Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Times has yet another editorial on the state of the Seattle School Board.  Yawn. This time around they reference the three bills before the Legislature around large districts. HB 1665 -  Increasing compensation for school directors in districts enrolling twenty thousand or more students. HB 1497 - Concerning appointments of the board of directors of a school district of the first class having within its boundaries a city with a population of four hundred thousand people or more.  HB 1860 - that would limit a school district size to 35,000 (affecting SPS only).  

There is a belief that our school district could be reformed if the Mayor were granted the authority to appoint two school board members. That belief must be predicated on the knowledge that there are two people who, if they were on the Board, could do the job, but who, for some reason, could not be elected to the Board. Who are these Golden Two? And why can't they win a school board election?

Please take the time to read House Bill 1497 introduced by 37th District Representative Eric Pettigrew. This bill, if it were to become law, would grant the mayor of Seattle the authority to appoint two members of the Seattle Public Schools board. Not only is that an exceptionally bad idea, it is un-democratic to boot.