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Jill Geary
Jill Geary was a member of the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors in Washington, representing District 3. Geary left office in 2019.
Geary ran for re-election to the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors to represent District 3 in Washington. Geary won in the general election on November 3, 2015.
Geary did not file to run for re-election in 2019.
Biography
Geary earned a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988 and a J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law in 1993. Her career experience includes working as an education attorney and partner at Wolf Bay Law, LLC, focusing on special education advocacy. She was an administrative law judge from 1996–2003 in the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings. She was the lead administrative law judge for the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction during her tenure.[1]
Geary has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Academy for Precision Learning in Seattle, the Special Education PTSA Representative for Laurelhurst Elementary, and a member of SPS’s Special Education Advocacy and Advisory Committee. She was also the PTA Board Liaison to the school board.[1]
Elections
2019
Jill Geary did not file to run for re-election.
2015
- See also: Seattle Public Schools elections (2015)
Four of the seven seats on the Seattle Board of Directors were up for election in 2015. Because more than two candidates filed for the District 3 and 6 seats, a primary election was held on August 4, 2015. The top two vote recipients in those races and the candidates for District 1 and 2 appeared on the general election ballot on November 3, 2015.
District 1 incumbent Sharon Peaslee, District 2 incumbent Sherry Carr, District 3 incumbent Harium Martin-Morris and District 6 incumbent Marty McLaren were up for re-election, but only McLaren filed to run for another term.[2]
The race for District 6 was the most competitive in 2015. Incumbent Marty McLaren faced challengers Leslie Harris and Nick Esparza in the primary. Harris and McLaren advanced to the general election, but the primary election results and campaign finance indicated a difficult general election race for the incumbent. McLaren placed second in the primary, more than 10 points behind Harris. As of campaign finance reports available on October 21, 2015, Harris had raised more than four times McLaren's campaign contributions and outspent her by a factor of almost seven. Harris defeated McLaren in the general election.
District 3 saw four candidates seeking the open seat: Lauren McGuire, David Blomstrom, Stephen Clayton and Jill Geary. Geary and McGuire advanced to the general election, garnering over $100,000 in combined campaign contributions as of October 21, 2015. Geary won the general election.
The District 1 and 2 seats saw just two candidates advance to the ballot each. Michael Christophersen and Scott Pinkham vied for the District 1 seat, while Laura Obara Gramer and Rick Burke ran for the District 2 seat.[2] Pinkham and Burke won election to the board.
Multiple candidates withdrew from their races prior to the deadline. Therefore, they did not appear on the ballot. Arik Korman withdrew from the District 1 race, Julie McCleery and Deborah Leblang withdrew from the District 2 race and Suzanne Sutton withdrew from the District 6 race.[2]
Results
| Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jill Geary |
62.7% | 96,598 |
| Lauren McGuire | 36.9% | 56,814 |
| Write-in votes | 0.39% | 595 |
| Total Votes | 154,007 | |
| Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015 | ||
| Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 3 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jill Geary |
47.5% | 8,237 |
| Lauren McGuire |
45.9% | 7,966 |
| Stephen Clayton | 5.1% | 889 |
| David Blomstrom | 1.1% | 194 |
| Write-in votes | 0.37% | 65 |
| Total Votes | 17,351 | |
| Source: King County Elections, "Primary Election Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 3," accessed August 20, 2015 | ||
Funding
Geary reported $56,132.77 in contributions and $34,767.43 in expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, which left her campaign with $21,365.34 on hand as of October 21, 2015.[3]
Endorsements
Geary was endorsed by the following:[4]
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Campaign themes
2015
Geary provided campaign statements in the county voters' pamphlet for the primary election, on the Seattle Channel and on her campaign website. She did not participate in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.
Primary election voters' pamphlet
Geary provided the following statement for the King County local voters' pamphlet for the election on August 4, 2015:
| “ | As your school board director, I will work to bring a meaningful and challenging education to every student in our district regardless of economics, neighborhood, race, language or ability. I will work collaboratively with my fellow directors to give voice to our families and bring support to our classroom teachers, so as a team we can meet the challenge of providing a world class education and preparing our children for future education and employment.
As the mother of five Seattle Public Schools students, my kids have benefited from some of the best our District has to offer. And while I have actively supported many schools, my commitment to public education began when I had the privilege to work as an administrative law judge, holding hearings for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, including teacher certification and discipline, and special education due process hearings. As a judge, I developed a passion for education and a belief that every child deserves a great public education. Our district is confronting many important issues: funding basic education; decreasing class size, overcrowding and capacity, equity in education, inclusion, closing the school to prison pipeline, and balancing accountability and assessment. Strong local school boards that work collaboratively bring positive results for students. In all the years I have been a parent attorney, I have always been able to reach fair settlements benefiting students and districts. If elected school director, I will bring my analytical and negotiation skills to the board with the goal of working together for the best outcomes for Seattle’s students and families. We can and must do more for all of Seattle's children and families. I would be honored to have your vote.[5] |
” |
| —Jill Geary (2015)[6] | ||
Seattle Channel video
SeattleChannel21, "Seattle School Board Director District No. 3: Jill Geary," July 15, 2015 |
Campaign website
Geary provided the following statements on her campaign website:
On finances and district culture
| “ | Our schools are underfunded, and as we await our representatives in Olympia to sort out the new budget to fully fund K-12 education, there is still work to be done. All of our kids deserve the best that our District has to offer - and the best is found in our classrooms. We must work to eliminate any "us-them" that exists by celebrating the value that every child brings, regardless of economics, race, language, orientation and ability. Our teachers have been given the incredible task of making a safe environment for every child in our school, and while they will surely benefit from the additional training and curriculum that will come with a greater budget, we as a District and city can start to support them by demonstrating a culture that appreciates all they do and the diversity of the children they teach.[5] | ” |
| —Jill Geary campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
On standardized testing
| “ | When 100% of Nathan Hale's Juniors opt-out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA), as well as 95% at Garfield and Ballard,and 80% Roosevelt and Ingraham, you know there is a disconnect and at $27 per student it is a huge waste of taxpayers money. While we need a way to measure the benefit our students are receiving from their education and to ensure that equitable educational opportunities are being offered north to south, our state has been too quick to jump on the Federal bandwagon in adopting a test that by its design will label over 60% of our children failures out of the gate.
Who in education could possibly think it is okay to unnecessarily label the majority of our students failures? How can we possibly know which kids will be forever shut out and turned off to education through this process. Can we really afford to lose even one more student by telling them they aren't making the cut? Some will recover, but many will look around and see the disparity of educational resources and simply conclude that there is no chance. This is not okay. We have a long way to go in creating true educational opportunity before we can expect all our students to overcome such a cruel process. Every day, we hear how SBA questions are being determined invalid, how the people grading the test are asked to skew their results to reach anticipated percentages, how children are so nervous they are getting physically sick or emotionally breaking down when confronted with the exam. I have yet to hear a single thing about the test that comports with educational best practices for students. In the process, they will learn how to take a test, but will never have the benefit of learning from what they got wrong - in spite of what proponents say, this is not an opportunity to develop "grit.". And yet we are threatened that funding our district needs to pay for real educational opportunities will be held hostage. This is not okay. Standardized testing was at the core of No Child Left Behind, implemented in 2001. Our kids have been subjected to testing ever since, but 14 years later, there is no evidence that the tests have led to improved outcomes - especially not for our most marginalized students (the ones we didn't want to leave behind then or now). As a city we need to support the ever growing voice of our students and tell the education corporations making millions, the Department of Education, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and our own District, that everyone needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that is fair and sound for all our learners.[5] |
” |
| —Jill Geary campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
On teachers and training
| “ | When parents say they don't believe their child is being well served in the school, that is often because the teacher does not have the support she or he needs to serve that child well. It is expected that a teacher will be able to meet the needs of the average student, while tailoring certain aspects up and down for kids of greater and lesser ability. This is hard, but more is expected. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has told Seattle Schools that we need to serve more students with disabilities and students who are English Language Learners in their regional and neighborhood schools, and whenever possible in general education classroom. This is an extraordinary demand to place on a teacher. But I believe inclusion is possible IF our District listens to what the teachers need. I have seen the kind of turn around that shows it is possible.
Over the past four years, Laurelhurst Elementary has been given two new special education programs serving emotionally behaviorally disabled students, first the K-2 classroom, then the 3-5. Without proper support and training from the District level, chaos followed, with law enforcement being called regularly to restrain and remove children from the school. The program was poorly designed, and as a result academic progress was difficult. This year, with the addition of a head teacher, counselor and other staff, including the Access Program to assist with integrating special education children into the general education environment, Laurelhurst Elementary is now a safe environment where all children can learn. I had the pleasure and pride to attend our All School Music concert, where all the children were asked to perform, and then had the opportunity to attend and dance to a marimba concert. Everyone was there, including the children for whom an unstructured environment would be very difficult. I have heard from so many parents of kids with special needs whose hearts break when they learn their child is excluded from the "fun" that school has to offer. All of Laurelhurst's kids are included and it is a wonderful District success story. In my years of advocacy, I have been told by many teachers that they want the opportunity for more training. They know when they are struggling to meet their students' needs. We cannot ignore their pleas and need to make sure they have the tools they need to help our children learn and grow.[5] |
” |
| —Jill Geary campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
On mayoral school board appointments and coordination with the city
| “ | I do not support the Seattle Mayor appointing members to the School Board, but I do understand the compelling need for coordination if we are going to find classrooms to meet the citizen mandate to reduce class size. Currently, it is predicted that Seattle will need to find 600 more classrooms (the equivalent of 20 more schools) in a system that is bursting at the seams in places and a city that has some of the most expensive real estate in the country.
On top of this pressure, we know now that offering universal preschool is one of the most effective ways to make sure all children will gain greater benefit from their K-12 education. I am proud that Seattle wants that for our students. But this creates more pressure to find space throughout the city. We will need a lot of creativity, cooperation and coordination between Seattle, the District and our city's corporate leaders to meet the demand for educational spaces. It seems incredible given our growth at all levels that seven years ago we were in the process of closing school. I want to work earnestly with our civic partners on this issue in identifying current and future needs and figuring out the most cost effective way to create a school system that will be able to weather fluctuations in student enrollment and building capacity.[5] |
” |
| —Jill Geary campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jill Geary for Seattle School Board, "About Jill," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 King County Elections, "2015 Official Candidate Filing," accessed May 26, 2015
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Search the Database," accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ Jill Geary for Seattle School Board, "Endorsements," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ King County Elections, "King County Local Voters' Pamphlet: August 4, 2015 Primary And Special Election School, Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 3," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Jill Geary for Seattle School Board, "Issues," accessed July 21, 2015
| 2015 Seattle Public Schools Elections | |
| King County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary - August 4, 2015
General - November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | District 1 : Michael Christophersen • Scott Pinkham
District 2 : Laura Obara Gramer • Rick Burke
|
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
