On Thursday, January 30, Cascadia families joined 300-400 parents from across Washington State in Olympia to demand the state legislature fulfill its paramount duty (it’s first responsibility, per the state constitution) – to fund public schools. Districts across the state are facing shortfalls, not just in Seattle, and we are shortchanging our children and our future by not funding public schools adequately.
Overall it was a great way to raise awareness that parents care about public school funding! A few takeaways:
- 40 meetings took place across 23 legislative districts. The 36th legislative district representatives we met with (Liz Berry and Julia Reed) reaffirmed that their highest priority for this session is funding public schools. The whole group heard the same from Jamie Pedersen, a leader in the legislature, as well as State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, both of whom spoke at the rally.
- They asked us to make our voices heard on this issue in a few places: with the governor, to representatives from South and East King County, and to those from Pierce County.
- It’s a tough year given budget shortfalls as well as anticipated loss of funds at the federal level, both of which especially impact our most vulnerable students. Finding a way to raise new revenue (through a wealth tax, or a combination of a few different kinds of taxes like on firearms sales and other areas) will be critical to getting new funding for schools.
Legislators said it was very helpful we were there yesterday, putting pressure on policymakers, and that we should continue a steady drumbeat of this message as we near the end of the session, which is when the legislature makes real decisions about the budget.
We will be in touch with more ways to support this cause, but in the meantime, there are a few ways we can all help:
- Send a short message to Bob Ferguson saying that we expect him to support public schools, as he promised in his campaign: https://governor.wa.gov/contacting-governor/contacting-governors-office/send-gov-ferguson-e-message
- If you have friends in East or South King County or Pierce County, encourage them to tell their legislators to support public schools.
- Join us in Olympia on February 17th.
Here’s some coverage of yesterday’s events, and a few pics:
https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article299443944.html
