One of the main reasons we endorsed Mike McGinn in the 2009 primary and general (true!) was his focus on public schools and his threat to take them over in two years.

Here's what we wrote in our August 2009 primary endorsement:

McGinn’s opponents have accused him of being a single-issue candidate obsessed with the downtown tunnel. Having talked to McGinn repeatedly about issues ranging from density to transit access to neighborhood policing, we think that criticism is off base.

For example, in the most timely and on-point  of any candidate in the race, McGinn has declared he will redirect resources (some of them, yes, from the tunnel) toward city programs that help kids in public schools; and dramatically, if the schools don’t improve within two years, he says, he’ll take them over.

"We have to make the case to the public about what a different vision would look like," McGinn says. "I’d love to have all the elected officials competing for who could do the best job for our schools."

PubliCola applauds McGinn’s position, which dovetails with President Obama’s education platform.

Today, the Seattle Times has the bombshell news about financial mismanagement at Seattle Public Schools:

Seattle Public Schools spent up to $1.8 million on contract work that was never done or didn't benefit the district, triggering a secret criminal investigation into allegations of financial fraud.

At the same time, the School Board has launched a sweeping review of who should be held accountable, up to and including Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson.

"This is an extraordinarily serious event," School Board President Steve Sundquist said Tuesday. "From my perspective, it is unacceptable and it will be damaging to public confidence."

Details of the alleged fraud only now are emerging, more than seven months after a single suspicious transaction led to multiple, overlapping investigations implicating people inside and outside the district. The district's internal auditor resigned in December as the district prepared to fire him in connection with a special state audit, and another district manager reportedly has disappeared as investigators have sought to question him.

With Mayor McGinn and his rival, Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess, lining up on the Obama (and his secretary of education, Arne Duncan) agenda re: public schools, I hope today's news adds some fuel to McGinn's campaign promise and kick starts a joint effort at city hall to go for it.