent Ben Shuldiner's tenure.
He has visited every single school which was a promise he made.
What else?
- But he said he also saw buildings that needed “serious help,” systems that aren’t best for children, inefficient use of resources, and “the sense that schools have had to work in spite of the district and not with the support of the district.”
- He did create a cell phone policy but he hasn’t yet made much progress in reducing other screen time in classes, where he said he saw “a reliance on technology that is not instructional,” but rather for “free time or unstructured time,” but he’s said he wants to reduce schools’ use of educational technology in general.
- Shuldiner has promised to close the district’s $100 million budget deficit in the next two to three years. He’s already outlined a budget that could save about $75 million.
He estimates $9.6 million will be saved due to staffing changes at schools, plus $9.8 million saved through changes at district headquarters. He anticipates an additional $3.5 million saved from proposed changes in the district’s transportation department.
- Shuldiner acknowledged that winning back community trust — and the students that come with it — will require “a series” of changes “where people see that this district is turning around in a positive direction.”
Shuldiner inherited a district facing longstanding public criticism over a slow-moving human resources department, and allegations that it protects staff over student safety. Investigations of school staff placed on administrative leave routinely take many months to complete.
Shuldiner has pledged to ensure district staff finish investigations in a timely manner, noting that keeping staff on extended paid leave is expensive, so speeding up investigations could lead to additional savings.
- In response, he’s proposed new ways of measuring academic goals for the district, which Shuldiner presented to the School Board last month. The board is expected to vote on those goals in July.
- Keeping students safe is another goal he is working on, in big and small ways.Shuldiner contends he is bound by state law, the principal’s contract and a former superintendent’s agreement to keep Jones in a principal job. “Well guess what,” he said. “I don’t make those kinds of agreements.”
Going forward, Shuldiner said he won’t place principals via appointment. “Everybody — and I mean everybody — has to apply for their job,” he said.
That was former superintendent Brent Jones who made that contract for Jones. It is yet another item that would be good to see.
To my post.
I received a comment about the posting of Anitra Jones to Adams Elementary School. Normally, I do not post anonymous comments but this one gave me pause.
Here's the comment:
I worked with Anitra for several years, and the picture being painted here doesn’t match the leader I experienced. From my perspective, she was a fair, academically focused principal who pushed for closing achievement gaps — and Rainier View earned national recognition during her tenure.
She held teachers accountable and also recognized those who stepped up. That balance is rare.
I also think it’s important to acknowledge the tension between strong instructional leadership and union politics. People can interpret that dynamic differently, but in my experience, it’s not as simple as “she targeted SEA reps.” There’s a longer history and context that deserves more nuance than what’s being presented here.
I would encourage anyone discussing this situation to look at the full picture — including the track record of the school, the outcomes for students, and the broader political dynamics at play.
At the end of the day, I believe she deserves the chance to do her job without being reduced to a single narrative.
Let's examine some facts about Rainier View Elementary School.
- The building originally held about 350 students.
- By 2000, enrollment had declined and it led to it being closed (along with several other schools) in 2007.
- It was reopened in 2011 after some upgrades to the building. The enrollment at that time was 169 students. That seemed a bit surprising to me for the school only being closed for four years.
- Ms. Jones (who was Pinchback-Jones at that time) was the principal there starting in 2011 until 2023. By 2019, there were about 245 students. That's below its capacity but a climbing enrollment is a good thing.
- The make-up of the school population has been mostly steady with Black students about 36%, Asian about 27%, Hispanic about 15%, multi-racial about 9%, and White about 13%.
- It is true that RVES won several awards (including one for teaching English Language Learners which I find impressive) and Jones herself won several awards.
- What is really interesting is that in the 2018-2019 school year, for ELA/math/science, less than 20% of the school scored in the deficient level 1. All the other students scored Level 2 (foundational knowledge), Level 3 is proficient for grade level, and Level 4 is advanced grade-level knowledge. That's 80% in reading, 82% in math and 84% in science.
Those are very high scores for a Title One school so something was working.
But something changed after that because both enrollment and scores started dropping.
By 2023-2024, enrollment had dropped to just under 200 (today it is 166).
Students at Level One represented 37% of student in reading, 40% of students in math, and 45% of students in science. Levels 2,3, and 4 students were lower than before by a wide margin.
I find it troubling that scores were up and down and enrollment continued to drop.
In addition, sometime in 2022? staff started leaving. I'm fairly certain it was not just teachers. By 2023 you had a school in crisis with staff and parents begging the Board to do something.
So is this all about a clash with union leaders at the school? It seems like way too many unhappy teachers for that to be the case. Plus, the investigation found that she deliberately wrote poor evaluations for those union reps. If she disputes that, she'd need to explain why.
And, what the commenter above doesn't address are the many parents who were very unhappy. Is that "political dynamics?"
But here's the issue I continue to find most troubling. There are things Jones could have said at the Adams meeting that would keep her lawyer happy.
For example: "When I was at RVES, there were ups and downs and I have learned from that experience."
So instead of owning even that, she appears to act as though nothing happened. Then, the commenter seems to say there is more to the story. Okay, then why not sign your name to your comment? Why did no one at the last Board meeting speak up for Jones?
In lieu of her telling her own narrative, then what is left for parents and the public is the public record.
Comments
On the whole SPS hires more than its share of problematic principals because they haven't paid attention to the research that shows interview performance is NOT a good predictor of job performance. They'd rather go for whoever seems to solve the problem of the moment than find a steady, reasonable and trustworthy leader. Then - what a surprise! - that "whole package" leader turns out to have lied on their resume or be a bully or just can't make a decision to save their lives.
BTW, the anonymity/moniker thing is confusing. The Blogger people should revamp the app so have all of that at the top of the page.
Godspeed to Ben Shuldiner
In 2020, Dr. Keisha Scarlett and Manal Al-ansi — both Black — filed an HIB complaint against school board members Chandra Hampson and Zachary DeWolf, both Native American. The District hired Marcella Fleming Reed of MFR Law Group, who is Black, to investigate. Reed found the Native American board members had harassed the Black staffers. The policy at the center of the dispute was Policy 0040, the District's Anti-Racism Policy.
Scarlett later became Superintendent of Saint Louis Public Schools, where she was placed on leave, removed, and is now suing. Back in Seattle, the District quietly revised the HIB policy so staff can no longer use it against board members.
Look at the structure that exists today.
The Head of HR is Dr. Sarah Pritchett, who is Black. The person who oversees investigations into staff conduct is also Dr. Sarah Pritchett. One person running both HR and investigations violates a basic separation that exists in any well-run organization. Built under former Superintendent Brent Jones, who is also Black.
The Chief of Staff is Bev Redmond, who is Black. She also runs Communications, Board Relations, and Strategic Initiatives and Policy. One person controlling the district's message, the board's access, and the policy pipeline is not normal. Also built under Brent Jones.
The binding contract forcing new Superintendent Ben Shuldiner to place Anitra Jones — who is Black — at Adams was written by Brent Jones.
At the Adams meeting, when parents raised concerns about Jones's record at Rainier View, Bev Redmond said on the record: "As a Black female, sitting in that space, watching another Black female being addressed in a way that was insulting, undignified, that was discouraging for the Seattle I had grown to know." She didn't suggest it. She said it outright — invoking race as the lens through which parent concerns should be judged.
**Now the part people are afraid to say out loud.**
Race is the lens the District itself has chosen, repeatedly. When a Black investigator found Native American board members guilty of harassing Black staff over an anti-racism policy, race was the frame. When Brent Jones consolidated HR, investigations, communications, board relations, and policy under a small circle — and wrote a binding contract guaranteeing Anitra Jones a principalship on his way out — that was a structure built by a Black superintendent, staffed by Black leaders, and now defended by a Black Chief of Staff who deflects parent criticism by invoking race.
Pointing this out is not racism. Refusing to point it out is the actual problem. Any honest observer would name the same pattern if the races were reversed.
I have no opinion on whether Anitra Jones is a good principal. She deserves a fair chance. But she cannot get one inside a structure where the people evaluating her, communicating about her, and managing the board's response to her are part of the same closed circle, and where any criticism is preemptively recast as racially motivated by the official whose job it is to manage public perception.
**What needs to happen.**
Shuldiner should separate HR from investigations. He should break up the Chief of Staff portfolio so communications, board relations, and policy aren't stacked under one office. He should disclose and review the Brent Jones contracts binding his hands. And Bev Redmond should stop using race as a shield against legitimate parent concerns. That is a misuse of her office.
This district will not regain community trust until the structure that produced this moment is dismantled — regardless of the race of the people sitting inside it.
I agree about the nepotism but we still need to treat Anitra Jones or any other person under fire with civility.
Godspeed to Ben
Is this comment meant to be a joke, or some sort of sarcasm? Would people from Shuldiner to this commentator please stop assuming that they were called upon to speak on behalf Jones in particular, or in the case of this comment people of color and women in general because it applies that some how these individuals or groups need your help or are unable to speak for themselves. Shuldiner in particular must know better and be more self- aware. Being interrupted and being talked to rudely is about 30-40% of the job of anyone working in the public schools system.
As per this nonsense of "parents behaving badly" - are you serious? I know this is Seattle where speaking you mind honestly and directly is somehow offensive, but in most of the rest of the world that is what a spirited debate looks like. These are parents who speak for their kids and who seem to care deeply for their local, public school, and who are passionate about someone being forced on them without due process and any input from the community. Every day, every hour across this district there is a parent who will get into an administrator's or educator's face over some issue and will be rude and interrupt them. But you didn't dismiss them: you listen. You care, and you learn. Civility goes out the window when it comes to one's children: every educator knows that and knows not to take it personally.That is the job, that is what dealing with public is all about. If you can't handle it then go find another job.