Dear Editor:
On February 13th, our community will be asked to consider two levy propositions.  At the elementary level, the Programs and Operations Replacement Levy means that we can continue to purchase new curriculum when ours becomes outdated. It means that we have an instructional coach to answer questions to improve our teaching. This levy means that we can send our students to a nurse when they get hurt, to the resource room if they need extra academic support to reach grade level, or to a counselor to support life skills and character values.

The second levy for Technology Replacement is equally important. Our grade level received iPads for our classrooms to support their learning through online programs, and ready access to this technology has enhanced learning in a truly powerful way.

These levies replace the programs that we already have. Programs that Snoqualmie Valley considers basic to education, even if the state does not. Children in our community may do without these programs if we don’t support the levies. Those in opposition are saying that the state will now pay for these, and that these levies are no longer necessary.  This isn’t the truth. The state will not provide for the things we consider necessary for our students, such as a nurse or nurse assistant at each building, a counselor for our students in need, and training for teachers to take our students into the 21st century.

Heidi Ames, Laurie Fitzpatrick, Shelby Lee, and Joanna West

Snoqualmie Elementary School Kindergarten Teachers