Seattle Public Schools changes will better serve all students

OVER the past few weeks, Seattle families have heard the difficult news that their child's school may close. I recognize how painful these decisions are. There is no good time to close school buildings and consolidate programs. But I also know these steps are absolutely necessary to improve the academic performance of this district.

When I came to Seattle from South Carolina 18 months ago, I found a district with dedicated teachers and staff, committed families and students motivated to learn. From Garfield High School's award-winning jazz ensemble to Maple Elementary, where a diverse student body is outperforming state achievement benchmarks, there are schools and programs in Seattle that rival any in the nation. I also found a district with some significant academic challenges: Nearly half of seventh-grade students in Seattle score below grade level in math, and almost four in 10 students do not graduate from high school.

I absolutely believe every student in every school can excel, and it is our responsibility to ensure every student has that opportunity. That's why our strategic plan, Excellence for All, is focused on raising achievement, attracting great teachers and increasing efficiency over the next five years — not just for some schools, but across the district. The plan recognizes the critical importance of teachers, sets clear goals for academic improvement and provides extra resources for struggling schools.

Already we're working to implement a districtwide math and science curricula that will give teachers the tools they need to help students learn, as well as more time for collaboration and creativity. Teachers in nine schools are piloting a new assessment system that provides immediate information on student progress and an early warning system for those falling behind. And we're updating our financial and data systems to replace technology that is decades out of date.

Ensuring excellence for all also depends on becoming more-efficient stewards of our resources. For too long, we've put off tough decisions. Today, because of changing demographics, we have thousands of extra seats across the district. Many schools enroll far fewer students than they were designed to accommodate. Under-enrolled schools can't offer a full complement of programs and activities, and each one of these extra classrooms costs money to heat and maintain — money that we should be using to invest in excellent teachers and a smaller number of high quality schools.

Closing schools and making sure the capacity is balanced across the city is just one step toward becoming more efficient. I've asked our staff to identify$5 million in cost savings from the central-office budget, and we have implemented a hiring freeze across the district. We're examining how to make transportation more cost-effective, improve state and federal reimbursements, and generate additional revenue — all with an eye toward reducing as much as possible any impacts on teaching and learning in the classroom.

These are very difficult decisions to make — especially in an economic downturn — but they are decisions we must face now, and we must face them as a community. Our goal is to minimize disruption for students, families and staff by crafting a careful, reasoned proposal and being as transparent and collaborative as possible.

I want to thank the hundreds of people who have turned out at community workshops, School Board meetings and hearings to share their opinions and offer valuable suggestions for improving this proposal. We are committed to engaging the Seattle community and making sure all voices are heard. A complete list of meetings is available at http://www.seattleschools.org/area/capacity/getinvolved.html.

If you can't attend a meeting in person, please e-mail your comments to capacity@seattleschools.org. All suggestions — made in person or online — will be reviewed as we develop the final recommendations to be presented to the School Board on Jan. 6.

I believe that, together, we can make sure that every student in Seattle gets the quality education he or she deserves and that Seattle Public Schools can be one of the best-performing school districts in the nation.