Today, when people across America think of Seattle, it is marred by the image of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and a lengthy year’s worth of rioting only overshadowed by the likes of Portland. They think of sidewalks obstructed by tents, trash, needles, and random violent assaults.

These negative associations with Seattle have been largely limited to downtown Seattle, on the south side of the Ship Canal Bridge; the other shore of Lake Union.

The north end of Seattle is a suburb of its downtown counterpart and has seen few of the problems downtown has, of which activity tends to be isolated along Highway 99. Yet, it is governed by the same Mayor and City Council as downtown Seattle, and those problems are now surfacing in communities who thought they had adequate distance from these problems.

The Bitter Lake Community of Seattle is on the most northern edge of North Seattle, only a handful of traffic lights shy of exiting city limits entirely. It’s a much more quiet single family home community, nestled in side streets between the main drags of Greenwood and Aurora avenues.

During the pandemic when students shifted to remote learning at home, a homeless encampment formed on school property at Broadview-Thompson Elementary School in the Bitter Lake Community. Parents were apathetic at first, adopting an ‘out of sight out of mind’ position, and assumed that the situation would be handled by the time students returned to the classroom on school grounds. 

The encampment started in July of 2020, and the city promised it would be removed that September. Yet the encampment has not been removed, and has only grown larger.

As time drew closer to the beginning of in-school learning, the Seattle School Board asked the city not to remove these camps, including the one at Bitter Lake, barely within the city’s grasp. Parents began to worry about their children’s safety returning to school.

As children returned to school to finish the remaining school year, the encampment continues to grow. Weapons have been found in the encampment on school property, and the school was placed into lockdown over a pellet gun spotted in the camp.

Now, King County has brought their needle exchange program to the elementary school, handing out needles and syringes to members of the encampment right in front of children on school grounds.

From local Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO:

“‘To see them (public health) disperse the needles right on your frontage in plain sight for everybody to see was an outrageous moment,’ said Paul Riemann whose home looks directly into the encampment.

Neighbors said the criminal activity is mounting.

In the last two weeks, police have been called to the camp several times, a large sword was seen outside a tent and last Tuesday the school had to ‘shelter in place’ when a camper was seen with a pellet gun.”

The school district runs a unique model where they are only accountable to public opinion (where they’re currently catering to the Wokes) rather than being accountable to the students whom they teach, and the parents of the students. They don’t actually have an incentive to do right by whom they should be accountable to. 

Perhaps voting for School Board Members should be a privatized vote reserved for people who actually have school aged children in the district, rather than everyone who is eligible to vote who have no skin in the game. But this is pie in the sky, as it makes way too much sense to actually come to fruition. 

Not everyone can afford private school, especially if they have several school aged children. With two income households, not everyone can find time to homeschool; though with all children learning from home and having to make time to accommodate this, I hope many can give this a second thought. Do it if you can.

What can really make a difference however, is School Choice. This is a system where the student is funded rather than the school, and can choose which public school they want to attend. This would force schools and districts which have become comfortable with zoning and not having to act in the best interest of their students, to immediately be forced to do so. The alternative is that students leave, and therefore funding also leaves. If a school consciously continues to underperform or not provide a safe environment, the conclusion will finally, for once, be as it should. The school will rightfully close, and not look good on a future resumé.

This would make a world of difference for students in the Bitter Lake Community, who are currently zoned into Seattle Public Schools without a choice, to be given the option to attend Shoreline Public Schools just a few traffic lights away. 

Also, if you are a parent who believes schools should serve students and not the mob, consider running for School Board.

The post School Choice Needed as Seattle Allows Homeless Camp, Drugs on School Property appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

This is no shock, considering most people were dissatisfied with public education before the COVID-19 pandemic. Understandably, parents are now worried whether their kids are learning and developing as they should be. This situation urgently needs to be resolved, and public education as it stands now cannot do that.

Of all parents, only 29% feel their child is progressing very well academically; 25% for emotional development, and 27% for social development under COVID-19 restrictions. It is a bleak reality that under a third of all parents feel schools are performing above mediocrity with their child’s development. 

Furthermore, the mental health of students has been considerably worse over the past few years, and school choice has a massive upside in curbing that loss in the long term. One article finds “that states that enacted charter school laws witnessed a 10% decrease in suicide rates among 15- to 19-year-olds. Private-school voucher laws were also associated with fewer suicides, though the change was not statistically significant.” Ten percent might seem small, but over time, that is hundreds of lives that can be saved.

Consider further that private schools  are rated the highest by parents on how they feel their children are progressing (all 45% and over for each type of development). The only other type of school to exceed the average of all parents in any development is charter schools and academic and social development. Unfortunately, these two types of schools are the least accessible either via economic means or state regulation of charter schools.

These sentiments are confirmed by the support for school choice policies, such as education savings accounts (81%), school vouchers (73%), tax-credit scholarships (74%), and public charter schools (72%). These are massively popular programs that people believe can make a difference.

Not only do we need that difference, but we need it fast. The United Nations Children’s Fund warns that “when schools close, children risk losing their learning, support system, food and safety, with the most marginalized children – who are the most likely to drop out altogether – paying the heaviest price.” That is not just in the United States, but worldwide.

Our current system is not working as it should and too many are suffering for it. The United States needs to be an example for supporting children and their families. It is the duty of any public education system to do so. So why not consider the prospects of widely popular programs that aim to help these families? Let us open education alternatives for families and make it work for those who need it most.

The post Pandemic Public Education is Leaving Children Behind appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.