YOUR|LETTERS April 27, 2011
Published on Mon, Apr 25, 2011Read More Letters to the Editor
House Bill 1443 will not help students or teachers
Dear Editor,
Please note that the rush to vote for HB1443 does nothing to improve student learning. Teaching hasn’t changed and teachers haven’t suddenly become incompetent.
This myth classrooms being filled by legions of terrible teachers is just that, a myth. Ninety-nine percent of teachers are highly educated, intelligent, caring people. We have families too.
Stop the teacher bashing and put the state’s money where its mouth is. The words and the music don’t go together.
Politicians love to say that children are our greatest national resource, but they don’t back up that rhetoric with dollars to fund education.
Bills like HB1443 will make teaching a job which is not only thankless, but risky as well. That ought to be enough to chase away all the good teachers.
We make teaching look easy because we care about the students and we’re gifted in our subject matter.
Heaven help the state when it reaps what it has sowed in the form of bottom-of-the-barrel candidates for teaching positions because of termination/layoff bills like HB1443.
Donna Shaler
Snohomish
Senate passed bill on teacher lay-offs will harm, not help
Dear Editor,
It is absolutely wrong that the state Senate passed a bill forcing schools to adopt a statewide teacher layoff policy that ignores local needs, eliminates local decision-making and links layoffs to evaluations.
HB 1443 does nothing to prevent teachers from being laid off, does not have a fair approach across the state for staffing decisions, overrides local decision making and the role of locally elected school boards.
In my opinion, the only continuing contract teachers who should be laid off are those who, after a due process, are found to be lacking in ability to teach.
Sen. Rodney Tom said that instead of reducing class sizes, he preferred changing the policy for laying off teachers.
In this democratic society we should not be debating whether we hurt kids by putting more kids in a classroom, or pull qualified professionals from their service. We should be putting our real concern for kids, for people, for the next generation of citizens, into finding other ways to fund the system we already have in place.
The state should be looking at ways to avoid breaking our state laws as regards the duty to provide a quality Basic Education.
As Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe said, “This bill will do nothing to improve student learning.”
I would add that it is one more opportunity for some to erode our right to have local governance. Legislators—go back to the drawing board—this sketch just doesn’t work.
Rose Ann Walker
Krikland
Pet food drive a success in Granite Falls
Dear Editor,
Thank you to the Granite Falls community for their support during our Pet Food Drive, held at IGA benefiting the Granite Falls Food Bank and Canine Connection Dog Rescue, on March 19, 2011.
Thank you to IGA for their continual support.
Friendly Critters 4H
Highland Elementary thanks Safeway
Dear Editor;
Thank you to the Lake Stevens Journal for publishing articles to promote our local achievements.
Fundraising is difficult. There are many fundraising options available to us. The Highland Elementary ASB sells magazines and cookie dough and is very successful.
As the PTA, we are grateful to Safeway for providing an alternative way of fundraising.
Two weeks ago a picture was printed in the Journal with Jackie Katanik, the Manager from our local Safeway presenting the Highland Elementary PTA a check for $6,658 from the 10% Back to Schools Program.
The 100 top-earning schools participating in this program earn an extra $1,000 from Safeway. Highland Elementary was among them. This is the third consecutive year that Highland has earned the additional $1,000.
Safeway’s “10% Back to School Program” runs annually in the fall and this year also in January. It allows schools to earn 10 percent of the sale price of common brand-name items. Top Safeway manufacturers contributing to the program included Kraft Foods, Clorox, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Sara Lee, Pepsi, Frito Lay, and Unilever.
In addition, customers who have electronically linked their Safeway Club Cards to Highland Elementary PTA earn donations at no extra cost for the school all year long.
All told, Safeway has donated over $13,000 to Highland Elementary PTA since July 2010. Our local Safeway manager, Jackie Katanik and Safeway employees have been very supportive of our participation in this program over the past few years. They are our main fundraiser. We would like to thank them.
Highland Elementary PTA has used Safeway’s donations to provide the bulk of the operating budget for the PTA. This year’s donation will go towards an educational assembly, grants for additional educational supplies for the classrooms, and increasing fitness in the school.
If you shop at Safeway and would like to support a school every time you shop and have no extra cost to you, you can easily link your Club Card to the school of your choice by visiting www.escrip.com.
Kathy Smith
Highland Elementary PTA President
Legislators need to support capital budget to create jobs
Dear Editor,
Our community will directly benefit from the proposed capital budget now under consideration in Olympia.
It is important to Snohomish County that we encourage our legislators to vote for this important capital investment plan which could bring more than $425 million in construction activity and up to 5,000 jobs to our communities.
Water and sewer system improvement projects in Lake Stevens, Silver Lake and Cross Valley are on the line.
Many projects have been delayed in the past and not only are they important to our community health and safety; they represent a shot in the economic arm for Snohomish County.
Two years ago, legislators raided the capital investment plan and construction trust funds to pay for general government services.
That cost our state more than 19,000 jobs that could have been created through infrastructure investment. We can’t let that happen again.
As legislators struggle to balance our state’s budget, we need to remind them that a dollar spent on capital projects creates more economic activity and jobs than a dollar spent on general government. It will also generate a lot of additional local revenue as well.
Supporting the capital budget is one of the best investments our legislators can make for Snohomish County.
Paul Chrysler
Lynnwood
Dear Editor,
Please note that the rush to vote for HB1443 does nothing to improve student learning. Teaching hasn’t changed and teachers haven’t suddenly become incompetent.
This myth classrooms being filled by legions of terrible teachers is just that, a myth. Ninety-nine percent of teachers are highly educated, intelligent, caring people. We have families too.
Stop the teacher bashing and put the state’s money where its mouth is. The words and the music don’t go together.
Politicians love to say that children are our greatest national resource, but they don’t back up that rhetoric with dollars to fund education.
Bills like HB1443 will make teaching a job which is not only thankless, but risky as well. That ought to be enough to chase away all the good teachers.
We make teaching look easy because we care about the students and we’re gifted in our subject matter.
Heaven help the state when it reaps what it has sowed in the form of bottom-of-the-barrel candidates for teaching positions because of termination/layoff bills like HB1443.
Donna Shaler
Snohomish
Senate passed bill on teacher lay-offs will harm, not help
Dear Editor,
It is absolutely wrong that the state Senate passed a bill forcing schools to adopt a statewide teacher layoff policy that ignores local needs, eliminates local decision-making and links layoffs to evaluations.
HB 1443 does nothing to prevent teachers from being laid off, does not have a fair approach across the state for staffing decisions, overrides local decision making and the role of locally elected school boards.
In my opinion, the only continuing contract teachers who should be laid off are those who, after a due process, are found to be lacking in ability to teach.
Sen. Rodney Tom said that instead of reducing class sizes, he preferred changing the policy for laying off teachers.
In this democratic society we should not be debating whether we hurt kids by putting more kids in a classroom, or pull qualified professionals from their service. We should be putting our real concern for kids, for people, for the next generation of citizens, into finding other ways to fund the system we already have in place.
The state should be looking at ways to avoid breaking our state laws as regards the duty to provide a quality Basic Education.
As Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe said, “This bill will do nothing to improve student learning.”
I would add that it is one more opportunity for some to erode our right to have local governance. Legislators—go back to the drawing board—this sketch just doesn’t work.
Rose Ann Walker
Krikland
Pet food drive a success in Granite Falls
Dear Editor,
Thank you to the Granite Falls community for their support during our Pet Food Drive, held at IGA benefiting the Granite Falls Food Bank and Canine Connection Dog Rescue, on March 19, 2011.
Thank you to IGA for their continual support.
Friendly Critters 4H
Highland Elementary thanks Safeway
Dear Editor;
Thank you to the Lake Stevens Journal for publishing articles to promote our local achievements.
Fundraising is difficult. There are many fundraising options available to us. The Highland Elementary ASB sells magazines and cookie dough and is very successful.
As the PTA, we are grateful to Safeway for providing an alternative way of fundraising.
Two weeks ago a picture was printed in the Journal with Jackie Katanik, the Manager from our local Safeway presenting the Highland Elementary PTA a check for $6,658 from the 10% Back to Schools Program.
The 100 top-earning schools participating in this program earn an extra $1,000 from Safeway. Highland Elementary was among them. This is the third consecutive year that Highland has earned the additional $1,000.
Safeway’s “10% Back to School Program” runs annually in the fall and this year also in January. It allows schools to earn 10 percent of the sale price of common brand-name items. Top Safeway manufacturers contributing to the program included Kraft Foods, Clorox, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Sara Lee, Pepsi, Frito Lay, and Unilever.
In addition, customers who have electronically linked their Safeway Club Cards to Highland Elementary PTA earn donations at no extra cost for the school all year long.
All told, Safeway has donated over $13,000 to Highland Elementary PTA since July 2010. Our local Safeway manager, Jackie Katanik and Safeway employees have been very supportive of our participation in this program over the past few years. They are our main fundraiser. We would like to thank them.
Highland Elementary PTA has used Safeway’s donations to provide the bulk of the operating budget for the PTA. This year’s donation will go towards an educational assembly, grants for additional educational supplies for the classrooms, and increasing fitness in the school.
If you shop at Safeway and would like to support a school every time you shop and have no extra cost to you, you can easily link your Club Card to the school of your choice by visiting www.escrip.com.
Kathy Smith
Highland Elementary PTA President
Legislators need to support capital budget to create jobs
Dear Editor,
Our community will directly benefit from the proposed capital budget now under consideration in Olympia.
It is important to Snohomish County that we encourage our legislators to vote for this important capital investment plan which could bring more than $425 million in construction activity and up to 5,000 jobs to our communities.
Water and sewer system improvement projects in Lake Stevens, Silver Lake and Cross Valley are on the line.
Many projects have been delayed in the past and not only are they important to our community health and safety; they represent a shot in the economic arm for Snohomish County.
Two years ago, legislators raided the capital investment plan and construction trust funds to pay for general government services.
That cost our state more than 19,000 jobs that could have been created through infrastructure investment. We can’t let that happen again.
As legislators struggle to balance our state’s budget, we need to remind them that a dollar spent on capital projects creates more economic activity and jobs than a dollar spent on general government. It will also generate a lot of additional local revenue as well.
Supporting the capital budget is one of the best investments our legislators can make for Snohomish County.
Paul Chrysler
Lynnwood
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