On whom does the burden rest?

Boy oh boy, Sundquist is losing it.  Me thinks he’s gotten a bit stressed under pressure.

Tonight was the much anticipated Cooper/Pathfinder meeting.  Here’s your clothes pin, you might want to stick it on your nose now.

At the beginning of the meeting, Sundquist laid out the agenda for the night as well as “the rules of engagement”; no cussing, stick to 3 minutes, no racial slurs, etc.  He pointed out that initially 20 people signed up ahead of time to speak.  An overflow list was also available and people interested in speaking were directed to it.

He also said that if a parent wanted to testify via an interpreter that they could do so at the end of public testimony, stating that interpreted speeches take more time and he wanted to be sure that non-English speakers had “adequate time to testify” (because it would take longer than the typical 3 minutes).

Sundquist pointed out that interpreters were available and asked people of those languages to sit together so they could hear the translation of information throughout the meeting.

The people who signed up, and SHOWED up, testified.  They then moved to the overflow list, and went through that (some were not there).

After all “English” public testimony, one Latina woman spoke via a Spanish interpreter.  When she had finished, a Somali man took the mic and began to introduce a Somali gentleman from the Cooper community, and himself as the gentleman’s interpreter.

<Insert Steve Sundquist losing his fuckin’ mind here>

Sundquist interrupted the interpreter and said “we have reached our 40 and we have to stop here, we do not have any more time”.  One woman yelled “no you didn’t (have 40 speakers)!”  All seem to agree that 40 people did not speak, though 40 or so names were called.  We know this for sure because Sundquist took pleasure in announcing that folks were not present to cede their time to other potential speakers.

<insert fed-the-fuck-up community members here>

Someone piped up “you said they could speak at the end!”

Sundquist’s response was “we’ve reached our 40″, and something about names not getting on “the list”…they didn’t identify themselves “properly”, so they would not be recognized.  The man with the mic was not a district interpreter (which is neither here nor there), and Sundquist said it was a problem that the parent in question had not identified himself to a district employee (though the man was not present at the start of the meeting, so how would he know that?  Plus there’s that whole not speaking English thing).

The piper upper yelled at Sundquist that he had not been clear about that at the beginning. 

People started to yell, “let him speak”, “it’s just one person”…etc. etc.

He repeated his muddy rules and the room broke out “translate, translate, translate!!!”  Chanting lasted for over 1 minute, and then folks took pleasure in yelling at Sundquist: “you’re so predictable”, and, “why let him (the Somali father) speak, you (Sundquist) won’t listen anyway”.

Sundquist turned off his mic, set it down, and packed up.  Within 5 minutes he was gone.

<Instert Sable’s dramatic sigh and head shake here>

You know peoples, this is fuckery afoot by definition.  What the hell is wrong with this man?  I mean I’m asking the question, really, tell me, give me an answer.  Wait, let’s not get it twisted, oh I know the answer; do you?  I kow you don’t like to use words like prejudice and bigot and insensative jackass, but c’mon, if not that, what?  WHAT?! 

Some have you have insisted that letting the man speak was “breaking the rules”.  I think Steve Sundquist is the King of all rule breakers at this point, so I really don’t see the problem.  Why does Steve Sundquist get to walk around with an all powerful do-whatever-the-hell-I-want-and-get-away-it badge?

We’re talking about access and equity and advocating for children, and how for non-English speakers, brown, Black and poor families there is little to no opportunity to adequately voice their concerns, and here we are with this bullshit, and it must be said, this IS bullshit.  Sundquist couldn’t spare 3 minutes?  180 simple seconds so that a parent, volunteer, community member or teacher can put their precious energy into helping him understand how his actions impact a whole hell of a lot of people? 

He didn’t identify himself “properly”?  WTF was he supposed to do, jump up and scream “you’re a pig” and then throw both of his shoes at Sundquist’s head?  I’m just askin’.  

For all my years in working with schools and non-English speaking parents, please, tell me because somehow I missed this one; how does a non-English speaker “properly” identify himself to an English speaking arrogant jerk who doesn’t want to acknowledge his existence in the first place?  And at what point did Sundquist ask the non-English speaking parents to identify themselves to him or anyone else?  I’m just askin’.

Steve my man, I have to wonder, how do you identify yourself to people?  Is it the “Property of AHPTSA” stamped on your forehead, or the smelly superiority complex you carry around on your silver platter, stacked as high as the Volkswagen bug in the IKEA commercials?  I’m just askin’.

The district REGULARLY fails to provide interpreters, thus the communities impacted rely (wisely) on each other; it is NOT strange or unheard of for this kind of cooperation between friends/families/community members.  Hell, you’ll find CHILDREN interpreting for their parents all the time.  For the record, the expressions on the faces of two men who stood at the podium were of utter confusion; had they done something wrong?

I’m wondering, when is the next time this non-English speaking man is going to get the guts to stand up only to be disrespected and humiliated like that?  Ummm, can you say NEVER?!

Way to go Steve, you’ve successfully disinfranchised another brown person family community.

P.S.  WHY oh why did the SPS security guard only move from her perch when the Black folks got on the mic?  Was it because they fit the description?  Was she there to protect Sundquist from the community, because she for damn sure wasn’t there to protect the community from Sundquist. 

Hmmm, now there’s an idea. When do we have public hearings for that?

Other bits:

• A member of the Arbor Heights community attended the meeting and gave public testimony thanking the Board for reconsidering AH for closure and recognizing the goodness of AH.  Said she was sorry any buildings needed to close during this time.  There was much eye rolling around the room.  “You gonna come here and thank them for saving your kids at he expense of ours?! TYPICAL.”

• Pathfinder staff said unanimously that they do not want the Cooper (or AH) building, or ANY building that requires children to be evicted.

Testimony of the Night #1

Good Evening My name is xxxxxxx  xxxxxxxx. I am a Cooper kid, I have two Cooper kids, I also work  at Cooper.  Nothing personal but it isn’t nice to see you all again.

This time we were not put one the first list AH was. The problem this time as we have heard, second hand, since we didn’t get any personal phone calls from our Ed Director and we haven’t attended meetings withSteve Sundquist, also has two parts.

First the projected increase of the deficit and secondtoo much capacity in WS South your numbers say that the need for seats will be in the North. Cooper being listed as a solution to either of those issues makes no fiscal sense. Cooper is in WS Norththe capacity problem that you outlined is in WS South our kids will put WS Northover capacity at each building and there will be about 85 kids without a school to attend. Those 85 kids will be bused all over WS. A large number of our families have 3-5 kids. When it is time for their siblings to enter school they too will be bused all over WS and may not end up at the same school as their sibling.

Mrs. Goodlow-Johnson said she did not want to “create a problem to solve later”. Doesn’t having all full and/or over capacity schools in the North create a large fiscal problem now and later? You said the projection is that the numbers in the North will rise while the numbers in the Southwill fall. Why bus children all over WS when you can just go with your original recommendation and solve the capacity issue and ease the money issue that you outlined in WS South?

So why is a recommendation that has nothing to do with the problem as you defined it an option? Is it because you buy into their idea that Cooper would make a good sacrificial lamb? Now that would create that future problem but if AH serves Roxhill on a plate I suppose that would take care of it? I don’t know why AH was the original recommendation? But it is clear why they are not now.

Race and money! Parents with money can pull there kids out of the district. Parents without can not. That’s a fiscal problem.

White’s nation wide vote more than other races, when it’s whites with money that number gets even bigger.

“Uh-Oh AH is where my bread is buttered”, “Cooper? Those poor people of color didn’t elect me anyway!” Since we were not on the list to begin with and we were added only after a white school with money “hatched several plans” one of those being closing a high school in Cheryl Chows area. That same school is pretty convinced that the “district is against them but the board may not be”. It would seem to me and many others that this is the case. The district recommended AH not Cooper. But their board member threw us in the fire. That’s right I said it their board member.

Their board member has not responded to any emails from our community. Their board member outlined clearly and quickly the dollars and cents issue there by allowing them time to mount a swift attack on another WS school. And for the record Cooper has NOT agreed follow that same model. Theirboard member suggested to one of our parents that Cooper should move to WS Elementary. Their board member hasn’t responded to our grave concerns about  any of our children. Theirboard member said he didn’t have to have a meeting at a building that wasn’t closing had one at WS Elementary and didn’t even invite us. Their board member who told me that one of the reason’s Cooper was a better fit for Pathfinder was because we had a nicer building.

That seems to be an asset to a white school with money but a liability for a low income school of color! Shameful!

We are not just a building. Easy mistake to make when you’ve never been there…. right Steve?  In closing a few questions. These from Cooper kids and families

1. How come they don’t like us? Us is you.

2. How come they don’t just build a school for Pathfinder the way they built the other new schools?

3. Why do we get in trouble for taking things that aren’t ours but they are trying to take our school? Again the they is you.

How do we get a board member of our very own?

 Who among you will be your brother’s keeper?   

Testimony of the Night #2

coming sooooooon!

1 word: discrimination.

The quintessential definition of discrimination is treating two groups (or in this case; schools) of equal circumstance differently.

I know many are likely thinking that the definition above is over simplified, that we need to take mitigating circumstances into account when making decisions.  Maybe you’re right.  However, that does not change the fact that the definition above stands, and stands true.

I have spent much of the past four days thinking about discrimination as it’s been defined here, and I have come to this: Steve Sundquist must be investigated for his discriminatory practices as an elected Seattle Public Schools Board Director for his treatment of students and families at Cooper Elementary vs. his treatment of students and families at Arbor Heights.

I wanted to jump right to Sundquist losing his seat, but that rarely happens without some sort of investigation, unless he was to resign, and well, that’ ain’t happenin’ any time soon.  Thus, he must be investigated by a panel that is NOT biased in favor of the District or the Board.

The plan “hatched” by AHPTSA members and Dir. Sundquist became public last week when a brave AHPTSA member stepped forward with internal messages between AHPTSA members (and despite the insistence that ALL of these communications were public, the ones referenced here and in other SV posts ARE NOT) that outlined not only how the fall of Cooper would come about, but the strategic targeting of Rainier Beach High School as well.

Sundquist’s behavior during the closure talks has been nothing short of unethical.  He has all but refused to meet with, talk with, or address the concerns of Cooper families (the little stunt with CPPS @ WS Elementary does NOT count as adequate contact with Cooper), staff and students in Board work sessions or meetings, yet he has been strategizing with AH families since before the Superintendent’s recommendations were made public.  Of course, AH has denied this, stating it only found out when everyone else found out, but we know this is not true.  We know because the tight knit AHPTSA family is unraveling, whether due to frustration, guilt or paranoia, the seams are started to tatter and folks are starting to talk.  The woman I met with Thursday night didn’t call or meet with me out of spite, or anger…it was out of guilt.  She knew her affluent, predominately White school was kicking the shit out of poorer, majority minority schools, and that those schools had no idea who was behind the beat down.  She wanted to be absolved of the guilt she was feeling, and while I’m not the all powerful White guilt absolver, I am a truth teller.  So I commenced to tellin’ it, as clearly and as loudly as I could.

Since all of this went public, a few have piped up and said “nothing was done in secret”.  I beg to differ, but it doesn’t matter if it was done in secret or not; it was done, simple as that.

I have to say that, when I first reviewed the documents, I was totally furious at the AHPTSA for their complete disregard for other children and families.  It wasn’t until I got to the details about their plans for Rainier Beach High School that I started shaking- yes Fam, I said shaking; a plan to sabatoge a school in black and white, read with my own eyes.

“If we can move Summit k-12 (again), from RBHS”, we can argue that the school close, saving the District millions, and saving Arbor Heights.  No mention of the students at tha Beach.  No mention of the teachers, the families, the history, the needs, the successes- just get rid of them.  Secure $2 million dollars for the District and save Arbor Heights.  Money in exchange for favor, for security.  At least in Chicago, they call that a bribe folks. 

It is crystal clear that AHPTSA was working in cooperation with Sundquist.  The repetitive use of “we” highlights the partnership throughout the communications.  In the real world, PTSA’s don’t have power like that, not over their own building, certainly not over other buildings, and certainly not over other buildings outside of their cluster, across the bridge and on the other side of town.

In an eye-popping and jaw-dropping interview on KUOW radio that made me pinch my damn self, the AHPTSA Co-Presidents admitted the entire thing.  They came together as a group and made the choice to target Cooper and RBHS to save AH, and they worked with Sundquist to solidify their arguments, backed up by data and dollars.  As if that were not enough, it was Sundquist who threw Cooper into the fire, and it’s in the fire where they still sit today, so do not tell me that they did not work together on this; they absolutely did.  The AHPTSA has NO power without a Board member.  The AHPTSA cannot get schools added onto or taken off of any list, only a Board member can do that.  Tell me then, why is it that the “hatched plans” in the secret documents mirror the efforts of Sundquist around closures?  Because they are one and the same. 

Some of you may be wondering “well why not send Pathfinder to Cooper?”  This has been vetted in previous closure attempts, and shot down by the Board.  It was recently shot down by the new Superintendent for those same reasons.  In fact, one of the PTSA members can be quoted as saying “the District is against us, the Board is not”.  So the District was not gung ho on Pathfinder to Cooper.  Yet and still, there sits Cooper in the fire, burning up, while AH sips tall glasses of lemonade over ice and pats themselves on the back for a (dirty) job well done.

Giving favor to one school over another (or all others, for that matter), requires one to discriminate, which is what Steve Sundquist has done as an elected Board member for the Seattle School District.

When AH found themselves on the list, to be dissolved so that Pathfinder could have a new home, they worked with Sundquist for a reprieve- and got it.

 When Cooper found themselves on the list (where Sundquist put them, in place of AH), they reached out to Sundquist for answers, for assistance, for understanding…and got ignored.

That folks, is the quintessential definition of discrimination. 

As if that weren’t enough, Sundquist worked to thwart plans to strengthen Rainier Beach High so that it would close, thereby saving Arbor Heights.

That’s called corruption.

If the closure process is unbalanced, unfair and corrupt, it must not go ahead.

Sundquist should be- no- must be investigated.  Until then, he has earned our “Rat Bastard of the Week” award.  Congrats.

###

See also:  http://sableverity.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/sundquist-got-english/

Update: 10:13pm Sunday December 14, 2008 (read the comments section)

I’d like to say this, before things get stupid ugly in the comments section and people think they can start talkin’ shit to me and I’m gonna fold up and go home. As anyone who has ever started a blog will tell you (including beat reporters); at least one if not THE ONE reason why they did so was to report on things via a sensative and rational perspective; their own.

There are millions of stories in the world that need to be told; depending on who is watching- through their eyes, frame of reference, bias and rationale is how the story is going to be told; it’s the same for the Sable Verity.

I know my perspecitve doesn’t mirror your own, and that is why I think it is so important. I am a woman of color living in Seattle, with children of color in the public school system. I am a minority in ways you’ll NEVER understand no matter how hard you try, how nice you are or how many friends and associates and coleagues of color you and your friends have and your children have.

We are different. We have different realities that run parallel to each other. Sometimes they cross, sometimes they connect for extended periods of time, sometimes they conflict and sometimes they compliment each other; but they are still different.

I am not a bigot or a racist-ass anything. I am well educated on school closures and have in fact attended board meetings and work sessions on school closures for- gosh- years.  I’ve sat and talked with many of you, you’ve shaken my hand and given me hugs and smiled in my face.  And here you come, completely oblivious to whom you are talking, showing your true colors.  I am not shocked at all.  Not one single bit.  Because when people’s comfort zones get threatened, they lash out in desperate ways, just as you all have done here, some via self righteousness, and some via hatred; all with a common thread.

Maya Angelou said, “when someone shows you who they truly are, believe them the first time.”

Well you’ve shown me, and I believe you.

As the tag line on this blog says, “you can disagree, but I’ll still be right”; that means, I don’t need you to agree with me for me to be right. As a person of color that is a lesson I have had to learn and embrace. I don’t need White people, brown people, red people or blue people to co-sign, for me to be sure that what I am bring is the truth.

Thankfully that is a mindset I was freed of a long time ago.

I know good and hell well that I am biased. Unlike other bloggers, I DO NOT TRY AND DENY IT OR HIDE IT. I don’t write for the Associated Press, I write for the Sable Verity Blog. MY BLOG. We are ALL biased; that doesn’t mean we can’t be fair, or that I cannot be fair. I openly offered space for Sundquist, the Board and the District to make comment; they have not thus far. That invite still stands.

Just because I am reporting information that makes people uncomfortable doesn’t mean that it’s not true or that it’s unfair or that I am somehow a bigoted racist out to get the good White people of Seattle. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because it is something touchy and sensitive, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be talked about.

How else can we bring about true change?

By being challenged and pushed outside of our box?

To be challenged on those things (and people) that you think are true and right?

To do a self check to be sure that you are not complicit in things that negatively impact anyone else, simply because you aren’t paying attention, or you because you trusted someone else to do the right thing?

The answer is, (d) all of the above.

This battle in the comments section reminds me a lot of the presidential election. In the last few weeks of the election, Palin and McCain started pushing the envelope of respectability, using racial fear and hatred to turn voters, and their supporters shredded the very same envelope, screaming hatred filled rants at rallies and town halls across America. “Kill him!” “Traitor!”, “He’s not one of us!” “Treason!”

If you couldn’t figure it out, yeah, I just compared AHPTSA to Palin/McCain for their shitteous actions, and the commentors on this post to those that attended rallies, filled with anger and hate, ready to lash out no matter what the cost.

’nuff said. Comments such as the ones above will not be put through again. Rest assured there are plenty of OTHER blogs that are happy to have those kinds of comments, so find your audience there.

The voice of the minority is what we strive to prepresent here on the Sable Verity, and we do so in the spirit of truth, righteousness, and a lot of plain fuckin’ talk.  If you don’t like it, your constitutional right is to ignore it.

But you’ll never silence it.

 Update Dec. 15 2008- The KUOW Report http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=16518

12/12/2008

How does a school save itself from closure? One way is to point the finger at other schools. And tell the District to close them instead. That’s what parents at Arbor Heights Elementary did in West Seattle. For now, it seems to have worked. KUOW’s Phyllis Fletcher has more.
IF YOU GO TO A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING, SOMETIMES YOU HEAR THIS:

IMPASSIONED APPLAUSE. USUALLY, IN SUPPORT OF A PARENT OR TEACHER WHO PLEADS WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD TO KEEP THEIR BUILDING OPEN.

BUT THIS APPLAUSE WAS FOR A PARENT WHO SAID, ‘GO AHEAD.’

IWAMOTO: “Show me and the general public that the district follows its own guidelines and logic by closing a high school.”

ERIC IWAMOTO IS CO–PRESIDENT OF THE PARENT–TEACHER–STUDENT ASSOCIATION OF ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. HIS SCHOOL HAD BEEN ON THE LIST.

SO HE AND HIS FELLOW PTSA MEMBERS TOLD THEIR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, STEVE SUNDQUIST, TO LOOK AT CLOSING RAINIER BEACH HIGH SCHOOL AND COOPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INSTEAD.

THEN, BOTH SCHOOLS ENDED UP ON A CLOSURE LIST LAST WEEK. AND ARBOR HEIGHTS WAS SPARED.

SUZETTE RILEY IS CO–PTSA–PRESIDENT WITH ERIC IWAMOTO AT ARBOR HEIGHTS.

RILEY: “Uh, you know, it’s a really awkward position.”

RILEY SAYS THEY TALKED ABOUT IT.

RILEY: “Should we just try to defend our school? Or should we try to prove that other ones should be closed?”

RILEY: “Ultimately we decided that that was the safest position.”

AND SHE ADMITS: SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT LED ARBOR HEIGHTS TO POINT THE FINGER AT COOPER AND RAINIER BEACH ARE THE SAME THINGS THAT GIVE ARBOR HEIGHTS AN ADVANTAGE IN THE CLOSURE PROCESS.

ARBOR HEIGHTS DOESN’T HAVE A MAJORITY OF FAMILIES IN POVERTY. COOPER AND RAINIER BEACH DO. POVERTY AFFECTS A SCHOOL’S POPULARITY, WHICH IS A FACTOR IN THE CLOSURE PROCESS. AND RILEY SAYS POVERTY ALSO AFFECTS HOW EASY IT IS FOR PARENTS TO ORGANIZE WHEN THEIR SCHOOL IS UNDER THE GUN.

RILEY: “Demographically, we may have an advantage. Um, I think that may be true. But we’re all still working parents and just trying to do the best for our kids.”

RILEY’S CO–PRESIDENT SPOKE CANDIDLY ON A MESSAGE BOARD FOR OTHER ARBOR HEIGHTS PARENTS. HIS MESSAGES WERE THEN PUBLICIZED BY A SOUTH SEATTLE BLOGGER. ERIC IWAMOTO SAID TO KEEP THEIR SCHOOL OPEN, THE PTSA HAD TO OFFER UP A ‘SACRIFICIAL LAMB’–ANOTHER SCHOOL.

WILLIAMS: “That’s blasphemy.”

SHELLEY WILLIAMS HAS TWO KIDS AT COOPER. SHE WENT THERE WHEN SHE WAS A KID. SHE COMPARES THE CLOSURE PROCESS TO A BOARD GAME. AND SAYS A LOT OF PARENTS AT COOPER DON’T EVEN KNOW THE RULES.

WILLIAMS: “We have 6 parents I can think of right off the top of my head who have been in this country less than two years, and spent more than two years prior in a refugee camp. They don’t even know this system.”

SO SHE WONDERS, HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY BE EXPECTED TO ORDER T–SHIRTS, SHOW UP TO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS, GIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY, AND TALK TO THEIR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS?

BUT BOTH SHE AND SUZETTE RILEY SAY THAT’S WHAT PARENTS HAVE TO DO IF THEY WANT TO GET THEIR SCHOOLS OFF THE LIST BEFORE THE SCHOOL BOARD VOTES ON IT NEXT MONTH. PHYLLIS FLETCHER, KUOW NEWS.

The RVP steps up with its own coverage of the AH/Sundquist/Cooper/RBHS debacle.

Seattlest notes “their may very well have been some fuckery afoot” with closures. 

See also: The Sundquist/AHPTSA Plan to kill Cooper, RBHS, Roxhill

See also: SPS to Cooper: We don’t have to listen to you

See also: SPS needs a lesson in equity

See also: SPS to RBHS: We do not have to talk to you

AHPTSA school-saving strategy; knock all the dark ones off

Originally posted December 12 @ 3:00AM(ish)

Let it hit the fan right now.

I know that the details of school closures in the Seattle District are reaching the hazy, I-can’t-remember-what’s-what phase, but let’s try to hold it together and walk through it one step at a time.  This is, to date, the most important post on the SV about school closures and you need to read the entire article and then forward the link to as many people as you can.  Community blogs, please post/link this information at will.

We are going to keep this focused on West Seattle buildings and programs, including special education.  Yesterday I wrote a heated piece on the behavior of Director Steve Sundquist towards the Cooper Elementary community. 

Some critical data on the vulnerable population current attending Cooper from an email I received from a member of the Cooper community two days ago:

k-5th graders: 80% receive free and reduced lunch, 80% are kids of color, 33% are bilingual, 24 of our students have Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Arbor Heights (a primarily white, middle class school) was originally targeted for school closure. They waged a swift and intense media blitz with direct correspondence with school board director, Steve Sundquist. Steve subsequently suggested looking into the possibility of Cooper School (a primarily non-white, high poverty school) instead of Arbor Heights. Cooper School is now on the list for school closure.

Closing Cooper School and displacing Cooper students to other high poverty schools only exacerbates the already existing achievement disparities between poor and non-poor students.

The post was off the charts popular- the largest traffic volume since it first went up now 2 days ago.  And then the comments and emails came in.  And then the email came in:

“I am an Arbor Heights PTSA member who wishes to stay anonymous.  I would like to know if you would provide me with a telephone number so I can discuss with you Arbor Heights PTSA’s partnership with Steve Sundquist and how the plan to close Cooper came about”.

The very first recommendations for closures/mergers was made public by the district November 25th, 2008.  According to a post on the Arbor Heights PTSA Yahoo Group page (mouthful!) written the same day by Cori Roed, which states that the PTSA co-Presidents received phone calls from Patrick Johnson, district Ed. Director, informing them that Arbor Heights was on the list for closure.  AHPTSA  Co-President Suzette Riley also posted a message saying that Johnson “very nicely went out of his way to call Eric and I to give us the heads up”. 

The messages continue from there, and they are nothing short than startling…star.tl.ing.

November 26th and 27th PTSA Co-President Eric Iwamoto posted two  messages which included the following:

“….I spent the day crunching numbers, reading reports, and attending the meeting with Steve Sundquist.  So far we have hatched several plans.  BUT we are planning to work with Pathfinder’s PTSA and other schools to form a united front.  We will present several different scenarios for the school board to choose from but all of them require pitting our school against other schools…IN talking with [Sundquist], to be effective we have to present a viable plan that will save the SD the same amount of money/space as the current plan does…The plans center around either:

“Keeping Pathfinder where it is for a year or two and then moving them to Cooper, or moving Pathfinder immediately and closing Cooper with no warning.  This is where we NEED the cooperation of Pathfinder if we wish to be successful.  We need to be on the same page with Pathfinder so the school board gets the message that we are serious and have thought things through…Under the above scenario even if Cooper closes, we will have excess space in the south end.  We will have to make the case that Roxhill closes as well…

“…if we can get the District to close one of the [South East] high schools in this area we can save the district 2 million dollars…in 2012 they expect increases in enrollment and need to keep the high schools open.  But we can offset their “projected” increase by moving Summit k-12 (again) [from Rainier Beach High School] to the newly empty Denny site in 2011 [reference made to reaching out to Summit k-12 for cooperation]…

“…If we want to keep Arbor Heights open, we need to give them a sacrificial lamb…Cooper…they [SPS] need money today and the move is on..we have to serve Roxhill on a plate to reduce the overcapacity in the south end…

 

Let’s go through this piece by piece:

• Arbor Heights is receiving favor from West Seattle School Board Rep. Steve Sundquist
• Sundquist and AHPTSA members have been working together since before the initial closure recommendations to find a way to get AH off the list permanently, replaced by Cooper with “no warning”, Roxhill “on a plate”, and Rainier Beach High School.
• AHPTSA and Sundquist worked to sabatoge plans for increasing enrollment at Rainier Beach, thereby making Rainier Beach vulnerable to closure, thereby saving Arbor Heights [by saving SPS money]

Given the information provided to me in a late night swap with a person I’ve never met before, whose name I don’t even know, I felt it necessary to reach out to the Cooper community to find out what their relationship has been like with their Rep. Steve Sundquist.

“There is no relationship.  [says a Cooper teacher] He won’t answer direct questions.  We’ve expressed numerous concerns about our vulnerable students, specifically our 3 Autistic programs and those 24 children, and in subsequent works sessions and board meetings, he has yet to even reference that Cooper has an Autistic program, and/or where these children will go and what will happen to them.  We have emailed, called, gone to his community forums, been at any event where we have an opportunity to talk with him directly about our school, and a Cooper rep has communicated with him every step of the way. 

“At the latest work session when a Cooper parent expressed concern about student placement Sundquist’s suggestion was “why don’t you go to West Seattle elementary?  We asked him for the rationale regarding why Cooper was chosen for Pathfinder, he responded that “the building condition at Cooper is better than Pathfinder” and that as a Board member it was “my purview” to ask staff to research any of the schools in his part of the district.  He is blatantly ignoring our kids.  He acts as though it is not his job to represent us.  He has been quoted numerous times as saying he is not required to have meetings where schools are not slated to be closed…but he held a meeting at West Seattle elementary which is not on a closure or a merger list- yet he refused to come to Cooper.  Why And why didn’t he tell us he was going to be at West Seattle Elementary, and why didn’t he invite us?”

I showed the emails to a Cooper parent.  He said:

“Well, as it relates to the “we have hatched several plans”, I had no idea that the district had employed Arbor Heights PTSA as a consultant to school closures, and the solution of their money problem.  I find it quite interesting that Pathfinder is of great value but in subsequent emails, Summit k-12 is the more useful alternative plan since the district has only committed to one alternative school in each area.  It’s clear that AHPTSA wants to align itself publicly with Pathfinder because Sundquist’s kids went to Pathfinder, so AHPTSA wants him to think that they care about the Pathfinder program.  But, if Summit goes to Denny, where does Pathfinder go?  It would be far too expense and make fiscal sense to have two all city draw programs in one area.  It is clear that AHPTSA is using other schools just to save themselves.  I am not surprised that the PTSA was on Patrick Johnson’s [SPS employee] speed dial.  No one called us to tell us Cooper was on the chopping block.  I’m not even sure if Patrick knows the address to Cooper.  It was hysterically ironic, in a very my-best-friend-is-black-way, to read that the AHPTSA cautioned their supporters to be “respectful” when communicating to Mr. Johnson [who is black] about saving their school.  But since he called Eric twice, I guess it makes sense.  Moreover, they were spot on when they said “I believe we’ll come out of this better if they think we are thoughtful, respectful community leaders, with great passion about our school”.  How do you spell moron?  AHPTSA.  They do not care about our kids, and excuse me for saying this so bluntly, but the fact is they are an affluent, largely white school- Cooper is the exact opposite.  They have purposely targeted us because they think we can’t defend ourselves.”

I asked the question, how did you find out Cooper was on the block?

“Not all of our parents know as of today that we are slated to be dissolved, particularly since the district has been mass mailing misinformation to our families, information that leaves Cooper off the list when in fact we’re on it.  We have a HUGE ESL population and the critical information about Cooper’s future is not being made available to them in a way they can understand it.  As of today nothing has come from the school in translated languages, of which we have at least 7, to the Cooper families.” 

” It also just unnerves me that people’s who’s behavior so closely resembles Chicago’s governor could use biblical terms like “sacrificial lamb” to describe our kids.  They weren’t just trying to find 300 seats and $600,000 in savings, they were trying to secure over 2 million dollars in savings to secure the future of their own school.  Sundquist is exactly who we thought he was; a me-and-mine racist pig who wears the sheep’s clothing of a civil servant.  He is in bed with Arbor Heights.  Isn’t this kind of behavior illegal?  In the least, it’s unethical.  He is making sure that we are weakened so someone else can strike.”

C

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“The fact that they hatched a plan to mortally wound children, families and programs at Rainier Beach high school- another minority school- and the only criteria necessary is a. south b. Black and c. poor- in that order, is almost beyond comprehension.  The only reason they targeted Rainier Beach is because they thought they could get away with it.  Does Rainier Beach have any idea that an elementary school in West Seattle is trying to slit their throats to save themselves?  I highly doubt it.  Does Steve Sundquist represent Rainier Beach?  I thought that was Cheryl Chow’s turf?  Does SHE know what he is up to?  The SPS district and Steve Sundquist as a Board member have become AHPTSA and anyone else with money.  They are like life-sized players on a chess board; it’s all about “Checkmate”.  And it’s all done under bed sheets.  I’m shocked we don’t have a burning cross in the Cooper parking lot.  Seeing all of this on paper, AHPTSA will do anything to save their school, no matter who they crush in the process.  It makes me sick.  I can’t believe that AHPTSA not only knew weeks ago that we would be on the list, but that they were instrumental in getting us on it in the first place.  And it pisses me off that they’ve not only gotten away with it, but they’ve had help from a Board member.  Clearly they think we can’t handle this kind of a fight.  Well, they would be wrong about that.” 

In conclusion ladies and gents, I, Sable Verity don’t know quite what to say to this one.  Two nights ago I started with a post inspired by an email from the Cooper community and wound up playing super-secret-spy-at-the-drop-location over communications within a Seattle PTSA about “hatched plans” and “sacrificial lambs”.  It makes me shake my head, knowing that there are people who are ignorant enough, or wishful enough to think that this school closures process is not about what color you are and where you live, and whether or not you have the power or influence required to protect the best interests of your children.

I am almost certain that I will be hearing from folks who feel that it is unfair that I have not contacted the AHPTSA for a comment.  The fact of the matter is that I have already been contacted with an AHPTSA member who had documentation of communications only AHPTSA members were privy to.  That said, if ya’ll want to submit a statement, shoot me an email and I’ll post it in an update.  The same goes for SPS or Representative Sundquist.

While I am willing to lend each of you that courtesy, let’s not get it twisted for one moment.  I have the yahoo group posts, and apparently I’m not the only one.  I have poured over each word in each line, and your intentions are spelled out clearly and with malice.   It is shameless, it is arrogant and a clear obsession with self preservation by-any-means-necessary.

The gun is smokin’ and AHPTSA is holding it.  And the potentially fatal shot to Cooper (Roxhill and RBHS) did not come from the grassy knoll, it came from Steve Sundquist.  Hopefully when the smoke clears, the only things that will be dead are his career and his underhanded plan to gut Cooper and other minority schools of their students and families.  For instructions on how to kill your own political career, see above.

How many ways can I say it?  Thank you; gracias, donka, merci, M goi, Shukran, and of course, for tha Beach; Talofa!  Now the fight is hedging ever closer to equal ground.

It’s been real. 

Sable Verity

UPDATE FRIDAY DEC 12 @10:33

From the West Seattle Blog:

I can’t tell if what you quote above includes anything not publicly available but the Arbor Heights PTSA messages have always been readable by anyone, not just membership. I have been checking them from time to time since the closure fight started two-plus weeks ago. Only members can post, but anyone can read:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ahptsa/messages

This is great.  I am guessing the AHPTSA member who felt the need meet me last night had no idea that these could be read by all; that person could have saved themselves- and me- some travel time.  How arrogant of these people to be so openly cruel.

UPDATE:  FRIDAY @ 11:04 A reader posted a link to this story on her Facebook page and received a message from Patrick Kelley, who ran for a seat on the Seattle School Board:

“Thanks for posting that, Amy (not her real name).  As someone who ran for the board from one of the wealthier districts two years ago, I can sadly say this doesn’t surprise me.  We’re often too easily pitted against each other, and forget that it’s our primary responsibility to provide the best public education to EACH student regardless of where they live or who their parents are.  And it still burns my stomach to think how leadership always looks at cutting to save money, instead of talking honestly about what it will take to fully fund public education, and then advocating for it.  That’s what leaders are supposed to do, but nobody’s knocked on my door yet…”

UPDATE 5:38PM FRIDAY DEC 12 AHPTSA Co-Presidents conduct interview with KUOW reporter Phyllis Fletcher, admit to targeting Cooper, RBHS for self preservation, say they made the right choice to save AH. 

12/12/2008

How does a school save itself from closure? One way is to point the finger at other schools. And tell the District to close them instead. That’s what parents at Arbor Heights Elementary did in West Seattle. For now, it seems to have worked. KUOW’s Phyllis Fletcher has more.

http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=16518  to listen or read the text below:

IF YOU GO TO A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING, SOMETIMES YOU HEAR THIS:

IMPASSIONED APPLAUSE. USUALLY, IN SUPPORT OF A PARENT OR TEACHER WHO PLEADS WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD TO KEEP THEIR BUILDING OPEN.

BUT THIS APPLAUSE WAS FOR A PARENT WHO SAID, ‘GO AHEAD.’

IWAMOTO: “Show me and the general public that the district follows its own guidelines and logic by closing a high school.”

ERIC IWAMOTO IS CO–PRESIDENT OF THE PARENT–TEACHER–STUDENT ASSOCIATION OF ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. HIS SCHOOL HAD BEEN ON THE LIST.

SO HE AND HIS FELLOW PTSA MEMBERS TOLD THEIR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, STEVE SUNDQUIST, TO LOOK AT CLOSING RAINIER BEACH HIGH SCHOOL AND COOPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INSTEAD.

THEN, BOTH SCHOOLS ENDED UP ON A CLOSURE LIST LAST WEEK. AND ARBOR HEIGHTS WAS SPARED.

SUZETTE RILEY IS CO–PTSA–PRESIDENT WITH ERIC IWAMOTO AT ARBOR HEIGHTS.

RILEY: “Uh, you know, it’s a really awkward position.”

RILEY SAYS THEY TALKED ABOUT IT.

RILEY: “Should we just try to defend our school? Or should we try to prove that other ones should be closed?”

RILEY: “Ultimately we decided that that was the safest position.”

AND SHE ADMITS: SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT LED ARBOR HEIGHTS TO POINT THE FINGER AT COOPER AND RAINIER BEACH ARE THE SAME THINGS THAT GIVE ARBOR HEIGHTS AN ADVANTAGE IN THE CLOSURE PROCESS.

ARBOR HEIGHTS DOESN’T HAVE A MAJORITY OF FAMILIES IN POVERTY. COOPER AND RAINIER BEACH DO. POVERTY AFFECTS A SCHOOL’S POPULARITY, WHICH IS A FACTOR IN THE CLOSURE PROCESS. AND RILEY SAYS POVERTY ALSO AFFECTS HOW EASY IT IS FOR PARENTS TO ORGANIZE WHEN THEIR SCHOOL IS UNDER THE GUN.

RILEY: “Demographically, we may have an advantage. Um, I think that may be true. But we’re all still working parents and just trying to do the best for our kids.”

RILEY’S CO–PRESIDENT SPOKE CANDIDLY ON A MESSAGE BOARD FOR OTHER ARBOR HEIGHTS PARENTS. HIS MESSAGES WERE THEN PUBLICIZED BY A SOUTH SEATTLE BLOGGER. ERIC IWAMOTO SAID TO KEEP THEIR SCHOOL OPEN, THE PTSA HAD TO OFFER UP A ‘SACRIFICIAL LAMB’–ANOTHER SCHOOL.

WILLIAMS: “That’s blasphemy.”

SHELLEY WILLIAMS HAS TWO KIDS AT COOPER. SHE WENT THERE WHEN SHE WAS A KID. SHE COMPARES THE CLOSURE PROCESS TO A BOARD GAME. AND SAYS A LOT OF PARENTS AT COOPER DON’T EVEN KNOW THE RULES.

WILLIAMS: “We have 6 parents I can think of right off the top of my head who have been in this country less than two years, and spent more than two years prior in a refugee camp. They don’t even know this system.”

SO SHE WONDERS, HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY BE EXPECTED TO ORDER T–SHIRTS, SHOW UP TO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS, GIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY, AND TALK TO THEIR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS?

BUT BOTH SHE AND SUZETTE RILEY SAY THAT’S WHAT PARENTS HAVE TO DO IF THEY WANT TO GET THEIR SCHOOLS OFF THE LIST BEFORE THE SCHOOL BOARD VOTES ON IT NEXT MONTH. PHYLLIS FLETCHER, KUOW NEWS.

Update Sunday December 14 10:46PM:  http://sableverity.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/sundquist%e2%80%99s-alleged-corruption-taints-seattle-schools-closure-process/

The quality of a Seattle Schools education

<sigh>

Seattle Public Schools, ya’ll need some help right now. 

You just don’t get it. 

 Now, I know you can be slow to learn new things, Kind of ironic, but, I’m going to do my best to come down to your level and explain things to you as simply as I can. 

Racism here is alive and well, but its dressed up and covert.  One practically has to go to school and get a degree to be able to not only recognize it, but explain it- because for many in positions of power, if we cannot define it and explain it and defend it to its most infinitesimal detail, then it must not exist.

It’s in body language and facial expressions.  It’s in restaraunts, banks and grocery stores.  It’s at work, it’s in laws and policies and practices for every entity that exists, including institutions like the Seattle School district. 

Your favorite word?  “Equity”.  You just can’t seem to get enough of it.  Everything is about equity (even though you fired your Equity Team).

But what is equity?  We’re really talking about equality, and by equality I mean inequality, and by inequality I mean institutionalized/systemic racism.

Institutionalized racism is one of the biggest factors in the achievement gap, and don’t get it twisted, Seattle Schools definitely has an achievement gap. 

Children of color are not achieving at the rates of their White counterparts throughout the city.

A money gap.  An access gap.  An equity gap.  An equality gap.

For all your equity talk, you seem to have no clue what equity really is.  So let me break it down at an are-you-smarter-than-an-SPS-student-educated-in-an-underfunded-south-end-school level for you:

“Treating people equally does not mean treating people the same; it means addressing each person’s individual needs with the equal vigor”.

“Treating people equally does not mean treating people the same; it means addressing each person’s individual needs with the equal vigor”.

“Treating people equally does not mean treating people the same; it means addressing each person’s individual needs with the equal vigor”.

“Treating people equally does not mean treating people the same; it means addressing each person’s individual needs with the equal vigor”.

(All my teachers growning up said they repreat the important stuff 3 times, so, I thought maybe if I repeated it for you at least 4 times, you might start to think harder.)

I’m probably getting ahead of myself, because the fact is, you’re not even at the level where you can say that you’re giving all kids in SPS a fair shake; students are not on equal footing, and that is directly related to where they live and what color they are and how you place them in your order of importance; you…the institution[alized racism].

You have to overcome the awesome challenges that children in poverty and children of color face every day (especially the ones you heap ontop of the challenges that already exist).  You’re not doing that now, and we can all see that you’re not prepared to do it in the future. 

Success never finds its way to those that need it the most.  You’re tossing already starving kids of color bones and scraps to fight over, when what you should be doing is providing each with a 7 course meal.

 ”Treating people equally does not mean treating people the same; it means addressing each person’s individual needs with the equal vigor”.

Option 1

Discontinue the Center School Program (currently at Seattle Center) and assign students to Rainier Beach.

Option 2

Move Aki Kurose program to Rainier Beach and create a 6-12 comprehensive performing arts program at Rainier Beach.  (if you’ll look to my previous post, you’ll see I outlined that option before the District did, because this has been quietly in the works for over a year now)

We have gone from moving Summit K-12 to RBHS to scrapping that after parents clutched their pearls and called their lawyers District reps to object, to merging RBHS with Cleveland, to now either moving in Center School Students, who are also high school students, or moving in Aki students, which are middle schoolers.

Oh what a night!  We started off at RBHS’s community meeting to address the proposed closure merger of “tha Beach” with Cleveland High school.  While I sat in the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center with over a hundred other concerned community members, teachers and students, district officials were dtown in their big, overpriced building changing the RBHS plan.

Amber Campbell and I noticed earlier today that the RBHS meeting was not on the board calendar.  After numerous calls to various pairs of eyes and ears dtown, it turns out the the District’s policy for sites that are proposed for merger or relocation (but not a closure of the building itself) is that they are not required, thus do not have to host or participate in any meetings, including tonight’s.  You may have valid points to raise about the District’s decisions- – but they don’t have to hear them.  It’s a big fat “talk to the hand” situation right now, and it’s shameful.

While Raj Manhas was an idiot overall (professionally speaking of course), he at least held meetings at every site impacted by his closure decisions; the only thing that has changed here is we have a new Sheriff in town, and she ain’t trying to hear your mouf.

Many got up to speak to the various issues and decisions that have led to the decline in enrollment and academic standards at RB.  That’s not to say that RB hasn’t already made impressive gains, their WASL scores are some of the most improved in the entire state, let alone the District.

So what is going to happen to RBHS?  Well, you had to be dtown, not at RBHS to find that out.  From the District’s “Potential Final Recommendation”:

Option 1

Discontinue the Center School Program (currently at Seattle Center) and assign students to Rainier Beach.

Option 2

Move Aki Kurose program to Rainier Beach and create a 6-12 comprehensive performing arts program at Rainier Beach.  (if you’ll look to my previous post, you’ll see I outlined that option before the District did, because this has been quietly in the works for over a year now)

We have gone from moving Summit K-12 to RBHS to scrapping that after parents clutched their pearls and called their lawyers District reps to object, to merging RBHS with Cleveland, to now either moving in Center School Students, who are also high school students, or moving in Aki students, which are middle schoolers.

Potential Building Closures

TT Minor

Van Asselt

Pinehurst

Genesee Hill

Montlake

Old Hay

Mann

(Aki, depending on HS option chosen)

Potential Discontinued Programs

African American Academy

AS 1

Summit K-12

Meany Middle School

(Center school, depending on HS option chosen)

Other new changes:

Keeping Lowell open, but moving the app to Thurgood Marshall, moving Pathfinder to Cooper, and reassign Cooper students, closing Center School and reassigning them to Rainier Beach, which is now off the closure list.

The next public hearings on the possible school closures will be held next Monday at three locations: TT Minor Elementary, Pinehurst Elementary and Van Asselt Elementary. All meetings will be from 6:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m.

More to come…

From the AP via TIME:

An Austrian man accused of imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children has been charged with murder, prosecutors said Thursday, contending one of the offspring who died in infancy might have survived if treated.

Josef Fritzl, 73, also was charged with rape, incest, false imprisonment and slavery, said the state attorney’s office in St. Poelten, west of Vienna.

“Despite recognizing the baby’s life-threatening situation, he deliberately decided not to intervene” and get the ailing infant to a doctor, prosecutors said in their 27-page indictment.

Investigators say Fritzl has confessed to imprisoning and repeatedly raping his daughter Elisabeth — now age 42 — in a warren of windowless cellar rooms he built beneath his home starting in 1984, shortly after she turned 18.

Police say Fritzl told them he tossed the body of the infant who died into a furnace in 1996. They say DNA tests have confirmed he is the biological father of the six surviving children.

The retired electrician is expected to go on trial early in 2009.

If convicted of the murder charge, Fritzl would face life imprisonment, which in Austria typically means 15 years’ confinement. Austria, like other European countries, has no death penalty.

Prosecutors also said it will be the first time that an Austrian is tried on a slavery charge.

Authorities say Fritzl brought three of the surviving six children upstairs to live otherwise normal lives, and claimed to neighbors that his daughter — who he said had run away to join a religious cult — had left them on the family’s doorstep.

Investigators say three other children remained imprisoned along with their mother until last April, when one of the youths — a teenage girl — became ill and was taken to a hospital.

Fritzl imprisoned his daughter and the children beneath his apartment building in Amstetten, 120 miles (75 kilometers) west of Vienna. Police say they have no evidence to suggest that his wife was complicit.

His daughter, the children and Fritzl’s wife have been getting counseling at an undisclosed location.

Listed from newest coverage to oldest coverage:

How Josef plans to cash in

Elisabeth details life in cellar

Josef Fritzl returns to dungeon for 1st time since arrest

Rosemarie Fritzl’s deteriorating condition

Josef to be charged in September

Slavery charge could bring harsher punishment

Is there a Josef Fritzl on your street?

Family says Rosemarie will divorce Josef after trial

Did Josef rape wife’s sister?

Are some refusing to testify?

Did Elisabeth accuse Josef of murder?

Elisabeth and children move to new home

Elisabeth faces almost endless questioning

The children return to freedom, Josef preps for court

Elisabeth gives testimony to authorities

Josef “going crazy” in confinement

Josef only faces ten years for crimes

Doctor’s permit Elisabeth to testify this month

Formal charges still months away for Josef

Josef seeks highest bidder for memoirs

Elisabeth may file lawsuit for privacy

Breaking News: Josef Fritzl now writing tell-all book- July 6, 2008

Is Josef Fritzl a victim too?

Josef Fritzl: Extreme Egoism

Josef Fritzl trial in 2008

Is Elisabeth “refusing” to testify against Fritzl?

Doctors say Elisabeth not prepared to testify

2008 Football Fever hits Fritzl clan

Italy’s Elisabeth Fritzl: Maria Manaco

Arthur McElhill and Josef Fritzl have much in common

Elisabeth’s mom returns to Fritzl house for first time

Fritzl house becomes tourist attraction

Austria to Italy; Family locks woman up for 18 years, raises her child

2 Fritzl families struggle to adjust

Details on Kerstin Fritzl recovery

BREAKING: KERSTIN FRITZL WAKES, SEES MOTHER, SIBLINGS

Josef can address Elisabeth directly in upcoming court appearance

Doctors say waking Kerstin will take time

Josef to see Elisabeth and her children in court

Fritzl will be held for 2 more months

Frtizl could die before criminal trial

Some link Fritzl case to Nazi Germany

Women who “love” Josef Fritzl

Austrians now must ask themselves what is wrong with Austria

Kampusch outlines similarities between her captor, Fritzl

hard to believe, but Josef Fritzl acted alone, police rule

Secrets of the Cellar 60 Minutes Austria

Josef Fritzl is not fit to be called “father”

Future of Elisabeth and Children: Conflicting Reports

Video Documentary on Elisabeth Fritzl’s case

Frtizl friends still in shock

 New report claims Fritzl’s will stay in Austria

Fritzl’s reject paid interview offers

Miracle: Kerstin Fritzl is awake

 Fritzl family to get new identities

Possible move from Austria to Britain

Many Fritzl’s in Argentina

Josef Fritzl and Austrian Lit

 Elisabeth will NOT give TV interview

Fritzl made 4k per month off of Elisabeth’s children

Government paid Josef Fritzl to care for children taken from cellar

Fritzl cries in cell each night

New identities possible for Fritzl family

Fritzl children begin formal tutoring

Fritzl’s road to recovery is slow, but steady

Elisabeth may file suit against predator father

Elisabeth turored children in the cellar

Felix takes first McDonald’s trip

Elisabeth will give tv interview

Paparazzi hunt for first pictures of Fritzl survivors

Is reuniting Fritzl family a bad idea? Some say yes.

Kerstin Fritzl amazes doctors

Fritzl snuck Kerstin out while wife was away

Fritzl children wish list

Sentencing in Austria courts

Elisabeth tried to escape

Survivors thank supporters

Austria hints at not punishing Fritzl “harshly”

Fritzl claims Elisabeth needed to be kept from drugs

Fritzl’s jail reality, sex crimes past

5 year old Felix makes progress out of cellar

Fritzl suspected of raping, killing ‘Elisabeth look alike’

Building the cellar under everyone’s nose

Josef Fritzl, criminal, or criminally insane?

Austrian police missed cellar 3 times before

Doctors say Kerstin will likely die

Arson probe missed cellar

Kerstin was probably sex slave

Elisabeth like walking dead

Fritzl suspected in murder

Elisabeth on Josef Fritzl

Elisabeth tricked into cellar

Elisabeth’s letters

Josef: “I could have killed them all”

Josef: “I am not a monster”

Fritzl could face murder for dead twin

Josef: Why I did it

Survivors under armed guard

Son in law speaks

Fritzl terrorized women

Fritzl remains in custody

Lack of oxygen in cellar

Sanity, punishment, healing

Fritzl says his addiction got out of control

The children in the cellar

Frtizl claims her cared for family

Fritzl convicted of 1967 rape

Frtizl threatened to gas family

Lawyer claims Fritzl is mentally ill

Fritzl suspect in 1967 rape

Fritzl ruled with fear

Sick bastard pt. 3

Sick bastard pt. 2

Sick bastard pt. 1

A 5 minute video which gives a pretty good breakdown of the case and the family members

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/bbeNL7_jzUU&hl=en]

BY SABLE VERITY

The long road to the White House is about to be finished

Ladies and gentlemen, we are less than one day away from one of, if not the, most defining presidential elections in the history of our country and by relation – or superiority complex – the entire world.

It has been a long, often painful and exasperating 20 months. I know, I’ve followed this election every step of the way, and every step of the way I have supported Barack Obama.

Wait! Before you roll your eyes and set down the paper, let me finish. This is important.

I’ve been accused of having an allegiance purely because Obama is black, but the fact of the matter is that I support him, in part, because he is purposeful, inspiring, compassionate and steady in seemingly impossible circumstances. If he can accomplish this in less than two years, I really want to see what he can do in four, better yet, eight.

That he is an African American is notable for many reasons to be sure, but to allow that as the sole purpose for casting one’s vote is just dumb. However, let’s face it, people vote for dumb reasons all the time.

Think of it. We have the current president because Americans were more focused on who they could have a beer with, instead of who was the best person to lead and represent the country.

If you want to vote for the guy you can have a beer with, or whom you like, or think is funny or attractive, popular or powerful, hey, it’s a free country. Sometimes we go with the guy that makes us feel better, even when they’re just telling us what we want to hear.

Like Dino Rossi, the master of political opportunity. The presidential election may be at the center of everyone’s radar, but lest we forget, we’ve got elections that matter right here in our home state.

Many people look back four years ago and wonder how, in Washington state of all places, when push came to shove, did Dino Rossi get a foot in the governor’s mansion – did all those people really vote for him? What were they thinking?

Well, I’ll tell you, I voted for Dino Rossi in 2004.

Normally I wouldn’t out myself so publicly with such disappointing information, but I’m throwing myself on the fire to prove a larger point.

Four years ago, Chris Gregoire ran afoul in the African American community and other communities of color. I’m not talking about the discrimination in her college sorority (though it didn’t help), I’m talking about the all out, unashamed shunning that came from her, to us and our communities. Time and time again, opportunity after opportunity, Gregoire failed. It didn’t take long for word to spread and she soon developed a reputation for “not caring” about communities of color in a time when challenges like the achievement gap, racial profiling, gang violence and the economy were hot button issues.

I just didn’t feel Gregoire. Hard as she tried, she just wasn’t warm and fuzzy. She has an unapologetic edge that can come across as aloof and elitist. Moreover, her constant absence made me, and thousands like me, feel that she and the Democratic Party were taking the minority vote for granted.

Dino Rossi swept in and did what all candidates should do; he worked hard for our votes, and he got them. Some of the most prominent members of the black community voted for Dino Rossi and they encouraged everyone to do the same. I sat in many a forum and heard him speak. He was knowledgeable on the issues that mattered to me. He seemed to care. He was really nice. Couple that with the desire to teach Gregoire and the Dems a lesson and, well, you know what happened.

Dumb, right? To think; my vote could have caused our state to fall into Rossi’s hands… the horror. Nightmares, waking in cold sweats… the unbearable shame.

All right, it hasn’t been that dramatic. My point is this; when Hillary fanatics say they’re voting McCain because they’re “mad” at Obama, I believe it. When I hear people say that they just don’t know if they like Chris Gregoire and therefore don’t believe they can vote for her, I don’t doubt them. In the end, they’re all dumb reasons to cast, or not cast a vote.

Aside from the fact that voting along party lines down the ballot is crucial, let’s vote for smart reasons, such as healthcare. If you believe that affordable healthcare is a right of everyone in Washington – as I do – you should support Gregoire, who vows to meet this goal by 2012 and already boasts impressive gains, particularly with children, our most precious and vulnerable commodity.

We should all vote because of policy decisions such as healthcare, and on policy, Rossi is all wrong, all the time.

I don’t want leaders who are concerned about being liked by everyone; high approval ratings for a job well done don’t have much to do with who can shoot the breeze over a pint of amber.

So Chris isn’t warm and fuzzy, so she has a bit of a biting edge to her, so she made serious missteps in her first bid; as Governor, while not perfect, Washington State is heading in the right direction.

Yes, I, and many others, erred four years ago, with near tragic results. But don’t worry; I’ve learned a valuable lesson: I don’t like beer.

Sable Verity’s column appears every other week in the South Seattle Beacon. .