School levy requests—both deserve yes votes
January 27, 2010
By Editorial Board
NEW — 2:22 p.m. Jan. 27, 2010
Snoqualmie Valley School District is asking for voters to approve two levy propositions — a maintenance and operations levy and a technology levy. Voters should vote yes for both levies and return their ballots by Feb. 9
Don’t wait. Too often good measures fail due to poor turnout. The district will surely try again if not enough ballots are returned – using more precious school dollars.
Education is the foundation of a successful, prosperous society. Public schools must be well funded at all times and not subject to the whims of the economy.
The maintenance levy replaces the existing one, which expires this year, and is critical to heating classrooms and keeping the lights on. It will not increase taxes.
The technology levy is a critical step forward in providing students with technologies critical to today’s rapidly evolving classroom. Most homeowners will pay only $6 or $7 more per month to support the technology levy.
The technology levy also includes teacher pay raises in the mix, as negotiated by the teachers’ union in 2008 before the economy nosedived. The district can’t get the money anywhere else. Olympia doesn’t give the district enough money to pay competitive salaries. The arrangement is awkward but necessary to retaining good teachers.
The state fails to adequately fund public education, as mandated by Washington’s constitution. Snoqualmie Valley residents must come through where the legislature has failed.
Depriving students now only hurts everyone down the road. Their education suffers — and so do property values. Good schools often mean higher property values, but good schools aren’t cheap. Even voters without children in the school district stand to prosper from passing these levies.
The district’s levy propositions are responsible requests to help operate and enhance learning opportunities.
Times are hard, but Olympia has failed to adequately support the district. So the choice falls to Valley voters.
Both levy propositions help the school district better educate its students, and that is of paramount importance, regardless of the economic recession.
Vote yes, twice. And mail in that ballot while you’re thinking about it.
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