My name is Daniel Warwick, I am a student at Interlake High School, and I am dreading the upcoming legislative session.
I was at the November 17th School Board meeting where Bellevue’s six legislators–Representatives Ross Hunter, Deb Eddy, Marcie Maxwell, and Judy Clibborn, and Senators Rodney Tom and Fred Jarrett–gathered to discuss the implications of the upcoming legislative session on education.
Bellevue is lucky to have such a strong legislative body at our disposal. Every meeting involving them is invariably informative with occasional jokes to lighten the mood. And the mood definitely needed some lightening on Tuesday.
Senator Tom started off explaining that the new revenue forecast looks bleak. On Thursday, we learned that the State is down $2.6 billion for a one- year period. Senator Tom then stated in comparison to last year’s budget cuts, that the cuts they’re looking at now are such that “you can take every cut we just made, double it, and half again, and you’re still not there.”
Representative Hunter was quick to note that he is “not really willing to make those kind of cuts” in the $2.6 billion range. Furthermore, he stated that in regards to raising taxes, “what is the right thing” about what they can raise and what the legislature can do is not always the same.
Ross then explained how American consumption habits have changed. Instead of spending 2-3% more than they make, Americans now save 5% of their income. That money is not going into the economy. And it has “a big impact” on our revenue forecast.
Senator Jarrett then started to explain House Bill 1776 and why it did not pass last year. House Bill 1776 is very complex and is too much to explain in this post. Before December I will post a followup explaining House Bill 1776 and why it is crucial for school district funding.
The presentation continued with all the legislators trying to show their education credentials. Judy Cliburn, speaking about last years budget cuts, reminded the audience that “everybody who had to make these cuts really cares about education and really cares about the people we are cutting from”
After some more speaking from our legislative representatives, the meeting opened up for questions.
The librarians were there in full force. Jeani, a parent of students at Spiritridge and Tillicum, asked about the education reform bill–2261–passed last year. In 2261, librarians were part of a prototypical school.
For those not familiar, librarian positions were cut from every high school and middle school this year and librarians were offered teaching positions. Senator Tom eloquently stated that 2261 was an “allocations bill” and that it shouldn’t be construed as the legislature telling schools they must have librarians.
Then, an audience member asked the legislators, “What can we do to help you in this time of crisis?”
Ross then said, “Come down and talk with your legislators. We tend to be reasonably sympathetic. But having you come down, particularly on PTA day, does help focus people’s attention” towards issues affecting schools.”
Ross then issued the challenge: “Tell us what you want, it helps to know what people want to do.”
He then followed up with a caveat that “we’re going to be facing some awful choices this year and I’m going to want to make sure I’m hearing from the district what they want me to do. And I think that you’re part of that.”
After a few more questions the meeting was adjourned and I went back to writing this post. Based on all indications, this session will be horribly painful. I know that last year I lost one of my favorite teachers to budget cuts. I don’t want to lose another one.
I urge you to listen to our legislators and pay attention to our local political discourse. It’s not as sexy as national news, but our local legislative action affects Bellevue’s education more than anything.
I will leave you with a quote from Michelle Miller, president of the Bellevue Education Association: “Kids only have one shot at school; it’s the paramount duty of the state.”
Now, let’s hope for a good session.
