Heads up, I've (Arthur Hu) been drafted to run against Bob Hughes as a write in candidate. Anybody who wants somebody that will ask tough questions about all the odd new reforms Big Education wants to push should vote for ex-Microsoftee John Hall against rubber stamper Jackie Pendergrass. It may comfort you to know that John does NOT agree with everything, but we do disagree with Big Education on a lot of topics, and we're both Libertarians. Votes for Hall and Sandy Elliot last time outnumbered the encumbent, so if you voted for Sandy, be sure to vote for Hall this time, and if you voted for Pendergrass, you should know better than to vote for "Dilbert's Clueless Boss" style candidate. Everybody on the board I believe has approved the ridiculous "don't teach them how to add or multiply F-ranked by Mathematically correct" Dale Seymour math textbook series, the draconican new graduation requirements that require all students to spend class time on a work site, mandantory volunteerism, and come up with a magnificent senior project, the new OBE report cards that were rejected by Federal Way parents, they all back the terrible new Redmond high school design that forces teachers to share smaller rooms The latest Geobop reveals that Barbara Schaad-Lamphere is definitely one of the evil encumbents who was part of the wacko Commmission on Student Learning that is bent on turning education upside down to make the officials look like they trying to enforce "higher standards" while students, teachers, and parents suffer the consequences of "accountablity" and ridiculous tests that only kids with parents who drive Lincoln Navigators can pass. I'm going with Sharda Bowen too. Don't forget to vote for Ann Murphy in Federal Way Anybody else worth voting for on Tuesday, I'll pass on the word. Geobop Report, October 28, 1999 Voters Guide Part II Bowen's Endorsement Jan Kumasaka Strikes Back! Demopublicans The Seattle Weekly Political Forum Ryan vs Waldman Voters Guide Part II Give the Seattle Times crew an A for honesty for the title, "Voters Guide left out two School Board candidates." I'm not so sure about their explanation: "The District 6 Seattle School Board race was inadvertently dropped from Tuesday's Voters Guide." I say they left it out intentionally, knowing that many apathons would neglect to clip out a separate District 6 section and bring it with the Voters Guide insert to the voting booth. And, mark my word, Barbara Schaad-Lamphere's name will be listed first, as will Barbara Schlag Peterson. Anyway, here are the missing pieces: These are the biographical sketches submitted by the candidates, and their answers to a Seattle Times questionnaire that asked the following: 1. What are your qualifications for the office you seek? 2. What would you do for the public that isn't already being done? 3. What one thing about yourself would you want voters to remember as they cast their ballots? Sharda Bowen Occupation: checker at QFC, small-business owner. Age: 45. Family: divorced, one child. Education: bachelor's degree in business management, Business Correspondence School, London; attended the University of Oxford. Campaign e-mail: ptljly@hotmail.com. 1. I am familiar with education issues: I have been a teacher and my son is a Seattle public-school eighth-grader. I know how to work with people: I am a shop steward of Local 1105 at my QFC. I understand fiscal management: I own my own business. I was born in Uganda, East Africa, and I have traveled extensively, giving me the background to understand diversity issues. 2. I will focus on basic education ahead of flashy programs: Every school needs a good principal - I won't just move principals around. Maintenance of schools should come first, for a good educational environment, ahead of tearing down good historic schools and ahead of new $43 million administration headquarters in industrial zones. 3. My focus is on academic excellence; I will keep neighborhood schools open - period. Neighborhood schools are critical in allowing parents to be involved in their children's education and in improving schools. I also support school choice - no child should be forced to attend a school that does not meet that child's needs. Barbara Schaad-Lamphere Occupation: School Board director. Age: 45. Family: married, two children. Education: bachelor's degree, University of Washington; attended University of Colorado. Campaign e-mail: bschaadl@aol.com. 1. I have spent the past four years on the Seattle School Board. I have been president for two years and vice president for one. Prior to my first term, I spent six years as an education activist. I served on the Washington State Commission on Student Learning, Seattle's Family and Education Levy Oversight Committee, the Community Advisory Committee of MOST and as president of the Seattle Council PTSA. 2. The Seattle School Board must continue its efforts toward education renewal. The changes adopted in the past four years have been remarkable. But there is still much to be done. We must continue our work to use academic standards to improve school programs and assure quality in every school. Teacher evaluations must be tied to the performance of their students. 3. I was born and raised in Seattle and am proud that my two children are fourth- generation Seattle-public-school students. We have a great legacy of fine public education in this city. I am working hard as a leader on the School Board to return all of our schools to places of high quality where children in every corner of our city can get a great education. Bowen's Endorsement Sharda Bowen has been endorsed by State Senator Michael Heavey. It's nice to know we have at least one legislator with common sense. Jan Kumasaka Strikes Back! The following letter appears in this week's issue of Northwest Asian Weekly: This is in response to a letter-to-the-editor written by David Blomstrom (Asian Weekly, Oct. 23, 1999) that mentions a quote by me. The quote is inaccurate. I was asked by reporter Carey Guidici whether Charlie Chong represented the Asian American community, and my answer was that "no one person, even if they are Asian American, can totally represent the Asian American community." Blomstrom's letter goes on to discuss a personnel issue at Rainier Beach High School. As a School Board member, I am concerned about all of our students and schools and I am quite aware of the situation at Rainier Beach. I am working with the superintendent, but it is ultimately the superintendent's role to address and handle personnel issues. (signed Jan Kumasaka) And here's the rough draft of an editorial I'm writing in response to Kumasaka's first significant lapse into consciousness: Another "That's Not My Job!" School Board? Not long ago, Seattle School Board director Nancy Waldman was quoted in the University Herald saying she wouldn't tell the superintendent if he was doing a bad job, because that's not her job. Waldman claimed she was misquoted; what she actually said was that she wouldn't tell PRINCIPALS if they were doing a bad job, as that's the superintendent's job. More recently, the Asian Weekly quoted school board director Jan Kumasaka saying that Charlie Chong doesn't represent the Asian American community. After I pointed out that Chong's a better representative of the Asian American community (and the larger Seattle community) than either Kumasaka or Cheryl Chow, Kumasaka responded with a letter saying she had been - well, misquoted. What she REALLY said was, "No one person . . . can totally represent the Asian community." Kumasaka then responds to my complaints about her failure to do anything about that horrid principal at Rainier Beach High School (I hope I'm not misquoting): "I am quite aware of the situation at Rainier Beach. I am working with the superintendent, but it is ultimately the superintendent's role to address and handle personnel issues." As with Waldman, Kumasaka's zeal is simply underwhelming. Whether they work through the superintendent or deal with the situation directly, it is ultimately their job to ensure that every school has a decent principal. If they can't deal with such a fundamental and serious problem, then what's the point in having a school board? In fact, Rainier Beach suffered under the brutal dictatorship of Principal Marta Cano- Hinz all through the "John Stanford Era." That's the three-year period when Stanford wasn't even evaluating principals! Obviously, the school board wasn't holding Stanford accountable, and the public wasn't holding the school board accountable. As a candidate for a seat on the Seattle School Board, I've tried hard to focus on the enormous issue Kumasaka and her cronies try so hard to avoid - bad principals. Waldman claims principals can't be fired because of their contract. So why hasn't the school board that boasted about crafting a revolutionary new teachers' contract muster the leadership to create a new principals' contract? (Let's not even get into the issue of hiring relatives, friends, and principals running from the IRS; hiring principals isn't the school board's job, either.) Waldman and her peers said (I'm quoting here), "That's not my job," when I asked why they haven't dealt with the CEO of Rainier Beach High School (among several other problem principals). I said that, if elected, I would go to Rainier Beach High School and join the protesters if that's what it took to publicize the issue and force a solution. They all thought that unprofessional. ("That's not my job!") Frankly, you wouldn't want to print what I have to say about a derelict school board that would allow Rainier Beach to flounder for FIVE YEARS rather than do what ultimately IS their job. At a forum at Beacon Hill Elementary School (attended by Kumasaka), Waldman said the district now has a "game plan" for dealing with Rainier Beach High School. I would like to invite every student who has graduated from Rainier Beach in the last five years to send a note thanking Kumasaka and her cronies for coming up with a game plan. Will they open it before Christmas? By the time you print this, we will have a new school board. I almost certainly won't be on it, even though I talked about more issues than all the other candidates combined. I pray that Martin Ringhofer and Sharda Bowen are a part of the new board. Even with their courage and vision, they'll need tremendous community support to break the stranglehold of the "That's not my job" club. If neither gets elected, then brace yourself for four more years of wondering where the buck stops. Which begs the question, why did the Asian Weekly co-endorse Sharda Bowen and Barbara Schaad-Lamphere? Surely, the buck has to stop at the feet of the president of the school board, Schaad-Lamphere! If teachers should be evaluated by student performance, then it's only fair that school board directors should be evaluated by the superintendent's performance, and it's obvious that Stanford and Olchefske have both been asleep at the wheel. You similarly erred in endorsing Barbara Schlag Peterson, another member of the "That's not my job" club. Martin Ringhofer is the education activist, not Peterson. The other astonishing thing is that a school board director actually replied to my letter. I've raked them over the coals in dozens of pieces in several papers, and they've never even defended themselves. It just goes to prove that truth and courage are powerful weapons against people who hide behind misquotes, "personnel issues," and cries of "That's not my job!" David Blomstrom, also-ran school board candidate Demopublicans When I first began to acquire a political consciousness, not too many years ago, I thought of myself as basically liberal. In fact, I've written some really nasty things about conservatives. But the mush-headed liberals that make Seattle such a joke have been pushing farther right. In fact, each side has its pluses and minuses. But I'm very appreciative of what Republicans have done for this school board campaign. It seems somehow symbolic that Martin Ringhofer has been endorsed by both a Republican and Democratic group. Tonight, John Carlson commented on the WTO meeting, and it later dawned on me that conservatives and liberals both have complaints about WTO. Liberals are concerned about possible impacts on the environment, for example. For conservatives, it represents a threat to our national sovereignty; think of it as a genuine New World Order. Martin Ringhofer seems to think that Seattle's black community is more conservative than many white Seattleites. Members of the community know they've been screwed over by such "oreos" as John Stanford and Norm Rice. Is it possible that we may finally find some issues that can unite the two groups for a common goal? If I'm successful in sicking anti-WTO protesters on the Seattle School Board, and if I can get some of my fuzzy-brained liberal colleagues to realize that their union is far more evil than the conservatives they're so afraid of, we could flex some muscle. The possibilities are mind-boggling. If I can get conservatives and liberals to join me in the radical middle, we'll kick the National Education Association and Al Gore back to first grade! Special thanks to Craig Keller for all he's done to help us write a new chapter in tortured path to world-class schools! The Seattle Weekly Political Forum Well, the political candidates discussion in the Seneca Room was pretty interesting. I'd guesstimate that about 100 people were there to listen to John Carlson, the Seattle Times' Joni Balter, and the Seattle Weekly's James Bush and George Howland. Notables in the audience included Nick Licata, Dwight VanWinkle, and Mary Jean Ryan's campaign manager. Before the show began, Howland came over to me and said hi. I was a bit stiff and aloof. The show opened with a few jokes. My favorite: Cheryl Chow couldn't attend because she's applying for five jobs with Seattle Schools. I thought I saw some of the speakers looking at me a little oddly, like they were uncomfortable having me there; Joni Balter, especially. The high point of their discussion of city council candidates was a Joni Balter stomp-fest. In fact, Balter came under heavy attack three times during the event. The first guy who criticized her got a response from Balter which in turn earned a hearty round of booing. Her second antagonist said he had long endured a "masochistic pursuit" of reading Seattle Times editorial pages. It seemed to me that John Carlson seemed to be in some agreement with Balter quite a bit, or seemed a little too friendly with her for my taste. It appeared to me that they didn't plan on even mentioning the school board campaign until some guy in the front row asked a question about it. I forget exactly what he said, but it was quite good. I think he was complaining about the lack of coverage and asked why the issues weren't being discussed. That was when it got really weird. At one point, James Bush responded in a very quiet voice. It appeared to me that he was almost whispering, as if he didn't want me to hear. (I was sitting in the back row.) Bush said, "Some of the candidates are fairly capable." I think he said something to the effect that there weren't a lot of reformers running for office. He also said something about them being outgunned; I think what he meant was that if a reformer got elected, he or she wouldn't be able to stand up to the status quo. It all sounded perfectly lame and kind of strange. John Carlson said our problems began with busing. He said the district needs a strong executive, and he hopes Olchefske can grow into the role. (I'd rather see Olchefske grow into a role as an inmate.) Carlson did say the only sensible thing: That a principal makes a school. Joni Balter talked about her hero, John Stanford. She praised school board director Scot Barnhart (who helped hire Stanford). As you might guess, this lame, scatter-brained exchange of non-information drove me up a wall, especially after being shafted by virtually all the Seattle media. I raised my hand, was invited to speak, and came on pretty strong. I explained that there four activists had filed as school board candidates and that the Seattle Weekly had seemingly joined the Seattle Times in a news blackout, with half a dozen scandals and the major issues being ignored. I then made some comment about Stanford being a clueless idiot and got on Balter's case, closing with the question, "What's your problem?!" Balter said she wouldn't answer something like that as the turned away in disgust. Bitch. Howland defended the Seattle Weakly with more lame-brained crap. He pointed out that they did endorse an activist candidate (one out of four) and did write about a scandal (one out of half a dozen). Besides, they have more education stuff coming up after the election! I came on way too strong, and should have asked a more intelligent question that might have invited a response. But it really doesn't matter, because it's obvious that not one of the panelists was prepared to give me an intelligent answer anyway. I think it was after this exchange that some guy commented on the irony in Balter's invitation for activists to "keep squeaking" when she doesn't want people griping about corporate welfare. He thinks editorials like Joni's depressed voter turnout. Howland also complained about a low voter turnout - after his paper urged readers to not bother voting for school board candidates because they're all boring and there are no issues! James Bush also thinks media coverage hurt the primary turnout. He thinks the later coverage was much better. I agree, thought it hasn't improved nearly enough. John Carlson noted that candidates who are in favor of free trade are keeping a low profile. He thinks the WTO protest could develop into the most sustained protest since Vietnam. God, I want to get those WTO protesters on my side before our corrupt local teachers union beats me to it! Other notes: Joni Balter admitted that she sent her kid(s) to private school, though she now has a child in Washington Middle School, which she described as a good school. That's surprising, as Washington has a reputation as one of the worst schools, I think. An attendee described Balter as a racist. Another rather disgusting person was John Hamer, a rather bizarre media critic who seems to be yet another corporate pawn. Ryan vs Waldman "Ryan says the uneven quality of Seattle's schools is the key issue facing the district. She calls for enriching the curriculum at individual schools to help address the gaps." Enrich the curriculum? Get a clue, lady. "Ryan said she 'absolutely' has time for the board position and that it would be her top priority. If elected, she plans to reduce her hours with the city -- how much, she is not yet sure -- and take an accompanying pay cut." I didn't know Nancy was working for the city! Does anyone know what she does? "Board member Jan Kumasaka, who once worked with Ryan, endorsed both candidates." Well, I guess I can't complain about that one. I endorsed Kumasaka as the lesser of two evils during her campaign. Sheez, I'm sure glad her opponent didn't win! Battlefield Stats War is hell, and it's going to take a war to liberate Seattle Schools from the education mafia. Here's an updated list of casualties. Body Count  Garfield High School Principal Albert Jones  Nina Shapiro (the Seattle Weekly's blind reporter)  Lynne Varner (the Seattle Times' e-mail ranter)  Laura Gauntlett (the only SPICE official sentenced to date)  Nancy Waldman - The school board's favorite lying, conniving lawyer. Wounded in Action  Whoever hired Al Jones (Stanford or Olchefske, according to different sources)  Seattle School Board directors Ellen Roe & Michael Preston (They didn't tell the PUBLIC about the criminals the board hired) Barbara Schaad-Lamphere (Ditto, plus she alone disdains an independent performance audit.)  All the other Idiots on the School  School board candidates Mary Jean Ryan and David Blomstrom  Superintendent Joseph Olchefske  Roger Erskine (SEA Executive Director)  Kenneth Camper  Cheryl Chow, "Seattle's most famous half-time principal)  The same children who are always injured by our education mafia Date sent: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 18:24:43 -0700 To: arthurhu@halcyon.com From: David Blomstrom Subject: Re: Geobop Oct. 28, 1999 "Who's your favored candidates again? The QFC checker sounds sensible, you've got to realize that anyone who has been on the Commission for Student Learning is part of the problem pushing this re-engineering education nonsense." The only people to vote for are Sharda Bowen (the QFC checker), Martin Ringhofer, and me (as write-in). (As I was typing this, I heard an announcement on TV about Garfield High School Principal Al Jones - he did indeed have a relationship with a female student.) I just saw the article in the Seattle Times about the shutdown. And be sure to vote for John Hall against Jackie Pendergrass tuesday, and Arthur Hu for write-in against Bob Hughes in Lake Washington, Ann Murphy for Federal Way, Ringhofer, Blomstrom (write-in) and Sharda Bowen for Seattle School Board, I favor Charlie Chong and Dawn Mason (African American, who is the only public official who has ever been quoted as critical of the WASL by the Seattle Times) for Seattle City Council. Hi all, I've been asked by some Lake Washington parents to run as a write-in candidate against Bob Hughes for LW school board. It's non partisan, but I'm an active member of the Libertarian party, and generally sympathetic to Republicans when they do a good job. John Hall is a ex-Microsoft programmer and Libertarian who stands a good chance of defeating long time encumbent Jackie Pendergrass since he and Sandy Elliot together had more votes than Pendergrass, and Sandy threw her support to Hall. Pendergrass evidently has been leading the Lake Washington School District into all the disasterous experiments throughout the 80s and 90s that I've been hearing about with full support of the teachers unions that threatened my family with a lawsuit if I didn't stop complaining about the wacky homework my kindergartener and first grader were getting. So far Pendergrass and Bob Hughes as far as I know have rubber-stamped the wacky report card, no-math invented mathematics program and OBE / School To Work graduation requirements proposed by Czarina of Reform Julie Goldsmith. John and I don't agree on everything, but he's also critical of these new changes. Other education candidates I favor: Seattle School Board: Ringhofer Sharda Bowen David Blomstrom (write in) Federal Way: Ann Murphy Burien City Council: Shirley Basarab (has written a book summarizing the education reform conspiracy / scam) Seattle City Council: Charlie Chong (some people told me I'd probably be like Charlie if I were SPI, I guess that's a compliment) Dawn Mason (unlike Compton who is a standard white liberal, Mason is I believe the only public official who has been quoted by the Seattle Times as critical of the awful WASL assessment) Other races: Any Libertarian (see lpws site) or Republican if there isn't a lib around. If you've heard I running for Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Washington, that's for next year, so I'm not on the ballot for that this time around. I do have enough campaign funds now to pay for the $1000 filing fee, so I'm nearly assured of at least getting into the primary though, and nobody else anybody has heard of has announced intentions of running against Terry Bergeson. I still have some work cut out for me to get the support of the Libertarian or American Heritage parties, let alone the Republicans, but I got mostly positive feedback from KVI forum crowd, those that were negative were mostly concerned about impressions about electability rather than positions. I was surprised so many people mentioned how badly they hated Bergeson, the encumbent. Subject: Write-in David Blomstrom - for the children Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 03:58:54 GMT From: bb094@scn.org (SCN User) Organization: Seattle Community Network Newsgroups: seattle.politics I see the educrats clarion cry, "for the children", has got your attention! Nov. 2nd, I will be voting FOR David Blomstrom for Seattle School Board, as a write-in candidate, for the following reasons. The 2 nominal candidates for District 3 appear to be good WEA educrats who will work hard to make sure your children will "feel good" about their current and forthcoming failures in life. Since your kids will not be getting the necessary intellectual tools from the Seattle School District, all that remains for the Seattle educratic establishment is to "pump up" the egos of your little darlings, even if there is no substance behind those egos. Then there is the unjust, undemocratic and repressive matter of State law that prohibits King County Elections from counting write-in votes for candidates who were on the Primary but fail to move to the General ballot (see RCW 29.04.180, and RCW 29.62.180). It is OUTRAGEOUS that the State embargoes MY VOTE for whomever I see fit to serve as my representative!! This is the kind of repressive legislation that should only be known in dictatorial regimes. So write-in David Blomstrom to PROTEST WEA lap dog candidates, and dictatorial State law. Your children will thank you!! Seattle.