I am running for Seattle School Board because I believe that every child - I mean every child - should have access to a high quality public school education. 

For 34 years I’ve called the Central District home. As a Seattle Public Schools mom I have experienced the promise and failure of our schools. Too often, demographics like race, zip code, socio-economic status, different abilities, first language, or the location of a child’s school determine the quality of education a student receives. This inequity is unacceptable. We can do better for our children.

This past year has pushed our students and families into survival mode, as they have navigated the virtual classroom and faced the physical, emotional, and mental health impacts of COVID-19. Our students deserve a champion who will put their needs first. SPS has historically failed to serve Black students and students of color. We must close this opportunity gap. Our schools and teachers should understand the social-emotional needs and barriers facing marginalized students. I will ensure we invest in K-12 anti-racist curriculum, and evidence-based metrics of success over standardized tests that leave so many students behind.

As a former Midwife, Social Worker, Maternal-Child Health professional, PTA member, and public servant, I will continue working hard to identify the challenges facing Seattle Public Schools and will collaborate with others to build effective and enduring solutions. Our students shouldn’t have to operate in resiliency mode to succeed in our public schools. Our children are our future, and it’s time we invest in their success.

Endorsed by The Seattle Times, The Stranger, King County Democrats, 11th, 36th, 37th, & 43rd LD Democrats, Seattle Education Association, Ironworkers Local 86, Emerald Youth Organizing Collective, Women of Color in Politics, Seattle School Board Director Zachary DeWolf, and Seattle Council PTSA President Manuela Slye.

Bills passed this year by the legislature require Washington State schools to teach that American legal institutions, the US constitution and the country itself are founded on and continue to be used to perpetuate white supremacy and discrimination on a national scale, and that these are the mechanisms of current “systemic racism” and white supremacy that explain all social disparities.  These ideas have already been incorporated into SPS’ curriculum and practice over the last several years under the banner of “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, and are included in the new ethnic studies courses.

This is a gross mischaracterization of past discrimination and current disparities.  Promulgating these falsehoods through the public schools attacks the foundation of our national identity and civil society.  What a terrible lie to tell a child, that they are oppressed and cannot succeed.

The very concept of individual civil rights that requires equal treatment of individuals is rejected by SPS’ “equity” policy 0030, which states that “equitable access” requires going “beyond formal equality” to “differentiated application of resources”, using “racial equity analysis”, incorporating appreciation of “history and heritage”.   In other words, equity for past discrimination requires discrimination against whites.  This is not conjecture – teacher training materials confirm this interpretation of SPS’ equity policy.

Of course there are many reasons for ongoing social disparities other than racism, bad leadership and bad policy chief among them.  Those policies are the issue, not some grand white supremacist scheme.  Support for students should be applied as required based on actual individual need, not based on racial group statistics.  Discrimination and stereotyping individuals is always wrong, period.

The SPS board has statutory authority to determine our curriculum. Please join me in returning Seattle Public Schools to teaching complex American history, the bad and the good, and valuing individual civil rights.