Seattle Public Schools elections (2015)

2017 → ← 2013
2015 Seattle Public Schools Elections
Primary election date:
August 4, 2015
General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Candidate survey Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Washington Seattle Public Schools King County, Washington ballot measures Local ballot measures, Washington

Four seats on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors were up for general election on November 3, 2015. Because more than two candidates filed for the District 3 and 6 seats, a primary election was held on August 4, 2015. District 1 incumbent Sharon Peaslee, District 2 incumbent Sherry Carr, District 3 incumbent Harium Martin-Morris and District 6 incumbent Marty McLaren were up for re-election, but only McLaren filed to run for another term. McLaren was defeated, leading to four newcomers joining the board.

The board elections drew an increased number of candidates as the district wrestled with several issues connected to state legislation. In district-specific bills, Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-37) and Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-37) supported attempts to reform the district's board and size. Both legislators cited concerns over the achievement gap between district averages and the averages of students of color in the district. Meanwhile, local teacher protests were part of the statewide discourse on education funding.

The race for District 6 was the most competitive in 2015. Incumbent Marty McLaren faced challengers Leslie Harris and Nick Esparza in the primary and was defeated by Harris in the general election. The primary election results and campaign finance reports indicated re-election was unlikely for the incumbent. McLaren placed second in the primary, more than 10 points behind Harris. As of campaign finance reports available on October 21, 2015, Harris had raised more than four times McLaren's campaign contributions and outspent her by a factor of almost seven.

District 3 saw four candidates seeking the open seat: Lauren McGuire, David Blomstrom, Stephen Clayton and Jill Geary. Geary and McGuire advanced to the general election, garnering over $100,000 in combined campaign contributions as of October 21, 2015. Jill Geary won the District 3 seat.

The District 1 and 2 seats saw two candidates on the general election ballot each after multiple candidates withdrew from those races. Michael Christophersen and Scott Pinkham vied for the District 1 seat, while Laura Obara Gramer and Rick Burke ran for the District 2 seat. Scott Pinkham won the District 1 seat; Rick Burke won the District 2 seat.

Candidates for the city council were outspoken on education issues in the city, focusing on their credentials as public school parents and plans for city-school district collaboration. Additionally, the district appeared close to resolving its special education compliance issues in 2015.

Three of the candidates for the Seattle school board had participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.

See also: What was at stake in the 2015 Seattle Public Schools election?

About the district

See also: Seattle Public Schools, Washington

Seattle Public Schools is located in King County, Wash.

Seattle Public Schools is based in Seattle, the seat of King County, in northwestern Washington. The district was home to 625,570 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2009-2013 profile; 98,470 of those residents were children. The county was home to 1,974,567 residents in 2013, according to census estimates; 419,892 of those residents were under the age of 18. In the 2012-2013 school year, Seattle Public Schools was the largest school district in Washington and served 50,655 students.

Presidential Voting Pattern, King County
Year	Democratic Vote (%)	Republican Vote (%)
2012	68.7	28.3
2008	70.0	28.0
2004	65.0	33.7
2000	60.0	34.4

Demographics

In 2013, King County outperformed the state of Washington as a whole in terms of higher education achievement, median household income and poverty rate. The United States Census Bureau found that 46.6 percent of county residents aged 25 and older had earned a bachelor's degree or higher, while the rate was 32.1 percent for Washington as a whole.

The county's median household income was $70,998, in comparison to $58,592 statewide. The rate of persons living below the poverty line in King County was 12.1 percent, compared to 13.9 percent for the entire state; 15.4 percent of children in the county and 18.5 percent of children statewide lived below the poverty line.

Racial demographics, 2013
The graph above compares the racial demographics of the Seattle Public Schools' population of children and total residents to the residents of King County and the state of Washington. As the percentage of the population identifying as non-Hispanic or Latino white is greater than 50 percent in all of these geographic boundaries, the graph above has been adjusted to display only the percentage of people identifying as such above 50 percent. The full statistics for this graph can be found in the table beneath it. Click [show] on the right to expand the table. *"SPS children" refers to all persons under the age of 18 living in the district's geographic boundaries. It is not the enrolled student body of the district. "SPS total" refers to all persons living in the district's geographic boundaries.
Full racial demographic statistics Race School district child population (%) Total school district population (%) King County (%) Washington (%) American Indian and Alaska Native 0.82 0.72 0.79 1.38 Asian 11.95 14.09 14.81 7.32 Black or African American 12.05 7.43 6.19 3.59 Hispanic or Latino 10.08 6.44 9.04 11.49 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.59 0.41 0.74 0.60 White 61.09 70.54 69.52 78.46 Some Other Race 1.90 1.59 2.63 3.89 Two or More Races 11.60 5.23 5.32 4.76 Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

Board Facts
Number of members:	7
Representation style:	Combined at-large and geographic districts
Regular term length:	4 years
Board Election Style: Nonpartisan
Primary election trigger:	3 or more candidates/seat
Primary election style:	By geographic districts
General election style:	At-large
Write-ins allowed:	Yes, primary and general

The Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors consists of seven members elected by district to four-year terms. Because more than two candidates filed for the District 3 and 6 races, a primary election for those seats was held on August 4, 2015. Each member runs within specific districts in the primaries followed by a citywide vote in the general election. The general election for Districts 1, 2, 3 and 6 was November 3, 2015.

Elections in Washington require candidates to pay filing fees equal to 1 percent of a position's annual salary. Board members in Seattle can be reimbursed up to $4,800 for district activities but do not receive salaries, which eliminates the filing fee.

Candidates were required to file with the King County Election Office for this election by May 15, 2015. Any person who desires to be a write-in candidate and have his or her votes counted at a primary or general election must file a declaration of candidacy no later than 18 days before a primary or general election. For the primary election, the deadline was July 17, 2015; for the general election, the deadline was October 16, 2015.

Elections

2015

This symbol, , next to a candidate's name indicates his or her participation in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. Click the image next to a candidate's name to jump to the section that details his or her responses.

District 1

Results

Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Scott Pinkham	69.6%	105,869
Michael Christophersen	29.9%	45,539
Write-in votes	0.52%	791
Total Votes		152,199
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015

Candidates

Michael Christophersen		Scott Pinkham
	Technical consultant, IBM A.A. in electronic engineering		M.Ed. (ABT) and B.S., University of Washington American Indian studies lecturer, UW Assistant Director of Diversity and Access Minority Scholars Engineering Program Lead, UW

Map

Click on the image below to access a larger version of the map.

District 2

Results

Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Rick Burke	80.7%	124,381
Laura Obara Gramer	18.9%	29,112
Write-in votes	0.36%	554
Total Votes		154,047
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015

Candidates

Rick Burke		Laura Obara Gramer
	President and engineering manager, Thermetrics, LLC B.S., University of Washington		Occupational therapist B.S., University of Washington

Map

Click on the image below to access a larger version of the map.

District 3

Results

Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jill Geary	62.7%	96,598
Lauren McGuire	36.9%	56,814
Write-in votes	0.39%	595
Total Votes		154,007
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015

Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 3 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jill Geary	47.5%	8,237
Lauren McGuire	45.9%	7,966
Stephen Clayton	5.1%	889
David Blomstrom	1.1%	194
Write-in votes	0.37%	65
Total Votes		17,351
Source: King County Elections, "Primary Election Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 3," accessed August 20, 2015

Candidates

Jill Geary		Lauren McGuire
	J.D., Seattle University School of Law B.A., University of California, Berkeley Education attorney, Wolf Bay Law, LLC		M.S. and B.A., Northwestern University Certificate in memoir, University of Washington

Map

Click on the image below to access a larger version of the map.

District 6

Results

Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Leslie Harris	76.6%	117,648
Marty McLaren Incumbent	23.0%	35,357
Write-in votes	0.38%	583
Total Votes		153,588
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015

Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 6 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Leslie Harris	48.2%	7,522
Marty McLaren Incumbent	37.7%	5,879
Nick Esparza	13.6%	2,119
Write-in votes	0.56%	87
Total Votes		15,607
Source: King County Elections, "Primary Election Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 6," accessed August 20, 2015

Candidates

Marty McLaren		Leslie Harris
	Incumbent

Map

Click on the image below to access a larger version of the map.

Candidates defeated in primary

District 3

David Blomstrom		Stephen Clayton
	Graduate, Western Washington University/Huxley Writer and web designer		B.A., Western Washington University A.S., Highline Community College Healthcare educator Vietnam veteran, U.S. Navy

District 6

Nick Esparza

Withdrawn candidates

District 1

• Arik Korman

District 2

• Julie McCleery
• Deborah Leblang

District 6

• Suzanne Sutton

District map

Click on the image below to access a larger version of the map.

Campaign finance

Candidates received a total of $139,833.09 and spent a total of $88,971.50 as of October 21, 2015, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. These totals do not include debts the candidates had incurred at that time.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
District 1
Michael Christophersen	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Scott Pinkham	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
District 2
Rick Burke	$9,572.00	$3,500.87	$6,071.13
Laura Obara Gramer	$2,870.00	$92.32	$2,777.68
District 3
Jill Geary	$56,132.77	$34,767.43	$21,365.34
Lauren McGuire	$44,804.47	$31,355.70	$13,448.77
David Blomstrom	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Stephen Clayton	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
District 6
Leslie Harris	$21,570.75	$16,827.73	$4,743.02
Marty McLaren	$4,883.10	$2,427.45	$2,455.65
Nick Esparza	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Candidates who raised and spent no more than $5,000 in aggregate and who did not receive more than $500 from any one contributor, including themselves, could participate in "mini reporting." These candidates were required to file a candidate registration statement and keep a record of their contributors and expenditures, but they were not required to report them unless they exceed the stated thresholds. In those cases, they were required to switch their filing status from "mini" to "full" reporting by August 31, 2015.

Contributions to school board candidate committees were subject to the following limits:

• State parties or caucus political committees (separately): $0.95 per registered voter from January 1 to December 31
• County and legislative district parties (combined): $0.50 per registered voter from January 1 to December 31
• Individuals, PACS, unions, corporations or other entities (separately): $950 per primary and general election

School board candidate committees were prohibited from receiving contributions from other candidate committees. No contributors except state committees of political parties could give more than $5,000 in aggregate in the 21 days prior to the election.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2013 See also: Seattle Public Schools elections (2013) District 4 General Seattle Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sue Peters 54.8% 92,552      Nonpartisan Suzanne Dale Estey 44.8% 75,758      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.4% 642 Total Votes 168,952 Source: King County Elections, "Certified Results," November 25, 2013 Primary Seattle Public Schools, District 4 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Suzanne Dale Estey 47.8% 6,422      Nonpartisan Sue Peters 41.4% 5,560      Nonpartisan Dean McColgan 10.9% 1,461 Total Votes 13,443 Source: King County Elections, "August 6, 2013 primary election results," August 20, 2013 District 5 General Seattle Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Stephan Blanford 88.8% 144,320      Nonpartisan LaCrese Green 10.6% 17,286      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.5% 852 Total Votes 162,458 Source: King County Elections, "Certified Results," November 25, 2013 Primary Seattle Public Schools, District 5 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Stephan Blanford 79.3% 8,574      Nonpartisan LaCrese Green 13.1% 1,415      Nonpartisan Olu Thomas 7.6% 827 Total Votes 10,816 Source: King County Elections, "August 6, 2013 primary election results," August 20, 2013 District 7 Seattle Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Betty Patu Incumbent 98.2% 121,914      Nonpartisan Write-in 1.8% 2,283 Total Votes 124,197 Source: King County Elections, "Certified Results," November 25, 2013 2011 District 1 Seattle Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sharon Peaslee 50.6% 76,806      Nonpartisan Peter Maier Incumbent 49.4% 74,903 Total Votes 151,709 Source: King County Elections, "Election results," November 28, 2011 District 2 Seattle Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sherry Carr Incumbent 52.5% 78,265      Nonpartisan Kate Martin 47.5% 70,826 Total Votes 149,091 Source: King County Elections, "Election results," November 28, 2011 District 3 Seattle Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Harium Martin-Morris Incumbent 58.7% 87,493      Nonpartisan Michelle Buetow 41.3% 61,536 Total Votes 149,029 Source: King County Elections, "Election results," November 28, 2011 District 6 Seattle Public Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Marty McLaren 54.4% 80,949      Nonpartisan Steve Sundquist Incumbent 45.6% 67,857 Total Votes 148,806 Source: King County Elections, "Election results," November 28, 2011

What was at stake?

2015

Issues in the election

Election trends

A total of 15 candidates initially filed for the four Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors' seats up for election in 2015, for an average of 3.75 candidates per seat. Four candidates withdrew before the deadline of May 18, 2015, to keep their names off the ballot. Following the withdrawals, the final field for the elections was 2.75 candidates per seat, a slight increase from the 2.34 candidates per seat in the district's 2013 elections.

Only one incumbent filed to run for re-election in 2015; this was also the case in 2013. While District 7 incumbent Betty Patu faced no official challengers in the 2013 election and sailed to an easy victory, District 6 incumbent Marty McLaren faced two challengers in the 2015 primary election. The top two vote recipients advanced the general election.

Mayoral board appointments, district divisions considered

House Bill 1497, introduced on January 21, 2015, would change the school board to a partially appointed body. While the bill would retain the total number of school board seats, only five would remain elected by the district's voters, while the remaining two would be appointed by the mayor. The bill as introduced did not specifically mention Seattle Public Schools as its target. However, by specifying first-class school districts within cities with populations greater than 400,000, the bill would de facto only impact the Seattle district.

Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-37), sponsor of HB 1497, said that the fully elected board system was failing students of color and students with disabilities: “We can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results. When the current system isn’t working, it’s time to do something new, something smarter.” He also argued that the district's administration had become too far removed from the schools themselves. Pettigrew, a Seattle district resident, enrolled his children in a Catholic school, saying, "When I looked at Seattle Public Schools, I wasn't willing to take the risk."

School Board President Sherri Carr, however, disagreed with Pettigrew's assessment of the district's performance. Citing improvements on various metrics—graduation rates, test scores and achievement gaps—Carr stated, "The claim that Seattle Public Schools is failing is just simple [sic] wrong in the facts."

Mayor of Seattle Ed Murray had voiced support for other forms of school district governance prior to the bill's introduction, saying:

“	There are different models of how school districts and cities operate around the country. Sometimes there’s a blending of the governance structure. Sometimes there’s an appointment of maybe the superintendent. I spent 18 years in the Legislature and 18 years of frustration with the school district. I do think we need to look at the governance structure. But that doesn’t mean that I want to control the school district. I think the city needs to have a bigger role.	”
—Mayor Ed Murray (2014)

District 3 school board candidate Jill Geary stated her opposition to the implementation of mayoral appointments to the board on her campaign website prior to the primary election.

“	I do not support the Seattle Mayor appointing members to the School Board, but I do understand the compelling need for coordination if we are going to find classrooms to meet the citizen mandate to reduce class size. Currently, it is predicted that Seattle will need to find 600 more classrooms (the equivalent of 20 more schools) in a system that is bursting at the seams in places and a city that has some of the most expensive real estate in the country.	”
—Jill Geary campaign website (2015)

Rep. Santos, meanwhile, offered a larger structural change to reform the district in a separate bill. House Bill 1860, introduced on January 30, 2015, would limit the size of first-class school districts to no more than 35,000 students, effective September 1, 2018. Similar to HB 1497, the measure does not specifically name Seattle Public Schools. However, the next-largest school district in the state—Spokane Public Schools—had an enrollment of 29,032 in the 2012-2013 school year, making Seattle the only district that could be affected by the legislation.

HB 1860 would also limit the size of the board of directors for such districts to five members. The bill does not provide specific details as to how the district divisions would be carried out, but states, "[the] superintendent of public instruction shall convene educational service districts to analyze options and make recommendations for a clear legal framework and process for dividing a school district that has more than thirty-five thousand students into two districts."

City council candidates campaign on education

See also: Seattle, Washington municipal elections, 2015

Discussions of education policy in Seattle were not limited to school board races. All nine seats on the newly districted Seattle City Council were up for election. Candidates in at least three of those races made statements about education in their campaigning leading up to the primary elections.

City Council Position 4 candidate Rob Johnson emphasized his children's attendance at public schools, saying, "Currently there is no member on the city council with kids in public schools. Rob will bring a first-hand voice to this issue." Position 6 candidate Catherine Weatbrook stated she would add schools to the city's plans and coordinate with the district and school board to accommodate growing enrollment. Position 5 candidate Sandy Brown, a former member of the Lake Washington School Board, called a strong educational system "the cornerstone of our economic development and ability to attract families."

For more information about the city council races, see the election overview for Seattle's municipal elections.

Issues in the district

Special education compliance issues addressed after funding withheld

The district's recent failures to meet special education requirements appeared to be drawing to a close in 2015. In October 2014, $3 million of the $10.6 million allocated to the district was withheld following failures to comply with federal education standards for special education. Issues with the programs were found dating back to 2013 when the state dictated that an improvement plan be put in place. An audit found "special-education student files missing signatures, outside services for students performed before contracts were approved, missing documentation for outside contracts, and the lack of a handbook clearly stating policies and procedures."

Wyeth Jessee was appointed to oversee the district's special education after Zakiyyah McWilliams was placed on administrative leave in August 2014. Jessee became the ninth administrator of special education in five years. In June 2015, Jessee stated that the district had improved dramatically since the state's decision to withhold funds. He stated that high turnover was the origin of the problems. At the beginning of the school year in 2014, the district had 45 openings for special education positions; in 2013, that number was 80. Jessee emphasized earlier hiring and increased teacher training opportunities.

In June 2015, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction found that the district was in compliance with 39 of the 40 identified issues. Due to this progress, the office was considering reducing the frequency of check-ins with the district. A series of spot checks would then occur to ensure that changes were fully implemented. The funding that was withheld could then be returned incrementally as the district's progress was confirmed.

Some district parents were still displeased with the time it took the district to remedy the issues, which were supposed to be resolved in June 2014. Additionally, the teachers' union argued the attention to compliance ignored ongoing classroom issues. According to the union's vice president, Phyllis Campano, “As they (at the district) have been concentrating on these compliance issues, the classrooms are actually falling apart. There’s so much to do, and not a whole lot of support.” She also stated that in the 2014–2015 school year, the union utilized a portion of its contract that allows it to provide a crisis-intervention team for critical special needs issues at elementary schools.

State education funding disputes lead to protests, threats of teacher pay cuts

Voting on Education
Policy
Education policy
Ballot Measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot
Local School bonds Local school tax School budgets School redistricting Local education measures

Teachers protest over state funding, class sizes and pay
State legislators and Washington school teachers faced off over funding disputes leading to teacher strikes and threats of pay retribution from Republican politicians. On May 19, 2015, teachers from Seattle Public Schools, Issaquah School District and Mercer Island School District staged a one-day walkout protest of the state's handling of classroom sizes, cost-of-living pay increases and other concerns related to public education funding.

The crowd of at least 2,000, including district parents, students and community members, demanded that the state legislature fulfill the requirements of two Initiatives to the People and recent court decisions. These issues were highlighted across the state through a series of one-day walkouts beginning in April 2015.

Initiative 1351, which was passed narrowly by voters in 2014, required "the legislature to allocate funding for smaller K-12 class sizes, with extra class-size reductions for all grades in defined high-poverty schools and for grades K-3 in all schools; and for increased student support staffing, including counselors, teaching assistants, librarians, and others." At the time of the protests, neither chamber's budget proposal included funding for this initiative's requirements.

An earlier initiative related to cost-of-living pay increases for teachers from 2000, Initiative 732, passed by a 25.38 percent margin. The measure was supposed to secure cost-of-living salary adjustments for teachers and other school district employees. However, the legislature suspended those increases from 2009–2015. As The Seattle Times explained, "That doesn’t mean teachers’ pay has not increased at all over that time—teachers early in their careers still get yearly increases, and some districts have provided raises to all teachers through local tax levies."

Education spending initiatives were proposed for the 2015 ballot, as well; Initiative 1388 sought to prohibit the legislature from spending increases in state revenue unless two-thirds of the increase was spent on education programs. The measure failed to reach the ballot.

See also: Washington 2015 ballot measures

Republican legislators threaten consequences; Democrats walk out

Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-6)

As education protesters marched the streets, Democratic committee members walked out in protest of a measure seeking to punish teachers who participate in such strikes. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee was meeting to consider Senate Bill 6116, which would not allow educational employees to receive pay or benefits for the days they strike. Committee Chair Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-6) argued that strikes like those simultaneous to the hearing are illegal.

Sen. Bob Hasegawa (D-11)

While other Republicans joined in voicing dissent regarding teacher strikes, most of their Democratic colleagues brought another level of protest to the day by walking out of the hearing. The departure was not altogether quiet; Sen. Bob Hasegawa (D-11) stated the bill would have “countless legal, moral and logistical flaws.” He further claimed, “This bill offers no solutions to our historic funding challenges and it is clearly only useful as a messaging tool. The message is that there is more will to attack teachers and their families than come up with real solutions to our funding challenges.”

The measure, despite the attention it garnered, seemed unlikely to move forward. Not all Senate Republicans supported the move, and Gov. Jay Inslee (D) expressed doubt that it would gain traction. Local media noted that school districts seemed somewhat passive to the walkouts. Bill Keim, executive director of the Washington Association of School Administrators, stated, "With a one-day walkout, it would virtually be over before they could even get the paperwork filed." Alan Burke, executive director of the Washington State School Directors’ Association, expressed similar views.

Legality of strikes questioned and defended
Whether public school educators should or should not strike became a matter of legal concern to some. Republican senators called the walkouts illegal starting in April 2015, and former Attorney General of Washington Rob McKenna (R) argued there were no legal circumstances for teacher protests.

McKenna's claims, in particular, rest on a section of Washington state law pertaining to collective bargaining rights, which states, “Nothing contained in this chapter shall permit or grant any public employee the right to strike.” However, the Washington Education Association (WEA) argues the section does not prohibit strikes. Some teacher contracts contain clauses that prohibit them from causing strikes, but the WEA argued for a distinction between protesting a district versus protesting the legislature.

Ballotpedia survey responses

Three of the 11 candidates appeared on the ballot in either the primary or general election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display their responses to the survey questions.

Top priorities

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Michael Christophersen stated:

“	Insuring Seattle public schools follows all city, state and federal laws would be my top priority. Our district is under intense federal scrutiny because of its failures to follow federal laws and provide appropriate education to students with disabilities. I have been advocating for my children and others children for the past 7 years attempting to influence Seattle public schools to follow the law and serve all students.	”
—Michael Christophersen (2015)

David Blomstrom (Dist. 3)

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, David Blomstrom stated:

“	Cleaning up the corruption that's rampant in the district and giving Bill Gates and corporations the boot.	”
—David Blomstrom (2015)

Stephen Clayton (Dist. 3)

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Stephen Clayton stated:

“	My top priority would be to open a clear transparent line of communication with students, parents and the public to regain the trust of these groups. Right now the school board is not transparent and appears to be making decisions without much communicatin with the public.	”
—Stephen Clayton (2015)

Ranking the issues

The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidates' rankings from most to least important:

Issue importance ranking
Issue	District 1	District 3
Christophersen	Blomstrom	Clayton
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget	3	1	2
Closing the achievement gap	2	3	1
Expanding arts education	6	6	6
Expanding career-technical education	4	7	3
Expanding school choice options	7	2	5
Improving college readiness	5	4	7
Improving education for special needs students	1	5	4

Positions on the issues

The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidates' responses can be found below.

District 1

• Michael Christophersen survey responses

District 3

• David Blomstrom survey responses
• Stephen Clayton survey responses

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the 2015 Washington school board elections:

Deadline	Event
May 11-15, 2015	Candidate filing period
May 18, 2015	Deadline for candidates to withdraw
July 14, 2015	Pre-primary campaign finance report due
July 27, 2015	Voter registration deadline for primary election
July 28, 2015	Pre-primary campaign finance report due
August 4, 2015	Primary election day
September 10, 2015	Post-primary campaign finance report due
October 13, 2015	Pre-general campaign finance report due
October 26, 2015	Voter registration deadline for general election
October 27, 2015	Pre-general campaign finance report due
November 3, 2015	Election Day
November 24, 2015	Election results certified
December 10, 2015	Post-general campaign finance report due
January 11, 2016	End of election cycle campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Washington elections, 2015

Primaries for state House District 30-Position 2 and all nine seats on the Seattle City Council appeared on the ballot on August 4, 2015, as well. Winners of these races and the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors' races advanced to the general election on November 3, 2015.

King County Director of Elections and Port of Seattle Commission Positions No. 2 and 5 races also shared the primary and general election ballots.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Seattle Public Schools Washington. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Seattle Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Seattle Public Schools	Washington	School Boards
Seattle Public Schools elections (2013) List of school districts in Washington	Washington school board elections, 2015 Public education in Washington Local ballot measures, Washington	School board elections, 2015 School board elections, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Seattle Public Schools
• King County Elections