The Price of Education: Seattle Schools in Crisis
When the School Board looked to rent space from the University of Washington to ease overcrowding, they were met with a rental demand that signaled the end of public space as a bargain.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Seattle School Directors made application to the University Regents residing here for the use of the University building to enable them to relieve the overcrowded condition of our public schools. The Regents offered the school building and furniture for the nominal rental of $20 per month, but the directors declined on the ground of excessive rent. This action of the school board involves the necessity of the immediate construction of a new school building, inasmuch as the present buildings are over-crowded. The children must all have admission to the public schools; none can be denied their equal privilege in this respect. To carry on the schools in their overcrowded condition is an injustice to the pupils and an imposition upon the scholars. Besides, it is at the peril of the health and lives of the children, who must have plenty of room to move and breathe in.
“To carry on the schools in their overcrowded condition is an injustice to the pupils and an imposition upon the scholars.”
In 1877, Seattle was already wrestling with the friction between public necessity and the rising cost of land and infrastructure. This struggle over school capacity and rent continues to resonate as modern Seattle school districts face budget deficits and the high cost of managing facilities in a hyper-inflated real estate market.
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