Our schools. Our communities. Our say.
Keep great public schools open.
Strong neighborhood schools bring families into public education—and give them reasons to stay. Seattle should build on that trust with academic excellence, stable plans and real community power.
Keep great public schools open.
Schools anchor communities. Families need stability to plan years ahead. Closure threats weaken trust and push families away.
Closures won’t fix the budget.
Other districts have lost students and funding to large-scale closures. Promised efficiencies haven’t fixed their budgets. [2] [3]
Make public schools work for everyone.
Maintain academic excellence and support every learner. Keep families from every socioeconomic background invested.
Seattle’s 2024 closure proposal was withdrawn. We remain vigilant: any future plan must earn community support, show durable net savings and give families time to plan. [8]
Education is Washington’s paramount duty. Article IX, Section 1 requires ample provision for the education of all children residing within the state. [10]
Seattle Public Schools, by the numbers
Budgets are annual authorizations; capital funds pay for buildings and other capital needs.
Different schools. A stronger system.
“You cannot have a great public school system without having the entire community involved. Without community, any school system is lost.” [4]
Before another closure list
Make the case. Earn the trust.
The financial fix didn’t arrive.
California · Stanford / Getting Down to Facts III · 2026
A study of California districts from 2011–2019 found closure-related enrollment losses and no average improvement in districts’ financial standing. [2]
Disruption can last for years.
Chicago · UChicago Consortium on School Research · 2018
After Chicago’s 2013 closures, students from closed schools experienced a negative effect on math scores that persisted through four years of follow-up. [1]
Savings were small beside the budget.
Six urban districts · The Pew Charitable Trusts · 2011
Across six cities, short-term savings were relatively small; the largest savings involved substantial layoffs, and selling empty buildings proved difficult. [3]
Closure should be a last resort.
Our test: a clear benefit for children, after a sustained effort to help the school succeed.
Improve and recruit first.
Strengthen academics, try new models, win families back and replace persistently ineffective leadership.
Give stability time to work.
Publish clear budgets and consistent plans. Give families years to plan and improvements time to take hold.
Earn community support.
A majority of families should prefer the alternative, following open consultation with both school communities.
Try shared space.
Explore preschool, childcare and neighborhood partnerships before giving up a publicly funded community anchor.
“No one will doubt that the legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth…”
“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children.”
Sources & further reading
- 1.UChicago Consortium on School Research: School Closings in Chicago: Staff and Student Experiences and Academic Outcomes.
- 2.Francis Pearman · Getting Down to Facts III: The Fiscal Consequences of School Closures in California.
- 3.The Pew Charitable Trusts: Closing Public Schools in Philadelphia: Lessons from Six Urban Districts.
- 4.PBS · Livelyhood: Interview with John Stanford.
- 5.Seattle Public Schools: District fast facts and annual enrollment.
- 6.Seattle Public Schools: 2026–27 adopted budget.
- 7.Aristotle / Internet Classics Archive: Politics, Book VIII, Part I.
- 8.Seattle School Board: Closure-recommendation withdrawal.
- 9.John Dewey / Project Gutenberg: The School and Society.
- 10.Washington State Legislature: Washington Constitution, Article IX, Section 1.
Full links: saveseattleschools.com/press/#sources · Checked Oct 11, 2026.