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Rise Up for Students is a blog advocating for racial equity and radical empathy in our schools, in Seattle and beyond
Here we are, basking in the first fresh days of not only a new year, but a new decade. So, what better time than now to take a peek in the rearview mirror? Hindsight is 2020, after all.
Let’s revisit 2019 by taking a look back at the most widely read posts from the last year on the Rise Up for Students blog.
Read MoreEnjoy a recorded conversation between Stephan Blanford, former Seattle School Board rep, and Brandon Hersey, who was appointed last month to represent District 7 in Southeast Seattle.
Read MoreThe Seattle School Board appointed Brandon Hersey as the new representative for District VII in Southeast Seattle.
Whether or not Hersey was a good choice, what I expected to happen is exactly what ended up happening: rather than listening to the people, the board chose the candidate they wanted. In other words, the candidate who would have been elected was not the candidate who was chosen. That’s tough to grapple with.
Read MoreSystemic racism is often hard to see in action.
It’s easy to look back and wonder, how did we get here? How do we have such deep-rooted opportunity gaps in our schools? How do we have so few Black teachers? How can there be such a thing as a “school-to-prison” pipeline? How do we have so few women of color in positions of elected leadership?
These systemic issues are not necessarily carried out by people of malicious intent. They are carried out by all of us every day as we make seemingly reasonable decisions, and through polices and processes that masquerade as neutral.
We are in the eleventh hour of one such process, but it’s not too late! Today — this very evening — we have a chance to catch the system in the act. So let’s do it.
Read MoreThe Seattle School Board will announce its collective choice tomorrow for the Southeast Seattle district representative on the board. As a reminder, Director Betty Patu, who served in that role for the last 10 years, announced her resignation on May 15, a few days after a deadline that would have allowed the District 7 voters to choose her replacement. Instead, the remaining six school board directors then devised a process to solicit applications from interested district residents, and were wowed to receive 13 applications for what is widely known as “the most thankless job in Seattle.”
Through a series of applicant statements and public forums, we have learned much about the 13 applicants and now, the three finalists for the position. But through telephone interviews with each of the applicants, I sought to shed a bit more light on their qualifications, their priorities and to pose a few relevant questions that I have not yet heard asked.
Read MoreIf you’re reading this, you probably know: Betty Patu resigned. It’s true.
You probably know that Betty Patu was the school board director for southeast Seattle (District VII) for a long time.
You may even know that the remaining six Seattle Public Schools board directors now have to appoint Betty’s replacement, which means we southeast Seattle residents will have our school board director chosen without our direct input.
Tonight is the final candidate forum, and we’re hearing from the final three candidates: Julie Van Arcken, Brandon Hersey and Emijah Smith. I’m sitting in the audience, and I’m just going to write about what’s happening as it’s happening. And about what I think about what’s happening, obviously. And this way, we’ve got pretty much no filter, which ought to be interesting. And very little editing, so beware.
Read MoreBy Matt Halvorson
I’m thrilled with the depth of this candidate pool and impressed with every candidate’s passion and good intentions. They are standing before us volunteering their time and souls to service on the school board. And they’re opening themselves up to everything that comes along with that process, including being considered by people like me who have thoughts and opinions. But the fact also remains that we have to choose one person, and that we don’t get to just take the whole field.
So, as we seek an equity champion, a change-maker with an unshakable sense of urgency and possibility and love, a hero with an understanding of the relationship between systemic oppression and public education, here are my first impressions of the candidates — my takeaways from the District VII Candidate Forum. I look forward to seeing how tonight’s forum at RBHS shapes my thinking even further.
Read MoreCheck out music from Matt Halvorson
