Forum: Our patriotic duty to demand what’s due or demand change

By Ron Friesen / Herald Forum

It was U.S. history class in high school when we studied the Declaration of Independence. I didn’t remember most of it. So, when I just read the whole thing, it was an eye opener!

The long list of grievances, which the colonists endured for such a long time, jump off the page. They petitioned King George repeatedly for years to no avail. The responses got worse and worse until the colonists finally said, “We are done with England!”

We are all familiar with the Declaration’s “inalienable rights” phrases. But the real meat is the long list of law violations by King George. He would neither relent nor repent. Ultimately, these repeated violations were the last straw for our founders. The conclusion says the colonists had been patient long enough, the violations were continuing and getting worse, and there was a legal and moral obligation to right those wrongs. The statement of rights had teeth.

Talk about powerful! When government is not serving its citizens, and repeated pleas are ignored and denied, that government must be held to account or replaced.

The state of Washington bears a stark similarity to the repeated law violations by King George. During all my adult years here, the state constitution’s “paramount” duty to fund education has never been fully met despite repeated pleas from citizens, educators, school districts, and even the state superintendent. During this time, more and more responsibilities have been heaped on our schools. The message to “Do more with less!” is the same message striking Edmonds teachers received in 1972, my first year of teaching and a baptism by fire.

Fifty years ago the assumption was that students came to school ready to learn. For the vast majority of students, that was true. Not any more. Our schools now have the responsibility not only to teach, but to make sure all students are ready to learn when fewer than ever are. Fine. But more responsibilities require more resources. And whether it is health, nutrition, clothing, counseling, special needs, special education, or even housing needs, Washington has struck out every time it was up to bat. For 50 years.

Worse yet, we have turned our curriculum into a despicable caste system. Students know it! At the top are STEM classes, the currently mesmerizing shiny object getting all the attention and money. The humanities, where students learn about democracy and how to be positive contributors to society, have faded to long-distant second place and are fading fast. Performing, fine, and industrial arts plus physical education and library time are circling the drain despite the valuable community life skills taught, because we don’t want to just “throw money” at schools.

I have heard all the excuses, but there are really only two. The first is, “We don’t have the money.” Then when the money is available, the fall-back line is, “We have to take care of other priorities first.”

Fifty years. Same song, second verse. A little bit louder, and a lot more worse.

At the Declaration of Independence’s end, the reference to “Merciless Indian Savages” is horrible! And we know many signers were slave holders. So the signers had moral defects. However, there was a moral imperative to resist injustice and create change, and most notably, to abide by the law.

Now, here we are again, with unresponsive government in our state which is specifically directed to fund education as its “paramount duty.” This state has been mostly led by Democrats these last 50 years who have neither relented nor repented. They have only dodged and ducked. I am looking in vain for answers in a party which claims to care. Fifty years of pleas coupled with the McCleary lawsuit, and now a new one coming from the Wahkiakum School District has changed nothing. The violations of law continue and the pleas are ignored.

So I ask and wonder, “If our kids are not the top priority, who is? How much longer until we have had enough? Will I even live to see it?”

It only took 56 people to sign the Declaration of Independence, and the world was changed. Call me crazy, but I believe those leaders are here. Now. Please step up.

Ron Friesen is a longtime Marysville resident, a retired music teacher and community and church musician and is committed to community improvement.