Web site puts humorous spin on Seattle School District woes
But instead of lashing out in anger or rising to the defense of district officials, the former Seattle teacher and administrator turned to humor.
Valiant created a Web site that mirrors the school district's official site. Like the district site, his proclaims the goal of "Academic Achievement for Every Student in Every School" — but adds in parentheses, "Some Restrictions May Apply."
Where the district's logo shows a child reaching for a star, the child on Valiant's site tries to grasp a dollar sign that has sprouted wings.
His Web site, foolishschools.org, has brought a bit of levity to an otherwise grim financial situation that has depleted the school district's financial reserves and forced $12 million in midyear budget cuts.
The district's legal department, not entirely amused, contacted Valiant and persuaded him to relinquish his original Internet address, seattleschooldistrict.org. (The district's site is www.seattleschools.org.) He made the address change Thursday.
Visitors to Valiant's site have been struck by its resemblance to the real thing. "Visually, it hits you when you get there: It's the Seattle schools," says district Superintendent Joseph Olchefske.
Behind Valiant's satire are the serious concerns of an educator who says the district has been more concerned about public relations than academics since the Seattle School Board hired retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John Stanford in 1995 as the first noneducator to run the state's largest district.
He said he believes the late Stanford's successor, former investment banker Olchefske, must go.
Valiant became convinced of "the bankruptcy of the rhetoric" when he was an administrator at the Central Area's Meany Middle School, which Stanford wanted to turn into a popular math-and-science magnet school. Valiant contends that the effort failed because the district failed to help the struggling school.
Valiant was the technology coordinator at Garfield High School also in the Central Area when he quit the district in 2000. He left, he says, because the administration did not value teachers and wanted to impose corporate business practices.
Since leaving the district, Valiant, 36, has worked as technical-support coordinator for the Seattle Community Technology Alliance, a project that has brought computer labs and training to community centers in low-income neighborhoods.
Valiant, the son of education consultant and former Kennewick School District Assistant Superintendent Bob Valiant, plans to resume work on an educational doctorate at Washington State University later this year.
He lives with his wife and two children in the University District.
"Board members seem to think if they repeat things enough times, people will believe it," he says. "Phrases like 'world class,' 'authentic reform.' These catchphrases are used over and over. It's like propaganda; it is propaganda."
A headline on foolishschools.org heralds a fictitious study that finds 95 percent of Seattle School District administrators rank in the top one-half of 1 percent of administrators nationally.
Other headlines proclaim: "Seattle School Board declares 100 percent confidence in self" and "Seattle Public Schools to name all school buildings after John Stanford."
A purported message from Olchefske discusses his plan for closing this year's "itsy, bitsy $12 million budget gap."
The Web site was a stretch for a man who says he has never been "a vocal critic of anything" and doesn't see himself as particularly funny. But in the district's current crisis, he says, "This is humor that writes itself."
Some district officials were not amused. Several weeks after he posted his Web site at seattleschooldistrict.org in late October, the district's information-technology department called his Internet service provider (ISP) and persuaded the provider to cut off his Web access.
Valiant called the ISP and had his service restored.
Then the school district's legal department wrote Valiant to request that he surrender his Internet domain to the district. Lawyers said the similarity of his address to the district's could confuse people looking for the official site.
Valiant and the district negotiated a settlement in which he agreed to give the district his domain name and the district agreed not to claim any intellectual-property violations.
John Cerqui, the district's assistant general counsel, said he supports Valiant's right to lampoon the district but wanted to avoid confusion among district constituents.
"Our purpose wasn't to shut down the Web site but to get the domain name back," Cerqui said.
The school district subsequently registered several other domain names similar to its own.
Valiant doesn't know how long he will maintain the parody site, but he expects to maintain and update it for a while.
After switching over to foolishschools.org, Valiant posted a few zingers at seattleschooldistrict.org, including this paraphrase of J.R.R. Tolkien: "Do not meddle in the affairs of investment banking wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com.