Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS Communications: Bill 1497 – Mayoral Appointment of Two School Board Members Citizens have a right to elect their representatives to a governing body, regardless of what body it is - School Board, City Council, and State Senate to the federal level. A citizen’s right to vote should never be diminished, which is exactly what this bill does. Voter participation is the cornerstone of our democracy and we fully support Seattle voters selecting their school board members. Elected school board directors are accountable directly to the parents and other voters who elect them. That is how it should be. Research supports continuing an elected board structure. The number of appointed and mayoral controlled boards in urban cities has declined steadily over the past 15 years – and for good reason: they didn’t serve students and families well. In 2000, there were approximately 40 cities with mayoral controlled school districts, this year there are currently 12. There is no guarantee...

I spoke with Tomiko Santos about this issue this morning. It was a concerning conversation because of several things she said:

No new bids on the Federal Reserve building. TWO bills from one Washington State legislator that would radically change Seattle Schools forever?  In one week?  And this is probably the most ed reform guy in the Legislature?  You don't have to wonder what the puppetmasters are up to.  Great article on a letter that the Georgia State Superintendent sent to Arne Duncan.  Georgia recently entered into a $108 million contract to deliver federally mandated standardized tests to our students. That figure does not include the millions of dollars spent to develop and validate test questions and inform the public about the new tests. As a nation, we have surrendered time, talent, and resources to an emphasis on autopsy-styled assessments, rather than physical-styled assessments.  Instead of a “measure, pressure, and punish” model that sets our students, teachers, and schools up for failure, we need a diagnostic, remediate/accelerate model that perso...

Well, it appears that the Seattle Weekly's statement that Reps. Pettigrew and Tomiko Santos wanting to divide up Seattle School district is true.  Meet HB 1860 . It opens with this: AN ACT Relating to first-class school director districts for the purposes of dividing large districts and limiting their number of board of director members; adding a new section to chapter 28A.343 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.  Okay, where's the fire?  If I had the time, I'd love to compare SPS to other mid-sized urban districts.  I'm not sure it would fall anywhere near the "emergency" label. Then, Effective September 1, 2018, no first-class school director district may comprise more than thirty-five thousand students or have more than five members of its board of directors. Well, that would mean SPS not only would be divided BUT would no longer have seven members of the...

 Update on Federal Reserve building - I'm pretty sure the district is out of it.  The bid is now up to $9.6M and the bidding window is now open another day.  It appears two bidders are duking it out because the other four hats in the ring have remained inactive since their first bids.   If it's the district who is still in it, I have no idea where they are finding these dollars. end of update The Times is reporting that a 13-year old Denny International student was robbed by a man with a gun as she walked to school this morning in the Delridge neighborhood.  He took her backpack and patted her down, apparently looking for a cellphone or money but she had neither. She reported this to the school when she got there. From the West Seattle blog :

The hearing on 1497 (allowing the mayor to appoint 2 school board members) will be in the House Education Committee on Tues., Feb. 3 at 1:30pm in the House Hearing Room A in the John L. O'Brien building.    I would encourage anyone who cares to send in a message to your legislator or even come on down.  On the Federal Reserve building , apparently it DID go the eBay way. The Times is reporting that there were six bidders with the top bid being $7.6M.  We only know for certain that SPS is one of the bidders.  But the deadline - which was yesterday - has been extended because auction rules state that "the bidding continues until the highest bid goes unchallenged for 24 hours."  

A group of public education activists has come out against Rep. Eric Pettigrew's bill to all the mayor of Seattle to appoint two members of the Seattle School Board.  It includes statements from Director Sue Peters who, as far as I know, is the only Board director to go on record.  I asked for a statement - a week ago - from the Board but have received no answer. The Seattle Weekly has a good story that has a startling ending.