Frustrated Seattle parent donates $70K to save teacher’s job

A Seattle parent is putting his money where his mouth is and taking a stand against, he says, poor leadership in Olympia.

Brian Jones, of Ballard, recently donated more than $70,000 to Seattle Public Schools so the district can keep a teacher at an elementary his kids will never attend.

“My kids don’t even go to that school,” he told KIRO Radio’s Josh Kerns. “I don’t even know anyone at that school.”

But for Jones, it is an extension of a much larger issue: the constant under funding of education across the state, and in Seattle.

Jones had been following the developments of the McCleary decision &#8212 a supreme court case that ruled the state was not meeting its constitutional duty to fully fund education. State legislators have been charged with funding public education. Their slow progress placed them in contempt of court this year.

By the time Jones heard about a West Seattle school trying to raise money just to keep a teacher, he had enough.

“I was pretty ticked off about that and when I heard about this, it put me over the top,” Jones said.

Jones responded to a West Seattle school’s outcry for support. Parents with students at Alki Elementary organized an online crowdfunding campaign to raise $70,000 to keep a teacher at the school.

Each year, the school district shuffles teachers after it gets an idea of how many students are actually in attendance. Each student comes with a dollar amount attached; the state pays the school for each student. More students means more money for the school to pay for teachers and other educational items. Fewer students usually means teachers have to be let go. Teachers get sent to the schools with the greater need and classrooms are combined in their wake.

Jones donated $70,000 to the cause, which has now raised more than $90,000.

“I did it because I want to shame those politicians and representatives,” Jones said, noting he was sending a message to Olympia. “If you can’t do it, the parents are going to do it. And it’s going to cost you down the road when you run for re-election because we will push you out of office.”

“I wanted to go back to the school district and [law makers], and say, ‘We did this in two days. Why can’t you do anything in three years? What the heck is going on?'” he said.

After donating the money, Jones wrote his local elected officials: State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, State Reuven Carlyle, and State Rep. Gael Tarleton.

“The inaction of the State Legislature to comply with McCleary ruling (sic) (and the fact that it was even necessary to sue), is absolutely ridiculous,” he wrote.

Jones has two daughters, ages 3 and 6, who attend school in the Ballard area. As a parent, he also has to spend $2,000 to cover further costs for his daughter’s kindergarten education that is not covered by the district.

In his letter, Jones reminded lawmakers there will be a Tuesday rally at the school district’s headquarters that will focus on the teacher-shuffling issue, and encouraged them to join and speak on what they are doing.

“I’ll be happy to speak for you in your absence,” he wrote.

“Either way, I am going to make it my mission that the schools are properly funded, whether that is through pressuring lawmakers to move faster on this issue or funding politicians to replace those that don’t seem to be moving fast enough,” Jones wrote. “As you continue to fumble through any sort of resolve for school funding, you are galvanizing a massive group of parents who are at their absolute wits end with this issue. I hope to hear from you soon.”