Seattle is a diverse city – diverse in its people, its neighborhoods, and its economy. In a place that prides itself on many distinct traits, there is one area where we can seek a uniformly high-quality experience – our public schools. If we want Seattle’s youth to be the next pioneers in their chosen fields, we need to be clear-eyed about modernizing our education system to support their futures – and ours.
The majority of our students are from the global majority.
Student demographic information
English language
learner students
Students with
disabilities
Low-income
students
Source: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2024
Seattle has not yet created an opportunity for every student to succeed.
Source: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2024
High school students completing post-secondary credential by age 26
Source: Partnership for Learning
Enrollment has dwindled over time.
District annual student enrollment in thousands
Source: Seattle Public Schools
The Seattle School Board oversees the Superintendent and Seattle Public Schools and ensures that our community’s values are incorporated into the plans and operations of the district. It’s a tough job — averaging 20 hours per week for annual compensation of just $4,800. That comes to $4.61 per hour before taxes. And we’ve experienced significant turnover among board directors over the past 20 or so years.
Source: Seattle Public Schools
A steady, consistent hand at the helm helps bring focus on what our community wants for Seattle’s public school students. Seattle Public Schools’ Superintendents, during their tenure, work hard and in good faith. But in this area, too, we’ve had far too much turnover — 8 Superintendents in 25 years.
Source: Seattle Public Schools
Research suggests that highly effective boards and Superintendents improve student outcomes over time. Too much leadership turnover hurts, as it costs our students valuable time, it makes it very hard to implement district-wide change and modernization programs, and it undermines public confidence. We need to do better, and we can.
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