TOO COOL FOR (PUBLIC) SCHOOL

As an activist in Seattle Public Schools as well as a Parent Teacher Student Association leader, it was with dismay that I read Kathryn Robinson’s article “The Longest March” (March 2009) about searching for middle schools in Seattle.

I’m sure Robinson was trying for an ironic and flip tone, but it read more like a smear about Seattle Public Schools. She thinks there are only a “handful” of good elementary schools in SPS (she’s wrong); she thinks all the middle schools have graffiti-filled, trash-strewn bathrooms (she’s wrong); and she hopes “whoring” her journalistic talents as a volunteer teacher might secure a spot at a top-choice private school.

SPS does have problems—we are a large urban district. But we also have a huge number of things going for us. There are many Seattle public schools that I not only would send my child to but put up against any private school in the area.

Melissa Westbrook
Ravenna

NO REASON TO GO PRIVATE

Kathryn Robinson’s “The Longest March” (March 2009) does nothing to calm the drama some Seattle parents invent over school choice. Robinson asserts that Seattle Public Schools is terrible and that its middle schools are miserable. That simply is not true.

The school choice process is grueling. Not knowing where your child will go to elementary, middle, or high school is stressful. And the screening process to determine who is “gifted” and who is not is deeply flawed. Seattle schools aren’t perfect. But they’re among the best urban ones in the nation.

I have two children at Washington Middle School. My daughter is in the eighth grade in the general education program. She isn’t in the “smart-kid track” that Robinson seems to think determines a child’s worth, but my daughter is bright, creative, and self-assured. Her teachers recognize her potential and give her individual assignments that challenge her.

WMS has a diverse student body with teachers who truly want to be there. The principal is a superstar because he cares deeply about every kid in the school. Spectrum and APP are great programs, but just because a child does not test into one of those isn’t enough reason to go private.

Elizabeth Lowry
Mount Baker

KUDOS FOR KATHRYN

While cooking dim sum during a Mount Vernon snowstorm we read aloud from the February issue of Seattle Metropolitan. We laughed so hard at Kathryn Robinson’s article on the Great Wolf Lodge (“You Know, For Kids”) that, for the first time in our lives, we were happy we had neither children nor grandchildren! However, we have made copies of the article and sent it to those who do. Kathryn is a great writer, and we’re still laughing.

G. Keesling and D. Schram
West Seattle and Mount Vernon

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

“The Tribe That Would Not Die” (March 2009) was one of the most comprehensive articles I have seen on our tribe, the Duwamish. Author Lia Steakley managed to include history about the pioneers coming to Seattle as well as our current struggles for recognition and restoration. We are very proud of our new longhouse and determined to continue our struggle. Thank you for your recognition.

Edie Loyer Nelson
Richmond Beach

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