I wonder if the Seattle Schools is qualified to spend so much more money? I mean of course they can spend it. You or I could spend it. But can they spend it wisely?

My first impression is that giving them more money would be like giving more money to a failing business which hasn't demonstrated ability. I have no school age kids but from what I hear, Seattle Schools is in a bad way. Could it only be money?

I mean I don't have much respect for the Seattle City Council but I know they love to spend money other people's money. So if even the Council wsn't convinced...

Teaching is one of the most grossly underpaid professions (requiring at least 5 years of college, and starting around $20K). Because of that, recruiting quality candidates is difficult, and turnover is very high.

Anyone who pays any attention knows that class size directly impacts the quality of education. Smaller classes = better education. The only way to reduce class sizes is to hire more teachers or get rid of kids.

There is no way that teachers can be paid more and class sizes can be reduced without throwing money at it. You can't pay teachers more or hire more teachers through "efficiency" or layoffs.

Sure, you might save some money in administration here or there, you can argue about closing some schools or getting rid of school busses. But that won't save you enough. The only way to pay competitive wages for teachers, and reduce class sizes is to dedicate more money to it. Truly, this is one instance where the problem CAN be solved by throwing money at it.

I think you're both right - you can solve many of the SSD's key problems (smaller class sizes/more teachers/better classroom supplies) with more money.

On the other hand, having spent the last 10+ years watching the SSD spend a bajillion dollars on a massive building program to demolish historic schools that could simply have been renovated and building a shiny new HQ for their offices, I'm not so sure the District will spend the money on the right things unless the initiative is absolutely bulletproof (and then they can vote to ignore it in two years anyway, as I understand it).

The real pity, of course, is that the State is flaking out on the Constitutional duty to adequately fund public schools...

these are the kinds of basic things that should be fundamental to government without going the initiative route.

going initiative is a really mixed bag: even if you win, it lets legislators off the hook from supporting this stuff in the future, thinking they can defer to initiative. and it creates a major burden on everything else that feeds off the general fund, pushing other groups to want their own initiative. and it's easy to lose, again letting legislators off the hook cause they can claim their constituents don't want it.

it would be better if we could give more taxing authority to local governments by changing state law so everything isn't farmed out by initiative. until then, these short term fix-its could end up just driving our weak (from federal spending cuts) social welfare system into even more dire long term straights.

Seattle Schools has fundamental curriculum problems that are the result of years of poor program planning and the decision to teach to the WASL. It doesn't help that the schools are segregated at every level, either.

When kids are learning multiplication in junior high instead of 4th or 5th grade, you know something is WRONG.

Here's the problem with the 'they don't make money and don't know how to budget their money' argument: IT'S A SCHOOL. It's NOT SUPPOSED TO MAKE MONEY, it's supposed to educate our children. There's no lucrative enterprise in education. It's a money sink by definition, but then again, so is the police and fire departments.

Supplies have gotten more expensive, from computers and projectors to textbooks. Plus, teachers get raises, or at least they should. Of course they're spending more and more and more money every year. And that's assuming you don't open any new schools. This also doesn't include rising utility costs.

The City Council fails us in not properly funding our schools. I hope this initiative gets on the ballot and passes, because Seattle Schools deserve better than what they get.

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