Panel pushes trade-offs to fix schools

Seattle schools Superintendent Raj Manhas' advisory committee is floating eight ideas that push the public to think of trade-offs in solving the school district's chronic budget problems.

Who wants to see a school building closed or all-city busing discontinued?

But what if doing that freed up funds to pay for six class periods a day for every high-school student, or more Advanced Placement courses? What if those funds could lower class sizes in high-poverty schools to 15 students, as some principals have begged?

The committee plans to deliver its initial recommendations to Manhas on Dec. 6, hold its last public-engagement meeting on Jan. 10 and sponsor small community-based gatherings on Jan. 14, which organizers call "Neighborhood Meet-Up Day."

Some of the ideas for improving academics may cost little to carry out. For example, the committee wants all high-school students to be able to take six class periods a day, which most districts currently offer. In Seattle, 92 percent of roughly 12,000 high-school students take six periods, district officials say. Roosevelt High School has the lowest share of students, 88 percent, taking six periods daily.

Reaction was mixed at Tuesday night's community meeting.

Looking at a room of largely white, middle-class parents, Don Alexander, head of a South Seattle activist group called Save Our Schools, suggested the committee's process was elitist because he didn't "see a whole lot of people in the room who look like me." Alexander is African American.

Advisory committee co-chairwoman Trish Dziko, who is also African American, said her group has worked hard to encourage minority participation, and she urged Alexander to contribute alternatives instead of complaints.

"I know we as African Americans haven't been listened to in the past," Dziko said.

"But if we are not there, nobody else is going to speak for us."

Minority students account for 60 percent of the district's enrollment.

The 14-member committee, which Manhas appointed over the summer, aims to help the district thrive academically and survive dire financial straits (a $16 million budget gap in 2006-07 and as much as $25 million in 2007-08). Echoing some statements made by the administration last spring, the committee has found that the district's spending patterns are out of the norm in certain areas:

• On a per-student basis, Seattle elementary schools average 168 square feet per student, compared to an average of 117 square feet per student in neighboring districts; the average elementary school in Seattle is 50,000 square feet. Last spring, Manhas' analysis instead pointed to this excess capacity in terms of student seats.

• Seattle spends more local levy dollars on transportation than neighboring districts; in addition to state funds, the local levy contributes $9.8 million, which could otherwise be used for improving instruction.

Committee member Mary Jean Ryan, who gave the public an overview on Tuesday, said that the teachers' contract — approved by the board last year — was another major cause of the district's budget deficits in future years.

The five-year contract with the Seattle Education Association (SEA) obligates the district to make substantial pay increases in later years to raise teacher pay, which ranks near the bottom among area districts.

Along with two other agreements with SEA-represented office staff and paraprofessionals, the contract will cost about $25 million over five years.

"The pay-raise levels are far in excess of the revenue we're getting," Ryan said. "It is accounting for a big part of the disconnect between revenue and expenses."

The SEA, which represents teachers, and the administration last spring blamed inadequate state funding for fueling budget crises in future years.

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