Seattle Schools Community Forum

There will be a new School Board at the next Board meeting as Sharon Peaslee takes over for Peter Maier in the District I seat and Marty McLaren takes over for Steve Sundquist in the District VI seat. What does this mean for the way the Board works as a team? Will the Board become contentious or will they be able to reach consensus on critical issues? Will the Board become bogged down in debate? in process? in community engagement? in attempts to micro-manage the district? What would it be like if the Board started doing its job? Will members of the community once again be invited to participate in committee meetings? Will the Board set and keep a calendar of oversight reviews? Will the Board Directors start more of their sentences with the words "My constituents want..."? Will we see the Board start to enforce policy? Will the Board require the staff to keep their commitments to students and families? What will this mean for the direction of the District? The old major...

From a comment by  WSDWG: I don't think anybody wants a dysfunctional board. In fact, I'd venture the vote here would be 100% against. This board got along incredibly well, but overreached and pushed too hard to impose their "vision" on the community, instead of responding to a variety of diverse needs. Does middle ground mean less testing & standardization? More accountability & asserting itself into staff matters? Or how about this: Requiring actual, real follow-up to questions asked of staff who answer: "I'll get back to you on that" - which has come to mean (realistically) - "That's all I'm saying on the subject. Adios!"   Maybe instead of discussing middle ground, I should ask a simpler question: "What changes do people see with Marty apparently coming onto the Board?" For me, I want a board more actively engaged, and engaging of the community, in curriculum & instruction decisions. I would like a Boar...

Let's set aside, for the moment, the question of whether Seattle Public Schools should enforce policy or not. While it is clear to me that there is no point to having policies if they aren't going to be followed, and that there is no reason to believe that they will be followed if they are not enforced, I want to just take this question as given. I'm happy to come back to this question later. Could we, just for now, presume that we want the policies enforced? I want to move past that question and to focus on the question of who has the duty to enforce policies - the Board or the Superintendent? The answer to that question will hinge on another question: Is the enforcement of policy a governance task or a management task?

The Board will hold a regular legislative meeting on September 7, 2011. Here is a link to the agenda . No word yet on the topics for the Superintendent's Updates. There are three Action items: A vote on a contract with METRO for ORCA cards, mostly for students. Introduction and action on conditional certificates for two more Teach for America corps members, Kenneth Maldonado (South Shore) and Desiree Robinette (Aki Kurose). A Vote to adopt the newly written Series 4000 Policies . The discussion of these policies is going to have to be its own thread (see above). There are three motions for introduction: * BEX Hamilton Final Acceptance * BEX Hamilton Commissioning Acceptance * Support for the High Point's Promise Neighborhood grant application

. ..like I know Susan Enfield on the subject of TFA, well, like me, it will give you pause. It took awhile but I finally got through all the SPS/TFA e-mails that I received.  In a separate thread, I will post some additional quotes that will show a timeline of discussion, laughter, friendship and an almost absolute irritation/disregard for the public's input and for public process.  Don't you know that if the public didn't keep asking questions and writing to elected officials and public officials that a lot more could get done at SPS and TFA? This thread is to talk about themes and impressions.

Whoever you are supporting in the School Board races, please step up to help your candidate.  Offer to go doorbelling or hold a sign at a Farmers' Market.  The candidates have contact info at their websites so check there as well.  One opportunity I have learned of is phone bank calling for Marty McLaren on Wednesday from the Labor Temple at 2nd and Broad from 5:30 p.m.- 8 p.m.    Just show up and I know they will put you to work (you don't have to stay the whole time).  It's a lot less scary than it sounds.  Most people are grateful for the help on their vote.

I am endorsing Michelle Buetow in this race.  The other candidates are Harium Martin-Morris and John Dunn. I give my highest endorsement, out of all the races, to Michelle.  I give it to her because: Michelle knows the district.  Her learning curve is going to be short for a new Board member. Michelle's background in communications and marketing would be a big "add" for our Board.  Her guidance in this area could help not only create better public engagement but also reframe the district's image. Michelle listens and she has a pretty good memory (for the mom of 2 small children).  I've been surprised at her recall and that's another bonus for a job loaded with detail.  She's enthused.  I think sometimes candidates can get busy looking serious and/or passionate and Michelle is just plain enthused about getting in there and helping guide our district to be better Lastly, I respect Michelle for having given this idea of running serious thought....

I am endorsing Marty McLaren for Position 6 .   The other candidates are Steve Sundquist, Nick Esparza and Joy Anderson. Marty would bring many good things to our Board.  She's been a teacher and yet came to teaching after having other careers.  She put her own children through SPS, was a PTA President, and has worked with  pre-school and homeless children and at-risk teens.   That's a wealth of experience to bring to the Board.  Marty has a quiet strength that reminds me of Michael DeBell.   Marty also listens AND asks good questions (a trait we need on the Board). Joy Anderson is a passionate advocate and smart cookie.  However, I worry some about her focus on the issues around the closure of Cooper Elementary. Nick Esparza is also someone who seems to know what the problems are but maybe not the solutions.  I'm thinking he and Joy might be better candidates in a few years. And Steve.  Every time I talk to Steve ...

 Update - doing too much, too fast and I put John Dunn in Jack Whelan's place.  My sincere apologies. Here is my endorsement for the School Board Position 2.   In Position 2, the candidates are Sherry Carr, Kate Martin, Jack Whelan and Mark Weber.   I am endorsing Kate Martin with a few qualifications. I feel that Kate knows the district and knows district issues.  Kate is tenacious and would work hard (a quality that seems to resonate with many voters).   Kate's husband is Hispanic and she knows that community and its issues.  It would be a good "add" to the Board.   I feel that Kate would be willing to push other directors towards more accountability to parents and community.  My qualifications are that I believe that Sherry Carr and Jack Whelan qualified as well.  I supported Sherry in the last election (and even doorbelled with her).  She is a bright, capable person.  In my talk with her, she had ...

I'm like everyone else; I like to see who endorses whom.  That said, I take it with a grain of salt.  I've been to enough Dems endorsement to see that it really only takes a few people to push a room in a direction (without giving a real reason or without a lot of discussion).  Someone referenced the Progressive Voters Guide endorsements so I went to their website and checked them out.  They are not the most helpful endorsements (almost a "take what you will" kind of endorsement).   I'll have to call them because what is on the page is a little confusing.  For example, they have good things to say Peter Maier and Sharon Peaslee but give the endorsement to Peter.   They list endorsements from other groups for each candidate.  This is all they have to say about endorsing Peter: We believe that Peter Maier is the best choice in this race. Same for Sherry Carr and Kate Martin.  Then for Harium Martin-Morris, there's a lot mor...

I had hoped to do my endorsements all in one fell swoop but I still have three incumbents to interview.  But by week's end, I hope to be done. I'm sure some of you might think, "Why is she bothering to interview them when it seems clear she doesn't support them?"  My answer is that it is the fair thing to do.  Is there something I can glean from talking to them one-on-one that I have missed?  I have very few questions for them so I'm not grilling them.  My most basic question is this one: Going forward, what will YOU, as an individual Board director, do differently in your second term based on what you have learned from your first term?   I am endorsing Sharon Peaslee because I believe that: she has the skill set to get up to speed quickly (something that is key for new Board member) she has had the experience as a parent in three districts in our region she has the understanding of Special Ed because of her own children she has shown herself s...

Yesterday on The Conversation , the candidates for Position 3 were interviewed.   Joining host Ross Reynolds were the incumbent Harium Martin-Morris and challengers Michelle Buetow and John Dunn .  The interview was, again, too short for my tastes but did have some new and interesting content. Harium, like the other incumbents, was asked about Pottergate.  He said it was complex, it when down several layers, there were structural problems with identifying this, etc.  But then he said now that they know this, they are putting structures in place.  (This becomes quite key in the discussion later on.) He was also asked about the sale of the MLK, Jr. building.  He said that two of the bids were identical (something I was not aware of) and that yes, $1.5M extra (the Bush bid) was a lot of money.   When pressed on the issue of not much activity happening at the building since the sale, he said that it had only been 6 months and "immediate gratifi...

District One Candidates were interviewed on KUOW yesterday on Weekday .  They were interviewed separately and each had different questions.  (I get this for incumbents versus challengers but overall, I'd like to see the answer from all to at least one question that is the same.) Sharon Peaslee was first up.  She came across to me as strong and confident with ready answers.   She was asked about her assertion that there was too much "top-down" governance and what she would change.  She said she would bring back site councils or strengthen BLTs, put the needs of students and schools first and allow math teachers to use whatever materials they needed to teach math.   She also mentioned replacing MAP testing with another called ALEX(?) which I couldn't find info on so if someone has a link, please let us know. Peter Maier was next and like all incumbents spoke well (although I felt he mumbled a bit and I was having a hard time understanding what he was s...

The West Seattle Herald ran an interview with Director Steve Sundquist where he says some pretty interesting things.   (They will be running interviews with challengers Marty McLaren, Joy Anderson and Nick Esparza soon.)   The Herald made one mistake (I believe) which was to only list the other incumbents running and not their challengers. 

Stand for Children has announced its endorsement of Harium Martin-Morris, Sherry Carr, and Steve Sundquist.  They say nothing about District 1 (or Peter Maier).   They call these three incumbents "education champions."  The press release states that they interviewed 8 candidates in late April but don't say who they were.  They say their endorsement committee was all Stand volunteers.  (I'd have to assume all 4 incumbents plus Michelle Buetow who came out early but I don't know who else they could have interviewed as nearly everyone else who came into the campaign came in June.   Maybe they had an early heads-up on who was running.) I'll have to ask why there is no endorsement for District 1 and who else they interviewed.  Here are the quotes they used from their endorsed candidates.   Sherry Carr , District Position 2:  “I believe strong schools are the core of a strong city, and that Seattle can have public schools that ar...

 Still more confusion.  Somebody needs to get their info clear. Horizon House (a senior home) had wanted to have a candidate forum for their district's candidates but unfortunately thought they were in District 1 (but are really in District 5 where that slot isn't on the ballot this time).  So my understanding is they only invited District 1 candidates and will allow them to make statements but there won't be Q&A (this is what I was told by an organizer).  I am still waiting to hear from the League of Women Voters.  I'm not sure it's worth going for School Board but naturally, if you are interested in the City Council races, go. End of update. My apologies for this late notice but I had some confusion over whether this event was public. There is a candidate forum at Horizon House tonight being hosted by the League of Women Voters.  It starts at 7:30 p.m. at HH, 900 University Street.   Both City Council and School Board candidates ...

From our reader, Joanna: At today's Metropolitan Democratic Club meeting the following School Board candidates received an endorsement for the upcoming Primary Election: Sharon Peaslee, Kate Martin, John Dunn, and Marty McLaren . Interestingly these endorsements were determined by a pretty overwhelming majority.

From a reader; There is a meet and greet with about half of the challengers for the school board race this Thursday, July 7th, 5:30 - 8:00pm in Ballard/Phinney. Please come and join us at our house. We're hoping for a decent turnout to help support some of these candidates. If you are interested e-mail us for the address at rickbmail@yahoo.com or call (206)783-7644. Thanks and hope to see you there.

For the past three years, Seattle Public Schools has been working to improve Performance Management. The most concrete elements of this effort have been the development of job descriptions for nearly every job and the development of structured peformance evaluations based on the job description and characterized by the comparison of objectively measurable outcomes to benchmarks, targets, and goals. Contrast that effort with the brief "highlights" narrative the Board used to evaluate their own performance. The Board has succeeded in addressing many significant challenges this year. The Board took decisive action to terminate the employment of the previous Superintendent and the Chief Financial and Operating Officer. During this challenging time, the Board worked together very well, led a thoughtful investigation and decision-making process, maintained confidential information, and was able to quickly restore stability to District operations. The Board has also led other im...

Today in Crosscut Dick Lilly wrote a pretty good piece, Seattle Schools' report card: faltering progress on academic goals , in which he credited the Board for " surprising and refreshingly candid language about where the district stands " in their annual assessment of the superintendent and themselves.