[Place the visuals in a table, for better layout on narrower screens]
[Better to have Sarah’s and Carol’s logos on white backgrounds]
Declining enrollment. $100 million budget deficit. Looming school closures. Short-term superintendents. Lack of board oversight and accountability. Achievement gaps. Staffing shortages, leading to ballooning class sizes. Only 56% of students proficient in math and 67% proficient in reading.
It’s time for a new direction.
A new board, focused on good governance and oversight.
Show screenshots (newspaper tear-outs?) of some of these headlines, with links to articles:
- https://komonews.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/seattle-schools-face-enrollment-decline-as-students-return
- https://www.kuow.org/stories/the-100-million-question-how-will-seattle-public-schools-close-its-lingering-deficit
- https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/seattle-public-schools-faces-millions-in-budget-cuts/
- https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/mismanagement-in-seattle-public-schools-a-lesson-in-what-not-to-do/
- https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-wants-to-close-20-elementary-schools
- https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/why-have-thousands-left-seattle-schools-a-new-study-suggests-answers/
- https://www.kuow.org/stories/politics-and-change-why-seattle-public-schools-superintendent-is-stepping-down-brent-jones
- https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/how-did-the-seattle-school-board-lose-its-way/
- https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/seattle-public-schools-create-chaos-instead-of-community/
SOME FACTS HERE ABOUT THE FOUR CANDIDATES
“Our public school system is well over 100 years old and was never designed to meet today’s needs. [….] there is virtually no accountability built into the system. [….] Seattle Public Schools are failing our children.” —Donald P. Nielsen, former president of the Seattle School Board, Seattle Times, March 3, 2023