Seattle Forward

Growing the Professional Early Learning Workforce

One of the most important elements of high-quality preschool is a professional teaching workforce. As the Mayor and the Council researched and developed the standards for the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP), requiring professional degrees was a common thread among other programs with proven positive child outcomes.

SPP requires a bachelor’s degree for lead teachers and, for assistant teachers, an associate’s degree or two years of relevant coursework. When a provider joins SPP, its staff are given several years to meet this requirement. Funds are reserved within the SPP budget to provide tuition support for these teachers.

Recognizing the need for a steady pipeline of well-trained preschool teachers, the Seattle Colleges have launched a new B.A.S. degree for Early Childhood Education. It is a great example of our higher educational institutions stepping up to creatively meet a growing workforce need. They put together a video highlighting this program and its impact:

On a related note, there was an excellent article recently in the Seattle Times about local community organizing work undertaken in the Somali community around meeting Washington State’s quality standards for child care providers. Take a look here.

Seeking Seattle Youth Commissioners

The City is currently looking for new applicants to the Seattle Youth Commission, a 15-member body made up of youth ages 13-19. The application deadline is Friday, August 5 at 5:00 p.m. This is a great way for young people to learn about community engagement and local government.

From the Department of Neighborhoods press release:

“Youth serving on the commission will be required to attend a half-day retreat on Saturday, September 24, bi-monthly SYC meetings, and additional committee commitments.  The commission meets the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays of each month at Seattle City Hall from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Commissioners will serve a two-year term beginning in September 2016 and ending June 2018.

“In addition to representing youth across the city, commissioners receive hands-on experience in the public sector and learn how to cultivate the youth voice in city policy.”

To apply, visit http://www.seattle.gov/seattle-youth-commission/apply.

The Importance of Fiscal Consistency

The Mayor announced this week that city government would not sell approximately 11 acres of surplus land along Myers Way in southwest Seattle, opting instead to retain it as undeveloped open space. This decision is unfortunately inconsistent with 13 years of expressed fiscal policy regarding this property.

The history of the Myers Way property (51 total acres) is important to understand. The city purchased the land from Nintendo in 2003 for $14.9 million as part of the Joint Training Center (JTF) project, a new facility to be used by the city’s Fire Department and utilities for skills and safety training. The City did not want to buy the entire 51 acres – only a small portion needed for the JTF – but Nintendo would only sell it as one entire property. So at the time of the purchase, the City Council declared its intent that any surplus land not needed for the JTF would be sold “for private development to offset total project costs and to spur economic development” in the surrounding neighborhood.

Mourning

This week has been difficult for me to process. On Tuesday and Wednesday, two more black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, were shot and killed by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota. As I struggle to balance my emotional reactions to these tragedies with the need to let the investigations take their course, I cannot ignore one fact: people of color in our country, particularly black men, keep getting shot by police officers. This is not a new phenomenon, but with the widespread use of video technology, all Americans can see it now with their own eyes.

Then last night we watched in horror as a targeted hate crime was carried out against Dallas police officers who were simply doing their job to protect peaceful protesters. Once again, gun violence destroyed families and ripped communities apart.

At the same time as the Dallas attack, our Seattle police officers escorted and protected peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters on our streets. It is no secret tensions exist between the police and communities of color, but that does not stop our officers from providing this fundamental protection of democracy. It does not stop them from patrolling our neighborhoods day and night to keep all of us safe. These officers deserve our respect and gratitude and, in the aftermath of last night’s terror, our encouragement and support. They also deserve to be held to a high standard of behavior. I believe strong support and robust accountability go hand in hand.

Moving forward, let us continue the hard work of restoring relationships between our police officers and all our communities, for the sake of everyone’s safety. Let’s make certain that we continue forward with our reforms of the police department, strengthen civilian control and oversight, and keep building public trust and confidence in our officers.