Dear neighbors,
Education isn’t just our paramount duty in the Washington state constitution. I know it’s vital to our economy, since high-paying jobs depend on highly educated workers.
And I know education is a huge priority for parents here in the 1st District and across our state. Nothing is more important for the success of our kids than getting a great education.
I just took my youngest to college. While this time of transition is exciting, it’s also challenging for us both. Washington state has resources to help us all cope with with anxiety and stress of big changes like this.
I know there is more to do to help our local schools, which are struggling with budgets cuts while they try to fund special education and other needs for our kids.
So while we have great schools and universities here in Washington, we can do better. Better for our businesses that desperately need highly skilled workers. Better for students who need a different path such as apprenticeships and the trades. Better for families trying to get their children through K-12 or pay for college. And better for our kids.
What’s happening and what’s next
The new state budget invests an extra $2.2 billion in our public schools, which are struggling with reduced federal funding and declining enrollment.
Our state construction budget puts $70.4 million toward new early learning facilities, $872 million to build public schools, and $1.5 billion to build facilities at public colleges and universities.
We also passed a number of reforms to make sure students don’t go hungry and can better access programs like Running Start and College in the High School.
I’m interested in what you think we should do next, with the 2024 session starting in January.
Share your thoughts
Please take a moment to click here and tell me which issues affect your family and what problems you’d solve.
This is a short, three-question survey. I’m particularly interested in the last question, where you can type whatever you like about the one problem you’d solve if you could do anything at all.
Thank you again for taking the time to read this, and to share your comments and ideas. I believe there’s no problem we can’t tackle if we listen to each other and work together.
