Soon you will receive your ballot for the Feb. 14 special election.
The current maintenance and operations levy for the Tukwila School District expires at the end of 2012. The school district is asking for voter approval of a replacement levy. More than 27 percent of the money received by the district to provide educational services to students comes from the local levy. You can find a list of programs that are funded by local levy money and could be eliminated if the levy is not reauthorized at www.supporttukwilaschools.com.
There are many essential programs on the list but two stand out for me. They are maintaining lower class size and instructional assistants to support classrooms. As a retired teacher here in Tukwila, I know how important these two factors are to student success. We have a large number of students who no longer qualify for English Language Learner services but still need support in the classroom because of language-related issues. Instructional assistants work with small groups of students to help them understand material and concepts when they need additional explanation or practice. A smaller student load allows teachers to give more time to all students. This additional attention can help determine whether a student makes good progress or falls behind.
State support to schools has been cut the last few years and will probably be cut again during the current legislative session. That makes it even more important that the local levy be renewed. For more information or to help with this effort, visit the website.
When you receive your ballot, please vote yes!
Marie Parrish
Tukwila
