Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Seattle Times ran a story this morning on the Board recall effort. The story has few quotes and none from the Board members, the District, or anyone in opposition to the recall. The story says that it is now up to a King County Superior Court to determine whether the charges against the Board members are true and, if they are true, if they constitute a violation of the Board members' oath of office. The oath of office binds the Directors to support the constitutions of the United States and the State of Washington and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office according to the best of the Director’s ability. I think the breakdown comes in the area of faithfully discharging the duties of the office. The recently released report from the State Auditor makes it very clear that the Directors have NOT been doing their duty. Since the District concurred with the auditor's findings, I'm not sure what story they will tell the Court in the Director's defense. Probably...

I had this idea this morning. The State Auditor had an extraordinary number of findings in his audit of Seattle Public Schools. More, the findings were significant and disturbing, reflecting notable deriliction of duty. We also have some folks in town looking to recall some Board members. The audit bolsters their cause. The State is VERY interested in beefing up the "accountability" in our public schools. They have added even more accountability for teachers and, in the last session, passed a law that applies only to Seattle Public Schools that made it incrementally easier for the District to fire principals. I believe that accountability should be applied from the top down, instead of from the bottom up (as it has been done in Washington State public education). After all of the talk about holding schools and districts accountable, the first people who faced consequences were the students - the people with the least power in the whole system. The next people being held accou...

The School Board isn't doing its job of enforcing policy. The School Board isn't doing its job of overseeing the superintendent. The School Board isn't doing its job of representing the community. The School Board isn't doing its job, therefore the School Board should be recalled. Not every member of the School Board, but three of them for sure: Maier, Sundquist, and Carr, and probably two more of them, Martin-Morris and DeBell. What do you think about this idea? Not enforcing Policy The State Auditor found that The School Board and District management have not implemented sufficient policies and controls to ensure the District complies with state laws, its own policies, or addresses concerns identified in prior audits. From the audit: The Board also is responsible for ensuring District staff carry out programs in compliance with Board policy and state and federal laws and regulations and for making sound financial decisions that are in the best interest of the public. ...