[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written by a Reader. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The B-Town Blog nor its staff:]
A Response to John Castronover’s Letter (published 12/27)
Dear John,
A few days after the November election, you and your wife Laura wrote a letter appealing for the community to rally around our schools. You said, “The time has come to put divisions behind us and come together as a community to create a plan that will go specifically to the needs of our schools.”
As your elected school board, we couldn’t agree more.
We are disappointed that the message of your latest letter to the editor is not one of community support for our schools, but just the opposite. You encourage citizens to reject not only the bond but the Educational Programs and Operations levy that provides more than one-fifth of the funding it takes to operate our schools and educate our children, including teacher pay, school buses and textbooks. Fuller detail about what the levy pays for is found at www.highlineschools.org/levy.
Under the leadership of Superintendent Susan Enfield we have set very ambitious goals for our students, and we are making progress toward those goals. Our students will not reach these goals overnight, and they absolutely cannot do it without the support of the community. A basic and necessary element of that support is making sure our schools have adequate funding.
We believe your suggestion to fund more police officers rather than schools is a false choice. Low crime rates are closely tied to the quality of education in a community. Countless studies show that young people who get a good education are far less likely to commit crimes. And good schools attract families, businesses, and jobs, which discourage crime and provide funding for police departments.
We encourage all community members to attend a district-wide Town Hall on January 22, 6:00 p.m. at Highline High School, where we will provide information and answer your questions about the levy, bond, district finances, and other important issues.
We are also holding information sessions this month on each of the major bond projects. You will find the meeting schedule and all the details about the bond and levy at www.highlineschools.org.
We are committed to providing you with all the information you need to make an informed vote.
Highline School Board:
Michael Spear, President
Tyrone Curry, Vice-President
Angelica Alvarez
Bernie Dorsey
Susan Goding
A Response to John Castronover’s Letter ([Have an opinion or concern you’d like to share with our ~80,000+ monthly Readers? Please send us your Letter to the Editor via email. Include your full name, please remain civil and, pending our review, we’ll most likely publish it.]