I’ve worked as a consultant in nearly 100 school districts in this country, including the Vashon Island School District, and in more than a dozen others on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. I can say with confidence that the people of Vashon benefit greatly from a local school district whose highly committed teaching staff, capable administrative team, superintendent and board are the envy of any community similar to ours. We are lucky to have great people working with our children and, come levy time, we have an opportunity to endorse and support their efforts.

Our state funds schools in an odd way. The Legislature provides roughly 70-something percent of the funds that are necessary to operate the district; federal programs add a few percentage points to that, and local communities must pass levies every few years to cover the remaining costs from their property tax revenues. Until the state adopts a more rational approach to funding schools, it is in our best interest to approve these levies every time they come up for renewal. I certainly will, and I urge you to do the same.

— Lawrence Huggins