Seattle Schools Community Forum

Next Tuesday, Feb. 9th, Seattle voters will decide on the Seattle Schools' Operations levy and the BTA levy.  Both are renewals but at higher amounts than were voted on last time. Most of you know this is a sticky wicket for me.  I've frequently spoken out frequently against capital levies but not because they aren't needed, but because I don't think this district spends the money in either levy in a transparent manner.  I'm also not sure of their priorities for spending and, given how much parent unhappiness there is out there on many issues, failing a capital levy might be a good way to get the district's attention. Let's be clear on a few things.

Editor's Note; there are two important groups of meetings over the next three weeks.  One is for the Feb. 2016 renewal levies for Operations and BTA IV, the other group is for Bell Times Analysis.  If both issues are important to you, plan accordingly. I would love for staff not to eat up 30+ minutes explaining the levies and just give an overview and have more Q&A for the ENTIRE group (not just 20 minutes and then force everyone to ask any further questions one-on-one.)

The Board is having a multi-topic Work Session today with an update on the Families and Education levy, more Board policies and a  presentation to the Board on the 2025-2016 Budget.  I don't know if it's because I don't read many budgets but I am finding this presentation documentation hard to understand.  It appears - on page 10 - that the district is trying to pay for "strategic initiatives/grant backfill " to about $5M.  Seems like a lot given that's money that is NOT going to the classroom.  What is also troubling on that same page - if I am reading it correctly - is that the district says the "materials, supplies, operating costs" are at $20.3M .  And yet, they will get $16.5M from the Operations levy.  Obviously the two numbers are not equal but the problem for me is that the district gets money from the state for operations.  If there is state money plus local levy money, how are they not able to corral the $20M? They ...

I received a tweet on Monday from SPS, saying that Dr. Nyland was visiting with the City Council as part of their regular Monday morning briefing.  Here's the link .  It was worth listening to as I heard Dr. Nyland say, with some candor, various interesting things. Summary

From OSPI : State Superintendent Randy Dorn today released a draft of a bill that would move Washington state toward the full funding of basic education in the event that the Legislature fails to do so by Jan. 1, 2018.  Among other things, the bill calls for a one percent increase in sales tax, an increase in state property tax to $3.60 per $1,000 of assessed value and a decrease in local levy authority – the so-called “levy swap.”  OSPI estimates the bill will increase education funding by $7.5 billion in the 2019-21 biennium.  “This bill is a blunt but necessary instrument,” Dorn said. “A general increase in the sales tax is not the best solution to this problem. But something has to be done, and passage of this bill will, I hope, spur the legislature into action.”  About the bill Dorn’s proposal makes it clear that the intent of the Legislature is to create a process that will comply with the McCleary decision. The compliance consists of th...

Monday, Feb. 11th Curriculum&Instruction Policy Committee Meeting from 4-5:30 p.m. Agenda  Tuesday, Feb. 12th Special Education Advocacy &Advisory Council Meeting from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at JSCEE, 2nd floor, room 2700.  The Open Forum & District updates portion of the meeting is from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Levy election for Operations and BEX. State of the Union speech by President Obama at 6 p.m.   Wednesday, Feb. 13th Executive Committee Meeting from 8:30-10:00 am.  Agenda .  Review of next couple of Board meeting agendas, government relations, community engagement, strategic plan.  And, the next Board Retreat agenda which I am very interested in because I am hoping to be sponsoring that retreat (just as the Alliance for Education is allowed to). Open House At Rainier Beach High School about their new IB program from 6:30-8:30 .  Any families curious about attending Rainier Beach should plan on attending.  There will be inform...

That deadline for that vote is now a little more than 36 hours away.  Frankly, I doubt there are that many undecided votes out there.  (I think no matter the outcome, the voting patterns will be interesting to watch as they may be an early warning for the Board elections in November.) No matter the vote, we do need to pull together as a district.  The unity of purpose of parents is just as important as it is for the Board or district staff.   Parents and communities ARE the best voice for our district. I think the discussion around the interim plan for next year has been interesting to view because it shows the need to find regional solutions.  To that end I would hope that PTA presidents in each of the five regions (or however many people feel is important) would join together to work for solutions.  (I know that most of the PTA presidents in the NE did indeed meet but unfortunately, it did not include all of them and decisions were made after some had...

Honestly, I just don't get the Times.  So now they have trotted out an op-ed against BOTH levies (and, gotten the name of the pro-levy supporter, Greg Wong -not Wang - wrong to boot).  It's yet another person who is late to this party of "accountability" and yet this guy even casts a bigger swath.  And he's a public school parent who wants both levies to fail.  I understand his unhappiness but failing the Operations levy won't change that.  In fact, if he wants to see our district fall to its knees, let the Operations levy fail.  He gives NO solutions to what might happen after that failure - not so helpful - but yes, he's voting against both of them.  (He also points out "big-city cronyism" from the Potter scandal.  Yes and that came at the hands of a superintendent who swept in with big changes supported by the powers that be.  Let's remember that.) I'm with him on changing how we run SPS and frankly, changing the protection...

Did you?  Still pondering?  I hear of virtually no one who is against the Operations Levy.  The reality of what the state is NOT providing is clear for all to see.  Take 25% of our General Fund away and watch the bottom drop out of our district. But BEX.  In case you missed it, there are several loose groups against it but interestingly, none of them have joined forces.  Depending on your point of view, this could be a good thing because there is not a focus or widespread message. (And the media seems oblivious to this fact which is interesting.  Either there are some lazy people or they don't really want to cover the issue in a real way.  I don't know for sure.) It seems that a lot of the issue around BEX falls into two camps - poor decision-making/misuse of funds and "the district needs to be sent a message."   There is some irony that I am the one explaining why this is a bad idea at this point in time, given my previous sta...

In a surprisingly candid piece , the Times lays out the case for the levies.  The district, following its usual script, has not been as forthcoming but the Times points out the obvious: How much is the district asking? The flier does not give the amounts, but the levies total $1.25 billion — the district’s biggest request to date.  Much of that money, as the flier does say, would simply renew measures that otherwise would expire. What the flier doesn’t say is that the district also is asking voters to open their wallets a little wider.   This year, the owner of a $400,000 house paid about $1,000 in local school levy and bond taxes. If both levies pass, that bill would go up by $160. That basic information that, while true, is probably not exactly what the district wants to say right out loud (nor Schools First). The district says: The district also points out that Seattleites would pay half of what homeowners in many nearby school districts do —...

The Times is endorsing both levies but with a caveat (and it's not exactly what you might think).   They are worried about "leadership."  And here I thought it might be complete accountability for that $1B especially for capital funds. I find it troubling that both the Times and Schools First don't make that accountability -given the strife since the last BEX/Operations levies - a promise not to be forgotten.  (In the past, Schools First members have repeatedly told me, off the record, that they, too, are worried about the transparency and have pledged to me to follow-up.  I have never seen that effort come after the election.) The Times misses no opportunity to complain about the Board and the Superintendent in ways that have little to do with the levies. The School Board continues to struggle to work as a coherent body. New Superintendent José Banda appears unable to defuse a teacher boycott of a standardized test that he and other district leaders ...

From Publicola : Cynical voters may see that as an opportunity to vote the local money down as a way to put the state on notice. Astute voters understand that the McCLeary decision highlighted a crisis that demands collective action. Putting the state on notice that Seattle's all in is the smart thing to do. PubliCola picks "Yes" On Seattle Propositions 1 and 2.  From The Stranger (keeping in mind, this is The Stranger talking): But really... vote yes on both of them. Slashing a quarter of our schools' funding would be absolutely unthinkable. So don't even think it. Can you believe it's 2013 and our schools don't have Wi-Fi? Remember: The children are our future. And if we don't properly educate them, who will take care of us when we're old and helpless? So approve the fuck out of these school levies. Nothing like The Stranger taking the view of "what's in it for me?"  which is a great reasoning ...

A rosy glow this morning across the horizon - maybe a good sign for things to come. It was a HUGE year for public education - in Seattle, Washington State and the US.  For whatever reason, public education has become a huge issue.  Whether it's trying to break unions (in Wisconsin) or the push for more on-line learning opportunities (whether at school or at home), politicians had a lot to say this year.  Are we focusing on the right things?  I'm not sure we are.  I'm not sure that we won't look back in 10 years at much of the new education spending in this country and wonder if much of it was wasted on the wrong areas.  Or that there was too much effort made in directions that did not pay off.  One of the drivers of this - and it shouldn't be the biggest driver - is the large group of wealthy philanthropists who believe they know enough to try to determine the course of public education over the next 10 years.  And yet, they are not elected,...

A lot of folks have said that, following the approval of the recent charter school initiative, they will not vote to approve any more school levies. What right do charters have to local levy funds? Specifically, what right could future charter schools have to the upcoming levies in Seattle Public Schools?

I couldn't stay long (darn cold) but I did make some remarks and heard other interesting remarks. First up was Wayne Barnett of the City Ethics department who gave a concise and lively wrap-up of what has been happening with this joint ethics venture between the City and the district.  This is a mid-term report as they are in the middle of the 3-year process. He said that everyone at JSCEE had been given the ethics training as had all the principals. In terms of advice, as of now about 80% of the contacts had been via phone or e-mail.  He said they have slightly less active than at the City level but that is to be expected (given the relative sizes of each). Investigations.  He stated they received their 100th call this week.  He said about a quarter of all calls had launched investigations.  He said about 60% of those calls did not fall under their jurisdiction but that the City had been pleased to act as a liaison between the district and the callers t...

From SPS: Seattle Public Schools will host three community meetings on September 20, 24 and 27 to share information and ask for comments about building construction projects to be included in the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) Capital Levy package.  Once approved by the School Board, the BEX IV Capital Levy resolution will be submitted to Seattle voters in February 2013. The community meeting dates are: Thursday, September 20, 6:30-8:00pm at Whitman Middle School Monday, September 24, 6:30-8:00pm at Madison Middle School Thursday, September 27, 6:30-8:00pm at McClure Middle School For more information on BEX IV, please visit: www.bit.ly/SPSBEX On this topic, Rep. Reuven Carlyle weighed in on it at his blog .  McClure Middle School is in his neighborhood and he feels that people don't attend it (despite the elementaries around it being full) and that's because of the building.  He could be partially right but m...

We have reached the home stretch for the levies campaign. I suspect anyone who is going to vote has already done so. For this kind of election I'd have to believe some people shrug and throw the ballot away (not willing to take the time or find the stamp or make the effort to get it to a mailbox). So what to do I think will happen? They'll both pass. The Operations levy, because of its importance to our district, tends to pass at a slightly higher rate than the BTA. I'd call it at about 75% yes-25% no. The no's tend to be: the extremely small group of people who say, "Why should I pay for other people's kids?", forgetting, of course, that someone paid for their education the also small group of people that hate public education in general and the teachers union (as the symbol, to them, of all that is wrong in public education) those who feel their property taxes are too high those who are angry/frustrated/disallusioned with the district and want to vo...

The Seattle Times ran a brief story today about the upcoming levies. Mel was quoted.

I recieved my flyer on the School Levy in the mail. It is eight pages of factual information provided about the levies by Seattle Public Schools. People should read and question these flyers carefully. When the question of whether or not people were told about the Denny/Sealth co-location, the flyer was cited as the information that was distributed. I reviewed the flyer with a critical eye, which isn't really very fair. I admit that. I wasn't looking for good with the same diligence that I was looking for error. With that disclaimer, here's what I noticed: The flyer begins with these words: " At Seattle Public Schools, we are committed to providing an excellent education for every student and to ensuring the every school is an excellent school. " I would find that statement a lot more credible if I had a definition of "an excellent education" and "an excellent school". In the absence of any such definitions, I find the statements disingenuous -...

Tuesday, Nov. 3rd from 4-6 p.m., Board Work Session on SAP boundaries. This is the last Work Session before the final vote on November 18th AND the first look at any changes to the boundaries . I would expect the most changes for high schools given that Tracy Libros said that they were not "well-balanced" from the initial release of the boundaries. I am hoping to see the Sand Point Elementary boundaries redrawn as well due to the oddities of how large its F/RL population would be relative to all the other NE elementaries as well as how it doesn't include the Windermere neighborhood. I know the Board has heard from several neighborhoods about issues of boundaries that split neighborhoods (or the perception of) but it is difficult to say how hard the Board will push for any changes here. It is VITAL for any and all of you who look at the new boundaries and are unhappy (and feel it is a good reason) to go to your PTAs/CPPS rep and get going now. The Board needs to her...