Education: Set aside distractions and fund it

Re: “GOP attempts Sound Transit showdown,” (TNT, 4/6).

The highest priority the Legislature has on its agenda is the correction of K-12 education in this state. However, everything under the sun, including changing the name of a bridge, has taken superiority.

I believe voters understand the issues associated with this, although they have not been invited into either the Democrats’ or Republicans’ discussions.

I believe they are adding things for consideration that are clouding the requirement to fix education funding, i.e., decreasing the number of kids in classrooms and funding pre-kindergarten education. Although they are important, they should not be included in the initial fix as required by the Supreme Court.

I am impressed with the GOP’s version in that no new taxes would be created; however, I am concerned with huge corporate tax breaks. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ “let’s create a new tax” mentality continues.

Let’s get hearings going that will drill down to the issues in which disagreements would be isolated and discussed. Sound Transit funding and the idea of letting government opt out of transit boundaries should also be discussed – not ahead of education, but next in line.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Education: Set aside distractions and fund it."