Please vote ‘yes’ if you care about kids | Letters | Oct. 29

Published 2:47 pm Friday, October 29, 2010

As we consider the two school measures on the November ballots for Bainbridge Island, let’s look at the hard facts.

Washington ranks 44th in per-pupil funding in the U.S. and 42nd in class size. Washington’s level of education funding is abysmal.

Even worse, Bainbridge Island ranks in the bottom 22 percent in Washington for per-pupil revenue, as of fiscal year 2008-09. And, since 2009, BISD has had to continue to make huge cuts in the face of falling state revenues. Overall, $4.6 million has been cut from the district budget over the last three years.

If we care about island kids and their education, then we must be willing to put our money where our heart is. Please vote “yes” on both school levies.

This is not a hard choice. These measures will not increase taxes by one dollar. We are merely renewing existing levies that are expiring at the end of 2010.

Please support our kids with program and technology dollars – this money goes directly into the classroom.

Bruce Weiland

Bainbridge Island