The Seattle school board voted last night to approve Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson's proposed list of closures, which means that a total of eight programs will be re-located or shut down completely. The following schools will close: Genesee Hill, T.T. Minor, Mann, Van Asselt, and John Hay the Old Hay building. In addition, the following programs and school entities will be discontinued: African American Academy, Meany Middle School, Cooper Elementary, T.T. Minor Elementary, and Summit K-12. Cooper Elementary's building will house Pathfinders K-8, displaced by Genesee Hill's closure. See the Seattle Public Schools press release for more detailed information about program relocation. more ›

The vote on school closures is fast approaching! On Thursday, the city school board will make the official call--and emotions are running high. Parents and teachers at the schools on the final recommended closure list made sure their voices were heard this weekend at a rally at T.T. Minor Elementary, one of the schools on the recommended closure list. Though it's possible the school board will vote not to close any schools (a strategy recommended by former school board director Dick Lilly over at Crosscut), it's not likely. Money is just too tight, and something's gotta give. The complaint, however, is that the "somethings" taking the brunt of the cuts are Seattle's poorest, least lily-white neighborhoods--and some are going as far as to call the selective closures racist, flat out. The local chapter of the NAACP is on the case, though last we heard, NAACP national leadership hadn't heard about or approved any legal action. more ›

The local chapter of the NAACP is hosting a series of hearings on police conduct with minorities and the poor. The People's Panel on Police Responsibility will hold its first meeting at 6pm this Thursday at the Garfield Community Center. more ›