Every time we turn around, it seems as if some local agency is getting to the bottom of things and finding out that what’s there isn’t so pretty.
Scandals have rocked the Seattle Public Schools (SPS), with its small-business contracting program, and the Seattle Police Department, which is under federal investigation into whether its officers use excessive force too liberally.
Then, last Friday, came word that two Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) employees lowered their own bills. But SPU fired them earlier this year, even though their bills amounted to less than $2,000.
Also late last week, Seattle Public Schools eliminated the position of the school facilities chief. William Martin had been involved in another contracting scandal at the Seattle Department of Transportation.
A final report released Friday cleared SPS attorney Ron English of any wrongdoing in the contracting scandal. He, in fact, had asked investigator Patricia Eakes to determine his role in it. The same report, though, questioned his boss’ actions, especially since he was the district’s ethics officer at the time of the ill-fated program.
It’s these steps toward rectifying the situations that will bring integrity back to these institutions and eventually in the eyes of the citizens they serve. So continue with the spring cleaning!
Outsourcing our young talent
Facing a $200 million budget cut over the next two years, the University of Washington has announced it will enroll more out-of-state and international students who will pay much-higher, non-resident tuitions, and deny admission to more in-state students. This is bad news for not only the students but for the future of our state.
More of these denied students — including the best and brightest students and those who’ve had Husky blood flowing in their veins since birth — will now find new homes — most likely in other states — once fall comes. This leaves those not as invested in our state to fill up our college classrooms and take their knowledge elsewhere once they graduate.
If you thought the empty-nest syndrome was bad enough, imagine the exodus that will occur each September when whole classes of high school graduates head for where they’re wanted — and admitted.
A fitting end
While Seattle’s Museum of Flight didn’t get the honor of housing one of the coveted NASA Space Shuttles, it will receive the only full-size training shuttle — a fitting privilege, considering air travel effectively started here with The Boeing Co.
Every Space Shuttle astronaut trained in the module before taking flight aboard the orbiters, much like most of the airplanes are built and tested by Boeing before taking flight with their new owners. No other shuttle holds that distinction, not even the Space Shuttles themselves.
If one considers the symbolism behind the “consolation prize,” then one can imagine the promise that everyone who enters the training shuttle will one day explore space as those astronauts before them.
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