As the recipient of an automated phone call paid for by an entity calling itself “Reject Lake Washington School District Proposition 1,” I’d like to have an opportunity to respond to its message. The call did not provide a contact number and an online search did not turn up any web presence for an organization by that name. So I’m responding here. (Thank goodness for a free press.)

They called the wrong person. I grew up attending overcrowded, inequitably funded public schools in another state. We had classes in annex buildings that were blazing hot in warm weather and so cold in winter that everyone kept their coats on. Class sizes were routinely 33-35 students; classrooms were crowded, without room for everyone to do their work. Lab classes were eliminated, or forced to meet only half as often as they were supposed to. Buildings were poorly maintained.

These conditions do damage. They cheat students of educational opportunities, and make it harder to learn in the classroom. They tell students by direct experience that they do not matter as much to their community as students in better-funded districts matter to theirs.

I call on every voter in the Lake Washington School District to consider the real priorities for the future. These are kids today, but their skills are the basis for tomorrow’s economy. At whatever level they work, they’ll be affecting the lives of everyone around them. Invest in these students. Give them good conditions at school, where we expect them to spend their time working hard and learning what we need them to know. Be aware of what we’re teaching them when we provide the conditions under which that learning happens.

Do they matter that much? Yes, they do.

Thank you for reading.

Marion Kee

Redmond