Facing a tough election battle, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has been ramping up his pace of press events and social media posts. A former McGinn staffer shares how ethics officials warned McGinn’s office against such activity, which could constitute a misuse of public resources for campaign purposes
Last week school board director Liza Rankin wrote a memo to her colleagues suggesting a major new round of austerity for the Seattle Public Schools that could revive a plan to close numerous schools. Robert Cruickshank argues that’s the wrong approach.
Cars and sprawl that are the true problem as the Puget Sound region seeks to boost salmon runs and protect salmon-eating orca whales. Building more homes in Seattle is the way to curb sprawl.
The idea of closing schools is currently off the table as Seattle Public Schools considers how to close a significant budget deficit. This year’s legislative session and school board elections will be pivotal in determining whether that conversation will resurface.
While the Seattle City Council has recently stifled opportunity for public participation and dissent, Seattle Public Schools is even further along, having already adopted many of the same undemocratic practices now seen at City Hall.
Last week, the Seattle school board voted to proceed with a plan that could close 20 or more public schools across the city. The plan would worsen the district’s budget woes, student learning outcomes, enrollment decline, racial inequities, and undermine efforts to add missing middle housing and cre
The council president’s push to slash public services instead of raise new revenue is at odds with voters. When Argentina’s new right-wing president Javier Milei was inaugurated last month, he memorably vowed to take a “chainsaw” to the country’s public services and slash public spending. When Sara
A new CEO can’t move mountains; board reform is needed. For the second time in two years, Sound Transit is seeking a new CEO following Julie Timm’s departure — and is doing so amidst its worst financial crisis since the turn of the century. A new CEO will not
Last week Seattle Public Schools (SPS) unveiled plans to embrace sweeping austerity, making major cuts to school programs and closing an unspecified number of schools in the 2025-26 school year. In response to a new wave of community organizing against austerity plans, the district abandoned plans to close schools in
Faced with an ongoing refusal by the state legislature to properly fund public education, Seattle Public Schools have responded by proposing an unprecedented plan to make major and lasting cuts. The result will be fewer schools, larger class sizes, and less programs. In turn, this will lead to Seattle students