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Perhaps they could start their new emphasis on fiscal responsibility and transparency by posting historical budget records on their website, so that everyone could see how much more money they are spending every year.
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Too little too late. They got caught shitting the bed on multiple fronts and now they are trying to convince people that it will be ok.

A levy is asking the voters for money on top of a budget, the district has shown exceptional poor judgement with budget funds. If they can clean house without salting the earth, a levy would be possible next year. Not now.
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I appreciate Michael DeBell's response. The central administration may be bloated and out of control (I'm not so upset with the Superintendent), but he has been a voice of calm and reason over the years. Unfortunately, he seems to be in more a reactive rather than proactive position. Most businesses would be thrilled to have more customers, but Seattle Public Schools is caught like a deer in the headlights when they manage to enroll as many kids as, say, Anchorage, which has less than half the population of Seattle.

Still, keep in mind that being on the School Board is like being on the nonprofit board from hell--unpaid, criticized, an ungodly amount of work. I would highly encourage the Board to spend more time in training and strategic planning, far away from the Superintendent and other central bureaucrats, so that they can take greater ownership of the system and put the schools, teachers and students first, rather than the administration.
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"From now on, the board will give first priority to the school budgets instead of the central administration budget."

How the hell was this not the first priority all along?!?
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I sure hope all the critics run for the school board, otherwise they're as bad as the Tea Baggers.
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No, we're not "mad" at the Superintendent. LIke the 99% of teachers in Seattle schools, we have no confidence in her leadership of the district. This is not personal at all. She is being ineffective and her focus is more on central administration projects than money going to classrooms.

Our Committee believes, that in poor economics times, our vote is for money to the classrooms and this levy money is NOT going to be directed that way.

I like Michael DeBell a lot. He is a calm voice in a storm. BUT, the audit points out, in several instances, that they were reminding the district of issues that had been ALREADY pointed out in previous audits (2007, 2008). I appreciate that the district has an "action" plan for this audit but given that there wasn't follow-thru on past audits, well, the jury is out. I am not willing to vote to give them more money until we see real results.

The reason that people didn't know about the audit is that (1) it came out in the dead of summer - July and (2) the district and the Board kept quiet about it. I mean, who wants to get called out as badly as they did by the State Auditor? It is only parents and staff and citizens who kept the heat on so that this wasn't just another audit.

It sure is a long time coming for classrooms to come ahead of central administration needs. That they have to admit this should tell you something. But again, just saying you are doing something is NOT the same as doing it.

This levy is good way to tell the district that they need to be serious about the public funds they control. They need, in hard economic times, to direct the money to the classrooms. That parents are paying for staff salaries, maintenance to buildings and office equipment is a disgrace. That teacher signed their contracts KNOWING that they wouldn't get their tiny raise if the levy fails - that should tell you how much it means to them.

Money without accountability is a disaster waiting to happen. Vote NO on the supplemental levy and let's get real accountability in our district for the benefit of the children who attend its schools.

P.S. Will, we are working on finding candidates to challenge ALL the Board members whose terms end next fall.
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Will in Seattle,

Levy opponents aren't teabaggers. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite.

I can't speak for anybody but myself. But me? I want the levy to fail, because I want this school board scared shitless.

I want levy dollars to be spent in classrooms -- not on teacher-coaches, curriculum consultants, and creeping merit pay. I want the board to stop rubber-stamping Maria Goodloe-Johnson's runaway spending on new administrative personnel. I want the board to include textbook replacement in its regular budget -- not in extortionist do-or-die levies. I want the board to come back in the spring with a levy request that rock-solid guarantees that every dollar cut from the budget comes out of the fat downtown -- not from classrooms.

And Will: Regarding critics running for school board: In the most recent (2009) school board primary, The Stranger endorsed the well-intentioned-but-utterly-clueless Betty Patu, basically because they thought she was a badass who could work with tough kids. The Stranger dismissed her opponent, district watchdog Charlie Mas, as "wonkiest wonk of all school-district wonky-wonks." It was like endorsing George Bush because you'd rather have a beer with him than Al Gore.

It's a pity, because The Stranger should be a powerful counterbalance to the business interests and astroturf organizations flogging "ed reform" -- which means "privatization of public education."
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Will in Seattle,

I am not part of the organized opposition, but let me assure you that levy opponents aren't teabaggers. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite.

I have two kids in the Seattle Public Schools. I am 47 years old, and since I turned 18, I've never missed an election. I have NEVER voted against a school levy.

But I am voting against this levy. I want it to fail, because I want this school board scared shitless.

I want the superintendent to spend levy dollars in classrooms -- not on teacher-coaches, curriculum consultants, and creeping merit pay. I want the board to stop rubber-stamping Maria Goodloe-Johnson's runaway spending on new administrative personnel. I want the board to include textbook replacement in its regular budget -- not as part of extortionist do-or-die levies. I want the board to come back in the spring with a levy request that rock-solid guarantees that every dollar cut from the budget comes out of the fat downtown -- not from classrooms.

And Will: Regarding critics running for school board: In the most recent (2009) school board primary, The Stranger endorsed the well-intentioned-but-utterly-clueless Betty Patu, basically because they thought she was a badass for once staring down a thug with a knife. The Stranger dismissed her opponent, district watchdog Charlie Mas, as "wonkiest wonk of all school-district wonky-wonks." It was like endorsing George Bush because you'd rather have a beer with him than Al Gore.

It's a pity, because The Stranger should be a powerful counterbalance to the business interests and astroturf organizations flogging "ed reform" -- which means "privatization of public education."
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Boy, I can't wait until the Board tells everyone what they have done in response to the audit.

They had the audit results four months ago and here's their response (straight from their own web page http://www.seattleschools.org/area/audit…

Key elements of the audit response include:

* A governance and oversight team was established to make oversight more effective.

* The Audit & Finance Committee will meet one additional time each month to focus on Audit response; and 3 to 4 oversight work sessions of the whole board will be added.

* The Internal Audit function will be redesigned, and an Ethics Officer has been appointed.

* A senior level audit response team has created and is implementing a detailed audit response plan – each finding is being addressed.

* A training plan for staff will be developed and is a key to ongoing compliance with policies.


So, after four months, they have established a team, scheduled some meetings, appointed an officer, established another team, and promise to develop a plan. Wow! Am I the only one to notice that there's no action in their action plan?
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I'm glad to know that Will in Seattle will never complain about anyone's work unless he personally tries to get the job for himself. No complaining about any elected official unless he ran for the office, no complaining about business practices unless he applied for an executive position at the company, no complaining about teachers unless applies for a teaching job, and no complaining about the articles in the newspaper unless he applies for a job as a writer.

Gosh, the only thing he'll have left to complain about is people who complain.

P.S. I did run for the School Board - twice.
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The district is expected to loose $30M in state funding.

If the levy passes, the district will have $48M from the Levy, $12.5M TIF Grants and $9M from the Feds. So, the district will have $39M beyond state cuts.

Yet, the District continues to tell us we may experience deep cuts to our schools because of state cuts.

Over the years, we have lost classroom dollars due to WSS cuts. Our school has 1000 students. Three hundred students are not at grade level mathematics. We do not have a math or language arts specialist to help with struggling students.

I have a lot of respect for Director Debell. Director Debell wants to fully fund the WSS so our classrooms adequately funded.

However, voting on allocation of dollars is a board decision. Not all directors have the same vision as Director Debell. Some Directors want to cut from classrooms while funding a non-sustainable, highly controversial ed. reform package. For me, this is where the problem lies.

If all the Directors shared the same belief as Director Debell, I'd be satisfied.

Some say- Not passing a levy is unfair to children. I say it is unfair to children- to pass a levy and not fund classrooms.

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Well, on the one hand, the levy opponents have already had some impact on the school board. But we'll see if this translates into an actual changes, or is just a last-minute plea "Trust us, we'll fix everything. Whatever. Just vote us the money. We'll spend it real good this time..."

Will--I am SO tired of "why don't people vote for the levy and run for school board to change things" or "why don't people just vote for the levy and go the the school board meetings to fix things"
As has been pointed out here, people like Charlie Mas DO run for school board. And don't get backing.
I've BEEN to school board meetings. (Public comment time--20 speakers, 3 minutes each, blank looks from the board) Might as well stand on the sidewalk and rant. MIght get a more attentive audience.

No, the levy is the figurative short-hairs of the school district--board, superintendent, bureaucrats. Gotta grab their attention and not let go.

Please wait...

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