Sunday, January 25, 2009
City The Seattle School District's "Going-Out-of-Business Strategy"
Posted by Dominic Holden on Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Bundled in puffy coats, hats and gloves to fend off thickening snow flurries, about 250 parents and teachers clustered on the playfield of TT Minor Elementary this afternoon to demand that the school stay open. It was an unusual demographic to see protesting in the elements—mostly in their 40s to 60s, some with young children, and in sober outerwear. But a proposal by the school district to save $3.6 million dollars by closing five schools—overwhelmingly schools that cater to lower-income and minority students in the Central District and south end of the city—left them livid.
“School board, just face it. These closures are racist,” the crowd chanted before embarking on a frigid march to the Garfield High School Community Center.
“They didn’t think poor people were going to save themselves,” says Bonnie Wilson (speaking on stage to the left), a mother of three children who attend TT Minor. “They will fix the Pike Place market and they will build a stadium for Paul Allen, but they won’t fund schools for the least of us,” she says.
Jesse Hagopian—a teacher at Madison Middle School and a co-founder of the march’s organizing group, Educators, Students and Parents for a Better Vision of the Seattle Schools—concurs. “There is a war on low-income students and communities of color,” he says. “Those are the schools they pick. Those [north Seattle] schools and communities are more affluent and are better able to defend themselves. So they close the schools where parents are less affluent and less able to fight back.”
The school board will vote on January 29 which, if any, schools to shutter. The African American Academy in south Seattle, Cooper Elementary in West Seattle, Meany Middle School and TT Minor Elementary in central Seattle, are on the chopping block. Some programs could be transferred to other buildings, including NOVA, an alternative high school in the Central District, and Van Asselt Elementary on Beacon Hill. Summit K-12, in north Seattle, could also be cut.
At the issue’s heart, the school closures are unnecessary and, ultimately, they serve a self-perpetuating cycle of declining enrollment, protesters say.
According to Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson, the school board is facing an estimated $37.1 million budget shortfall; however, protesters point out, the school closures would save only $3.6 million. Rather than close schools, Hagopian says, the district should cut other costs and tap its $30 million rainy-day fund. “If there was ever a financial rainy day, it’s today,” he says.
“If the problem is too little enrollment, then the problem is that there are too many students in private schools. That’s a solvable problem,” says Amy Hagopian, a member of the Seattle School Board from 1989 to 1993 and mother of Jeese. She says that under the leadership of Goodloe-Johnson, the district has prized standardized education, thereby cutting alternative programs that would draw and retain more students. Closing schools and programs guarantees declining enrollment. She calls it a “going-out-of-business strategy.”
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2
I don't know if it's racism as much as it land values on view properties. Obviously, TT Minor's highest purpose would be luxury view condos.
3
Haven't there been a number of student murders in the South End? Seems to me that if these protestors were really concerned they would tackle that problem first. Sadly, since there is no money involved, that will not happen.
4
““If the problem is too little enrollment, then the problem is that there are too many students in private schools. That’s a solvable problem,” says Amy Hagopian, a member of the Seattle School Board from 1989 to 1993 and mother of Jeese. She says that under the leadership of Goodloe-Johnson, the district has prized standardized education, thereby cutting alternative programs that would draw and retain more students. Closing schools and programs guarantees declining enrollment”
Yeah right. How are you going to convince me to throw my kids into the zoo that is the SPS system? We didn't put them in private schools because we wanted them to have an 'alternative education'. We did it because the private schools have standards and those who fail to meet them get kicked out.
Yeah right. How are you going to convince me to throw my kids into the zoo that is the SPS system? We didn't put them in private schools because we wanted them to have an 'alternative education'. We did it because the private schools have standards and those who fail to meet them get kicked out.
5
“School board, just face it. These closures are racist,” the crowd chanted before embarking on a frigid march to the Garfield High School Community Center."
Dodging gun fire on the way?
Dodging gun fire on the way?
6
classist wouldn't have made such a nifty sounding chant, but would be a hell of a lot more accurate.
7
The school closure proposal is flawed. It has been rushed through with very little foresight, the demographics don't tally, the finances don't add up, and it is the lower income, minority schools being targeted. If the closure proposal was thoughtful or showed a modicum of creativity, if it were coherent and equitable, and if the process had been transparent instead of looking ridiculously like lip service, the situation might be different. Cuts do need to be made, absolutely they do, but it would be negligent to accept the proposal plan that is being put forward. Seattle's kids deserve better.
8
"classist wouldn't have made such a nifty sounding chant, but would be a hell of a lot more accurate."
Or how about:
'Hey hey, ho ho, all standards have to go'
Or
'Hey hey, ho ho, standards are racist and have to go'
Or how about:
'Hey hey, ho ho, all standards have to go'
Or
'Hey hey, ho ho, standards are racist and have to go'
9
White gay yuppie Seattle liberals don't give a rat's ass about poor black children. Obama will return the favor, suckas.
10
Here are some questions: what is the PROJECTED enrollment in the seattle public schools over the next 10-20 years? Would selling buildings prepare the Seattle schools for this projection or leave them unprepared? Are there ways to realistically change/ improve the schools to increase enrollment and make the keeping of these buildings economically feasible? I agree that the crisis in K-12 education is partly related to the recession and crisis in state funding. Spending part of the rainy day fund before Obama's recovery package kicks in to prevent the selling off of valuable property does not seem like a bad idea. Unfortunately most of the local media treats these protesters as if they're crazy, when the questions they're asking are more than valid, and it may be that the Seattle School Board is not exerting proper oversight over this process.
11
@10 Nobody is talking about selling buildings. The want to reduce operating overhead costs and one way to do that is fill used buildings as close to functional capacity as possible. But, you do have an good point about the 10-20 year outlook because Seattle does currently have an unusually high private school attendance rate and it will be interesting to see how population figures change due to the rapid increase in high density development in the city that is bringing people back to the city.
12
High enrollment in private schools is yet another function of separating the fools from their money, and proof that we are not taxing the wealthy enough.
13
I think there is an unstated premise here. The school board isn't racist or trying to hurt low income students. The opposite is probably true. The school board probably believes that closing schools that serve mostly/or almost exclusively populations of low income students will help those same low income students. Schools that serve mostly or exclusively low income students have more challenges than schools serving middle class populations. By creating economically mixed schools--in this case by shutting schools that attract mostly low income students--will cause poor students to benefit from the positive externalities/social capital/PTA sweat that comes from having the involvement of lots of middle class parents in an elementary school.
That makes sense. And it's easier to move poor kids to mixed income schools where they can benefit from the involvement of middleclass parents, than to build up those schools themselves. They tried it the other way with Ranier Beach. They put in a fancy theater to support a top notch arts program, but it didn't "work." RB still didn't really attract middle class students, because the school is a disaster. It's easier to move students to classrooms where the resources provided by middle class parents already exist, than to create those resources at low income schools. Yes it's a shame. But the SB is probably doing the best they know how. And enrollment is low.
Never thought I'd defend the SB. Seattle Public Schools are messed up--I attended them. But I can see what they're trying to do on this one. I wonder if SPS was influenced by argument that Lexington KY Schools (?) put forward in the recent case before the SCOTUS.
That makes sense. And it's easier to move poor kids to mixed income schools where they can benefit from the involvement of middleclass parents, than to build up those schools themselves. They tried it the other way with Ranier Beach. They put in a fancy theater to support a top notch arts program, but it didn't "work." RB still didn't really attract middle class students, because the school is a disaster. It's easier to move students to classrooms where the resources provided by middle class parents already exist, than to create those resources at low income schools. Yes it's a shame. But the SB is probably doing the best they know how. And enrollment is low.
Never thought I'd defend the SB. Seattle Public Schools are messed up--I attended them. But I can see what they're trying to do on this one. I wonder if SPS was influenced by argument that Lexington KY Schools (?) put forward in the recent case before the SCOTUS.
14
Personally the thinges I hate are ever fewer....ever bigger schools and bungee principals being moved around constantly. If the principal has no hope of knowing every student.....at least by site....it's hard to take it seriously as a school.
15
Trevor and Pragmatic - they have K-12 projections by neighborhood out to 2018 and they're factoring those as well as the current capacity utilization by school into the school closures (See here)- as well as researching new housing development by neighborhood.
it is all about butts and seats - now and projected. i'm not sure what the hagopians and others are about or up to in implying the poor are 'targeted' - maybe trying to look like saviors?
homegirl - thanks for your incisive analysis. one wonders when you were last in a seattle public school - and which one - as i'm guessing you haven't been in enough of them to classify the entire district as 'a zoo'.
it is all about butts and seats - now and projected. i'm not sure what the hagopians and others are about or up to in implying the poor are 'targeted' - maybe trying to look like saviors?
homegirl - thanks for your incisive analysis. one wonders when you were last in a seattle public school - and which one - as i'm guessing you haven't been in enough of them to classify the entire district as 'a zoo'.
16
I'm happy to be separated from my money and give my kids a good education. If Obama can send his kids to Sidwell, why can't I send my kids to a private school if I can afford it? What's with all the class envy in Seattle?
Since we make under Obama's $250K, we will not be taxed more, either, which is why I voted for him.
And yes, I'm a proud liberal elitist. If you want your kids to go to the SPS and get straight 'A's in self esteem classes, be my guest. I want my kids to be educated and not be a burden on society.
Since we make under Obama's $250K, we will not be taxed more, either, which is why I voted for him.
And yes, I'm a proud liberal elitist. If you want your kids to go to the SPS and get straight 'A's in self esteem classes, be my guest. I want my kids to be educated and not be a burden on society.
17
Just want to pipe up here as what I hope is a future Montlake Elementary parent, as we live 100 feet or so from the school. It's not elitist that we organized ourselves in the neighborhood to get off the final closure recommendation list. Montlake has a waiting list as do all the schools in our reference area within several miles, as do all the schools geographically close by in the north-of-the-canal area.
They removed Montlake because despite it being a good candidate for physical plant shutdown (the school has been neglected for decades), there's simply no place to put our kids in anything that resembles a neighborhood school within several miles.
We are in a reference area with schools that have a lot fewer students in them, but I am not sending my kindergartner several miles away. I wouldn't do that for a better school, and I certainly not doing it for a worse one.
I and all the Montlake parents I know are perfectly happy to see the kind of minor property tax increase necessary (maybe in the $100 to $200 per year range per household in this neighborhood) to fully fund our schools. That's because the alternative is $6,000 to $15,000 per year in private school funds. We'd be idiots to not want the public schools to improve overall, and we'd be idiots to not try to help raise up the level of funding and quality at all the schools anywhere in the whole south part of town.
The key problem is that the state legislature has systematically underfunded its public schools' obligation.
I used to think that cries of "racism" on school closures were just sour grapes about the demographic shifts, after it became clear how much waste there was in keeping up open schools with few students.
After years of this, and asking largely African- and Asian-American (not we caucasian parents) to bear the brunt of what could be two school shifts and potentially more in the future, it's hard to not see this as a casual racism -- it's not about race or class, it's about making expedient choices and labeling them as ones in the students' best ultimate interests.
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They removed Montlake because despite it being a good candidate for physical plant shutdown (the school has been neglected for decades), there's simply no place to put our kids in anything that resembles a neighborhood school within several miles.
We are in a reference area with schools that have a lot fewer students in them, but I am not sending my kindergartner several miles away. I wouldn't do that for a better school, and I certainly not doing it for a worse one.
I and all the Montlake parents I know are perfectly happy to see the kind of minor property tax increase necessary (maybe in the $100 to $200 per year range per household in this neighborhood) to fully fund our schools. That's because the alternative is $6,000 to $15,000 per year in private school funds. We'd be idiots to not want the public schools to improve overall, and we'd be idiots to not try to help raise up the level of funding and quality at all the schools anywhere in the whole south part of town.
The key problem is that the state legislature has systematically underfunded its public schools' obligation.
I used to think that cries of "racism" on school closures were just sour grapes about the demographic shifts, after it became clear how much waste there was in keeping up open schools with few students.
After years of this, and asking largely African- and Asian-American (not we caucasian parents) to bear the brunt of what could be two school shifts and potentially more in the future, it's hard to not see this as a casual racism -- it's not about race or class, it's about making expedient choices and labeling them as ones in the students' best ultimate interests.
18
So serving minority communities with an increasingly inefficient infrastructure would in some way be pro-minority? What about the thousands of parents of kids in schools that are open in the same areas? Maybe they have a legitimate worry about the status quo, namely that in the current crunch valuable resources are being wasted on schools that aren't efficient anymore rather than on those that work.
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Does she have specific examples of what to cut? Usually those "other costs" are enrichment programs like sports, music, and art. Cutting the few things that make school fun is the perfect way to make public schools even less attractive. Is there significant fat to be cut or is Hagopian just throwing shit out there to see what sticks?
$30 million != $37.1 million. Even if the district committed to using up its rainy day fund, it still needs to come up with $7.1 million.
Rather than close schools, Hagopian says, the district should cut other costs and tap its $30 million rainy-day fund.
Does she have specific examples of what to cut? Usually those "other costs" are enrichment programs like sports, music, and art. Cutting the few things that make school fun is the perfect way to make public schools even less attractive. Is there significant fat to be cut or is Hagopian just throwing shit out there to see what sticks?
$30 million != $37.1 million. Even if the district committed to using up its rainy day fund, it still needs to come up with $7.1 million.
20
"If Obama can send his kids to Sidwell, why can't I send my kids to a private school if I can afford it? What's with all the class envy in Seattle?"
Homegirl, are you a complete and total idiot, or just a delusional bitch?
You are not the President, sweetie. From the sounds of it, you are some bimbo who hit the jackpot when trying to get her MRS degree at the state university.
Thank God for the greek system. Mommy & Daddy's investment paid off. Judging from the sounds of that gene pool, your little ones will need that extra boost.
Homegirl, are you a complete and total idiot, or just a delusional bitch?
You are not the President, sweetie. From the sounds of it, you are some bimbo who hit the jackpot when trying to get her MRS degree at the state university.
Thank God for the greek system. Mommy & Daddy's investment paid off. Judging from the sounds of that gene pool, your little ones will need that extra boost.
21
Hey let's put @20 in charge of the new program to get parents sending their kids to private schools to return to public schools.
"Hey you total idiots, you just delusional bitches, you bimbos -- come on back to the public schools!"
Good luck with that!
"Hey you total idiots, you just delusional bitches, you bimbos -- come on back to the public schools!"
Good luck with that!
22
i'm as reluctant as anyone to use the term "racist" (and yeah, classist is in fact a more accurate term here, but sort of cumbersome), but there comes a point where you have to say "hold on here...."
take a look at the closure list. so many successful, minority based schools. SUCCESSFUL schools, being closed down, and students tossed away to whatever school is available. a few whiter, richer schools on the lists from time to time, but they always yell loudest and they never stay on there long. why? probably a lot of reasons, but i'm gonna put a couple out there:
1: affluent parents will send their kids to private school if they aren't happy with the public school. low-income parents don't have that luxury.
2: affluent parents vote more, give more money to politicians, and are more likely to threaten (and follow through with) legal action if their schools are closed.
i can't speak to every school on the list, but i'm a cooper parent. cooper is doing an outstanding job educating an at-risk population of low-income and minority students. our students are not being done any sort of favor in being moved to other schools- they are being shipped farther from their homes, to schools that are far worse. schools that are failing their students academically.
it's a self-fulfilling prophecy in so many ways: don't invest in education, kids leave schools, seats are empty and district loses money from lost students, district forced to close schools, repeat. why not stop the cycle by investing in schools that are doing their jobs? cycle has to stop somewhere, might as well be here and now.
kids are not dollar signs or budget line items. the school board exists to support all of our kids, to take their fight to olympia and demand the money it will take to support successful schools. that is their damn job, and they are not doing it.
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take a look at the closure list. so many successful, minority based schools. SUCCESSFUL schools, being closed down, and students tossed away to whatever school is available. a few whiter, richer schools on the lists from time to time, but they always yell loudest and they never stay on there long. why? probably a lot of reasons, but i'm gonna put a couple out there:
1: affluent parents will send their kids to private school if they aren't happy with the public school. low-income parents don't have that luxury.
2: affluent parents vote more, give more money to politicians, and are more likely to threaten (and follow through with) legal action if their schools are closed.
i can't speak to every school on the list, but i'm a cooper parent. cooper is doing an outstanding job educating an at-risk population of low-income and minority students. our students are not being done any sort of favor in being moved to other schools- they are being shipped farther from their homes, to schools that are far worse. schools that are failing their students academically.
it's a self-fulfilling prophecy in so many ways: don't invest in education, kids leave schools, seats are empty and district loses money from lost students, district forced to close schools, repeat. why not stop the cycle by investing in schools that are doing their jobs? cycle has to stop somewhere, might as well be here and now.
kids are not dollar signs or budget line items. the school board exists to support all of our kids, to take their fight to olympia and demand the money it will take to support successful schools. that is their damn job, and they are not doing it.
23
I'd like to know what programs are going to be cut. For some of these kids, a free lunch might be the only meal they get that day, and after school programs keeo kids busy until their parents get home and they are less likely to join gangs.
I'd like Obama to spend some money on intercity schools.
I'd like Obama to spend some money on intercity schools.
24
So only the President can send his kids to private school! Love it, such elitism!
"at the state university"
Such an elitist! I like it.
Stanford actually, and Mr. Homegirl makes less than me but is happy and the kids go to a wonderfully diverse school that actually requires that they learn something beyond the 'evils of capitalism', and how to give gang bangers proper self esteem by giving them diplomas even when they can't read or write.
"at the state university"
Such an elitist! I like it.
Stanford actually, and Mr. Homegirl makes less than me but is happy and the kids go to a wonderfully diverse school that actually requires that they learn something beyond the 'evils of capitalism', and how to give gang bangers proper self esteem by giving them diplomas even when they can't read or write.
25
"I'd like Obama to spend some money on intercity schools."
Didn't you hear him lecture the country about putting the video games down and reading to the kids? They don't need money, they need to stop spawning children they can't raise.
Didn't you hear him lecture the country about putting the video games down and reading to the kids? They don't need money, they need to stop spawning children they can't raise.
26
Wait. If they close down the schools in the poor neighborhood, won't those kids be sent to affluent schools in affluent neighborhoods? What's wrong with making affluent neighborhoods share the wealth? What's wrong with white kids sharing their facilities with non-whites? This doesn't seem like a negative to me, except maybe the commute.
27
Dom (or others) Quick question here: wasn't TT Minor for years the recipient of a reportedly $1 million dollar grant from some Microsoftie or something of the sort? I'm sure someone knows here. THUS, why the hell is this school closing? To tell supporters of public education -specifically, multi-millionaires who donate money to public schools- to fuck off? Their money isn't needed? I'm just curious, someone please tell me what the story is.
Thanks..
Thanks..
28
Also, won't the teachers at the low-income schools (that are shut down) be shifted to the affluent neighborhoods? More students usually require more staff, so if a good teacher at a bad school is moved to one where they have adequate funding, isn't that a positive? Isn't it much easier to be a better educator if you have proper books and equipment to teach with? That they didn't have to purchase out of their own pockets?
29
TT Minor was given (I think, or thereabouts) 8 million dollars over 8 years by the Sloane Foundation. A condition of the school receiving that money was that the school was not part of the district for enrollment and only very low income kids could register at the school. Since the grant ended four or five years ago, the school has come back to the district but as far as funding goes has seen no investment at all. The school was promised upgrades after it merged with MLK three years ago: never happened. The message is clear: if a school takes donated money then the district will spend theirs elsewhere.
30
TT Minor has always been a hellhole of a school. Even when I was in grade school in the 1970's, it was always the place where we always heard that a 7th-grader got knifed last week. It's too bad about the budget & everything, but closing that shit hole will be a mercy for all the students who won't have to go there.
31
@4 and @13 FTW
'Nuff said by those two posts!
Once again in order to be "fair" to everyone we have to dumb down our education system and keep open lower performing schools in lower income neighborhoods.
I think it is high time we as a society instead switch over to the Chinese or European style of education, whereby all students take a test in 7 or 8th grade that determines if they get to go to a higher level school to prep them for college, or whether they go to a lower level technical trade school.
If any child wants to be able to qualify for college, they will need to earn their way by passing a series of tests. No exceptions, no passing GO, no EXCUSES! For the kids that REALLY want it, for the parents that REALLY want their children to succeed THEY will do more than just fight for others to "do" something!
Maybe just maybe if we as a society start demanding that parents actually take an ACTIVE role in their child's education, instead of dumping their kids off at day care...err I mean school.
Ultimately this comes down Seattle Public Schools trying to determine which schools to close down.
I'm quite frankly happy they are closing down the schools in these neighborhoods that are rife with crime and squalor. The only way the children from those neighborhoods will receive a decent education is if their interactions in those dangerous environments is minimized.
There is no way that if I was a parent I would live in Seattle and subject my children to that school system.
For all you SLOGGERS who keep trying to push the joys and benefit of living dense and moving back into Seattle proper, all of us enjoy the safety, green space and quality schools of the surrounding county LAUGH OUR ASSES OFF at YOU!
Keep pushing the urban LIE SLOG TEAM!
We need our daily dose of laughter.
More...
'Nuff said by those two posts!
Once again in order to be "fair" to everyone we have to dumb down our education system and keep open lower performing schools in lower income neighborhoods.
I think it is high time we as a society instead switch over to the Chinese or European style of education, whereby all students take a test in 7 or 8th grade that determines if they get to go to a higher level school to prep them for college, or whether they go to a lower level technical trade school.
If any child wants to be able to qualify for college, they will need to earn their way by passing a series of tests. No exceptions, no passing GO, no EXCUSES! For the kids that REALLY want it, for the parents that REALLY want their children to succeed THEY will do more than just fight for others to "do" something!
Maybe just maybe if we as a society start demanding that parents actually take an ACTIVE role in their child's education, instead of dumping their kids off at day care...err I mean school.
Ultimately this comes down Seattle Public Schools trying to determine which schools to close down.
I'm quite frankly happy they are closing down the schools in these neighborhoods that are rife with crime and squalor. The only way the children from those neighborhoods will receive a decent education is if their interactions in those dangerous environments is minimized.
There is no way that if I was a parent I would live in Seattle and subject my children to that school system.
For all you SLOGGERS who keep trying to push the joys and benefit of living dense and moving back into Seattle proper, all of us enjoy the safety, green space and quality schools of the surrounding county LAUGH OUR ASSES OFF at YOU!
Keep pushing the urban LIE SLOG TEAM!
We need our daily dose of laughter.
32
The Puget Sound is inhospitable to the middle classes. Robber Barons like Gate$ and Allen puffed up the income scale, and are now throwing more and more people to the lions to save their skins. You'll see more and "charity" in an attempt to stave off Madoff-ist criminal charges.
33
"Stanford actually, and Mr. Homegirl makes less than me but is happy and the kids go to a wonderfully diverse school that actually requires that they learn something beyond the 'evils of capitalism', and how to give gang bangers proper self esteem by giving them diplomas even when they can't read or write."
Ahhh..... trust fund baby with cuckhold hubby. Got it!
Ahhh..... trust fund baby with cuckhold hubby. Got it!
35
What a pathetic tragedy, that are local officials; chose not to invest in our children's education. It makes me happy, knowing that our tax dollars are being allocated into other programs, and not the government's true # 1 priority, our EDUCATION system! Our government's civic responsibility is to provide a free education, instead we're closing schools! Here's a civic idea, to save money, cut the unneeded political bureaucracy & government spending; and utilize our tax dollars more efficiently. Our state government's #1 concern should be our education system & improving it; not closing the schools that are necessary for an education system to succeed. Obviously, our state government # 1 priority is not our education system, as a state of Washington, its citizens should be greatly concerned; why their isn't enough money to fund a successful educational system? Increasing taxes is not a quality answer, our government needs to be reminded of its true civic priorities.
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