Seattle to reverse course, return to neighborhood schools

Here's an interesting development in Seattle, that we should pay close attention to here in Bellingham. Read
Proposed school boundaries would return Seattle to a neighborhood-based system in the Oct. 6 Seattle Times.

Seattle tried turning elementary schools into specialty magnet schools, encouraging families to send their kids far from home, and are now having to reverse directions. They are rediscovering the value of neighborhood based schools.

Let's not continue down the same path -- let's reverse course in Bellingham now, and decide NOT to create these specialty magnet schools, and instead provide high quality education for every neighborhood school. We can avoid the mistakes and expenses if we take action now.

Attend tonight's (Oct. 7) school board candidate forum, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fairhaven Park Pavillion, hosted by South Hill Neighborhood Association and Fairhaven Neighbors.

Attend Thursday's (Oct. 8) 7:30 p.m. Bellingham School Board meeting, and remind them we don't want to be making the same mistakes Seattle made.