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