Vote Yes For Schools

Public schools all over Eastern Washington will hold their breath on Tuesday, when voters will decide whether to continue the levies that provide up to one-fifth of their operating costs.

It’s a regular ritual, made necessary by the fact that state funding falls short of the cost of running public schools. This is not all bad. Local levies keep schools accountable to the people they serve, and in addition give each community a chance to raise the quality of instruction to the level residents feel their children need.

Levies help reduce class sizes. Enhance the salaries of the best teachers. Improve safety and health by providing school counselors.

Pay for activities such as music and sports that motivate kids to attend and make them more complete human beings. Pay for teacher training and after-hours tutoring programs that help young people meet the state’s rigorous new academic standards.

Each local school has a story to tell, about what levies mean to their neighborhoods. And it really is that personal.

The issue is the kids you know, the ones who live down the street.

They’re depending on you, voters, just as you once depended on generous voters of a previous generation.

A yes vote will tell schools to continue taxes we already pay, for services on which our neighborhoods now depend.

Our region’s voters long have supported their schools and we hope that continues.