The weird rule that shapes Seattle school board races

We got a listener question, and we had to answer it. Rich wrote in to say: “I have a question regarding School Board elections. I was surprised when filling out my ballot to be voting for school board directors from across the district rather than just for the director that represents my area of the district. I think neighboring Highline School District (that’s in South King County) does the same. I’m not sure why I never noticed it before, but is this common in other Washington school districts? And if so, why is it like that? What would it take to change it? I don’t feel like the north and south ends of either district should be voting for each other’s representatives.” It's a good question! So, we reached out to KUOW reporter Sami West to get an answer. Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible. If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundpoliticsnotes. Sound Politics is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Catharine Smith. Our producer is Sarah Leibovitz. Our hosts are Libby Denkmann and Scott Greenstone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.