Seattle Public Schools is quietly eliminating specialized programs for newcomer students - recent immigrants with limited English skills who need intensive support. Teachers at Dunlap Elementary brought this story to our attention because they'...

In this episode of Rainy Day Recess, we dive into the Seattle Public Schools board’s May 21 special meeting. Hear the latest on the district’s 2025–26 budget proposal, which balances through one-time fixes and new state funding, but le...

In this episode of Rainy Day Recess, Cherylynne Crowther takes the reins to discuss the ongoing exclusion of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) families in Seattle Public Schools. After a group of Deaf parents testified about enrollment barriers a...

In this student-reported episode, Garfield High School sophomore Rafael Brewer takes us inside the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center, a space used for theater, music, assemblies, and community events. He shares the importance of the theater, ...

In this final Big 3 Briefing of the 2025 legislative session, we walk through where things landed for education funding in Washington state. We cover what passed around special education, MSOC, and transportation, break down key budget numbers,...

In this episode of Rainy Day Recess, we take a closer look at the Seattle Public Schools April 23 school board meeting, with the major focus on the Enrollment Planning presentation given at the end of the 6-hour meeting. Here is the re...

This is a VIDEO.This episode explores the questions surrounding school waitlists in Seattle Public Schools — particularly for option schools — including how they’re handled, why they often don’t...

Podcast Co-hosts Christie and Jasmine discuss the April 9th, 2025 school board meeting where the board reviewed proposals from executive search firms and started the process of choosing who will help them hire the next superintendent. ...

As budget negotiations reach their final phase, we recap where the Big 3 bills—special education, transportation, and MSOC—stand and what’s still on the table. We also reflect on the highs, lows, and hard lessons of the past 12 weeks, and talk ...

We shine the community spotlight on the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance (SESSFA) and their annual Move-a-Thon — a creative fundraising event that supports 17 public schools in Southeast Seattle. Guest Heather Hart explains how th...

Debbie Carlsen introduces "Learning Together," a free training series for prospective school board director candidates. Debbie shares her experience as a former candidate and explains how Champions for Educational Empowerment created this progr...

Budget LandLast week was action-packed with House and Senate budgets dropping last Monday as we were preparing our Week 11 episode. Since then, both budgets have been heard and exec’d out of their fiscal committees, and the Senate budget...

Seattle's school board kicked off the superintendent search process on March 25th following Dr. Brent Jones' announced departure, authorizing President Gina Topp to begin seeking proposals from search firms under an ambitious timeline targeting...

Bill LandWe update listeners on our two remaining education funding bills - SB 5192 for Materials, Supplies, and Operating Costs and

We continue our series introducing candidates running for Seattle School Board in 2025. In this episode, we're joined by Landon Labosky, who is running for the District 5 seat currently held by Michelle Sarju. Labosky discusses his background w...

The district's sudden reversal on Highly Capable programming was the big news at the March 12 school board meeting, with strong commitments from Dr Torres-Morales for a definitive plan by April 1. Testimony also covered option school waitlists ...

Will our education bills survive the House Appropriations committee? Senate bills 5192 (MSOC) and

In this week’s Rainy Day Recess, we talk about the legislator town halls that are coming up in the next few weeks and how to advocate at them. We are halfway through the legislature’s 105-day session, and we can show support for what w...

We kick off our series introducing candidates running for the Seattle School Board in 2025. The primary election is in August, and the general election follows in November. In this first episode, we’re joined by Sarah Clark, who was appointed t...

In this Rainy Day Rundown, we explore key developments in Seattle Public Schools and the role of community engagement in decision-making:SPS Racial Equity Departments – We follow up on our

In this week's episode of Rainy Day Recess, we track the latest developments in the fight for education funding in Washington state—and it's been a rough week.Two transportation funding bills have officially died, leaving advoca...

--- WE ARE TRACKING UPDATES TO THIS STORY IN OUR SHOW NOTES ---Two major departments dedicated to racial ...

In week 7 of our Big 3 Briefing series, we provide updates on the legislative process for the Big 3 education funding priorities: special education, pupil transportation, and materials, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC).All of the Big...

Rainy Day Rundown is your update on the latest happenings related to Seattle Public Schools. In this episode, we examine what systemic neglect looks like:🔹 Restraint & Isolation – For the third year in a row, testimony revea...

See our Show NotesIn Week 6 of the 2025 Washington State legislative session, we delve into the status of the Big 3 funding pr...