Part I: Well, There’s Yer Problem…
There is no simple way to write about the state of Seattle Public Schools. Everybody agrees that SPS has issues. But which issues are most severe, how are they prioritized, and who is responsible for them?
To answer those questions, I’ve enlisted the help of community blogger Melissa Westbrook, who heads up the Seattle Public Schools Community Blog . Westbrook is a long time SPS parent and advocate, and in 2006 was a member of the Community Advisory Committee on School Facilities and Programs for the district.
Sable Verity : Before we can talk about the candidates for school board, we really need to talk about the problems they’re going to face. What is the overall health of the SPS: Stable, critical or on life support?
Melissa Westbrook : Surface stable with a lot of “churn” going on beneath. We have very professional people administrating the district; they talk a good talk but really, it’s just more “let’s try this,” “we have this initiative, “we have this plan” complete with outside consultants, more “professional” training for teachers and principals and lots of paper.
The district tries something, usually for a brief time, then it is suddenly tossed aside in favor of something “new” and you never know for sure why something doesn’t work. Was it not enough time? Enough commitment? Expecting big results too soon? We never know.
[Schools superintendent] Dr. [Maria] Goodloe-Johnson has, in her two years, done a lot of audits, created this huge strategic plan and started a big pullback on site-based management (principal/staff management of schools) to district management. I don’t think it’s a lot really in terms of visible effort.”
SV : What are the top three problems in the district right now?
MW : The number one, all-the-time, issue in the district is state funding. There has to be some political courage in this state to fully fund education.
[Beyond that] there are immediate [problems] and then long-term ones. The rollout of the student assignment plan [is one]. Per their style, they will likely have public meetings in one week and call it public engagement. This is a huge change that affects every single student and family in the district. And how the roll-out will go is anyone’s guess.
SV : What other problems are looming?
MW : The BTA III, the buildings maintenance levy. It will be on the ballot [in February 2010] with the operating levy, which is 23% of [the] budget. The operating levy cannot fail or the district will fail.
Our district has not kept up with basic maintenance, to the tune overall of about $450 million.
Why do you think they were so desperate to close buildings? It’s not just because there are too few kids; too few good buildings is more like it. The district … is supposed to spend around four percent of its general fund on basic maintenance. We are at one percent. Any homeowner knows that if you don’t keep up basic maintenance … it only gets worse. And so it is with the BTA. Yes, of course, the work is important. However, we are asking taxpayers to pay more in major repairs because the district didn’t do the right thing in the first place.
The state auditor been conducting an audit of the last four to five years of the [major building levy]. The report was due in the spring but didn’t come out; the word was that it was more “complex” than they thought. … So you will get this report coming out this fall which could be very damning and then we go to the public in February and say, “Hey, we need lots of money to fix up the schools that we let fall into disrepair AND we messed up on the major building money.” A bad economy, angry voters and we could lose one or both levies. …
I do not want the operating levy to fail, but it might not hurt for the district to get a smackdown on how they use the taxpayers’ money for buildings. They can always rerun the levy election within several months.
SV : Well that’s cheery. Give us one more immediate problem the district is facing.
MW : Curriculum alignment in high school. This means that the district is trying to get alignment of what is taught, not how it is taught—or so they say—across the district high schools.
[But] staff at the high schools are used to autonomy. It is hard to adjust to more [accountability]. And nobody likes their power being taken away. Is it for the greater good? The district thinks so.
Several Language Arts departments are not happy and one reason is that the district wants to create the reading list for the curriculum. Now, the district says it is involving teachers but the list seems small and, of course, teachers have a great deal of experience and background in using books they think work. It seems to infringe on what they bring to the table as teachers to hand them a book list.
SV : It’s a tall order to sum up solutions, but I’m going to ask you to try. What needs to happen with the student assignment plan?
MW : More time for parents to look and respond to the boundary maps. Guarantee a younger sibling assignment to an older sibling’s school for two to three years—currently not part of the plan. No major redos of the boundaries for several years to see how it works.
SV : There was a lot of fanfare about the current superintendent when she came on. The school board conducted a national search, but when all was said and done, only a few candidates remained. I happen to think that the board was concerned about appearances—meaning they would have agreed on the hire, no matter who it was, to quell public perception that they were spineless—and perhaps didn’t know Goodloe-Johnson as well as some would have liked, particularly her management and communication styles. Does SPS have the right superintendent given all it is facing, or has she become a part of the problem?
MW : This is a very difficult question because we had a more progressive board pick her and [now] a more conservative board directs her. Also, you have the issue of some voters who say the board is responsible—and should be responsive—to the voters who elected them, [while other] voters say the board members should stand back and let the Superintendent do his or her job with minimal interference. One man’s interference is another man’s oversight.
Since some teachers and parents in SPS have complained about Dr. Goodloe-Johnson on these points, it is likely her style. Is she difficult? What I hear—loud and clear—at my blog is that people do not like her canned, bureaucratic answers. It’s not acceptable.
SV : And what about that highly touted strategic plan you mentioned? It seems pretty broad—could that mean it winds up not being effective?
MW : I personally feel the strategic plan is too big and unwieldy and could be laser-focused down to five to ten items. Let’s see them accomplish half of it in the next two years. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a disaster or rather, more half-assed work with no real follow-through.
My two main problems with Dr. Goodloe-Johnson is her seeming “my way or the highway” attitude. She once said she doesn’t need to hear public testimony more than once on the same subject because once is enough. It’s incredible that she would not value input, not value different parent viewpoints—because if it comes from different parts of the city, she should take that seriously.
Coming up: Part 2: Who the &$@#! is On First?
SoulNerd blogs at The Sable Verity , where a longer version of this interview can be found.
