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An Education Agenda That Gives Hope to Washington’s Children


“I moved here from Illinois Public Schools back in the 70’s. At the time, Seattle was reeling from the 1975 double levy failure and was not hiring teachers. If I had been able to get a job in Seattle, I would have taken a deep pay cut. Helen Sommers was the legislator then. Helen Sommers is the legislator now, and things haven't changed. She has presided over the entire period of stagnation.”

As your legislator I will work to…

Secure adequate and dependable funding for Schools. I support restructuring the tax system of this state so that it is not regressive, and at the same time provides dedicated funding for the schools. This means that we will have to get serious about instituting an income tax, limiting sales taxes, and repealing I-601 that limits funding to public institutions like the schools. I-884, the sales tax initiative, is testimony to the legislature’s failure to live up to the State Constitution and to prioritize voter mandated initiatives 728 and 732.

Redirect and review corporate tax breaks. All corporate tax breaks must be periodically reviewed with increasing funding in mind for both education and for human services.

Eliminate the requirement for supermajorities in school levies. It is ridiculous that in some cases only a simple majority is required for the city or the county to pass a levy, and yet a supermajority is required for school levies. I will work to amend the State Constitution to make it easier for schools to be funded.

Fund capital improvements to our schools. State law calls for the state to support capital improvements at 50% funding, yet in Seattle, the state only provides 8% of the total needed to build new buildings. And, the legislature has left funding for improving existing buildings and infrastructure entirely to local school districts. School districts like Seattle that have an aging infrastructure, desperately in need of repair, are left with no funds to deal with the problem. I believe that it is time for the legislature to share the burden of capital improvements with local school districts.

Make teacher pay competitive. The only way we can retain quality teachers here in the state of Washington is by making teacher pay competitive. At a minimum educators in this state should be getting their COLA. However even with the COLA, teachers still could not afford to live in the Central Puget Sound region. It’s important for teachers to be invested in the communities where they teach. I support the concept of a state funded differentiated pay scale for teachers living and teaching in high cost of living areas.

• Halt the movement to privatize our public schools. I supported the effort to put Referendum 55 on the November Ballot. It will give voters a chance to overturn the action of the Legislature that permits Charter Schools in the State of Washington. The Legislature, including my opponent, ignored the will of the people who have already turned down Charter Schools in two separate elections.

• Bring back the joy to learning. I do not support a single high stakes test that must be passed for graduation. Frankly, I believe that we must change our focus away from test performance to classroom performance, and we must find ways to support that change. Student learning is a complex process. Teachers with professional training are the best judges of whether or not a student has achieved what is expected. Constant testing forces teachers and schools to neglect a balanced curriculum and ultimately it is a disincentive for good teachers to teach