Ready for a field trip to Olympia? Advocates of the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) are rounding up community members to travel to the Washington State PTA (WSPTA) Focus Day Rally on Thursday, Feb. 26.
A day of guest speakers and opportunities to converse with legislators will be highlighted by a 12 p.m. “Rally on the Steps” of the Legislative Building. You don’t have to be a parent or PTA member to be there. Anyone interested in improving the quality of public education is welcome to join the caravan of buses and carpools.
To register, visit http://www.wastatepta.org/legislation.htm
Focus Day co-chairs Byron Shutz and Shelley Kloba, and Lake Washington PTA Council president Wendy DeLong, explained that at past Focus Days, attendees have walked from office to office around the campus of the state capital, meeting one-on-one with legislators to express their concerns about public education.
You can still do that — or participate in a virtual fashion, by e-mailing legislators. But the rally is a way to show strength in numbers.
“It would be nice to have 10,000 to 15,000 people turn out, but we’ll be content with 1,000,” said Shutz.
Kloba noted that the WSPTA and PTA members in the LWSD agree on the top five issues for 2008-09, albeit in slightly different order.
For the LWSD, priorities identified through a Zoomerang survey were: 1) Strengthening Math and Science Curriculum and Education; 2) Basic Education Funding; 3) Support Rational Approaches to Teacher Compensation; 4) Washington State Assessment System Improvements; 5) Support State Board of Education Core 24 Framework.
At the state level, the rankings were: 1) Basic Education Funding; 2) Strengthening Math and Science Curriculum and Education; 3) Washington State Assessment System Improvements; 4) Support State Board of Education Core 24 Framework; 5) Support Rational Approaches to Teacher Compensation.
The advocates know this is a hard time to ask for more money for public education. No one likes seeing in increase in their taxes. However, said Kloba, “We’re 44th in the country in per pupil funding. I think people are reluctant to put funding into a system that doesn’t appear to work.”
DeLong agreed, “The emphasis is to put structure in place in a phased-in process. We don’t expect it to be all at once.”
Rep. Ross Hunter and Sen. Rodney Tom (both Democrats from the 48th District) and Rep. Glenn Anderson (a Republican from the 5th District) are members of the Governor’s Basic Education Task Force. They have been “very engaged … and for many years, have championed education,” said Shutz. In their talks with constituents, including a packed Town Hall meeting at the LWSD Resource Center last September, Hunter, Tom and Anderson have emphasized that the cost of not investing in education today will have a huge toll on the community of tomorrow. Students must be prepared to compete in the global workforce.
If you’ve ever wondered why your child’s class is so large, why your school doesn’t have a librarian or nurse, why your child can’t take more electives — or had any other questions about school funding — others at the Focus Day Rally will want answers to those questions, too.
“We want to use every means possible to reach our legislators,” DeLong urged. “Join us that day, call your legislator or send them a personal, handwritten letter.”
For more information, visit www.fundingwaschools.org or e-mail ptsaoffice@lwsd.org.
