Director Peaslee Gives Her School Board Picks
I would like to say this is a parody of sorts but no, it's Director Peaslee's recommendations for School Board.
Now the first thing you'll note is that she gives recommendations for all the races (even though not all are on the primary ballot anyway) except for her own district. Weird, no?
Then there's this:
The most important trait needed to ensure an effective School Board is collegial respect.
Now Peaslee has experience in being a School Board director and may have come to this belief from that experience. It certainly wasn't what she ran on. As well, it's a little hard to figure out if a candidate has this trait. Perhaps thru service on other boards, committees or taskforces but then you'd have to ask other members of those groups what they thought. Not easy to figure out.
I do agree that there should be rules of respectful engagement and that the answer is always compromise and consensus on the agenda. But when Peaslee was on the Board with Michael DeBell, there were a lot of clashes. And it ended up with him leaving (not because of her) and her being Board president.
She came on the Board to make a change and certainly was shrinking violet. But, like McLaren, she decided that mostly rubber-stamping staff wishes (and now the City's wishes) was the way to go.
Maybe the moral of the story for School Board candidates is not do as I say, but do as she did.
Peaslee's Recs
Now the first thing you'll note is that she gives recommendations for all the races (even though not all are on the primary ballot anyway) except for her own district. Weird, no?
Then there's this:
The most important trait needed to ensure an effective School Board is collegial respect.
Now Peaslee has experience in being a School Board director and may have come to this belief from that experience. It certainly wasn't what she ran on. As well, it's a little hard to figure out if a candidate has this trait. Perhaps thru service on other boards, committees or taskforces but then you'd have to ask other members of those groups what they thought. Not easy to figure out.
I do agree that there should be rules of respectful engagement and that the answer is always compromise and consensus on the agenda. But when Peaslee was on the Board with Michael DeBell, there were a lot of clashes. And it ended up with him leaving (not because of her) and her being Board president.
She came on the Board to make a change and certainly was shrinking violet. But, like McLaren, she decided that mostly rubber-stamping staff wishes (and now the City's wishes) was the way to go.
Maybe the moral of the story for School Board candidates is not do as I say, but do as she did.
Peaslee's Recs
| Dear Friends, My top picks for new Seattle School Board Directors are Rick Burke (District 2), Lauren McGuire (District 3) and Marty McLaren (District 6). Here's why. Seattle needs a School Board that will sustain momentum. We do not need another shake up that will lead to more instability and turnover. The most important trait needed to ensure an effective School Board is collegial respect. When we work in a collegial manner with fellow Directors, the Superintendent and staff we move the District forward in achieving the goals we have collectively set. When conflict prevails stress levels grow, undermining morale as well as momentum. As we've seen repeatedly this makes it difficult to sustain progress, superintendents leave, and our best talent usually follows. Collegial respect does not mean that everyone agrees or that we're satisfied with the status quo. It means we replace conflict with constructive engagement, putting the interests of our students ahead of personal agendas and disagreements. It means that we acknowledge that nobody knows everything; nobody is always right or wrong; and we need to work together collaboratively in order to make the improvements our students need and deserve. In my opinion Rick Burke, Lauren McGuire and Marty McLaren will bring this style of leadership to the next Seattle School Board. They will Seattle Schools Community Forum: Director Peaslee Gives Her School Board Picks: |
