We sat down with the five candidates for Seattle School Board and asked them a series of questions about arts education. Hear what they have to say about the role of the arts in closing the achievement gap and boosting graduation rates, their arts experiences as kids and their views on the value of arts in the classroom.

Listen to the full interview (they run about 15 minutes) with each candidate or hear the candidates’ responses to specific questions.

We recorded the interviews at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center on Sept. 24 and 25. Special thanks to the Youth Media Institute headed by Seattle Arts Commissioner Estevan Muñoz-Howard and to student recording engineer Cham Ba.

Image: Beacon Hill Elementary students delight at an Imani Winds performance. The quintet was in residence at the school as part of the UW World Series Community Connections program. Photo by Lee Talner.