First stop: MathFest, the largest math event in Seattle. It’s kind of a game show cum festival of numeration held in the Rainier Community Center. This year, over 800 children, parents, teachers and volunteers attended the event designed to develop children’s interest in mathematics.

 Explorations in Math Executive Director Stephanie Cherrington says there is a real math crisis in Washington state where only 45 percent of 10^th graders can pass the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) math test required for high school graduation.  Her solution? “More math but in engaging, fun and creative ways.” She explains, “One of the key elements in being successful in math is having the opportunity to practice math. Just like with literacy twenty [to] twenty-five years ago where we were told…‘Read to your kids, read to your kids, read to your kids, read to your kids.’ And the literary rates have gone up…It’s really important to give our kids the opportunity to do math.”

Next stop: the Dearborn Park Elementary school’s Explorations in Math Club. Teacher Andy Russell has sixty kids signed up and a waiting list of 25 others for his afterschool program that explores mathematics in exciting and creative ways. See how you can learn logic using popsicle sticks!

Bass vs. Smith-Blum

Bass is running on her eight-year record—which has included frequent dissents. “If you look at the track record of the stances I’ve taken, they’ve been on point.” She cites the examples of her early support for ending the school district’s racial tiebreaker and her consistent advocacy for a student assignment plan based on neighborhood schools. Smith-Blum is running as an innovator. “Can we educate our children fully?” she asks. Her ideas include adding foreign language instruction to all elementary schools and the elimination of middle schools in favor of K-8s—schools that have students from kindergarten to eighth grade.

Chin vs. Patu 

Chin and Patu differ in their view of Seattle School Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson. Patu, a retired 32-year district employee, says, “My vision of what I’d like to see happening in the Seattle Public Schools is not exactly on the line with what Maria Goodloe[-Johnson] is doing. I congratulate her for the good work that she has done but there needs to be a lot more supervision” from the School Board. Chin, a long-time school volunteer, is more supportive of the superintendent.  Goodloe-Johnson “is a very strong educator. She has faced some very significant challenges in her first three years. She has addressed many of those,” he says. Chin also mentioned that he liked that Goodloe-Johnson could admit when she had made mistakes. 

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The Times also reports that a group of parents protested the new assignment plan because it does not guarantee that younger siblings would attend the same school as their older brothers and sisters. Some of these parents have formed an organization called Keep Our Kids Together.

The Ballard News Tribune reports that the School District will now develop specific geographic boundaries for each of its 92 schools. A draft map of the school boundaries will be available for public comment this fall.