Op-Ed: The Issues Facing Seattle Public Schools (and Incoming School Board Directors)
Seattle Public Schools. Say that phrase and you’ll get a plethora of opinions but as someone who has tracked public education in Seattle for 25+ years, the two thoughts you will most often hear are “I believe in public education” and “What the heck are they doing; the district is a mess.”
The district has been and continues to face major problems that have been exacerbated by upheavals in leadership, funding issues, and frankly, just not listening to parents.
The Seattle School Board saw two members leave in the middle of their terms in 2024. The new directors who replaced them came in with a huge learning curve ahead of them. The two are Sarah Clark and Joe Mizrahi; both have chosen to run and try to retain those seats in the November election. Overall, the majority of the Board is up – 4 out of 7 seats will be on the ballot.
Leadership – the Superintendent
In 2022, Superintendent Denise Juneau resigned and the Board appointed long-time senior leader, Brent Jones, as interim. The Board then decided that they did not want to do a search and then summarily installed Jones without any vetting from the public. Even so, Jones was a known quantity and certainly knew the district well.
https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/26/op-ed-the-issues-facing-seattle-public-schools-and-incoming-school-board-directors/