Running toward a wall

Educational woes in Shoreline

Thank you so much for taking the time to write about the long struggles of the city to the north ["Turmoil bruises popular school district," Times, page one, Sept. 26]. It was by far the most informative and bipartisan of the information coming out of the city of Shoreline.

I am a parent in the district and feel there were a few points that were not fleshed out in the story. The district is quick to blame the teachers and actually has gone so far as to say that they failed to understand what was negotiated at the beginning of the month.

I would go so far as to say that the board and the superintendent are trying to throw blame on the teachers for the district's tanking reputation. Their efforts to find "long-term" solutions are actually, in effect, going to ruin the district.

Parents and teachers are upset, the district's reputation suggests we are in trouble, and it's everyone's fault except the folks in charge. However, three of the School Board members were in office when the mismanagement began several years ago and Superintendent Sue Walker was working under Jim Welsh. The purpose of the board is oversight, and yet they signed off on contracts that the previous superintendent had already put into action.

It is the leadership that is ruining the district's reputation. It is the leadership that lacks vision to come up with imaginative and better ways to save money. More and more families will be driven out of the district, which, in the long run, will result in the district losing money.

In addition, as the district's reputation continues to erode, and the relationship between the district offices and teachers disintegrates, good teachers will leave, and attracting good ones will become difficult.

Passing levies will become more difficult as people lose faith in the leadership to manage and distribute funds.

Parents have offered alternative solutions to the problem, only to be shut down by the superintendent. They have donated money, only to find it squandered. They have been forced to put their children into private schools.

Vision and imagination are what these directors are lacking and I can only hope that Shoreline's voters will vote out the rubber-stamp "yes" School Board currently in place, and install people willing to question the superintendent and look at more imaginative methods of restoring faith and a balanced district budget.

Carrie Campbell is a parent in the Shoreline School District.