How can we sustain quality public schools in Seattle?

If we offer nurturing school environments, challenging academics, rich programs in the arts and athletics, and competitive compensation for school employees, we can attract and retain both students and the experienced, well-trained educators they deserve.

However, we must compare Seattle's average elementary school size (around 300 pupils) to that of other urban districts (over 400) and begin using our school buildings as efficiently as possible. If we do not, it's unlikely we can provide excellent schools with our district's current lack of adequate funding.

Seattle Schools Superintendent Raj Manhas recommends consolidating some schools and programs for a yearly savings of approximately $400,000 in overhead for a typical elementary school. It's a controversial solution, but given the current budget status of our schools, it's one that I support.

It's unfortunate that we must even contemplate such difficult decisions. At the same time we consider closing schools and lament the lack of funding for our public-education system, some of our city's business and political leaders are proposing yet another taxpayer bailout for professional sports. Until those same leaders decide to make public schools and our students a higher priority, we will be forced to make tough decisions that do not satisfy everyone.

As our city's teachers and education-support professionals, Seattle Education Association members believe neighborhood schools are desirable. Yet, the definition of a neighborhood is subjective. I prefer to think of those who attend a school as a "community," and this community feeling is engendered by the relationships among the people who make up a school, not by the bricks and boards.

Many who oppose closing schools insist "small schools are better." If our schools had unlimited funding, that might be true. However, I have taught in a Seattle elementary school of fewer than 250 students and another with more than 500 students, both of which had a strong sense of community that had nothing to do with the size of the school. It had to do with the common vision shared by the staff and parents, effective leadership, collegiality among the educators and their dedication to the children in their charge.

There are advantages to the students of the school with 500 pupils. It can pay for a full-time librarian, full-time counselor, family-support worker, head teacher to assist the principal and two secretarial assistants. There are three specialist teachers in P.E., music and computers. There is a nurse at the school three days rather than the one day a week for which most schools are funded. There are two full-time teachers and six bilingual assistants to support the large population of students whose families speak a language other than English at home.

Schools with fewer students receive less funding, so the classroom teacher is also counselor, family contact and computer specialist. One secretary does all of the office work, as well as health care during the four days the nurse isn't present. The principal is disciplinarian, administrator and instructional leader when she's lucky enough to find time. There may be little or no language help for the non-English-speaking families.

Several years ago, Seattle Schools enrollment leveled off at about 55 percent of what it had been in the 1970s. But we still operate 80 percent of the buildings we had then. By consolidating schools, we can move classrooms to underused schools, reassign students and teachers, and create more school communities that provide, because of their economies of scale, the services that enhance education.

No single option will be the entire solution to our budget woes. But without the most efficient use of our buildings, we may not avoid drastic cuts to staff, increased class sizes and elimination of programs such as music and sports.

In the end, parents and educators have to decide which is more important: buildings, or ensuring that our students have the excellent teachers and support professionals they need to get a top-quality education.

Research shows, and most people know from their own experience, that nothing is more important to the quality of a child's education than quality teachers and aides in the classroom.

Patricia Robertson is a veteran Seattle teacher and vice-president of the 5,000-member Seattle Education Association.