Connelly: "Seattle's winter of lost trust"

Joel Connelly (seattlepi.com):

Near the end of what seems a ceaseless winter, the only thing worse than Seattle's dreary weather is the bleak look of the city's public life. Trust has been lost -- all over.
(SNIP)
Our gloom this year is a feeling that one of America's most envied cities is at best stagnating or, worse, in decline. MORE...

(Updated) Seattle Times: "Board likely to oust Seattle schools superintendent"

UPDATE: SLOG posts "Dr. Susan Enfield, Seattle's Potential Interim Superintendent, Had Once Been a French Fry" as a helpful introduction to our new superintendent.

"From left, Seattle School Board members Peter Maier, Kay Smith-Blum, President Steve Sundquist and Michael DeBell give a statement after Tuesday's four-hour executive session at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence."

Linda Shaw and Steve Miletich (Seattle Times):

After 3 ½ years as Seattle Public Schools superintendent, Maria Goodloe-Johnson's tenure appears to be over.

The Seattle School Board clearly signaled Tuesday night that it intends to dismiss Goodloe-Johnson and immediately appoint Chief Academic Officer Susan Enfield as interim superintendent.

The board will vote Wednesday night on both actions, one week after two investigative reports revealed the misuse of public money and mismanagement at the top.

The seven-member board also is poised to oust Chief Financial and Operations Officer Don Kennedy.

Emerging from a four-hour closed-door meeting Tuesday night, board President Steve Sundquist read a bluntly worded statement laying the groundwork for removing Goodloe-Johnson and Kennedy. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Too bad the Board didn't perk up their ears a while back when the district's teachers expressed "no confidence" in the superintendent.

Sable: "Playing the Race Card Paved the Way for Fraud in Seattle Schools"

Sable:

The Washington State Auditor’s Office has released a jaw-dropping report detailing fraud and questionable spending of $1.8m dollars belonging to the Seattle School District by a former employee. The scandal has implicated well respected organizations and individuals in Seattle’s African American community who the state auditor says received money for work that either didn’t benefit the district or was never completed.

Rumors have swirled for a few years that Silas Potter, as the director of the School District’s Regional Small Business Development Program, used district money to pay off some of the district’s harshest critics in the African American community who were upset about school closures and their impact on children of color. The audit found no proof of that, but it’s curious that once those individuals started getting money from the district by way of contracts, they mostly if not completely stopped criticizing school closures.

Some of the most prominent African American men and organizations in Seattle have been cast in a light less than flattering by the auditor’s report. Eddie Rye, Tony Orange, The Urban League, Charles Rolland- these are well known individuals who have been around for a long time.

Some people feel they represent a self-serving good ol boys club and others feel they’re leaders and trailblazers. MORE...

Seattle Times: "Seattle school Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson should resign"

The Seattle Times Editorial Board:

THE emerging details of the financial scandal at the Seattle Public Schools suggest one conclusion: Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson should resign. If she doesn't, the board should fire her.

She was brought here from South Carolina in 2007 to fix several problems, the first of which was the district's lax control of its money. The latest mess shows the task has not been done. MORE...

Howie P.S.: The "Seattle Public Schools community blog," is asking people to "Please send an e-mail as soon as you can with what you think the Board should be doing." Another group, the "seattleshadowschoolboard" has created an online petition, "Declaration of No Confidence in Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson by the Parents & Community of Seattle Public Schools." You can sign here.