Eden Mack
Eden Mack was the District 4 representative on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors in Washington. She served from 2017 to 2021. Mack won a first term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017. She resigned on January 7, 2021, citing chronic underfunding and safety issues within the school district.[1]
Biography
Mack's professional experience includes serving as the Youth, Schools and Education Committee chair for Seattle City Neighborhood Council, as a Crosscut Civic Ambassador, and on the Seattle Public Schools Capacity Management Task Force. She was also a Peace Corps volunteer. Mack earned her master's in public administration from the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy and her bachelor's from Western Washington University.[2]
Elections
2017
- See also: Seattle Public Schools elections (2017)
Three of the seven seats on the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors in Washington were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. A primary election for all three seats was held on August 1, 2017, because more than two candidates filed for each seat. Although the general election was held at large, the primary election was held by district.
Eden Mack was the District 4 winner, defeating fellow challenger Herbert Camet Jr. in the general. The two fended off Sean Champagne, Jennifer Crow, Megan Hyska, Lisa Melenyzer, and Darrell Toland in the primary. In District 5, Zachary DeWolf was victorious over Omar Vasquez. They both defeated Alec Cooper, Andre Helmstetter, and Candace Vaivadas in the primary. District 7 board member Betty Patu successfully defended her seat against challenger Chelsea Byers. They both defeated Tony Hemphill in the primary.[3]
Results
| Seattle Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Eden Mack |
87.46% | 167,772 |
| Herbert Camet Jr. | 12.54% | 24,059 |
| Total Votes | 191,831 | |
| Source: King County, "November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed November 30, 2017 | ||
| Seattle Public Schools, District 4 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Eden Mack |
70.47% | 18,954 |
| Herbert Camet Jr. |
7.75% | 2,084 |
| Lisa Melenyzer | 6.11% | 1,643 |
| Jennifer Crow | 4.84% | 1,302 |
| Darrell Toland | 4.65% | 1,250 |
| Megan Hyska | 3.58% | 963 |
| Sean Champagne | 2.14% | 576 |
| Write-in votes | 0.46% | 125 |
| Total Votes | 26,897 | |
| Source: King County, "2017 Results," accessed August 15, 2017 | ||
Funding
Mack reported $18,627.34 in contributions and $16,351.97 in expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, leaving her campaign with $2,275.37 cash on hand as of October 12, 2017.[4]
Endorsements
Mack received an official endorsement from the King County Young Democrats, The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, The Seattle Times, and the Washington Education Association.[5][6][7][8][9]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Eden Mack participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[10] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on June 1, 2017:
| “ | As the mother of three children in Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and longtime education advocate and policy analyst, I know intimately that schools in our diverse district have great successes because of our families, educators, administrators and community, in spite of the challenges of chronic underfunding from Olympia, crowded buildings from Seattle’s growth, and racial and economic inequity. I will continue to fight for policies that support schools, retain educators, serve students with diverse learning needs, and those that increase equity.[11][12] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Washington. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | I'm not very comfortable ranking these in priority order because they should not be competing priorities. In order to close the achievement gap we need to be able to effectively implement all of the others. And, when the State does not provide sufficient funding for services we already know work to help close the opportunity gap (like counselors, nurses, arts and music education, tutoring, alternative learning environments, wrap around services etc), school districts are making difficult decisions. The main priority needs to be securing sufficient resources so that we can focus resources on the programs and services of our learning communities that work for students and families.[12] | ” |
| —Eden Mack (June 1, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. Seattle Public Schools has a number of "option" schools within our district as well as alternative learning environments that serve students with diverse learning needs. We do not need to privatize our schools in order to provide students with choice. We need to fully fund and expand and invest in existing successful programs and services that serve students. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. The State needs to fully fund all of the State's mandates and preserve local control |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. ...and No. The testing tools can help provide some information about student learning, but they can not be the only measure of student, teacher or school achievement. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Most professions provide increases in salaries for education and experience, and it is only reasonable that teachers be rewarded for professional development. However, bonuses that are competitive in nature (i.e. only one teacher in each school is rewarded) and/or rely only on standardized testing are not appropriate. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Voucher programs do not provide sufficient funding or oversight of public funding. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Rarely and only using the District's policy and procedures. Too often schools are disproportionately disciplining students of color, so even beyond expulsion, we need to continue to improve cultural competency and provide professional development to reduce disproportionate discipline. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Again, I'm not comfortable with stating only 1 factor as the most important. All 5 of these are needed for success in the classroom. |
Campaign website statement
Mack wrote the following in the "Issues" section of her campaign website:[13]
| “ | Our schools are the center of our neighborhoods, communities, and democracy.
I’m committed to advocating for every student and furthering equity for all of our schools’ needs in school board policy decisions. There are many critical issues that need to be addressed in Seattle Public Schools. As a school board member, I will advocate for policies that: Fund our schools, and use the funding wisely Provide ample and sustainable funding to our learning communities: Every school needs skilled educators, inspiring principal leadership, reasonable class sizes, nurses, counselors, crossing guards, playground supervision, healthy learning environments and so on. Some students and learning communities need even more services and resources to support diverse needs and to address instances of disadvantages that contribute to the opportunity gap. Keep up with Seattle's Growth Improve Urban planning for our schools: Our City is growing and we are not keeping pace with our facility needs. We need increased, deliberate and transparent planning for schools in collaboration with the City’s urban planning efforts and our diverse communities. Attract and retain skilled and qualified educators, support personnel and administrators Education isn’t just about democracy, it is about our humanity and culture. We need to focus on policies that retain skilled and culturally responsive educators and be careful not to reduce children, schools and educators to test scores while still building on our successful strategies that help students succeed. Maintain Program Integrity We need stronger commitments to program, service and school-focus implementation. We have many amazing programs that often get truncated by the “sophie’s choices” forced by the state’s underfunding. We need to renew our commitment to supporting schools, programs and services that work for students with diverse learning needs and those that increase equity.[12] |
” |
| —Eden Mack (2017)[13] | ||
See also
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Eden Mack, Seattle School Board member, resigns from post," January 7, 2021
- ↑ Eden Mack Seattle School Board, "About Eden," accessed June 14, 2017
- ↑ King County, "Who Has Filed," accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Local Candidates," accessed October 12, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Herbert Camet," June 8, 2017
- ↑ The Stranger, "The Stranger's Endorsements for the August 1, 2017, Primary Election," July 12, 2017
- ↑ Seattle Weekly, "Our Endorsements for Seattle’s August 1 Primary Election," July 12, 2017
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "The Times recommends: Eden Mack for Seattle School Board District 4," July 11, 2017
- ↑ Washington Education Association, "2017 WEA-PAC Election Endorsements," accessed November 6, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Eden Mack's responses," June 1, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Eden Mack Seattle School Board, "Issues," accessed June 14, 2017
| Seattle Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| King County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary: August 1, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 4: Herbert Camet Jr. • Sean Champagne • Jennifer Crow • Megan Hyska • Eden Mack • Lisa Melenyzer • Darrell Toland District 5: Alec Cooper • Zachary DeWolf • Andre Helmstetter • Candace Vaivadas • Omar Vasquez |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
