SUPPORT our KIDS and SCHOOLS!

Vote “YES” for Proposition 1 – the Seattle Schools Levy

Over the last 2 years the state CUT $32 million from our Seattle schools. More cuts are inevitable next year, hurting every child and every teacher.

This levy is a one-shot opportunity to lessen the impact of these cuts and help our kids get the BASIC education they deserve. Your “YES” vote will, among other things:

1. Help purchase texbooks and BASIC classroom supplies that state funding normally provides;

2. Provide teacher development, so our kids continue to get a good education;

3. Continue the progress being made towards closing the achievement gap;

4. Fund critical programs that help prepare students for life after graduation.

This levy offers us the opportunity to offset JUST SOME of the funding cuts our schools have suffered. The choice is a stark one: either we accept these cuts, or we come together locally to support our kids’ education.

We feel strongly that if we don’t pass this levy, our kids will be denied the programs and materials they need for a BASIC education.

Please join us and vote “YES!” It’s for our children’s sake!

www.SchoolsFirstSeattle.org, or info@SchoolsFirstSeattle.org

Seattle School District Central Administration continues to grow, even as enrollment has shrunk. District bureaucrats have tried to camouflage this growth, meanwhile school budgets have been gutted.

The District wants this money for expensive projects and headquarters staffing; software and three new central staff positions for a controversial teacher evaluation program, and central administration staffing for textbook adoption, curricular alignment, and teacher coaches. None of it is for schools or students.

The District says the levy will cover state cuts -- but remember, the money is to staff new projects at headquarters --  not for schools and programs that suffered cuts.  They say that this will be a temporary tax. but have we seen a “temporary” tax go away?  

The State Auditor recently found the District is out of compliance with state laws,  mismanaged I-728 money, lacked controls on spending, and had “significant deficiencies in controls that adversely affect the District's ability to produce reliable financial statements." No authority holds them accountable for these failures. Only voters can.

“Excellence for All” is empty rhetoric. They can't justify this spending at headquarters when class sizes are increasing and schools are hurting.
Accountability first; vote NO on the supplemental levy.

The School Board’s Resolution states what the funds will be used for: supporting our KIDS’ EDUCATION. To suggest anything else is false.

Some people will oppose any and every levy. Our children deserve better.

The state continues to cut education funding - $32 million since 2008.

Given the economy we expect MORE cuts next year.

This levy restores SOME of what we’ve lost.

Parents, teachers and children urge you to vote YES – for our kids’ sake!

Statement Submitted by: Lauren McGuire, John Boyd and Greg Wong

Why is Schools First argument so vague?  What progress on the gap? What critical programs? The bulk of the levy will be spent on Central Administration, NOT in classrooms.  The State Auditor stated, yet again, that the District leadership fails to oversee spending. The Superintendent spent $7,000 to party with 70 people - against the rules and without apology. How does that help kids?
Read the Audits. Get the Facts.   http://enforcetopdownreform.blogspot.com/

Statement submitted by: Dorothy Neville, Ken Berry and Charlie Mas

Download the full text of resolution

Simple majority (Washington Constitution Article VII, Section 2(a)).