Seattle School Board president candidate and West Seattle resident Steve Sundquist (West Seattle District VI) is taking on Martha "Marty" McLaren, Joy Anderson and Nick Esparza in the Aug. 16 primary. The West Seattle Herald interviewed McLaren and will interview Anderson and Esparza next week.

The top two vote-getters are chosen by voters in their district where there is a primary race, four of the seven districts in this election. Then all of Seattle votes for their favorite candidate in all four districts. In addition to Sundquist, other incumbents being challenged are Peter Maier in District I, Sherry Carr in District II, and Harium Martin-Morris in District III.

Sundquist's bio

Steve Sundquist serves as School Board President. He is a 21-year resident of West Seattle, life-long Democrat, school and community volunteer, retired finance manager, and Fauntleroy Church leader where he helped build consensus for a co-location agreement with the YMCA to serve our community's youth. His two daughters, 18, and 21, graduated Chief Sealth High School.

He is on the board of directors of Climate Solutions, a global warming research and advocacy group, and with Social Venture Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing educational, social and environmental issues in Puget Sound.

He attended WSU, with a B.S. in computer science, and U. of Chicago, M.B.A. in Information Systems and Finance.

Endorses Discovery Math Text Book Curriculum, but honors individual schools who request flexibility

McLaren told the West Seattle Herald that the Discovery Text Book series contributed to Seattle's students' sub-par achievement in math.

"It's not just about the textbook," countered Sundquist, who acknowledges that the scores are too low. "It's about the quality of instruction, and strategies principals and teachers are employing. I disagree with the notion that math is a trap door (to failure in school). John Boyd, longtime Chief Sealth principal has raised his math scores of his kids about 40 percent. That faculty has been significant supporters of Discovery Math.

"We're not happy with where we are in math achievement in Seattle, or across the country. We need serious strategies that are not just car bumper stickers.

"At Mercer Middle School on Beacon Hill, their MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) scores rose significantly this spring and they've been using a combination of the district's curriculum which Marty is objecting to, and to supplement that, a completely opposite kind of mathematics instruction called Saxon Math. It's not about 'one size fits all' and that if we simply switch to a different text book all our problems in mathematics instruction will go away.

"Schmitz Park's faculty has a strong belief that they can be successful as a school with their kids using Singapore Math," he said. "They asked the School District to obtain a waver so instead of using the District text they could all use Singapore. the District granted the waver. I absolutely supported that. In fact, this year I was able to help convince the District to pay for those text books since that's their primary text books. They paid out of their discretionary income before. The District allows that as long as they deliver."

McLaren said she endorses Singapore and Saxon Math.

"It's also important that we be willing to pay math and science teachers more money because they are very hard to find," Sundquist said. "Part of this is about high quality instruction. Our country is not producing as many high quality teachers in math and science as our schools need. We need to pay more to attract them and compete better with the private sector for people who can do this.

"We are somewhat unique among countries in that we want all of our kids to be successful," Sundquist said. "That's what our federal law No Child Left Behind is. Not every nation is trying to get all kids to a certain level of college entry aptitude in all subjects. In France, for instance, the education system begins to sort out kids who are college bound verses those who might want to take on more blue collar work when they reach early high school.

Superintendant Maria Goodloe-Johnson dismissal

"Our experience with Maria Goodloe-Johnson and our Chief Financial Officer and having to terminate them was terribly difficult for the Board and community," Sunduist recalled. They were voted out March 2.

"We were surprised, saddened and disgusted by what we found when the state auditor revealed that whole situation," he said. "And when we conducted our own private investigation to determine where the fault lay and it was clear that the oversight that our CFO and Maria had on management had been inadequate. We quickly terminated them, and put into place an interim. (Susan Enfield)

"From a governance perspective I feel really good that the Board responded aggressively to a difficult situation," he said. "I accept responsibility that it happened on my watch and I am really disappointed about that. Having said that, there are a number of things happening in the school system which are very positive, including improvements to the governance system which are a byproduct of these difficult state audits and this experience. There was a period in the winter when we were so consumed with that scandal I wasn't clear if I wanted to run again. I feel I came out of it successfully and with some renewed energy.

It takes a long time to learn this job. It's a huge job because it's a huge organization. We've learned a lot. We've been applying the lessons well. The school system is showing some signs is improving and I would like to build on that for another session.

Accessiliblity

"In my three and a half years I have held over 50 community meetings twice a month, generally on Wednesdays, 11: a.m. at the High Point Library, and Saturdays, frequently at the Delridge Library.