Seattle Schools Community Forum

Nathan Hale Government classes are putting on a student led Election Forum the evening of Thursday, October 15th from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center involving candidates for Seattle School Board and would like to invite you, your friends and your neighbors to attend. Candidates will make short opening statements, respond to questions from students, and then make a short summary statement. Be an informed citizen and attend!

Update from the 4:15 pm drop today by King County Elections: Lauren McGuire    6004  (47.24%) Jill Geary               5817  (45.77%) Geary has closed the gap between the two candidates to less than 200 votes. Leslie Harris            5,240 (46.76%) Marty McLaren       4.338 (38.69%) Harris has increased her lead by about 200 more votes. end of update

I had planned to wait until the filing period ended but there are some interesting developments in the various school board races.

 Update:   in a HUGE win, voters in Chicago voted to have an elected Chicago Board of Education (after 20 years of mayoral appointments.)   From the Chicago Tribune: Voters in 37 wards overwhelmingly endorsed an elected Chicago Board of Education, according to preliminary tallies Tuesday, a non-binding outcome that nonetheless promises to stoke a long-running debate over the mayor's power to appoint board members. In the 2012 general election, 89 percent of voters in five Chicago wards approved a similar advisory referendum for an elected board. Earlier this month, a Tribune poll also reflected broad support for the idea. Seventy-six percent of voters said they favor an elected school board while 14 percent backed an appointed board. Gee, sounds like voters in Chicago want to democratically elect who represents them in school governance. I tweeted this story to Mayor Murray and Rep. Eric Pettigrew (who is sponsoring a bill to allow the mayoral to ap...

From Rep. Gerry Pollet's Facebook page:

 Update:  The Superintendent has asked that the Mann Building item be pulled from the agenda.  I'm not sure if I'm glad or sad but I do know it's not good.  I suspect that the Mann building is NOT cleared so there may be some other news about this in the next couple of days.  Whether the Superintendent goes forward with these leases or not, he still needs to clear that building.   End of Update Between the Growth Boundaries Intro and the Mann building, it stands to be quite a night for a School Board meeting. There are 63 people signed up to speak (they will also 25). The majority are about the Mann building and I expect some pretty fiery rhetoric. (I plan to try to split my time - 1 minute whole minute on boundaries and one whole minute on Mann. I note that Charlie is also speaking and he's always entertaining.)  One tip: whether you speak or not, the Board likes to have your comments in front of them.  The Times has finally gotte...

  Update:  the next tally of numbers will come at 4:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, the 6th. From King County Elections: District IV: Sue Peters: 51.46% - 39,177 votes Suzanne Dale Estey - 48.18% - 36,676 Write-in - 0.36% - 273 votes District V: Stephan Blanford - 87.60% - 64,540 votes LaCrese Green - 11.93% - 8788 votes Write-in - 0.47% - 344 votes District VII: Betty Patu: 98.49% -  586,889 Write-in - 1.51% - 871 votes I just left a very happy Sue Peters election party.  Directors Smith-Blum, McLaren and Peaslee were in attendance.  KUOW's Ann Dornfeld's take on the Dale Estey/Peters campaign parties (very funny): At Peters’ party, it’s a mostly middle-aged crowd milling about the room, drinking wine and cocktails. There are purple balloons, sandwiches and cured meats. It’s a festive mood. It’s less festive at Estey’s campaign party, where there’s a sparser crowd and most of the guests appear to be drinking water.  

The Times has an article about the idea of paying School Board members of the largest districts (likely to be Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma) a real salary.   This idea is being spearheaded by Rep. Reuven Carlyle and I agree with him.   "State Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, is trying to improve the job by proposing members be paid what state legislators are, about $42,000 annually. Right now, they are eligible for $4,800 a year in reimbursements and per diems." You might recall my thread about the school board directors convention that happened in Seattle this summer.  The idea of paying Board members came up at a press event there and was poohed-poohed by the panel at the event.  That thought is echoed here: If Carlyle’s bill passes, it could make Washington’s school boards the highest paid in the nation, said Tom Alsbury, a professor in educational leadership at Seattle Pacific University. Alsbury, who studies school boards as director of a na...

In a phrase, not good. The Times is not consistent in what they say about what they want in a School Board.  First, they want continuity.  Then they don't like that and want new people.  At the last election, according to them, the sky fell because two incumbents (rightly) got ousted and two new members were elected.  These were not people they wanted and they proceeded - from day one - to lambast Directors Peaslee and McLaren.  (Do a search and see the contrast between what they have said over the last two years about those two plus Smith-Blum versus DeBell, Carr and Martin-Morris.  They strangely omit Patu but I think there's a reason for that.) But now they like change and new people are a good thing.  So really, it isn't about consistency or continuity or Board unity - it's about getting people on the Board that THEY like. This piece starts off okay.  It states the outcome of the primary and rightly talks about more in-depth discussi...

In the School Board primary races, here are the results: District IV Estey                6,433 - 47.55% Peters               5,560 - 41.09% McColgan        1,461 -  10.8%                        13,454 District V Blanford            8,574 - 78.34% Green                 1,415 - 12.93% Thomas                 827 -   7.56%                          10,816 A really respectable showin...

I received an e-mail that Peter Maier is promoting Estey and Blanford for School Board.   And that's fine. What's funny is how he describes them (and given what he writes, I'm pretty sure he DID write it): Estey Suzanne Dale Estey is running to fill the District IV position vacated by retiring Seattle School Board Member Michael DeBell, who has endorsed her. From our work together on the School Board, both Michael and I understand the importance of having strong School Board leadership. Suzanne is a passionate, knowledgeable and experienced leader who will be a strong advocate for high quality education. I have no doubt that Suzanne will make a positive impact on the School Board at a time when we need it most. Suzanne was born and raised in Seattle, and served as the chair of the Inter-High Council and student representative to the School Board while she was a student at Roosevelt High School. Suzanne has two young boys who attend Catharine Blaine K-8. I have giv...

Update:   I noted in this thread that Suzanne Estey's campaign manager is former Seattle Student Senate rep, Dexter Tang (who is a great kid).  Which is kinda sweet but also to note, her consultant in the campaign is none other than Christian Cinderman who has been a very high-powered consultant to numerous campaigns.  Also to note, Stephan Blanford's and Suzanne Estey's newest contributors?  None other than the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie, who both maxed out at $900 each for each candidate.  I believe Mr. and Mrs. Ballmer reside on the eastside. End of update. The District IV race seems to be shaping up along two lines (and no surprise what those lines are).  (District V seems to be all Blanford and there sure are confusing signs from him.  That's another thread.) I refer to Suzanne Estey and Sue Peters.  (Dean McColgan doesn't seem to be a strong candidate and is seems to be on the ed reform side although I think...

The Stranger's endorsements for School Board were pretty much on point.  (The Times hasn't issued their endorsements for School Board but does have a sweet editorial about how expensive it is to go to weddings.  No, really, apparently that's the burning issue of the day.) District No. 4 Sue Peters As if you needed more proof that the Seattle School Board is a dystopian shithole, the board members, in a self-evaluation released this summer, anonymously described themselves like this: "The poster-child for a dysfunctional school board." "It's like Kabuki Theater." "A board like this will repel all people of quality." Seriously, we didn't even have to make any of that shit up. Consequently, school board races are normally filled with wackos. But this year, the candidates were thoughtful, intelligent, and for some god-awful reason, engaged in the minutiae that makes up school board work. Take Sue Peters, for instance. An education buff wh...

KUOW's Ann Dornfeld interviewed all the candidates and got some telling responses. The transcript of each interview is what you will see and not a recorded interview. I will also encourage those of you whose children enjoyed Glee to read the NPR story about Cory Monteith who was found dead in his hotel room early Saturday.  To anyone who watched Glee, Mr. Monteith was a fresh-faced talent and many thought his high school football star persona on the show was real. It was not.  He got into drugs when he was 13, dropped out of school at 16.   Didn't get into rehab until he was 19.  It took a long time for him to get where he was when he died.  He had tried rehab again in April of this year. We don't know the cause of death (except it does not appear to be foul play).  In some ways, I hope it is something like an undetected heart issue and not caused by drug/alcohol use.  If it is from drug use, it's terribly sad. From the story, what he had to ...

What is the value of having School Board Directors with connections to the Seattle Establishment and the ruling elites in Washington? How does it benefit the district and the schools for the Board to have positive relationships with the City Council, county officials, members of the State legislature, powerful non-profits, and corporate leaders? I think we have enough data to decide. In the last ten years we have seen four boards - two with good relations and two with poor relations with the Seattle Establishment. What does the evidence show?

Charlie and I have attempted to interview all the School Board candidates (with only partial luck). (I have since updated Sue Peters' section as iPad was making it difficult when I first published this thread.) To note: - despite the Times' drumbeat of unhappiness about the Board, yes, there will be two new Board members (Director Patu is running unopposed).  That it may not be the members they think need replacing should not be the issue.  The issue is who will work as a team player and yet be sensitive to constituent concerns. - Stephan Blanford, in District V, for all intents and purposes, will win.  Neither of the other candidates are credible.  So like, Betty Patu, it's pretty much a done deal.   - In the PRIMARY, only those voters who live in a district where a position is up for a vote, will see School Board candidates on their ballot.  In this election, only voters who live in districts IV and V  will see candidates on their ballot....

The 34th District Democrats (West Seattle, Vashon, Burien) held their endorsement meeting last night and I was there. It was very revealing.

Not exactly a surprise. In the last couple election cycles the Times has endorsed two candidates in the primary. Not so this time. Editorial: Suzanne Dale Estey and Stephan Blanford for Seattle School Board

 Update: Just wanted to say thanks to our readers.   There has been quite an uptick in hits to the blog and we appreciate the numbers and the input/comments. Hearing about a phone survey about School Board candidates.  Anyone received a phone call?  If so, let us know what you were asked and if you were told who was sponsoring it.  (Gotta say, it's quite early for this kind of thing and for School Board races?  Someone out there must be quite serious about who gets on the Board to spend that kind of money before the primary.) What's on your mind?

I'm reaching out to all the candidates for School Board and I'm thinking about what to ask.  Naturally, I will be asking most of the same basic questions to all the candidates but then, asking about what they would bring to the table. What would you most want to ask a candidate?