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SEATTLE, WA – “Redlining in our region is alive and well,” says
David Sarju, TOPS Site Council president, as families for Fair Assignment for
Children Everywhere in Seattle (FACES) armed with petitions and signatures from
prominent Seattleites fight back. FACES co-chair Sheri Toussaint presents the
petition to protect the racial diversity and accessibility of TOPS, a popular
K-8 alternative public school, at today’s school board meeting at 2:00 p.m. in
the new Stanford Center of Educational Excellence, 2445 Third Avenue South. The
group rallying with Toussaint at the board meeting is outraged by
Superintendent Joseph Olchefske's proposal to remedy a perceived shortage of
kindergarten seats for children from affluent North Capitol Hill by giving them
half of the kindergarten seats at TOPS – seats currently accessible on an equal
basis to a diverse population across the city.
There is no shortage of kindergarten
seats in the "central cluster," the region of central Seattle spanning
North Capitol Hill and Leschi, say school district demographers. However, there
is a shortage of seats deemed desirable by academic test scores and standards.
Between North Capitol Hill and Leschi, there are nine neighborhood elementary
schools. Only 25% of the students in these schools are white, according to
school district data.* Three-quarters of the white students attend Montlake,
Stevens and McGilvra – schools in which WASL test scores are above the Seattle school
district and Washington state average. Only 16% of the children of color (9%
African American) attend these successful schools. The "successful"
schools all lie north of Madison Street. The schools deemed undesirable due to
low test scores consist predominantly of children of color. All lie south of
Madison.
Families for FACES believe Olchefske's proposal is another step
towards the resegregation of Seattle schools. The schools in the central part
of Seattle are already much more segregated than the neighborhoods they
serve.
"Olchefske's plan will shift
more of our schools' best resources to accommodate families already receiving a
disproportionate share," says Reverend Phyllis Beaumonte of the local
chapter of the NAACP. According to the
2000 census, Seattle is one of the most segregated cities in the nation.
Changing the assignment program for the benefit of an affluent few further
reduces opportunities for many families of color to send their children to a
successful school. The Seattle Public Schools' slogan is "Academic
Achievement for Every Child." With
high test scores, 51% minority enrollment, and a mission to eliminate the
achievement gap, TOPS is walking the District's talk. For students in
underserved neighborhoods and families who want their children to go to a
proven successful school where the population more accurately reflects the real
world, TOPS offers that choice.
Supporters of families for Fair Assignment for Children Everywhere
in Seattle include Pat Stanford, wife of the late Seattle school superintendent
John Stanford; the local chapter of the NAACP; and state legislators Kip
Tokuda, Sharon Tomiko-Santos and Jeanne Kohl-Welles.
For more
information about FACES and the fight to maintain for all students equal access
to an education at TOPS, visit http://oocities.com/tops_faces
*Data comes from Seattle Public School 2001-02 Annual Report.
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