Remember how we endorsed Harium Martin-Morris for Seattle School District Position No. 3? Holy fuck, were we ever stoned.

Now we’ve put down the bong and are saying that you should vote for Michelle Buetow. Why? It turns out, as we reported on November 4, that Martin-Morris is trying to pass new rules that grant principals wide discretion to censor student newspapers for bullshit reasons. Specifically, Martin-Morris would prohibit everything from libel to content that promotes “widespread shouting or boisterous conduct.” In other words, student newspapers couldn’t report news that makes people, say, upset or joyful. He insists that the district currently doesn’t have rules prohibiting students from libel and defamation—but he’s wrong. The district already has rules in place, rules that place less ambiguous restrictions on student speech. We don’t buy his argument that we need new rules that suppress student speech, particularly from someone who doesn’t even know what the existing rules are.

When told that libel is already illegal in school newspapers, like every other fucking newspaper in the country, Martin-Morris replied, “That may be true but…when you write it down, it’s real.” Clearly, Martin-Morris doesn’t think state and federal laws are “real” enough. We sincerely apologize for endorsing this frothing idiot. Vote Buetow. Here’s our new-and-improved, frothing-idiot-free cheat sheet:

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All of our endorsements are explained here.

UPDATE: The school district has deferred voting on this measure until next year. But we’re still hatin’ on Martin-Morris.

The Stranger Election Control Board is composed of staff writers and editors who volunteer to grill, research, fight over, and ultimately endorse candidates running for office in local, state, and federal...

32 replies on “SECB Fucks Up School Board Endorsement!!”

  4. Ditto #1; I literally just put my envelope in the mail slot!

    Grrr! And, I really had to hunt to find the cheat sheet on Slog.

    Almost everyone I now references the slog endorsements to some extent.

  8. Thank you to The Stranger.

    One, for reexamining their endorsement based on new information. Two, for probably being the only media outlet in this town that would admit a mistake in judgment. You will NEVER see this from the Times (which makes The Stranger all the more credible).

    I join them wholeheartedly in this endorsement (although I endorsed Buetow from the start).

  10. It’s good to see y’all coming to your senses on this one.

    I, for one, would have thought his support of lowering standards for graduation, or belief that the School Board should be for enacting Administration policies, not oversight, or his blind, steadfast support for Goodloe-Johnson should have been enough.

    But all the same, good job! I just hope enough folks that rely on the Stranger cheat sheet haven’t voted the wrong way…

  11. hmmm, too bad I mailed my ballot this morning. But I’m with @8 – kudos for re-examining and correcting your voting card, even if it’s too late for many voters.

  12. Seriously, that dumb-ass liquor initiative has people’s panties in such a wad that they’ll NEVER TRUST YOU AGAIN!

    It was just stupid: BOTH sides. I wanted to vote to send them all to their rooms without dinner. But it’s just one frickin’ initiative: you’re going to throw EVERYTHING out because of an even-more-stupid-than-usual initiative? Sheesh.

  13. Heh, I wonder why they don’t open the “which one voice on the SECB was absolutely insistent on ignoring Buetow in both the primary and the general, the one challenger endorsed by all Democratic legislative district executive boards in Seattle” poll.

  14. Which one was the one whose signs read “Vote For The Mom”? I want her to lose. Nobody cares if you’re a mom or not. There is no reason to think that being a parent would make you a better school board member.

    If I ever run for school board my platform will be “not a parent, but an administrator; and if elected parents will be forbidden to enter school grounds or contact school officials in any way”.

  17. “That may be true but…when you write it down, it’s real.” Clearly, Martin-Morris doesn’t think state and federal laws are “real” enough.

    Check the State Auditor’s reports … This Board on several occasions did not follow laws or policies. /// Martin-Morris doesn’t think often enough. He prefers to spin yarns around subjects like TFA and New Tech Network contract instead of following laws.

  18. Here is yet another voter’s guide

    As long as too many voters choose to:
    cast their votes founded in opinions formed by myths and half-truths, rather than the facts,
    we will continue to have legislative bodies filled with purveyors of half-truths.

    In an effort to counter the dissemination of half-truths and myths I present:

    Seattle School Board 2011 Voter’s Guide — – an evidence filled voters guide.

  19. This is why mail-in voting sucks. And why I always wait ’til the last minute (not to see if The Stranger staff comes to their senses, but to see if any candidates make last-minute bonehead moves).

    I’m with michaelp–there were plenty of reasons befoer this not to endorse Martin-Morris. Glad you finally saw the light, but it was already blazingly bright.

  23. KUOW had a good piece lately — might even have been on your friend Steve Scher’s show — that by involving the administration in content decisions, it opens the district to liability, which they are (apparnetly) exempt from. So even from just a plainly practical standpoint, its a stupid idea.

  27. Really, do some of you people just pull out The Stranger’s cheat sheet and fill it out down the line as they prescribe?

    I mean, I know that you do, but I still find it unbelievable and kinda sad.

    To all of you who blindly followed The Stranger endorsements and are annoyed that you already voted… HA! Maybe next time you’ll do your own research, and if you haven’t researched an issue/candidate, you’ll not vote in those races and stick to voting in the ones you have.

  28. If you guys had been paying attention, you’d have realized that HMM had checked out a looong time ago. Well, better late than never – unless it’s too late for people to change their votes.

  29. Your fucking right principals should have the final say in what goes into a school newspaper, just like Tim Keck has the final say in what goes into this piece of shit rag.

    Don’t like it? Start your own fucking newspaper.

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