Let's lend a hand to the folks bringing this MOU-CAS lawsuit.

1. PLEASE JOIN ME!
Five of my fellow public education advocates have brought a lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools to reverse a
Memorandum of Understanding for Creative Approach Schools (MOU for CAS) that was approved recently.
The crux of the problem is that the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors approved the MOU which was crafted
by the superintendent, her staff, and the teacher’s union leadership. In doing so, they delegated their policy
making authority to others which is illegal. The MOU sets up a very unattractive precedent regarding the balance
of power between the school board (who are legally charged with setting policy) and the superintendent (who is
charged with carrying out policy).
Personally, I favor Creative Approach Schools which in my opinion have immense potential to streamline a
pathway for a new crop of schools that could implement better ideas for K-12 public education in Seattle than the
factory approach we’ve been sticking to, with decidedly declining results, since the post-war days. (That would be
WWII.)
Basically, no one should get a free pass to make deals to open new public schools or change existing ones without
the board playing their essential role of setting policy for these schools and definitely worth remembering is that
the board represents you and me at the table.
Let’s support these five folks (Rita Green, Jack Whelan, Eric Muhs, Carlina Brown and Robert Femiano) as their
legal fees will exceed $10K. They need $5K to move through this first hoop in June. I hope you can help. Give
what you can. $25? $50? $100
Here’s a few ways to donate…
COME TO HAPPY HOUR
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I’m hosting a fundraiser for this cause on Friday June 8 at my house 412 NW 73 St from 5pm – 10pm.
Great Food, Drinks + Conversation
SEND A CHECK
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MOU c/o Kate Martin 412 NW 73 St Seattle, WA 98117.
Please make checks payable to Newman DuWors Attorneys
CLICK THIS PAYPAL DONATE BUTTON
Note: If you don’t see the PayPal Donate, button, you can open your PayPal Account, Click Send Money and send the donation to
this email address: MOU-CAS-Donation@theboosters.org
It really should take a village to fund such a lawsuit, so let’s not let the burden fall on these few while they’re doing
important work for all of us. For an expanded take on the nature of this issue and the lawsuit, here is a link to a
piece written by Jack Whelan that does a very nice job to help us understand what’s going on.
http://www.theseattlejournal.com/2012/05/30/the-mou-and-why-we-sue/
I hope to see you on June 8th for Happy Hour. Thanks everyone!