Seattle schools chief assesses year

Seattle schools Superintendent Raj Manhas, in the first State of the District address in recent memory, yesterday trumpeted the district's big and small victories over the past year while vowing to hold himself and his staff accountable for student achievement.

But he warned that the state's ranking as 42nd in education spending per K-12 student couldn't continue if the Legislature wants every child to meet the state's achievement standards, among the most rigorous in the country.

"A few years from now," Manhas said, "it doesn't matter who is superintendent, it doesn't matter who is on the School Board, people will say, 'How come we didn't tackle this issue way back?' "

Left unspoken was how much longer he will remain chief of the state's largest school district. The School Board plans to hold an executive session Monday to discuss whether to extend his contract, which expires Oct. 15, for another year. The Board will vote on the issue Wednesday.

The board members elected in November so far haven't shown much enthusiasm for Manhas. Board President Mary Bass has publicly criticized Manhas and his staff for not providing information she asked for. In one public session, she told Manhas there were "trust issues."

Just under a year ago, after four educators bowed out of Seattle's national search for a superintendent, the prior School Board defaulted to Manhas, the interim superintendent who originally had been hired as chief operating officer.

Coming less than a month before an election, the appointment was criticized by some board challengers who complained that Manhas, who is not an educator, hadn't gone through a public vetting and was being forced on a potentially new board. The challengers later were elected.

Last year's rancor has given way to relative calm in the district, and some say Manhas has come into his own as superintendent, acting more as a public servant than as a chief executive.

During his 40-minute speech, Manhas praised the School Board for its hard work and listed accomplishments they had achieved together with staff: Among them, restoring the district's financial integrity; appointing 29 principals and several senior district managers; and nearly completing a five-year action plan with advice from the community.

Manhas took questions from the audience, submitted on note cards and read by a moderator. When asked what made him qualified to be superintendent, he said he was going to stay focused on his job "until it's anything different from that," generating applause around the room.

Several community leaders credit Manhas' leadership for healing wounds left by his predecessor, Joseph Olchefske.

Wendy Kimball, president of the Seattle Education Association, points out that Manhas inherited a district in shambles: the first mass teacher layoffs since the mid-1980s, a $35 million financial problem and widespread distrust of the central office by teachers and the community.

But "what could have been a divisive, very contentious time between the union and district management I think did not occur because of the personal qualities that Mr. Manhas brings to his position," Kimball said.

That trust was key, she added, in teachers ratifying a five-year contract that contains unprecedented provisions, such as incentive pay aimed at raising achievement in struggling schools.

Many principals seem happy with him as well. Last month during a leadership retreat at West Seattle High School, Manhas stood to deliver a pep talk.

"We love you, Raj!" a man shouted, and soon principals and central office managers were on their feet, clapping and cheering.

Some aren't clapping. Yesterday about 22 citizen activists rallied outside the district's headquarters with various complaints: poor response to lead contamination, insufficient services for South Pacific Islander students and students deemed "highly capable" and poor oversight of the capital budget.

Their message: Terminate the employment of Manhas and open the position up to applicants.

Manhas' speech will be broadcast in the Seattle area at 7 p.m. today on Channels 21 and 26 and at various other times over the next week.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com