Seattle School Board Candidates’ Perspectives on Alternative Schools in Seattle 

October 30, 2009

Candidates for the contested positions on the Seattle School Board (Districts 5 and 7)
were asked to respond to the following three questions via email this week.  Here are their responses.

  District 5:  Mary Bass and Kay Smith-Blum

Question 1:  What role do you see for alternative schools in the Seattle School District?

Bass: The role I see for alternative schools is: filling in a teaching methodology that is not offered at our comprehensive, standardized schools (or in general ed programs).  Teaching style and the approach to student learning should be varied throughout our district to meet the varied learning styles of ALL students.  Some students flourish in comprehensive schools or general ed programs.  Others do not.  We are fortunate to have experienced more than 3 decades of alternative schools. They have grown to be an intricate and engaging thread in the fabric of Seattle education.

In 2001-02 the Superintendent, at that time, was planning on abolishing alternative schools.  In my view, the rationales were weak and unsubstantiated.  I stood against that legislation and voted it down.  This was my first year on the Board.  From that point on, with every Superintendent and change on the Board, alternative schools have been under attack so-to-speak.  I have continually stood in defense of our alternative programs and will categorically continue to do so.

Smith-Blum:  Alternative schools allow us to “incubate” ideas, best practices, etc.  The more we learn about how to engage kids--particularly practices we can use district-wide—the better.  Alternative schools by nature draw in significant parental support—harnessing that support is a big part of their success.

Question 2:  How do you think alternative schools should be evaluated in the district?

Bass:  A fully representative committee must be established to evaluate alternative schools – not just an outside consultant firm/organization.  The make-up of the committee will be extremely important – every voice must be represented at the decision-making table.

This committee must have representatives from the Seattle School alternative community such as alternative parents, students, and specialist/professionals like former alternative high school principal, Elaine Packard, etc.

Smith-Blum:  We have to hold alternative schools to the same assessments of skill sets, standards that are used statewide, but we also need to create metrics for measuring innovation, student progress for all schools (and teachers) so that we can accurately assess our successful schools and our struggling ones.  We cannot cherry-pick data, we need to use all date in our evaluations.

Question 3:  What goals(s) would you have for alternative schools for the next four years if you are elected/re-elected?

Bass:  The primary goal (I’ve shared this focus over the years) is to: define your schools; define your pedagogy; and define your uniqueness.  If your school is linked to other comprehensive schools in terms of course offerings, teaching methodology, and the like, you will be lumped in with other “regular” schools.  Your school will no longer be considered “alternative.”

I hope that the alternative school community stays steadfast in their resolve to pursue alternative education for their children and for future students.

Smith-Blum:  To be used in an aggressive student-teacher collaboration with all colleges/universities in our region…to lead the way for innovation in an extended school day, to create models for the P-8 continuum, to create avenues for better teacher development and training—use any way we can to better the classroom and out-of-the-classroom instruction.

  District 7:  Wilson Chin and Betty Patu

Question 1:  What role do you see for alternative schools in the Seattle School District?

Chin: I believe alternative schools have an important role to play in our educational system.  All students are not cut from the same cloth.  There are multiple learning styles and intelligences that cannot be appropriately addressed in a traditional school setting.  For these individuals, the specialized services offered by alternative schools are often best-suited to provide instruction and learning opportunities tailored to the unique needs of attending students.

Patu: The role of alternative schools should be a program to connect needed community resources to students who are not succeeding in the traditional high school environment.  The immediate goal would be to help engage students in successful learning, stay in school, and prepare them for life.  The overall goal of the program would be to successfully transition students back to home school, decrease district's dropout rate and intervene in negative life courses of at-risk youth.  The related goal is to reduce the likelihood of these youths being arrested and referred to the juvenile justice system.

Question 2:  How do you think alternative schools should be evaluated in the district?

Chin: I have repeatedly called for relying on more than just a single, standardized test to measure student academic performance in traditional public schools.  As a school board director, I would insist upon multiple measures to determine academic progress for students attending alternative schools.  With respect to evaluating alternative schools, I believe the degree of parental involvement and also the implementation of innovative teaching and learning programs should be critical components of any comprehensive assessment process.  As a district we need to define outcomes and expectations of our students that can be flexibly applied to both traditional and alternative schools.  As school board director, I would welcome the opportunity to hear from, and discuss with, members of the alternative schooling community other ways in which alternative school evaluation should be developed and administered.

Patu: Alternative schools should be evaluated on transition, service provided, school behavior support, and administration.  All indicators should reflect a quality assurance program needed to ensure a uniformed accountability system that can be implemented in all the alternative programs district wide.

Question 3:  What goals(s) would you have for alternative schools for the next four years if you are elected/re-elected?

Chin: My “big picture” goals for alternative schools are the same as they are for public schools: ensuring a safe environment to provide improved instruction, examining performance, and providing equity in academics as well as resources.  To accomplish this, I will work to acquire additional funding from all levels of government; engage and partner with those stakeholders who have demonstrated their commitment to our public schools and the children that attend them; and lead efforts that encourage and provide opportunities for increased community and family involvement.

Patu:  If elected, I would like to take an inventory of alternative program structure and expectations, family/school/community engagement, program deficiencies/strengths, partnerships/collaborations to solidify discipline program practices and transition processes.  I would like to evaluate what is working and what is not, replace and enhance until we reach our overall goal.