By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Seattle Public Schools officially welcomed its new superintendent, Ben Shuldiner, on Monday morning. After taking the oath of office, Shuldiner pledged to make Seattle’s schools a national model of excellence.
“We want Seattle Public Schools to be the single best school district in America,” Shuldiner said after being sworn in.
Shuldiner steps into the role following the departure of former Superintendent Brent Jones, who announced he would step down earlier this year. Jones had served as superintendent since 2022, when he was appointed to guide the district through its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shuldiner’s appointment follows a nearly year-long national search. He now leads the district at a time of profound challenges, including an approximately $100 million budget deficit, declining student enrollment, persistent concerns over student learning outcomes, and rising safety concerns after multiple incidents of gun violence involving students.
Despite the financial pressures, Shuldiner said he does not anticipate mass layoffs in the near future. Instead, he intends to identify and eliminate administrative redundancies and streamline resources for greater efficiency.
“I think what you’ll see in a district like Seattle, and this happens all over the place, is we just add and we add, and we add,” he said. “What we need to do is just increase our schools to become better, that’s what parents want.”
Enrollment has dropped from approximately 52,000 students in 2020 to 49,000 this year. Shuldiner believes enrollment will rebound if the district focuses on delivering high-quality educational experiences.
He said improving access to arts, music, and world languages—while maintaining rigorous academics—is essential to restoring confidence and attracting families.
“I don’t think it’s falling short, per se, but I think it can be better,” Shuldiner said. “And I think a lot of what I’ve heard from families is making sure (their students) have world languages, that they have arts, that they have music.”
“All that has to be coupled with great education and holding students to a high standard,” he added.
Shuldiner brings to Seattle a track record of reform. During his tenure as superintendent of the Lansing School District in Michigan, he was credited with increasing graduation rates by 26 percent and boosting attendance by 15 percent. He said his passion for education is rooted in his upbringing, where teaching and learning were central to family life.
“My family’s occupations were steeped in education,” he said, adding that even his last name speaks to that legacy. According to Shuldiner, the name translates to “school servant,” with “Shu” meaning school and “diner” meaning servant.
Safety is a pressing concern. Recent shootings involving students, including those at Ingraham High School and Garfield High School, have rattled the district. The latest tragedy involved two Rainier Beach High School students fatally shot at a bus stop.
“Safety and security at school means taking gold standard approaches,” Shuldiner said. He cited strategies such as single-entry access, additional fencing, and bullet-resistant window film as examples.
When asked about law enforcement on or near school grounds, Shuldiner expressed support for targeted security partnerships.
“For now, I believe it is best to keep officers at bus stops, for example,” he said. “It’s also about having a relationship with SPD. We want to make sure that the streets are safe, which is not our jurisdiction, although I care very deeply about it. It is a partnership.”
“Students and children rise to the level of our expectations,” he said. “If we expect greatness from them, they will produce. But if we don’t. If we keep things low. If we focus on remediation and not acceleration, if we focus on the bad and not good, that is what they will produce.”
