FOLLOWUP: Alki Elementary reaches teacher-saving goal with $70,000+ donation; donor says it’s time for ‘some real change’

ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:23 PM SUNDAY: Just in: The West Seattle school that was crowdfunding to try to save a teacher from being cut has apparently met its goal. After receiving e-mail announcing that the Alki Elementary fundraising drive had reached its goal thanks to a $70,000+ donation, we checked the crowdfunding page, and the donation is listed there. Donor Brian Jones posted on the Crowdrise.com page:

This lack of funding has to end. It starts with our state legislature who has dropped the ball and is failing our children. We need to come together as families and support the most important need of our children – education. I donate this money on behalf of my two children, one who entered kindergarten at Loyal Heights this year and the other who will start kindergarten in two years. I am outraged and fed up with this entire issue and the fact that our legislature does not seem that this is an urgent priority. Please contact me at brian@psgfilms.com if you feel the same and let’s make some real change. I am ready to lead and make that happen. I’m not a politician. I’m just a pissed off parent, who is sick and tired of the horrible leadership that is failing our children.

ADDED MONDAY 12:25 AM: We e-mailed Brian Jones with a couple questions, to follow up. He replies:

I have two daughters, age 3 and 6. I live in Ballard and have no children that attend school in West Seattle. When my daughter entered Kindergarten this year at Loyal Heights, I learned I had to pay over $2000 to cover the second part of the day. I found that ridiculous and didn’t know why until I learned more about the McCleary decision and the basis of that lawsuit.

The legislature and Governor seem to be taking forever, (and my state rep and senator never even email me back). So when I heard about the lack of funding and teacher pulls, I talked with my wife and we decided that enough was enough and that we would do what we could to help, because our elected officials are failing our children. I don’t know anything about politics, but I do know a child’s education and a loving family is a recipe for success.

The first step that anyone can do is come to the rally this Tuesday at SPS headquarters and learn how our children are taking a back seat to this absolute ridiculous inaction by our elected officials.

After that I plan on galvanizing others to pressure our legislature to move fast and swift regarding this issue or face a movement of parents who will vote them out of office. … I’m not a politician or even “political,” I just can’t stand by and see our education system run like this.

The rally he mentions has also just been mentioned to us by Schmitz Park Elementary parent Rachel Lazar, who’s been a leader in advocacy at that school since this all started circulating on Thursday. It’s set for 4 pm this Tuesday (October 13th) outside district headquarters, 3rd and Lander in SODO.

70 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Alki Elementary reaches teacher-saving goal with $70,000+ donation; donor says it's time for 'some real change'"

  • Waitasec October 12, 2015 (12:14 am)

    That donation is still a lot of money to many people in this city.

    For example, the parents of Highland Park students might wonder how they can raise such sums to save their teachers.
    Or might Brian be willing to save the Highland Park students from their disruption?

    How are parents at HP suppose to fight this when most of their kids are free lunch?

    Somebody fix the schools.

  • Laocoon October 12, 2015 (6:42 am)

    If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

    -Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

  • WSMom October 12, 2015 (7:03 am)

    So they were able to raise the money because their school has money. What about the other schools? They just go without because they have less. That is wrong.

  • Betsy October 12, 2015 (7:10 am)

    What extraordinary generosity! A furious parent with deep pockets willing to chip in AND Take a lead, what a combination. I am so glad for Alki… Now what do we do for the test of the schools? Thank you, generous donor!

  • su October 12, 2015 (7:18 am)

    Thank you for your AMAZING generosity and support Brian!

  • Aa October 12, 2015 (7:21 am)

    Last time this came up people said that raising money for one school,one teacher didn’t work. You can’t simply pick and choose, at least the general public can’t, which teacher stays or goes.

    How is this different? Is it really possible to take the money raised to the school district and say; this is to keep Ms./Mr.____?

  • Alki Parent October 12, 2015 (7:25 am)

    We at Alki are incredibly grateful to the generosity of our community, including our generous benefactor — who is a parent from Ballard, with no know connection at our school. But we are connected with him through our frustration at the situation our schools are in and our determination to do something about it. Make no mistake, we are not done helping the community now that our own fire is out. Our parents are fired up, we have united with other WS schools, and we are committed to improving the education that Seattle provides for its kids.

  • su October 12, 2015 (7:50 am)

    Ws mom, it’s not that their school has money, they are dedicated parents that take immediate action to save a much loved teacher, parent and member of their community. The donations came from random donors on the crowdrise website. The big one came from a North Seattle public school parent not from ws. It otherwise the goal wouldn’t have been met.
    It’s about collective action not money. Where do your kids go to school? If it’s public then this same group of parents are rallying for you too!

  • robinmama4 October 12, 2015 (7:56 am)

    This is such great show of support for Alki. What is so very unfortunate is that 24 other schools are also losing staff, and at many, the most disproportionality effected will be special ed students, students of color, families who live well bellow the poverty line.

    I can’t fault Alki, Schmitz Park for funding staff and supportfor their children – this is an emergency for them – but don’t forget that Roxhill, West Seattle Elem, Highland Park and Concord are not getting McCleary funds, not able to raise money in this capacity, and their students are getting (for lack of any eloquent term) totally hosed (again).

  • Nick October 12, 2015 (8:03 am)

    It’s nice that the school with much higher incomes are getting donations from people in Ballard but schools like highland park and roxhill don’t get the same funds this should not be allowed as it creates more inequality in schools. It’s nice that people are donating but this is unfair to those other schools loosing staff.

  • Rick October 12, 2015 (8:03 am)

    This could be the start of a dangerous trend where city,county,state will expect or allow private donations to pay for basic services that supposedly are already funded. No or very limited fire services in your area? Have a bake sale or sell your grandma’s heirloom wedding ring to help pay for it. (Just a far-out example of what COULD be, folks).

  • Alice October 12, 2015 (8:14 am)

    Brian Jones and his family are stars! My kiddo doesn’t go to Alki, and I have mixed feelings about the fundraising efforts in general — but all that aside, I have to applaud this effort by one individual (and his family) to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

  • Alki Parent 2 October 12, 2015 (8:14 am)

    How great it is to know that a community can create this kind of awareness and make a small difference, but your right WSmom the fight is not over and the Alki parents will not stop advocating for ALL the kids in the Seattle School District!!!
    Thank you Brian and everyone that donated!

  • Priorities October 12, 2015 (8:30 am)

    That $70k would probably have a greater ROI if spent to help elect candidates who wouldn’t put us in these situations to begin with.

  • Neighbor October 12, 2015 (9:19 am)

    The current state of this country is encapsulated in this act. We are giving away our future so that corporations don’t have to pay for a civilized society. How humbling that we now rely on donors to educate our children. If this doesn’t shake your version of what is America today I can’t imagine what will

  • flimflam October 12, 2015 (9:40 am)

    I actually like this fundraising – property taxes are already getting out of control, maybe parents of school children SHOULD kick in a little extra?

    .
    having kids is a big responsibility – I’ve chosen not to have any thus far and while I don’t mind chipping in a bit for the greater good, there is a point where this shouldn’t be solely a tax payers’ burden. i’m sure this will not be a popular opinion, especially with parents, but these are your kids and they deserve the best – who better to help see to that than their own parents?

  • Alice October 12, 2015 (9:47 am)

    flimflam, you might not have kids, but perhaps you were a child sitting in a public school seat at one point — and people in your community chipped in for YOUR greater good. in any case, the parents at my school donate over $200K each year to benefit our children. Just wanted you to know that many ARE kicking in a little (or a lot!) extra.

  • AJP October 12, 2015 (10:02 am)

    That’s great that parents with connections, know-how, and time can rally and save a teacher. It’s not great for the kids at Highland Park, Concord, Roxhill, etc, whose parents don’t have connections, work a lot and don’t have time, and don’t have the cultural know-how to make it happen. It’s simply not fair. EVERY child should have a great start at life. Flimflam: if schools were properly funded and all kids had the resources they need for a great start to life, there would be less crime and fewer problems down the road. Crime and societal problems affect us all, so investing in the education and care of other people’s children will positively impact you in the future as well.

  • HappyOnAlki October 12, 2015 (10:30 am)

    So flimflam, only people with money should have kids? Or only people with money should send their kids to school? How thoughtful.

  • flimflam October 12, 2015 (10:34 am)

    alice, I said I didn’t mind chipping in, ie via taxes – it just seems that its never enough and there is a point where I am unwilling to do more.

  • M October 12, 2015 (11:06 am)

    HappyOnAlki – that really was an uncalled for & wasteful comment re: flimflam’s original post.

    Everything flimflam stated has valid points.
    And again, said that he/she doesn’t mind chipping in.

    Yes. Having children requires money. Alittle. A Lot. Whatever. Depends on what your goals are for yourself & your family. Why expect “someone else” to provide for yourself or your children.

    Secondly, Yes, property taxes are out of control & there is a level that it has become ridiculously high, & we have reached that point.

    I believe every SPS parent should be required to do volunteer hours at the school. Everyone may not have a lot of money, but everyone has effort, & a gift or talent that they can lend to make their school & school community better.

  • SomeGuy October 12, 2015 (11:21 am)

    “Priorities” alluded to this in an earlier response, but rather than having $70K go towards one particular school, could ALL donations be pooled into one fund to (A) pursue legal options against SPS and the legislators that continue to drag their heels with mandated funding levels; and (B) start publicizing the failure of those we elected so that when re-election time rolls around, we can all remember the names of those who are failing us. This maintains a level playing field amongst all schools who are impacted. Additional thoughts?

  • robinmama4 October 12, 2015 (11:40 am)

    The SPS budget has parents paying for 30 FTE (at 66,000 an FTE) this doesn’t include the funding for arts, supervision, BOOKS, tutoring, and other very BASIC EDUCATION NEEDS n- like at my kids schools pencils for day 1. For YEARS Washington state has been NOT funding BASIC education. Research McCleary and you will see bigger picture.

    #kidsnotcuts

  • Smitty October 12, 2015 (11:57 am)

    Don’t something like 40% of Seattle school-aged kids go to private schools?

    What on earth would happen if they all decided to attend their local public institutions? They are already paying for these schools via property taxes, correct, so there would be no incremental revenue, just expense?

    Scary thought.

    • WSB October 12, 2015 (12:02 pm)

      22 percent, according to a 2014 Times story citing the most-recent Census stats available (from ’12). What would happen is the kind of thing that’s been happening for the past five years – they’d continue to try to add capacity. At the levy meeting we covered a couple weeks ago, it was noted that enrollment bottomed out around 45,000 in 2007 (and was on the rise even as some ill-conceived closure decisions were made in the ensuing few years). This year it’s almost 53,000.

  • Anonymous Coward October 12, 2015 (11:57 am)

    I’m with you flimflam, with respect to people who don’t have kids not having to contribute to the local schools. But only if the kids being educated don’t have to pay for your medicare and social security.

  • idea October 12, 2015 (12:05 pm)

    please look at what Bainbridge School Dist does- they have created a foundation to bridge the gap between what the state pays for and what is needed. Schools don’t have to have crowd fund and are not individually pitted against each other- donors can give to the foundation and know that all kids in the region are supported.

    http://www.bainbridgeschoolsfoundation.com

  • Mike October 12, 2015 (12:35 pm)

    “That $70k would probably have a greater ROI if spent to help elect candidates who wouldnā€™t put us in these situations to begin with.”.
    .
    Sadly, this is very true. That $70k would have bought 25 teachers if the politician got to pocket the $70k.

  • trickycoolj October 12, 2015 (12:35 pm)

    I see some rather ignorant comments regarding parents at the other schools not being dedicated enough. Seriously? What are the percentages of free lunches at Alki vs WS or Highland Park or Concord? What percentage of parents at Alki speak English fluently as a first language and understand how to navigate bureaucratic red tape? So thanks to the condo overlords of Ballard bailing out their fellow condo overlords of Alki. I feel really sad for the children that I pass on my way to work walking to WS, waiting for the bus in Highland Park and walking to Concord in South Park. Those are the children who will truly suffer from high class sizes and lack of additional help with English as a Second Language. I encourage Alki parents to drive down Cloverdale at about 8:45-9:00am and see who is missing out from that $70k.

  • Wow October 12, 2015 (12:45 pm)

    Agreed flimflam, you don’t pay my child’s education and I won’t pay for your buses, tunnel, roads, police, fire, parks, side walks, etc. Light rail, I’m good, you can finance it. Even better, since I don’t really use my health insurance how about I just pay for the amount I use and you can pay for any expensive surgery that you may need. Really, we can just apply the pay-your-way model to everything and see how the chips fall. Do you really feel like you are the only one in society paying for things you don’t use?

  • Melissa Westbrook October 12, 2015 (12:53 pm)

    First, thank you to Mr. Jones for his generosity. His good karma will be repaid in life.

    Next, please join with the new group, Kids Not Cuts, to fight these cuts for all schools. I attended their meeting yesterday and multiple reps from multiple schools ALL agreed – Cuts hurt ALL kids AND that we need to stand together and work together. No school is being forgotten or left out.

    What can you do?
    1) Write to the Board – SPSdirectors@seattleschools.org
    Ask them to hit the pause button on any cuts UNTIL all information is out there and transparent on these issues. This can be done at their Wednesday Executive Ctm meeting of the Whole at 4:15 pm at headquarters.

    But also, please join us there to ask them to take a vote on this issue. They would be voting to direct the Superintendent to not make these cuts take effect.

    We are asking the media to join us as well and the more parents, the more effective it will be.

    But gently, but firmly, I tell you that to buy staff for the district is wrong. It is NOT the job of parents to do this and PTAs are doing this on an ever larger basis. It makes parents enablers for the district to have their ever-growing administration and initiative list while NOT putting the money into the classroom.

    It’s like buying drinks for an alcoholic on the premise that he has a job and is needed to provide for his family. It does not work.

  • diane October 12, 2015 (12:55 pm)

    The way I see it this money definitely made an impact and boldly draws attention to the issue! Any solution would not be perfect fit for all and garner criticism but this is a starting place. If it went to a fund to elect better proactive representatives I have a feeling this money would disappear into the abyss and go nowhere…

  • Alki parent October 12, 2015 (1:04 pm)

    Thank you to everyone who donated. We have a child who would have been directly impacted by the move so we already gave our kids a heads up so they could adjust. It was really nice to be able to tell my kids today about everyone who chipped in to help. The folks who gave helped 7 classes of children have a reasonable class size. This is particularly helpful to the struggling and special ed learners. We will pay it forward.

  • AmandaKH October 12, 2015 (1:41 pm)

    Yep, I really resent the comments that parents of kids at “poor” schools need to get more involved. It’s exactly that type of thinking that leads to gerrymandered school boundaries. I really hope the support continues for ALL schools now that Alki Elementary gets their teacher back. Roxhill is losing 3.7 teachers. And two of our 1st grade classes still don’t have teachers. That’s right, we have subs for our 1st grade teachers. It’s really hard to be in this position. It feels like we have NO RECOURSE and it’s incredibly sad and frustrating.

  • Kimmy October 12, 2015 (1:46 pm)

    flimflam, correct me if I’m wrong here, but you’re suggesting that people who get MORE use/benefit out of public education pay a bit more? That seems pretty fair, I don’t see why that’s outrageous. In theory, you could say transit is often funded in this manner (heavy users pay taxes + fares, rather than just taxes from non-users, yet we all benefit). We ALL benefit from public education, and parents of public school students more so. Are there any funding systems out there for schools that reflect the funding vs. benefits in such a manner? Our current system is currently not working, maybe it’s time to really shake things up.

  • M October 12, 2015 (1:53 pm)

    To “Wow”: Seriously??? I don’t even know who flimflam is, but again, that is NOT what he/she was even saying in that original post! Way to take a reasonable comment & blow it completely out of proportion. And every other public service you sited is one that is available to EVERYONE. Again, he/she stated that they didn’t mind chipping in… One can’t just open up the faucet on property taxes to pretend they are “fixing” something that is quite a larger issue than paying our teachers. The system is broken, and that is what needs to be addressed. If the System is not revamped, NO amount of money is going to fix it.

  • AmandaKH October 12, 2015 (2:02 pm)

    I think we should stop with the “people with kids should pay more” line of thinking. Even before I had kids, and well after I have kids in school I will gladly pay into the public school system, and the fire department, and the police, and parks, roads, sewer, water… this is a society that relies on the “good of everyone”. Remember, you are part of that everyone all the time.

  • Kimmy October 12, 2015 (2:15 pm)

    AmandaKH, I think most if not everyone(?) here agrees with your statement regarding paying into the systems we all benefit from, including pubic education and every other pubic service you listed. The question is how/if it should be weighted differently for those who benefit more and use more services than others. Personally speaking, our family has been discussing this, as we do use more/benefit more than other residents in some regards, and it could really be a reasonable way to bring in more funding in addition to our current sources.

    Edit: AmandaKH, sorry I swear you had written a comment regarding services, and once I hit send it disappeared! Maybe I need more caffeine.

    • WSB October 12, 2015 (2:26 pm)

      Kimmy – sorry, our system has a glitch that even once a comment gets out of the publication queue, if the commenter edits it, it goes back into the queue again. It’s back out now.

  • Kimmy October 12, 2015 (2:30 pm)

    WSB, Thanks!

  • flimflam October 12, 2015 (2:37 pm)

    @M – thanks! I had a feeling A)the heart of my statement would be lost in a fit of passion by frustrated parents and B)it wouldn’t be a popular sentiment…

    .
    just an opinion, folks. not everyone thinks alike about every issue.

  • Serenha October 12, 2015 (3:00 pm)

    Again, the parents at Alki Elementary came together, first by writing letters to the superintendent, to the seattle school district, and began making their own donations via a website, crowdrise (and go fund me). Eventually it came to if each parent could pay 200 dollars then we could keep the teacher. Many parents paid 200, some paid more and some paid 25 dollars. I do believe that Roxhill and other schools mentioned above, can do this themself too. Many parents at Alki WORK FULL TIME but still have time to donate money, or can on the weekends & evenings volunteer time to a serious cause such as this. There is no reason the parents at the other schools such as Roxhill can not also do this grass roots effort. Thanks!

  • PSPS October 12, 2015 (3:09 pm)

    Ain’t america great? Get in an accident? Put out the tin cup to cover doctor bills. Schools underfunded? Put out the tin cup to pay for your own teachers. At least we can all rest peacefully knowing the obscenely-wealthy citizens of Medina and The Highlands don’t have to pay taxes!

  • Wow October 12, 2015 (3:27 pm)

    M, so you say “And every other public service you sited is one that is available to EVERYONE”. Really, is the public school system not available to everyone? If someone is writing in this comment section were they not once a child? Just because you don’t use them doesn’t mean they aren’t available to you to use. If you choose to not have kids that is your choice, and if I choose not to use public parks is that not my choice? Should we charge admission to parks so that people who use them pay a little extra since they are the ones benefiting from them? I didn’t use the fire department last year, can I get a credit? Why not have a system where if your house burned down in the year you have to pay more, and everyone else that didn’t have their house burn down can get a refund check? Just saying, if we are going to rethink how we look at things, letā€™s throw it all on the table.

  • Bluebell October 12, 2015 (4:02 pm)

    Also, for all the “parents should do more” comments: Parents at our school (not in West Seattle) raise over 200K every year and put in thousands upon thousands of volunteer hours–and that is just to fund and support activities that should be part of every kid’s education like art, music, computer lab, etc. And it’s still overcrowded. I’m not talking bells and whistles, I’m talking about just enough for a decent/good but not elite education. The state is falling FAR short of what it needs to do. As for schools where parents do not have the same resources in terms of time or money or awareness–I shudder to think how undersupported their kids must be. We have a societal obligation to support education for ALL children.

  • M October 12, 2015 (4:08 pm)

    @Wow – Again, flimflam stated that he/she didn’t mind “chipping in for the greater good”. The point that I was making (& flimflam, I believe) is that you can’t keep increasing property taxes because “there’s just not enough money” without addressing the bigger problem – our broken Public School System.

    You made a very big point of stating, “you donā€™t pay my childā€™s education”, but flimflam does! And so does every other WS resident. As well as those who choose to send their children to private school, & inturn taking some of the burden off the public school system (as well as, childless families). You also stated that you “wonā€™t pay for your buses, tunnel, roads, police, fire, parks, side walks, etc.”, most items & services that I’m sure you may use daily.

    No one said that they didn’t want to contribute, but there has to be limits and NOT an unlimited checkbook!

    Your unreasonable attitude & knee jerk reaction reply is what was shining through your comments. Flimflam is a tax payer, & therefore has a right to be able to lodge a reasonable opinion that can be debated, not berated.

  • WSMom October 12, 2015 (4:18 pm)

    Serenha, Really? Do you really believe that those at Roxhill can pay for their own teacher? The Free/Reduced Lunch % for Roxhill is 79%. Alki is 24%. (most recent data on SPS website) For the record West Seattle is 91%, Highland Park 78% and Schmitz Park is 8%. If the wonderful donor wanted to do good he should have ‘donated’ to a school in need. 24% isn’t very needy in my opinion. Sorry for stating my opinion.

  • TimJ October 12, 2015 (5:33 pm)

    School A’s 1st grade has 100 students and 6 teachers, School B’s 1st grade has 100 students and 4 teachers.
    How many teachers are at each school for a 20 Student to 1 Teacher ratio? Show your work.

  • su October 12, 2015 (5:33 pm)

    The donor wasnt aware of the need at those schools, Alki had a fundraising site. The need was immediate, he generously filled that need. Can’t you just realize the kindness in his actions?

  • Neighbor October 12, 2015 (5:34 pm)

    I think that having an educated populace benefits everyone. Education may give better hope for people stuck in a cycle of poverty, etc. Let’s hope we can work together to improve our society as a whole and not be a society of haves and have-nots.

  • AlkiCat October 12, 2015 (5:44 pm)

    WSMOM, a large class size is a large class size no matter the school. Right?? All of these local children are not being served in a fair manner, no matter the low income status of school. I am grateful that 40% of Alki students will not have to shuffle into class sizes of 26-28. 21-22 is a manageable number. Why should Brian Jones not have donated to Alki when they were the school he saw on the news, they were the ones trying to get attention to the major issues? They want to solve the problem that’s hitting close to home AND create a call to action to fight for all SPS schools. Alki families have been talking about how to unite with other schools and PTAs in West Seattle.

  • Gatewood Mom October 12, 2015 (6:16 pm)

    Brian’s donation is flabbergasting, ridiculous, and hard to believe. And I think that’s the point. And though it doesn’t help all students, it does help some and they are just as deserving as the rest. Because no child left behind, right? The district and the State are failing all these kids, not a generous concerned dad at the end of his rope. The Special Ed kids, the autistic kids, the emotionally and behaviorally disturbed kids, the advanced kids, the foster kids, the ELL kids, the free and reduced lunch kids, the middle-class stay-at-home parent kids, the single-parent-works-two-jobs-kids, they are all at every school across this district. The income equity issues are obvious. Roxhill with 78 percent free and reduced lunch shows an obvious need. But other issues might not always be seen from an outsider. For instance, at Gatewood we have two EBD (emotional behavior disorder) programs and I believe at Schmitz they have an autism inclusion program. Each school is unique and serves an array of socio-economic backgrounds and learning abilities- each school attempts to meet the needs of all it’s students. Every child deserves low class sizes. Every child deserves a quality education. Brian’s donation is definitely raising awareness and probably going to be covered on every news station this evening. He speaks for many of us. We are frustrated, angry, and exhausted.

  • wseaparent October 12, 2015 (7:16 pm)

    I have a few questions: 1) What happens now, does the teacher that will now stay at Alki is going to cause that the other position at the other school not be filled? 2) What happens to that school that was counting or that could have benefited from the extra hand? 3) Does anyone know where that position was to be filled? Which school?
    If it turns out that one of the school in less privileged neighborhood is now going to be missing a teacher, that is a shame on the whole community. We cannot allow that more educated or more affluent schools with the knowledge and resources put their foot down while letting the less privileged figure on their own. This donation should be made available for the whole community not just one school. This can’t continue, this is the current problem in our society where a great human mass is being forgotten and left in a vicious cycle of survival of the fittest, in this case the survival of the most affluent.
    As a parent of Alki Elementary I would encourage the PTA to reconsider accepting the donation and working with the district on how it can be used to help as many schools as possible.

    • WSB October 12, 2015 (7:32 pm)

      Besides the education-funding conversation on Wednesday, there’s also a push (I’m trying to get a handle on everything that’s sprung up before writing our next followup) to form a coalition to for starters push the school district to put ALL these cuts on hold … the West Seattle cuts got a lot of attention after we collected as much information as we could get and came up with five schools in this area – two of whom have been very vocal – reporting on it last Thursday before anybody else (except for of course Melissa Westbrook’s Seattle Schools Community Forum site) decided to start reporting on it – but the West Seattle cuts are NOT not the only cuts in the city – the district, while saying it didn’t have a list, did come up with the number 25.

  • Tyt October 12, 2015 (7:25 pm)

    I’m glad thst Brian’s donation is getting media attention. The issue here is not just washington state gov. Underfunding education, but also SPS needing to cut positions that do not directly affect students before cutting teachers.

  • jissy October 12, 2015 (7:58 pm)

    I think flimflam has an interesting point…. we are a homeschooling family, I pay enormous property taxes and get what? Wait, I know, I get to now buy a curriculum, educational materials, and everything else necessary to provide an appropriate “learning center” for my children. Personally, I think I should get somewhat of a rebate on those taxes — not all, b/c I too believe in the greater good, but it’s not doing my children any good is it?

    This whole thing (crowdfunding, donations, everyone pay an extra $200.00) is rewarding BAD BEHAVIOR!!!! Seriously, when they eliminate 25 teachers, personnel if you will, doesn’t that mean their overhead in essence goes down? So doesn’t that mean their need for people in Admin. that oversee every piece of the employment for those 25 is off their plate? Shouldn’t they then have a reduction in hours thus pay? Are there ever ANY cuts at the Administration level? This has got to stop.

  • It's time October 12, 2015 (8:12 pm)

    One solution for school community income inequality would be to pool all PTA funds raised for SPS and then distribute those funds to ALL schools based on student numbers. I believe thatā€™s what many eastside schools do. This doesnā€™t solve the bigger problem of underfunding our schools but it does allow for a more even distribution of fundraising $ for schools in lower income neighborhoods.

  • Alki Alumn Parent October 12, 2015 (8:34 pm)

    Having been on the front line trying to stop the closure of Alki several years ago, I feel it is important to state that Alki is not a school of wealth and privilege. In fact, it was a Title I school for many years. It is a school with tremendous heart, dedicated staff, and motivated parents. While it is obvious that a system in which teachers are funded by private donation is broken at best, please stop yourselves from punishing the kids at a school that will benefit from the donation. Instead of spending energy insulting a school community, rally others to get behind those schools that are not as represented. Make our kids the priority, stop talking about the adults and fund our schools!!! We need to be able to educate our students so they are able to go on to the higher education that is required to obtain the high tech jobs we cherish so dearly (and provide excessive tax breaks for) in this city.

  • Rita October 12, 2015 (8:36 pm)

    Okay – while Alki is better off than some schools – the parents are not by any means really wealthy. Through networking and posting friends and families were able to raise around $20,000. While I know that is a huge amount – I think that shows a lot of work on the part of parents. Brian Jones who donated by far the majority of the total needed IS NOT FROM ALKI. DOES NOT HAVE CHILD AT ALKI. Like he said he is a PISSED OFF parent. He asked those who wanted to make a difference to email him. So email him. You DO NOT need money to be part of the change. What Alki along with Brian Jones did is to make this known to the community. This is not a done deal. The principal hasn’t even addressed the fact that $90,000 was raised – so otherwise the “fat lady” has yet to sing. BUT in the mean time email Brian, email Dr Nyland. Email every city council member, school board member, senator, congressman and anyone you can think of to make that difference – to change what needs to be changed. ALSO – Alki parents and teachers have talked about how they can now help other schools. So please be happy and know that we are in this together. It is not Alki against West Seattle Elementary. It is communities for students. United to make a difference for ALL!

  • Don't give a pig a pancake October 12, 2015 (9:15 pm)

    It’s impressive that parents care so much about their children’s education that they will rally around crowdfunding and get the job done. Similar to Rick, I am concerned that the city will get used to this generosity, and expect it always. Public school education should be free to all.

  • bolo October 12, 2015 (9:33 pm)

    Please don’t attack me for my honest question here:

    Could these teacher staffing cuts be the school district’s response to the new hard-fought hard-won incremental (modest) pay increases for the teachers?

  • AKC October 12, 2015 (10:48 pm)

    WSMom, seriously? You don’t think a school where 24% of the kids – 1 in 4 – qualify for FREE lunch because they live in POVERTY, is ‘very needy’?!? Wow, we really are in a race to the bottom…

  • soi October 12, 2015 (11:13 pm)

    $90K does seems like a high number for just 1 teacher bolo. The stranger was running teachers’ profiles during the strike and many were making only 40K-60K which was why they were striking. I don’t know if 90K covered salary only or other things the school needed.

    But I do agree this isn’t a solution. Class sizes are getting bigger. We’ve been through a year of cut and a year of gain and find there’s disruption in both with classrooms’ reconfiguration. This year the strike has mobilized and organized parent groups. I hope SEA will take advantage of their momentum and speak up about this annual fall process. It’s particularly hard on the junior teachers.

  • AlkiMom October 13, 2015 (11:02 am)

    Thank you Rita! Exactly what I have been feeling.

    We are all shocked and so grateful by Brian’s generous donation… but all realize that THIS IS NOT OVER. The original intent of fundraising was to buy time to bring this issue to light (we were writing a grant that takes 6 weeks to process.) We have a dedicated team of parents that are very passionate about our community and fighting for our children’s right to a fair public education.

    Please come to the rally today to voice your concern. Brian Jones will be there to speak and hopefully we can all get past the money and focus on the real problem… the Seattle Public School District. The more we ban together, the stronger we are.

  • Alki Parent October 13, 2015 (11:54 am)

    The teacher in question makes approximately $50k, but the district says we need to raise $90k to keep her in place, which includes benefits and represents the average teacher compensation.

  • M October 13, 2015 (2:15 pm)

    @Alki Parent – Thank you for clarifying the teacher’s salary breakdown.
    .
    So, if I understand this correctly, the lowest seniority teacher at Alki (which is how the District chooses who has to go, correct?) is a 1st Grade Teacher that makes $50k in Salary & $40k goes towards 401k & medical/dental benefits? Am I missing any other benefits/expenses in that figure? And the .5 position was making a total of $50k in salary & benefits?
    .
    It was never very clear what teachers’ salary & benefits were or how much “real” time they had “off”.
    .
    Also, is there anywhere where the District Employees salaries & benefits are published?

  • Huindekmi October 13, 2015 (6:25 pm)

    The teacher’s salary is $50k. The total district cost is $90k, which includes the employer costs for health insurance, the employer paid portions of SSN taxes, Medicare taxes, retirement contributions , etc.

    This is no different than any other salaried job. The total cost to the employer is much higher than the employee’s salary. The only real difference is that when you talk about how much someone from, say, Microsoft makes for a living, you only talk about the employee’s salary rather than the total cost to the employer.

  • M October 13, 2015 (10:11 pm)

    You people who point out the the government could get used to this not only have to look too far for an example. Why on earth do we vote on a bond every few years to fund EMT budgets? Should that not be considered vital?

  • M October 14, 2015 (10:19 am)

    RE: @M post on 10/13 @ 10:11am –
    .
    I can see that I will need to now change my intial login name of @M (in earlier posts) to something different so I am not confused with your most current & possible future posts. I should’ve known better than to make it one letter. Oh well. :)

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