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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Contact:  Martha McLaren

           206. 762 2350

           mmcl@pugetridge.net 

Seattle Shadow School Board files Writ of Mandamus Petition 

A group of parents and community members calling themselves the Seattle Shadow School Board has filed a writ of mandamus petition against Seattle Public Schools in the Washington State Supreme Court. The plaintiffs on the petition include Gloria Briggs, Shelley Williams, Joy L. Anderson, May Ovalles, Gordon Glascock, and Martha McLaren. These plaintiffs are also plaintiffs in ongoing lawsuits against the Seattle School District, and they claim that in each case, SPS failed to take community input into consideration in making vitally important decisions. 

Seattle, Washington –  May 25, 2010 --  A group of plaintiffs representing a spectrum of concerned citizens has come together to petition the Washington State Supreme Court to  require the Seattle School District (SPS) to follow state law and create a correct record of evidence used in decision making, which includes public input in making decisions. Further, based on past violations of state law, the petition asks the court to rule in favor of all appealed decisions in which the district failed to submit the required certified correct administrative record used to make their decisions. 

Appellants in the “Briggs, et al” decision claim that SPS proceeded to close schools without giving parents and community members the legally required hearing. 

Appellants in the Williams case claim that the closure of Cooper school was illegal. 

Appellants in the Glascock case note the impracticality for many students to comply with the New Student Assignment Plan, which also increases racial imbalances in many schools while claiming to make every school a quality school.  There is no apparent mechanism for producing these quality schools that the New Student Assignment Plan claims to be creating. 

Appellants in the Anderson case are challenging the decision to short carryover funds from 31 schools with high student poverty populations in order to fund an $800,000 contract with New Technology Network, a group with a poor record of student success in its programs in other states. 

Appellants in the Porter case, who received a favorable ruling from Judge Julie Spector on February 4, state that the decision to adopt the Discovering Math Textbooks was “arbitrary and capricious” because the Board of Directors ignored negative evidence that was presented to them by concerned community members. SPS has appealed Judge Spector's decision, and the current petition is directed at that appeal. 

Attorney Scott Stafne of Stafne Law Firm, in Arlington, will present oral argument to the commissioner of Washington State Supreme Court on May 28, 2010.