By Greg Wong
As the parent of two children at John Muir Elementary School, and Vice President of John Muir PTA, I am painfully aware that state cuts to our schools have a direct and negative effect on our children and the quality of their education. That is why passing the Seattle School Levy this November is so important. It is even more important in light of the disproportionate impact those cuts will have on our already under-resourced south-end schools.
Seattle’s school kids are facing a serious threat to their education. The state has cut over $32 million to Seattle’s public education since 2008. With a $4.5 billion budget shortfall, the state has signaled that even deeper cuts to funding for our schools are on the way.
These cuts mean schools aren’t able to buy up-to-date textbooks; teachers don’t have the support they need to purchase basic classroom supplies; and many programs and services that our kids depend on are severely under-funded, or have been entirely eliminated.
The Seattle School Levy on the November ballot will help offset just some of these cuts. At 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, the owner of a $400,000 home will pay just $48 per year to support our kids. That’s a small price to pay to support our kids during this time of crisis.
Opponents cite an audit of the school district as a reason to vote against the levy. Schools First, the standing citizens group that works to provide levy funding for schools, and on whose board I proudly serve, follows these issues closely and is confident that all the audit findings are being addressed.
Opponents also claim that levy dollars will be used to expand what they perceive is an inflated district bureaucracy. In fact, 85 jobs have been cut from the central administration. Seven million dollars has been shaved from the central office budget. Just over 6% of the 2010-11 budget is directed to central administration. The state average in 2008-2009 was 8%. The district’s priority continues to be kids and teachers in the classroom.
The community is solidly behind this levy: Mayor McGinn, County Executive Dow Constantine, the 34th, 36th, 46th & 47th District Democrats, Seattle Metro and King County Democrats, the teachers and principals associations, business groups, PTAs, the Seattle City Council and many others. They support the levy because they know our schools need our help.
When you sit down to fill out your ballot, I hope that you will think about my kids and the 47,000 other Seattle public school students who deserve a decent education. PLEASE vote YES on Prop 1, the Seattle School Levy.
This mail-in ballot will be very long with many issues and candidates. Please take the time to turn it over and find Prop One, the Seattle Schools levy at the end of your ballot… and vote YES for schools!
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{ 5 comments }
I just looked at the Seattle Schools most recent budget online (http://www.seattleschools.org/area/finance/budget/index.htm)
The district spends nearly $13,000 per student, which seems like a lot.
Mercer Island spends $10,736/student.
Look up the budget, the enrollment, and do some math here:
http://www.misd.k12.wa.us/departments/business/budget/default.html
And how many children from families living near or below the poverty line does Mercer Island have, by chance? How many children there receive free or subsidized meals becuase their families are unable to provide them? Finally, how much money do Mercer Island schools raise through their PTAs each year? While the Mercer Island cost per student may be cheaper I am going to hazard a guess that the student body there is a lot better off economically, and has in general a lot better family support than Seattle, when looked at as a district overrall. If you are going to do a comparison, it would be better to pick a city that is actually more like Seattle in terms of population and average incomes.
Michael A: Please read the opposing view on this levy. This ADDITIONAL money is not likely to end up in classrooms, but will instead be used for special projects and other non-essentials. And, note that once the levy is passed the District can do whatever it wants with the money.
SPS Central Admin is a mess and will continue to be if Seattle residents keep throwing money at it every time it asks.
This is NOT the annual operations levy or any of the other essential levies, this levy WILL raise your property tax and you are unlikely to see any real benefits in the classrooms.
Mr. Wong writes about cuts to the District’s budget, but the District’s budget has actually gone up – significantly – over the past three years. What cuts is he talking about? Cuts made to classrooms so that millions can be spent on central administration projects. While there have been cuts to classrooms there hasn’t been a single central administration project that was even slowed – let alone reduced or deferred.
Mr. Wong writes about the audit and claims that the audit findings are being addressed. That’s not true. Follow his link and read the Board’s “audit response”. There’s no action in their action plan. They say that they will plan and that they will establish a team and that they will have meetings. These are all inactions, not actions. Imagine if you asked your child to clean his or her room and when you came back fifteen minutes later they hadn’t done a thing about it except develop a plan, appoint a team, and schedule meetings. Would you accept that from your child as actions taken to clean their room?
The supplemental levy is a small amount of money for the District – less than 3% of their budget. We need to use it to send them the message to prioritize their spending and put students and classrooms ahead of central administration projects. Don’t believe that they will do it if you vote yes. You need to vote no.
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