Election gives Seattle School Board a new, unified voice

An unofficial slate of political newcomers who cruised to an easy — albeit expensive — Seattle School Board victory Tuesday night gives the board six like-minded members.

Along with board members Michael DeBell and Cheryl Chow, the four winners have a shared approach, focusing on policy and supporting new Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson.

Paul Hill, the director of the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education, said the outcome could be a second attempt by Seattle voters to elect a stable board.

"The last time people voted to stabilize the system, they didn't get it, and they're trying again," Hill said.

Tuesday's vote was decisive. Peter Maier, Steve Sundquist and Harium Martin-Morris all were leading with more than 60 percent of the vote with nearly all precincts counted Wednesday. Sherry Carr had 58 percent of the vote in her win over incumbent Darlene Flynn.

In 2003, voters ousted three incumbents after the district announced it had overspent by $35 million. The three, along with another candidate elected to an open seat, made up a new board majority.

But Hill said that the current board became a "laughingstock" — prompting the business community to swoop in with thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to support a new, more businesslike board.

The four winners all are PTSA parents and among them have three master's degrees in business and a law degree.

Flynn, who lost in District 2 to Carr, said the well-funded new majority worries her.

"I am very concerned about what this change on the board means for the direction we have set and for the work that we have done in bringing [Goodloe-Johnson] here and hiring her," she said. "I think that this slate is an extreme change in direction. I don't know what that change means."

The 2003 majority, which included Flynn, campaigned on a promise not to "rubber-stamp" the superintendent's work. Some voters also were dissatisfied with board members' unyielding support of the previous superintendent, Joseph Olchefske, after the $35 million mistake was discovered.

"We did have a problem in Seattle before the last board election, where people felt the board had stood with the superintendent for too long, and I think the board will not forget that lesson," Hill said.

Of the current board members, Mary Bass sometimes casts the lone dissenting vote. She and Sally Soriano, who lost to Maier on Tuesday, often agree on issues. In 2006, Soriano and Bass voted against closing schools and later participated in a lawsuit against the district over the closures.

Even without the latest contributions added to their total, Maier, Carr and Sundquist hold state records for the three most expensive School Board campaigns in state history. Each raised more than $100,000.

Maier raised the most — about $163,000. There are no contribution limits on School Board races, and Flynn ventured to say that might become an issue.

The state Legislature or the board itself can put limits in place, or limits can be set by a citizens initiative.

Seattle City Council candidates are limited to $700 per contributor. Maier, Carr and Sundquist each received about 30 contributions of $1,000 or more, including several $5,000 donations from individuals.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com