January 26, 2010
Redmond Neighborhood Blog
Letter to the Editor
Every day, families residing in Lake Washington School District must make financial decisions regarding their lives. What do I prepare for meals? How do I dress my children? Can I fill my gas tank today or must I walk or ride the bus to work? Can we take a vacation? Will my children pass their classes?
This year alone I have been asked to pay for PTSA Membership, a recorder for my son’s music class, subscription to Scholastic News, school photos, yearbook fees, lab fees, band fees, not including the fundraisers, parties and gifts for school. In addition, there are sports fees, field trips, uniforms and school supplies. These amounts totaled well in excess of $1,500.00 (for two children).
As families, we are being asked to yet again provide more money for a School District that refuses to stay within a budget and make cuts where cuts are necessary, yet continues to charge parents and families for “necessities for the education of our children”. Necessities such as USB drives for transporting writing assignments, glue sticks, and a ream of 20# paper.
I recommend that the Lake Washington School District resolve to practice what many of their families are living day to day: living within their budget and cutting back on items that are privileges and not rights. It is not necessary for my child to learn to play the recorder; it is practical to teach my child music appreciation, history and rhythm. It is not necessary for my child to read about current events with their own personal newspaper subscription; they must learn to read using phonics and spelling.
I wonder how many of our schools in the district would actually meet or exceed their AYP ("average yearly progress") if the schools and districts returned to teaching the basics instead of concentrating on meeting the challenges of the future. There will be little future for our children who cannot read, write or compute basic math problems.
Live within a budget and stop spending money you don’t have; a worthwhile lesson for all of us to strive for – including our local school district.
Sincerely,
Paige A. Norman
Redmond Resident, parent
16714 NE 97th Street
Redmond, WA 98052-3164
Paige.norman@verizon.net
Information about the Lake Washington School District levies and bond are here.
Readers are invited to submit Letters with your name on this subject. Letters should be no longer than 375 words and addressed to redmondblog@gmail.com . You may also comment below this post. My editorial policy strives to attract fair and balanced reporting of reader opinion; all Letters are welcome and appreciated. Bob Yoder, Editor.
Redmond Neighborhood Blog
Letter to the Editor
Every day, families residing in Lake Washington School District must make financial decisions regarding their lives. What do I prepare for meals? How do I dress my children? Can I fill my gas tank today or must I walk or ride the bus to work? Can we take a vacation? Will my children pass their classes?
This year alone I have been asked to pay for PTSA Membership, a recorder for my son’s music class, subscription to Scholastic News, school photos, yearbook fees, lab fees, band fees, not including the fundraisers, parties and gifts for school. In addition, there are sports fees, field trips, uniforms and school supplies. These amounts totaled well in excess of $1,500.00 (for two children).
As families, we are being asked to yet again provide more money for a School District that refuses to stay within a budget and make cuts where cuts are necessary, yet continues to charge parents and families for “necessities for the education of our children”. Necessities such as USB drives for transporting writing assignments, glue sticks, and a ream of 20# paper.
I recommend that the Lake Washington School District resolve to practice what many of their families are living day to day: living within their budget and cutting back on items that are privileges and not rights. It is not necessary for my child to learn to play the recorder; it is practical to teach my child music appreciation, history and rhythm. It is not necessary for my child to read about current events with their own personal newspaper subscription; they must learn to read using phonics and spelling.
I wonder how many of our schools in the district would actually meet or exceed their AYP ("average yearly progress") if the schools and districts returned to teaching the basics instead of concentrating on meeting the challenges of the future. There will be little future for our children who cannot read, write or compute basic math problems.
Live within a budget and stop spending money you don’t have; a worthwhile lesson for all of us to strive for – including our local school district.
Sincerely,
Paige A. Norman
Redmond Resident, parent
16714 NE 97th Street
Redmond, WA 98052-3164
Paige.norman@verizon.net
Information about the Lake Washington School District levies and bond are here.
Readers are invited to submit Letters with your name on this subject. Letters should be no longer than 375 words and addressed to redmondblog@gmail.com . You may also comment below this post. My editorial policy strives to attract fair and balanced reporting of reader opinion; all Letters are welcome and appreciated. Bob Yoder, Editor.
I couldn't have said it better. LWSD must demonstrate a capability to live within budget, especially when it publicly flip-flops on requests for money through other available sources.
ReplyDeleteLake Washington school administrators have done a very good job at managing at a very difficult situation - a state that cannot pay for the basic education of its students, despite the state constitution's requirement that they do just that. Failing to renew the local levy or capital bond will only compound the problem. State budget problems resulted in millions of cuts last year - do you really want your schools to have budgets of six or seven times that amount? Previous generations of voters have invested in our schools and we need to sustain that investment. These are simply renewals of the money that is needed to provide basic education services. And, no, I don't work for the district.
ReplyDeleteWe moved out of a local community whose school district was just 'teaching the basics' and we chose LWSD for their ability to 'meet the challenges of the future'. As families, we were asked to provide all the same type of basic materials there that we are here- paper, pencils, reading materials, etc. Only there- they had very little focus on technology so I doubt that a thumb drive was even used. They instead had to focus education dollars on before and after school care, subsidized lunches and repair and replacement of the countless stolen equipment and damaged or vandalized property weekly. I am glad to be in the LWSD, and I am glad and confident that my money will work harder for their education here than it did there.
ReplyDeleteThe real flaws come from how our state funds education and that there could be such differences in public schools just 50 miles apart. When there are 44 states in the nation that spend more per student than Washington, there is a problem. When library books and librarians are not considered 'basic education' under state definition- there is a problem. When computers and transportatin to and from school are not considered 'basic'- there is a problem. The problem is not within LWSD, it is a statewide problem of not funding basic education as promised in the state constituion.
I have three kids in the district and I may have to someday soon tell them they won't get yearbooks, school photos or to play sports. But I believe they will get a good education because we are in Lake Washington schools.
I'm sure if LWSD were to go line by line in their budget, there would be a lot of areas that could be cut and still enable them to provide a "basic education." For example, they are planning to use our tax dollars to expand the Environmental and Adventure school. It seems to me that choice schools go above and beyond our state's constitution of providing a "basic education" as do so many other things LWSD is providing at the expense of its taxpayers.
ReplyDelete