Everywhere I go someone has an idea about how to save or fix Tacoma's "broken schools." It's one of the hazards of being a teacher. When I tell people in Tacoma that I work at Lincoln High School or that I work in the Lincoln Center Program, about 60 percent of the time the reaction is "ooooh" - a long, drawn out version of the word, a mildly sympathetic noise that roughly translates to "poor you." More often than not it is followed something along the following continuum: "that must be hard" on the more socially refined end, "I hear that's a rough school" in the middle range and "break up any fights lately?" from people who have no guilt about stereotyping people, specifically children, of poverty. Basically, over half the people I meet think my job is the midpoint between prison guard and nightclub bouncer. It seems, their vision is clouded by their own prejudices and urban legend. And as long as that is the way the community views the children within its schools, we will never have the schools our kids - especially our most vulnerable deserve.

Our views of our schools are clouded by our poor vision and metrics.

Everyone wants to make sure that schools serve the kids of our community. But, it seems the biggest issue with measuring (in order to improve) school quality, within Tacoma and beyond is that while we are awash in data, there is no real metric for what a "quality school" really is.

Read more...

It happened in and around Tacoma this week. ...

Woodards Kicks of Re-Election Campaign

Tacoma's campaign season continued to take shape this week as yet another incumbent city official, Tacoma City Councilmember Victoria Woodards, kicked-off her campaign with a gathering of supporters at the Landmark Convention Center.

During her relatively brief remarks Woodards touted her work protecting public services and community programs during budget cutbacks, emphasized the value of small businesses and shared about her work addressing Tacoma's gang activity.

Woodards is currently unopposed and is not expected to field a serious opponent.

Van Dyk to Challenge Lonergan

Justin Van Dyk filed to challengeTacomaCity Councilmember Joe Lonergan for his District 5 seat. It's no secret that Lonergan is the only (moderate) Republican on the Council and in a city as blue as Tacoma it's not a big surprise that he drew a candidate who will look to unseat him by way of turning the race partisan - which is why it comes as a surprise Van Dyk is already using a trademark Republican tactic, lambasting Lonergan's salary in an interview this week with The Trib.

That noted, it's always exciting to see young people run for office. I'm looking forward to hearing what Van Dyk has to say over the next few months about what he would do differently for South Tacoma.

Link Debate Continues

This week the Tacoma City Council held a public study session with Sound Transit staff as they continue to consider which proposed route they will recommend to the Sound Transit Board.

There continues to be uncertainty regarding Councilmember Boe's plan, which was summed up well in this piece by The Trib.

The best link-related read came this week, as usual, from Chris Karnes of Tacoma Tomorrow and Town Hall Tourist who created his own charts further dissecting the five potential routes.

TAM Proposal Draws the Ire of Density Activists

The Tacoma Art Museum released plans for a large addition far less attractive than their current facility. Many downtown Tacoma activists are frustrated with the design for a variety of reasons. 

I-502 Implementation Timeline Announced

Just in time for 4.20 the Washington Liquor Control Board announced this week that it has established an official timeline for implementation of I-502. After Dec. 1 these sorts of escapades won't be necessary. 

South Downtown Subarea Plan Public Hearing

The City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services Department staff will conduct a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25 in the Carwein Auditorium on the University of Washington Tacoma campus (1900 Commerce St.) to receive comments on the draft South Downtown Subarea Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.

Zach Powers has managed multiple legislative campaigns in greater Tacoma and previously served as a Legislative aide in the Washington State Senate.

WARNING: THIS POST INVOLVES MATH >>>

The Problem

Local government has a problem. Costs are up for asphalt and health care, library books and fire trucks. But revenue is down. There's less revenue from sales tax, from business and occupation tax and from property tax - about 20 percent of the total.

To make things worse, the Pierce County Assessor has been tougher on property value than other assessors in Washington. He pushes values lower so tax revenue is lower.

Is the system working as it should?

(Note: the previous Assessor, Dale Washam, is responsible for the numbers below; the current Assessor, Mike Lonergan, was elected in November 2012.)

Read more...

Comment On This Post