Sharon Rodgers, who wrote for Schools First, is someone I know. She and I have a cordial, respectful relationship and I certainly don't take anything she said personally. But I think I will use her wording in reply.

I am appalled by people who are enablers for our district to continue to fail financially. I am appalled by people who, levy after levy, promise to hold the district and the Board to be accountable and yet, nothing changes. Parents are large group and could be counted on if Schools First and/or the Seattle Council PTSA asked them to rise to the occasion and put pressure on the district to do better.

They never have.

They encourage us to write letters to the Board and talk to the Board and even more hilariously, talk to Dr. G-J. Sure, that'll work.

I am appalled that anyone could read that audit and not feel sickened. And then go out and say, trust the district.

I am appalled that anyone could look the other way or pretend that it's just a few naysayers saying no. It's not and Schools First knows it. Sorry, when you get the Seattle Times saying no and the solid citizens of the League of Women Voters expressing deep dissatisfaction with the district and, instead of backing this levy as they did for the ones in Feb, say they are taking no position, then it's not just a few people.

It's interesting because I was having a conversation with a state legislator who told me that he was surprised about how much the district was making of the cuts because the Legislature tried very hard to stay away from education and made cuts much deeper in other areas. It's like the district is tone-deaf to the rest of the state having to make do with less.

And those cuts hitting "bone"? Not when you don't freeze the travel budget or you have extra money for a lavish party or hire Broad residents for upper management jobs. Sorry, we're really not there yet.

The State audit says that the Board and the district are "putting our public funds at risk." That should send a chill down your spine. And we'll give them more money to waste and not be accountable for? How does that help kids?

Losing the levy will be a HUGE signal and push to our district. It might just push out the Superintendent as @5 seems to want.

This levy is about priorities. It is about if we are cutting funds, then most of the remaining funds have to go to the CLASSROOM and not projects for teachers and consultants. (That teachers were willing to sign their contract KNOWING that if the levy failed, they wouldn't get their raises should tell you something.)

The money has to go to the classroom first and this levy does not direct the money that way. Vote NO and save our schools.

Wow! There sure is a lot in this SLOG post that is either factually incorrect or otherwise deceptive.

"horrific state cuts to education"
"So the cuts continue: $32 million from Seattle schools since 2008 with more on the way."
Funding for Seattle Public Schools has risen each of the past several years. There have NOT been cuts to the District budget. This talk of cuts is a flat-out lie.

"This levy will fund priority items"
If the District's budget has been cut, then how has the District leadership justified cuts to classrooms and schools (bigger class sizes, teacher lay-offs, counselors cut, etc.) while spending millions on pet projects? I guess the projects were higher priorities for them. This levy money will be allocated and spent by the very same people with the very same priorities. Did you know that this week, at the same time that the District is saying they have to make drastic cuts to classrooms the Board is going to commit to spending $2.5 million on virtual desktops? Yep. That's their spending priority.

How will the levy be spent? There's no telling. The levy money will just go into the District's Operations fund along will all of the other money. Once it's in there no one can tell those dollars apart. They will all look and spend the same. There's no oversight committee for this levy. There won't be any report on how it was spent. It will just get spent like all of the rest of the District's money. Perhaps the best way to know how the levy was spent will be to identify the $14 million worth of the lowest priority spending for the District next year. That's the money that they wouldn't have if the levy had failed and that's what the levy will have bought.

Any talk about how the levy will be spent is intentionally deceptive.

"The community is behind this levy"
This would be the same community that unanimously agrees that Seattle Public Schools has been horribly mismanaged? Such as the mayor who suggested that the city should take over the failing District? Such as the city officials who refuse to sink any of their own money into the District without strict contracts? Such as the state officials who reel in horror at the District's mismanagement? Also, how typical of the establishment to identify elected officials as "the community". Hot tip: the People are the community.

"That three percent represents nearly $50 million for schools."
Actually $48.2 million - and that's over three years so it works out to about $16 million a year. Let's not pretend that it's more. It's less than 3% of the budget. The schools will get 97 cents instead of a dollar.

"Our schools have been taking cuts for years and now these cuts are hitting bone."
Again, District budget has gone UP each of the past several years and the cuts to classrooms have been necessary to support a bloated central administration.

"All the audit findings are being addressed"
Actually, no, they aren't. What the District has done is commit to a plan to form a team to address the audit findings. Read the Board's resolution on audit response at this week's Board meeting. You will find their action plan filled with inaction verbs.

"the district is on the right track"
No. It isn't. The District is going to commit to spending $2.5 million on computer upgrades this week. At their last meeting they committed to spending over $700,000 to upgrade their web site. These are higher priorities than classrooms? Hmmm. Doesn't sound like the right track to me.

"Eighty-five jobs have been cut from central administration"
No. Not really. The District simply re-classified a lot of those jobs. They now claim them as working in schools instead of the headquarters, but they are still the same people doint the same work. The district initially claimed that they were letting go of 90 people but acknowledged that five of the positions they were eliminating would be replaced by five new positions. They got so tired of being called out on that obvious lie that they finally stopped telling it.

Not a Native, look. Seattle is now the most childless city of major cities in the U.S. (We used to be number two after San Francisco.) We, as parents, are dependent upon our friends and neighbors to vote in our school levies (some of which are needed because this state doesn't fully fund education but that is TOTALLY different from this discussion). So we have really great people in this city who support public education. And, if you ask most public school parents, they love/like their kid's school.

HOWEVER, the problem is in the dysfunctional, highly entrenched bureaucracy that is the Seattle School district management. We somehow never get a decent superintendent coupled with a smart School Board. Currently we have an ed reform minded Superintendent who seems more about bullet points on her resume than making this district better. We have a smart Board but they seem too scared of her to stand up to her.

The manta of "it's for the kids" or better yet "you're hurting kids" is always brought out for levies. AND we are always promised that the district will be more accountable for the money (but they never are - there is NO ONE who could get a spreadsheet that would clearly account for the levy money and I know because I have tried).

We had a terrible state audit this summer which clearly shows how off course our headquarters is. That the Seattle Times said no (and they are considered somewhat conservative in this town) and the League of Women Voters (a really solid citizen group) takes no position should tell you something (despite both endorsing the two levies in Feb. - yes, we already passed two school levies this year) .

Sure, we could wait until the Board elections next fall but honestly, this district needs some cold water in their faces now, not next fall.

The first line of defense in democracy is the voter. That's you and this is the time. Vote no and tell the district the first priority IS the classroom.