Seattle was once a family-friendly city. That is no longer the case.
Consider the numbers. In 1960, the city had a population of 550,000, and Seattle Public Schools had an enrollment of over 100,000 students. Today, with a city population of almost 800,000, the school system serves only 49,000 students. So, in the last 65 years, our city has gained 250,000 new residents but local schools lost 51,000 children.
Over the last few years, we have witnessed a marked deterioration of our beautiful city. Today, homeless camps still exist in many areas, and graffiti is pervasive. It’s been a painful ride for most of us. Many of us are hopeful that our mayor and City Council will help change things. And although there is a long way to go, we are starting to see meaningful improvement.
Schools are, of course, a particular concern to residents. We want our schools to be safe, well-managed and effective educational institutions for our children. Today, our schools fail all three counts. The trend has been developing for decades. Maybe it is time for a change.
But if we’re hopeful that the mayor and City Council can also help fix our schools, we’re looking in the wrong place. Neither the mayor nor the council has any authority over our schools. That’s entirely the purview of the School Board, which is independently elected and can do whatever it wants.
This arrangement makes no sense, as the health of any city is directly related to its schools. A genuinely healthy city is one where families want to live and kids get to attend excellent schools. It’s one where families build community and children give the city youthful vigor.
It should bother us that the mayor and council have no say in how our schools are operated. Schools are the single most important institution in any city. Today, our School Board is managing a $1.2 billion organization with 8,000 employees. Yet nobody on the board has any experience running or managing a large organization. We elect people who choose to run for the board, not people who are qualified to be members. The same trend exists in most large cities. Running for public office has become unattractive to successful people, and being a School Board member is one of the least attractive elected offices. So, while we get concerned citizens, they are not necessarily qualified for the job.
We cannot expect schools to improve if the leadership and governance are ineffective. If our mayor were responsible for the School Board, my guess is that he would look for people who have experience running large organizations, understand accounting and finance, and have a passion for kids and the city. A board populated with such people would be able to hire a gifted leader and begin improving our schools, making it desirable for families to return.
Perhaps we should seriously consider going from an elected school board to an appointed board, or even no board, and make the superintendent part of the mayor’s cabinet, like the fire and police chiefs. Either change could improve the management of our schools and, therefore, the education of our children. Other cities have tried this, but it is only effective with an effective mayor, and we have one. Though the Legislature would have to approve this move, maybe it is time to give this idea a try.
We need to, again, become a family-friendly city. Improving the governance and management of our schools would be one place to start.
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