Seattle Schools Community Forum

A teacher-writer, Sean Riley, at The Stranger thinks so.  It's a pretty lengthy article but one that has good history that I hadn't heard before (not having grown up here.) In total, 10 of my 13 years in Seattle Public Schools involved long rides on a school bus. Between the ages of 6 and 9 alone, I logged thousands of miles looking at the city from a green vinyl seat. This is true for thousands of Seattleites. Seattle Public Schools used busing from the late 1970s through the mid-2000s in the hopes of achieving racial integration. To give just one snapshot of the program's breadth: In 1980, mandatory busing involved 12,000 of the district's 54,000 students. He has one pretty funny line (but I'm not sure if he meant it to be funny): It was watching the OJ verdict with black kids and getting so caught up, I joyfully sprinted in the halls with them for a second. 

This Wednesday's School Board meeting sees the Superintendent's introduction to change bell times .  What has happened is that a large number of schools - primarily elementary schools - have shifted to Tier Two, leaving about 13 schools in Tier One (I think there are eight elementaries).  What appears -to me- to be happening is that the Super and staff are trying to get the "We want two tiers" out of people's minds.  Staff doesn't really want to have to suss out the real costs and present them to parents. (Do I think it is truly $8M for two tiers? No.) So how to divert parents off that idea? Whittle down the Third Tier to a handful of schools and let other parents attack Tier Three parents for being "selfish" to not think of the greater good.  Brilliant on the part of staff and not-so-lucky for the Tier Three people.  But I think so much time has gone by, that it's likely a done deal if only because people are probably now tired ...

The Seattle Youth Commission is a group of 25 Seattleites aged 13-19 who are appointed by the Mayor and City Council to connect youth to their elected officials. They produced this video to inform students about possible upcoming bus cuts in Seattle. They are clearly saying they are losing or will lose bus service and provide info for each high school's state reps. 

Why? 1) We should not be cutting back on public transportation.  It's just ridiculous when so many people count on it especially to get to work. 2) The Times says you should vote no.  That pretty much should be your tip-off to vote Yes.   From The Slog : Their reasoning? Metro should cut more costs before asking for money, and Prop 1, which includes raising car-tab fees and hiking the sales tax by 0.1 percent, is a regressive tax on the poor. 3) Again, from the Slog: We admit it isn't perfect. But as our endorsement points out, we're in this mess thanks to a conservative anti-tax crusade in the 1990s that cut a progressive form of taxation based on the value of vehicles. Since then, Metro has already made millions of dollars in cuts and efficiencies. But we still need to help pay for it. And while we detest regressive taxes—and endorsed the income tax on the wealthy (ahem)— cutting transit for the working-class and poor would be more regressive than any...

Apparently, I did not hear/understand Bob Westgard of SPS Logistics correctly yesterday in my reporting on coming changes in transportation.  First, the total number of students that may be impacted is 1,000 with under 300 being students at Option schools.  Second, the standardization of times are for ARRIVAL, not bell times.  Here's the handouts: Transportation Service Standards 2014-2015Here's the section on Option Elementary/K-8 Schools   4. Option Elementary / K-8 Schools – Option School Elementary and K-8 students whose transportation service address is within the boundaries of their service area or linked service area and outside of the designated walk boundaries are eligible for transportation. District arranged transportation is provided for those students attending an elementary or K-8 Option School in their service area or linked service area. ORCA cards may be provided for 6th through 8th grade students who live within the boundaries of Seattle Pu...

A fascinating, chock-a-block Board meeting to come this Wednesday night and I can only say, "Superintendent Banda, help us!"  That said, this meeting will have it all so he will get a very good look at what's to come. You should make plans to come given the uncertainty of what the Transportation Plan is at this time.  Both the Board and Banda should be able to see parents mean business.    To note: if you want to speak, sign-up starts at 8 am Monday morning, 252-0040 or boardagenda@seattleschools.org.   You have two minutes so time that talk. On the upside, Leo Pfeifer, the young Salmon Bay director, will show his award-winning short film, Who Owns Free Speech, from 5:45-5:55 pm.  (Note to all; if you don't want to watch it, please do not stay in the room and talk.  I've seen this many times with young performers and frankly, some of us DO like to watch the student presentations.)