(Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times)
Denise Juneau, the former Montana superintendent of public instruction, will take the reins of Seattle Public Schools in July.
I am happy about this. Superintendent Juneau stood out from the other two candidates in three ways ..
1. Experience She has worked not just as a teacher and administrator but as a politician in a state far more conservative then Seattle. Her role in Montana suggests she could, if she wants, do a much better job of rescuing the District from being seen as only for the poor, but as something all kids here will want to go to. I think she has a chance of being very effective both in Seattle’s board rooms and in Olympis.
2. Competence Where the other candidates came across as nice and fuzzy, good traits for the classroom, Ms Juneau gave deep answers about issues like budgets and choices about where to put funds.
3. Identity The article in the Seattle Times may have made much to much about Juneau’s identity, calling her a gay Person of Color and perpetuating the myth that the Seattle District is a majority minority district. “POC” here ought to be pejorative. Many of our city’s most successful people, talent at the UW, Microsoft, Amazon, not to mention the arts and government, come from India, China, the Muslim world. There is a vast gap between African Americans, immigrants from Somalia, immigrants from Guatemala and an affluent Seattle that is distinguished much more by class then by skin color.
Moreover, the majority of Seattle’s kids … as opposed ot kids attending Seattle Public Schools .. are not POC however you define the term. What has happened is that the District’s self identification as POC has allowed it to driving out kids …. regardless of the social construct of race … whose parents can afford private schools or move to Mercer Island. One District Director even told me that these white kids did not need the District’s support. I responded by asking her whether the message to underprivileged kids looks like the “separate but equal” message of Mississaugaschoo in 1960?
The district may see Denise Juneau as a lesbian member of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation. I see Superintend Juneau as highly achieving woman with a great background, a real addition to this city with so many talented people. I hope she has the skills to change the District’s goal to excellence for all kids.