Alec Cooper

Alec Cooper

Education

Bachelor's

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Graduate

University of Texas, Austin

Personal

Profession

Amazon executive

Contact

Personal website

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Alec Cooper was a candidate for District 5 representative on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors in Washington. Cooper was defeated in the by-district primary election on August 1, 2017.

Click here to read this candidate's 2017 campaign themes.

Biography

Cooper's professional experience includes working in the technology industry for Dell, Frog Design, Microsoft, and Amazon. He received his M.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Elections

2017

See also: Seattle Public Schools elections (2017)

Three of the seven seats on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors in Washington were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. A primary election for all three seats was held on August 1, 2017, because more than two candidates filed for each seat. Although the general election was held at large, the primary election was held by district.

Eden Mack was the District 4 winner, defeating fellow challenger Herbert Camet Jr. in the general. The two fended off Sean Champagne, Jennifer Crow, Megan Hyska, Lisa Melenyzer, and Darrell Toland in the primary. In District 5, Zachary DeWolf was victorious over Omar Vasquez. They both defeated Alec Cooper, Andre Helmstetter, and Candace Vaivadas in the primary. District 7 board member Betty Patu successfully defended her seat against challenger Chelsea Byers. They both defeated Tony Hemphill in the primary.

Results

Seattle Public Schools, District 5 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Zachary DeWolf	47.36%	11,493
Omar Vasquez	17.53%	4,255
Andre Helmstetter	15.49%	3,758
Alec Cooper	13.55%	3,288
Candace Vaivadas	5.69%	1,380
Write-in votes	0.38%	93
Total Votes		24,267
Source: King County, "2017 Results," accessed August 15, 2017

Funding

Cooper reported $8,437.78 in contributions and $4,345.70 in expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, leaving his campaign with $4,092.08 cash on hand as of October 12, 2017.

Endorsements

Cooper received an official endorsement from The Seattle Times.

Campaign themes

2017

Cooper posted the following on his campaign website:

“	​School District Vision and Strategic Plan The stated responsibility of the school board (policy 1005) is to “…establish core beliefs and create a vision for the future of the district…”. I believe, as do a majority of SPS families - only 38% agree with the district’s strategic plan - that the current vision and plan for the district is incomplete, and that the district is off-track. In Seattle, an estimated 29% (source: Seattle PI) of students opt out from our public school system. With the upcoming expirations of the Strategic Plan and the contract of the current Superintendent, we have an opportunity to chart a better direction for our schools. Seattle needs a vision and a plan that are more focused and specific on building and sustaining great schools, and better serving all families in our community. Our school system exists to serve families - let's put families at the center of our schools vision and plan. ​Opportunity Gaps and Equity​ The opportunity gap at the district level increased (as measured by 3rd/8th grade test scores) in 2015-2016. The district has a host of programs designed to address the issue, but no systematic and coherent approach on how to actually close the gap. In SPS, African-American students exit the first ELA test (3rd grade) with a 26% attainment gap versus white students, and have essentially the same gap (25%) exiting 8th grade. If we truly believe as a society in creating equal opportunities for all children, we must be far more focused on early intervention and preventing the gap from forming. I strongly support the OSPI Superintendent’s proposal to establish preschool for all 3-4 year olds. We will also need to more consistently and intensively invest in service delivery, such as counseling, to close the gap. I believe that we must, as a community, make the necessary investments to level the playing field, and that we need to insist that SPS focus on what works. ​Accountability​ The board is accountable to the community for the success of the district, oversight of programs and accountability for outcomes. I believe, as do many families, that the accountability mechanism is fundamentally broken. The district is “not on track” regarding 13 of its 24 targets for 2017-2018. In the most recent family survey, only 22% of families felt that the district was responsive to their input and concerns. In most of the District 5 family surveys, fewer than half of families agree that their school partners with families to improve the learning environment. As a board member, I will push to ensure that we are putting families first and building the accountability mechanism deeply into both the building and district processes. As an example, school principals should be required to review both their improvement plans and survey scores with all parents quarterly. We need a better and more transparent mechanism to identify and fix underperforming schools. We need to increase transparency on how district officials and principals are evaluated, and better align these measures to family feedback. We need to increase the overall frequency and transparency of oversight, and change the culture. ​Charter Schools​ Charter schools are not the right solution for Seattle and I would be opposed to the expansion of for-profit education in Seattle. I believe that the best defense against corporate education is a good offense; namely we need to strengthen Seattle Public Schools. Our high opt out rate (at approximately four times the national average) and low level of family satisfaction makes Seattle particularly vulnerable to the charter industry. If we can reduce the dysfunction in the district, improve family satisfaction and bring more families into the district, we can ensure that charters do not gain a foothold in Seattle. ​Leveraging Seattle’s Resources​ We live in a region that is host to two of the five largest companies on the planet and growing wealth. We need to better work with these organizations to ensure that these resources are leveraged by our public school system. We cannot compromise our core beliefs, but it is a huge miss not to have these organizations deeply invested in our success.	”
—Alec Cooper (2017)

See also

• Seattle Public Schools, Washington
• Seattle Public Schools elections (2017)

External links

Suggest a link

• Seattle Public Schools
• Alec Cooper 2017 campaign website
• Alec Cooper 2017 Facebook campaign page