Letters: Two Readers Chime in on 1st Legislative District Senate Race

Dear Editor,

As we receive our voter’s pamphlets and ballots, I’ve noticed an increase in negative campaigning against candidates for state office.  For instance, in the race for state senate (Legislative District 1), the NSEA’s union president is again making false and misleading accusations against Northshore School Director Dawn McCravey, who is challenging the incumbent Rosemary McAuliffe.  He attempts to obfuscate her strong leadership and dedication to our children’s education with statements that she is an “outlier” and takes a “My Way or the Highway” attitude (MLTnews.com].  However, this is a desperate attempt to, once again, try and manipulate the voters from making well informed, independent decisions about the best, most qualified candidate to vote for – he used this failed strategy during Ms. McCravey’s previous campaign for re-election to the Northshore School Board. 

So, let’s put aside all the negativity and look at what we need from a District 1 State Senator.  Both the leading candidates, Dawn McCravey and Rosemary McAuliffe, are hard working and dedicated to public service.  Both their strengths are in education.  This is not an insignificant issue because educational needs and priorities take up about ½ of our state’s budget.  And, at the school district level and in a district as large as Northshore, the fiscal needs run to the hundreds of millions of dollars.  Therefore, we need a senator that understands and puts in place educational policies that are effective.  In other words, have our children’s lives and education been improved by their terms in office?  Do we have well qualified and adequate staff and teachers?  Have the candidates demonstrated fiscal responsibility?  One ongoing, highly debated, and extremely costly issue in education has been high stakes testing – McAuliffe, as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, supports and funded high stakes testing for the past decade, Dawn McCravey opposes it as a measure of student ability.  More recently, there’s debate over the inclusion of charter schools as alternatives to regular public schools – Dawn McCravey supports charter schools as an option for students, McAuliffe does not support this option.  As voters, these are some of the issues in education that we need to consider when making our senate selection.

Additionally, and just as importantly, District 1 constituents need to consider how our senator will help improve our quality of life.  Are we happy with our current economic situation – do we see more economic opportunities for ourselves and our children, or have our opportunities dwindled?  Is the state mindful of maintaining our natural resources, supporting our parks, and ensuring our waterways, air and soil stay unpolluted?  These are a few of the issues we need to ask ourselves when deciding which candidate can we depend on to work towards the best interests of all of us.

As you can appreciate, selecting our district senator is a big responsibility.  Therefore, I encourage everyone to carefully research the candidates, ask questions and seek answers, and make the best decision that you can make.  We need to be in control of the future of our state and our lives, and we should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by individuals and groups broadcasting false and misleading information.

-Lying (Lyng) Wong, Bothell

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Dear Editor,

Rosemary McAuliffe was elected to the Washington State Legislature nearly 20 years ago.  During that time Washington State has fallen to 45th in the nation in terms of education funding. Class sizes have increased, leaving our classrooms among the most crowded in the nation.

Our state legislature wasted over a BILLION dollars on a failed experiment called the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).  School districts were burdened with having to purchase expensive curriculum designed to “teach to the test”.  These curricula left many of our students ill prepared for the rigors of college. 

Several years ago I had an opportunity to meet with Rosemary McAuliffe.  We discussed the WASL and its negative impact on the children of Washington State.  She agreed that the WASL was a flawed test that was not meeting the needs of our students.  When asked if she would sponsor or support a bill to remove the WASL, she adamantly refused to do so, stating that, as a democrat, she did not want to put such a bill before the Governor, knowing that the Governor would veto it.  She said that she wouldn’t want to put a fellow democrat in such a position.  It was clear to me that her party politics and friendship with the Governor was clearly more important to McAuliffe than the children of Washington State. 

Despite McAuliffe’s opposition, the WASL was eventually removed as an assessment tool.  Although it was too late for many of our children: the damage had already been done.

McAuliffe has repeatedly blocked efforts to improve education for our children.  Her refusal to even allow key pieces of education reform to even be heard in Olympia is part of the reason the Seattle Times has refused to endorse McAuliffe, stating that as education committee chair McAuliffe “resisted and stymied key reforms” and that she failed to provide the leadership necessary to affect positive change in Olympia.

Washington does not need 4 more years of wasted money and wasted time.  Our children deserve better.    Dawn McCravey is willing to listen to parents and educators.  She has proven during her time on the Northshore School Board that she is willing to make the difficult choices, putting the needs of the students above all else.  

Dawn McCravey has often been the sole voice on the Northshore School Board, voting against cutting school nurses, standing firmly and consistently against school closure. Kraig Peck WEA/NESPA Staff person stated that “Dawn McCravey showed her thoughtful independence, and voted against the cuts. She deserves the heartfelt thanks of every member of Northshore's community.”

Dawn McCravey is the strong, thoughtful and independent voice that Olympia so desperately needs. That is why I support Dawn McCravey for State Senate.

--Berta Phillips, Bothell