Why Are Seattle Schools Merging 21 Schools?
Seattle Public Schools had about 49,000 students in 2014. They have about 49,000 students now. In 2014 the budget was $611 million. Now it's $1.2 billion. They've also added a thousand extra staff members. And now they're telling parents they may need to merge 21 schools because they don't have enough money. Jake wants to know why the conversation is about closing neighborhood schools instead of cutting the administrators making north of $250K who aren't anywhere near a classroom. Spike agrees something has to give — but remembers how much his own kids' elementary school meant to them and says that's a tough thing to take away from a kid.
Listen to the Jake and Spike Show every weekday from 12pm - 3pm on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Listen to KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM or go to MyNorthwest.com to learn more!
