No gloom found in district classrooms | Letters

Published 11:40 am Friday, January 29, 2010

The Programs and Operations Levy for the Bainbridge Island School District is critical. This new levy will replace the expiring one with no taxes being raised. Due to our crazy state funding of education, this levy represents 21 percent of our district’s budget. It is the primary extra source of money that allows the district to pay for teachers, para-professionals and much needed day-to-day operations.

As we brace ourselves for the grim reality that the state may be cutting our budget another 1.8 million dollars for the 2010-11 school year, we will depend on these levy dollars even more.

There is great joy in this gloomy picture. You can find it in the hallways and classrooms of our schools. Listening to children ponder, inquire and share their excitement is incredibly uplifting. I am very thankful to be their teacher in a community that embraces education and the future it inspires.

My yes vote is in the mail – find a stamp for yours!

Boo Burkhalter Schneider,

BI Education Association

president, third-grade teacher