A Forensic Analysis of SPS with Vivian Van Gelder, Part 1

In this first installment of our three-part series unpacking Left to Chance: Student Outcomes in Seattle Public Schools (2024), hosts Christie Robertson and Jasmine Pulido sit down with report author Vivian Van Gelder to trace thirty years of reform and turmoil inside Seattle Public Schools. The story begins in 1990 with the Cresap Audit, a state-commissioned report that deemed the district “nearly ungovernable,” and follows the arrival of Major General John Stanford, the charismatic outsider...