Schools need urgent aid

Urgency - not patience - is what we need on school funding. The state Legislature has had four years since the McCleary decision was handed down, and nearly two years since they were held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the decision. They have had plenty of time to resolve the issues highlighted in your editorial. Yet this session came and went without any meaningful action to provide the stable, reliable and full funding our public schools need.

Meanwhile, we read in the paper that Washington students have high lead levels in their school’s water. Some schools have crumbling roofs. Others lack heat. We face a severe teacher shortage, expensive and too much testing, growing inequities in student learning and in graduation rates. Our children have already waited too long for the legislature to solve this crisis.

Only a sense of urgency, driven by the parents of this state, will convince the legislature to finally and permanently provide the ample funding our kids deserve.

Raschelle Holland

Spokane