Three days to vote: Seattle Public Schools levies, & endorsement

On your to-do list for today, if you haven’t done IT already: VOTE. Tuesday is Election Day, and there are two measures on West Seattle voters’ ballots: Seattle Public Schools‘ levies Prop 1 (capital) and Prop 2 (operations). If you’re recovering in-person voters like us, keep in mind the drop boxes in Delridge and White Center are BOTH gone, so you can’t engage in almost-old-school voter behavior like dropping off the ballot at the last moment, unless you go to one of the two remaining boxes (downtown and Tukwila) – get your ballot in the postal mail, with a stamp, ASAP. Meantime, to find out more about the levies – go here. And Laurie Rasmussen from Alki Elementary PTA has forwarded their endorsement for your consideration – read ahead to see it:

Alki Elementary PTA Board endorses the 2010 Seattle Public school levies. We are asking you to vote yes on both Prop. 1 and Prop. 2 for this year’s election.

The capital levy (Prop. 1) will fund hundreds of safety, health and maintenance improvements across the district. The operations levy (Prop. 2) funds 23 percent of daily costs – teachers, books and supplies. These are not new taxes, but replacing existing taxes. Given the state budget crisis, these levies are more important than ever in maintaining basic education in our schools.

This is the first all-mail election and ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 9. This need is urgent, don’t hesitate and get your ballots in the mail today!

Thank you,

Alki Elementary School PTA Board
Laurie Rasmussen, Emily Rough-Bianchi, Lauren Denelsbeck, Nancy Woodland, Diane Fields, Cheryl Brown, Brianna Smith and Nick Matarangas.

(Disclosure: WSB is currently running a paid political ad for the pro-school levies campaign, but this endorsement, received before the ad started last week, was NOT sent by anyone involved with the campaign.)

John February 9, 2010 (8:01 am)

We all like to think that it is our responsibility to vote for school levies, but if you look at the numbers, it quickly becomes clear that the problem with Seattle schools isn’t money. The general fund expenses per student in Seattle is more than $12,000 per year. That figure is well above the $9,050 to $10,300 spent per student in neighboring Edmonds, Northshore, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Renton and Everett. The operations levy funds 23% of Seattle public schools; about the same amount that we in Seattle are paying above our neighboring districts. Perhaps the SPS superintendent should ask these neighboring school districts how they are able to provide a much better education for so much less money. I’m voting no, and I my nose will stay firmly attached to my face much like the quality of education in Seattle will not be harmed by a smaller budget.

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