♪♪
-Hello.
My name is Crystal Liston.
I'm a gay, disabled parent
of two stepsons
who attend West Seattle schools
and a member of your community
who is very passionate
about our schools.
I'm so passionate, in fact,
that I have made it my mission
to volunteer in every school
in our district
as I do not understand
how a board member
can govern a body of people
they know nothing about.
As of 2018-2019
school year,
I have volunteered
in 20 of our 103 schools,
and as a volunteer,
I have noticed a disconnect
in our school community as a whole.
The reason I am running
for school board
is to lead a paradigm shift
where schools interact
and communicate
with one another,
a shift where the Seattle community
is held accountable
to participate
in each of our schools,
and a shift where school board members
are active in the various schools
and communicate
to their students, parents,
and teachers.
Instead of telling schools
what they should be doing,
we ask, "We have resources.
What do you need?"
Another aspect
to our school district
that has become clear to me
is a lack of equity.
Why do some schools have
band instruments for students
but other schools do not?
Why are social workers
not in all of our schools
to support our students with trauma
and our faculty who need support
from their administration?
Why has the current school board
chosen to lay off
school librarians?
Why, as a progressive city,
are we teaching a white-controlled
curriculum?
I am a firm believer that
our values are in our budget,
and our current school board
is failing to represent
our community's values.
Maybe you're asking yourself,
"What qualifies you
to be on the school board?"
My response is this.
I can sit here and give you
a list of my degrees --
I have two -- and a list of my
trade-school certificates --
I have one -- but what qualifies me
to be on the Seattle school board
is that I am a parent
and that I am
a professional volunteer.
And what is
a Seattle school board member?
An unpaid volunteer.
So in conclusion,
if you are truly part
of the movement for change,
then be vulnerable and courageous
and vote for someone different.
Vote for me -- Crystal S. Liston.
"Be bold.
The mighty forces
will come to your aid."
Goethe said that.