The student voice . . .

As the legislators grapple with the $2 billion budget gap in Olympia we sometimes lose sight of the bottom line, the students in our public schools.  In a Seattle Times guest column two Garfield seniors, Grant Bronsdon and Sam Heft-Luthy show us what is at stake.  Yes, the courts have told the state that it is not meeting it's constitutional requirement to amply fund schools and, yes the state has appealed to the State Supreme Court.  So, the adults fight about ample funding while school districts make program cuts because of reduced state funding.  Districts ask local tax payers to make up the gap because the legislature increases the levy limit which leads to success for some students and increased revenue disparity for many more in districts that can't pass maximum levies.

While we wait to find out what cuts the legislators will use to balance the budget and for the legal process to conclude with the Supreme Court's decision, these two students remind us of what cuts do to students.

As students, we are told that we are the future, but if we truly are the future, we must have a say in the choices that are made today. Education, the paramount duty of the state, must remain intact to ensure that we can live up to the dreams promised to us by the state of Washington. It is immoral to shirk this fundamental mandate.


We call for our legislators to provide a responsible and reasonable solution to the state's budget problem that doesn't put the weight on the shoulders of students. Whether that solution is new taxes, cuts to other programs, or a comprehensive re-evaluation of the current public-education system, we need a plan that will actually improve the quality of education our students receive.

Across-the-board cuts to vital education funding may seem like the easy solution at first, but they are nothing more than a poison-soaked Band-Aid.

By cutting the education of the present, we are pawning off our future, rather than funding it.

The future for these two students and for all students in our state will be influenced by the decisions made in Olympia over the next few weeks.  Even with more cuts, many will continue to experience success in both K-12 and in post high school learning and work.  For many others, however, the loss of additional revenue will reduce the capacity of our schools to meet this goal for ALL students and that is something that must be considered in the decision making process.  Do ALL kids really matter? Do we hold them accountable to rigorous standards necessary for post high school success or do we lower the standards commensurate with reduced revenue?  And, we need to remember that the courts have already determined that this revenue, before more cuts, is less than ample to meet those identified standards.

What message do you want to give to our legislators as they struggle with these difficult decisions?

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