Alex Wakeman Rouse

The day One Seattle officially died

Some local reporting background from @amelianews.bsky.social on the West Virginia jails at issue from earlier this month: westvirginiawatch.com/2026/02/05/a...

I think Seattle leaders know what steps to take to quickly build housing and help make our City affordable. But they haven’t done it yet. This brief about Sacramento shows that when a big city’s leaders actually *care enough to lead with the purpose of housing people*, they end up succeeding.

The reason I’ll be proposing an amendment to remove the $550M corporate giveaway in the income tax bill is simple:

To avoid these cuts to K12 and other crucial services.

Washington’s working families can’t afford to hand half a billion dollars to businesses that already got a tax break via HR 1.

Report: Millionaire tax not causing ultra-wealthy to flee state Raise Up says the 2,642 ultra-wealthy individuals delineated in the report represent 0.04% of the Massachusetts population, and collectively hold $500.4 billion in total wealth.

There’s recent research on the effect of a millionaires tax in Massachusetts on ultra wealthy fleeing state state (they didn’t). Obviously, our states have different taxing structures to begin with, but interesting nonetheless. wbjournal.com/article/repo...

“While not everyone can engage in risky frontline tactics, Sasha emphasized that there is a role for everyone in this work. “There’s a spot for literally every person who gives a shit about humanity to do something really useful,” she said.”

‘No one deserves this’: Beaverton father dies after deportation to Mexico A Beaverton family is grieving after the father, who was detained and deported by ICE, has now died.

This 53 year old man who lived in my neighborhood w/no criminal record & who had been in the US for 30 years, was detained and thrown into a cold cell for days, caught pneumonia and COVID there and deported.

He finally died.

I am so angry.
www.kptv.com/2026/02/21/n...

As promised, here is the ending of @vandanaslatter.bsky.social's powerful speech on the #WALeg Senate floor before voting to pass the Millionaires Tax:

And mostly that it doesn’t seem to in SPS — a classroom teacher even in very high poverty school (like her kid’s) has 24 kids with 1 teacher who is expected to be everything for all kids

Oh interesting! My friend really thinks it works well in Highline.

My kids have been in class with other kids who have 1-on-1 IAs full time but no pull out. My friend who is a sped teacher in Highline SD described a different model—some pull out, small groups, etc. She is the teacher for all kids with IEPs in one grade at a 450 student size school.

SPS is in the hole $80M, but our spending on “purchased services” for “teaching/professional learning” has grown by $30M in just a few years. What the heck even is this category? The School Board needs to bring back its finance committee so these electeds get time for due diligence and oversight!

Instead he’s been offered more worksheets to do more of the same math, time on an iPad playing gamified math apps, or time to read chapter books. None of that helps him learn math he is ready for. And he is far from the only kid in this situation. SPS is holding kids back from learning.

My kid doesn’t qualify for HC but he’s advanced and been super bored in math since 1st grade. This is a problem. The gap between standard curriculum and HC is vast and many, many kids can do accelerated learning but we don’t allow them to.

More coaching should not be the priority for how we spend limited resources. Research shows high quality teaching moves the needle *AS WELL AS* small class sizes and 1-1 tutoring — AKA more teacher time per student. Coaching doesn’t help with that.

I think the math is way too slow in elementary . And my kid’s math scores are high, but his reading scores have dipped every year.

And hear from folks who are incarcerated in Washington and support groups organizing folks in prison, or supporting those who are able to leave: Black Prisoner’s Caucus, Formerly Incarcerated Group Healing Together (FIGHT), the Concrete Mama podcast, the Freedom Project. /end

No second chances - ACLU of Washington How Washington abolished parole and its failure to make communities safer

And for those who are in Washington and think things might be better here, please learn about how we don’t have parole in our state and haven’t for years. And yet, as the ACLU states, we aren’t safer for taking parole away.

www.aclu-wa.org/news/no-seco... 2/

You need to watch The Alabama Solution. The bravery of these incarcerated men is beyond, esp. given how abhorrently they are treated. Solitary for years. Beaten or killed by guards. No medical staff, no protection. Retaliation for exposing the truth. The carceral state is rotten to its core. 1/

I still don’t understand why! Noted tho: Other districts we are compared to do opt-in bussing, have longer walk zones (eg 1.5 mile for elem, we do 1 mile), and option school bussing for a fee. Not saying these are things we should so, but let’s be clear what our peer districts do when we compare.

But “data processing and information” is probably worth looking into! Especially if that’s the like million apps that are used (I can’t keep them straight!)

Comparison is helpful but total amount is important to note. So we’re spending more compared to others on SEL, but how much are we actually spending overall?

Whoops, thanks Kelli!

From the mouths of babes, at a south Seattle public school full of Black and Brown kids, many immigrants or children of them. #southseattle

“Imagine if all that money had gone into teachers instead.” Smaller class sizes, teachers paid a living wage — these are a couple of the things that work to help kids thrive in education. Gamified EdTech is NOT helping my kids, and I doubt they’re helping yours.

Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."

The gun was removed by agents from his waistband - he was never pointing it at them. He was already disarmed when they fired "defensive shots," killing him. They then fired several shots at his lifeless body.

People can say they didn’t vote for this but people are liars

Another good resource from WAISN - "Rumor control: Spread power, not panic" - a quick list of questions to ask yourself in order to verify info so as to not create unnecessary panic, especially online waisn.org/resource/rum...

RVE has a ridiculously small operational capacity. This is a weird choice!!!