Week in Review: Seattle Public Schools, protests, and asylum seekers

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Publicola’s Erica Barnett, KVI’s John Carlson, and Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan.

The Seattle School District might close more than a quarter of its elementary schools by next year. The School Board unanimously approved that proposal this week. A lot of parents are very worried their kids' schools will be on the closure list. Student enrollment is down, which means less funding from the state. The district has a $100 million plus budget deficit. Will it lay off staff?

Hundreds of people seeking asylum in the United States have been moving around King County for months. This week, all or almost all of them cleared out of an encampment in a park near Garfield High School, where some neighbors objected to their mess. The City of Seattle agreed to pay for temporary hotel rooms. Now there's a dispute. The Quality Inn in Kent says it wants a two-month commitment. But even at best, it's another temporary stay. Is there a better way to handle this situation?

Hundreds of University of Washington students have been protesting the war in Gaza for more than a week. Some staff and professors have joined in as well. Student government passed a resolution demanding the administration cut business ties with Israel during the fighting. The UW has not promised to do that, and they've said they will keep taking money from Boeing which sells weapons to Israel and donates millions to the school. So far, UW police have not removed demonstrators. A school spokesperson said they don’t share security plans ahead of events. What should happen next?

PubliCola reported this week that some state legislators from Seattle are leaning on the city to up-zone and densify more than the mayor wants to. Is the state going to force Seattle to dense up? Also, the city of Seattle is buying its first space dedicated to overdose recovery. What are the details?