The Plan
Informed by my experiences as a public school mother, employee, and advocate, my plan reflects the community values and perspectives I have gained insight from along the way.
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My Promise: I will never pivot on my core values of protecting our most vulnerable families and elevating all youth voices.
01
Find Long-term Superintendent
The consistent budget crisis, staff burn out, and families leaving the district are all symptoms of a lack of consistent leadership. We need someone committed to a longer term vision for systemic change. ​​​
Key strengths this district needs in a superintendent are. + Experienced and proven equity lens +Innovative ways to measure academic success and learning outcomes, to reflect a more holistic perspective of education. + Clear and consistent communication with emphasis on community focused engagement. + Experience with deficient organizations and creative means of reinventing them. +Aligned with unions and Professional development, creating a pathway for promotion from within.
02
Rebuild Trust & Sustainable Budget
The budget crisis Seattle Schools is suffering from is a symptom of a dysfunctional district. Students, families, and educators are left harmed and neglected. This needs to change.
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To balance the budget, SPS needs to become a desirable district. Attracting families and bringing programs that prepare all children for the world:
+ This will need to start with establishing trust through authentic and sustainable community engagement.
+ Pulling together as one district redistributing PTA funds,
+ Investing and partnering with Community Violent Intervention programs with organizations like community passageways, Alliance for Gun Responsibility who at the state level has helped pass responsible gun laws to keep everyone safe.
+ Focusing on line items within the state and city tax revenue that could provide more funds towards k-12 education. Wealth tax, Jumpstart Tax, reexamine lottery fund distribution as an immediate. Long term, making the common sense case for amending the constitution and building a progressive tax plan. ​​​​​​
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We must work towards radical transparency, even if we learn the ugly truth, and make decisions to fund our schools while we fix them. Our public schools are the bastion of our democracy, so it's about time we prioritize them like we mean it.
The district must earn trust back and the engagement meetings are starting point, however, they must be structed and centered around families.  + All families and school building staff should have a voting stake in budget determinations. Allowing those directly impacted to consent to what they would be fine cutting and/or investing in. + Prioritizing funds to Community Violent Intervention programs. Proven to be more effective in deescalating and reducing potentially violent outcomes substantially more than resource officers or armed security /school staff. Also working with the city to reduce gun violence in the neighborhood. +Prioritizing funds to curriculum along the lines of Ethnic Studies K-12. Evidence shows, students are more engaged when they see themselves reflected in curriculum. +Prioritize and invest in special education curriculum, trainings and professional development. + Reinvest in a robust mental healthcare strategies for all SPS families. When basic needs are not met, students cannot thrive and focus on building their future. + Work with the city towards a more progressive revenue structure.
03
Empower Youth, Our Educators & Community
Families, who can afford it, are fleeing to private schools, taking extra-curriculars, internships, and opportunities we not all our public schools schools offer. Your zip code should not be what defines your trajectory in life.
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We need to work with the Housing Authority, City reps, and community to prioritize and build up successful programs that stabilize housing and provide stepping stones so that vulnerable neighbors can reclaim their agency and build a stable and thriving life for themselves. ​​​​
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Public schools are beacons for community development and it is time to return to it.
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With creative partnership and community involvement we can create youth empowerment opportunities and provide an incubation of professional development for our educator professionals, and neighbors to become the most competitive talent in our nation.​​
Our city government have the responsibility to provide youth opportunities, as network connections create immediate opportunity. For those families without network connections in various fields, that bridge of opportunity is gone and a chasm of professional development remains. Facilitating these connections between public-public and public-private partnerships are fundamental to providing students and educator professionals with a pathway to accomplishing their unique goals. Programs like the Bailey Gatzert and Seattle U program- where Seattle U partnered with the school to provide targeted and symbiotic programs that enriched Bailey Gatzert and provided hands on education for Seattle U students. Let the youth create a vision for their future and we will all benefit from the world they create.