Schools

District’s cuts still impact the classroom

Thank you for your article in The Enterprise regarding certificated cuts. Actually, many valuable staff members will not be returning next fall.

I am a half-time teacher with a non-continuing contract at Einstein Middle School. I work with eighth graders who did not meet standard in mathematics as seventh graders. This year I have been using a computer program and classroom activities to help fill in the missing gaps so these students would be able to pass the eighth grade WASL.

I hear over and over from students, staff and parents how valuable this program is for these most needy students. This class offering will not be possible next year because of cuts for staff across the district. Yes, no RIFs should happen for teachers with continuing contracts, but many new teachers will not be returning to their highly effective classrooms.

LINDA CANTRELL

Shoreline

Jay Inslee

Information provided in guide was wrong

I must apologize to everyone who received my Government Guide this week. We had the incorrect info for Congressman Inslee’s district office. He recently relocated to Shoreline and my Guide had the old address. The correct contact information is: Congressman Jay Inslee, 18560 First Ave. NE, Suite E-800, Shoreline, WA 98155.

Please note the phone number also has changed, to 206-361-0233. Again, I’m sorry for the mix-up. We really try to check everything and this one just slipped by us.

DARLENE FAIRLEY

State Senate, 32nd Dist.

City government

Many improvements have been made

I didn’t realize we would still need to deal with the canard that city taxes have gone up so much since we became a city. I haven’t saved my personal tax info since that time, but I can look back at some of the city budget documents to refute this lie once again.

The city’s budget for 2006 shows the property tax collection rate in constant dollars (removing inflationary impact) for the years 1997 through projected 2006. While the early years in the city showed growth in taxes as we formed, the latter years, since 2001, have shown great restraint and even less than inflation. Our levy rate has been reduced from $1.60 (our maximum at this time) to $1.20. Our council members have often stated that they do not intend to raise our taxes without our approval.

The only truth there to the statement is in nominal dollars. The 2001 proposed budget shows that property collection in 1997 was $4.5 million. By 2000, the projected collection was $5.8 million. The 2006 city budget shows that projected property tax collection was $6.8 million with a budget for 2006 of $6.9 million. In personal terms, the average resident in 2001 with a home valued at $179,000 was paying $286. For 2006, the average home valued at $273,500 paid the city only $342. Note that our homes have risen quite in bit in value during this same time.

The letter writer indicates that the only improvement he sees is in police protection. While it is tough to argue with perceptions, my experience is that the types of improvements we have seen include better roads and parks, reduced flooding and improved road clearing in the winter.

MARK DEUTSCH

Shoreline

Group is out only to stifle public opinion

The Enterprise published a letter of complaint from Scott Jepsen and Paul Grace, co-chairs of Progress Shoreline. Shoreline politics are not Republican or Democrat but rather Sustainable Shoreline and Shoreline Merchants Association vs. Progress Shoreline and Forward Shoreline. There are other groups, but these two are most recognized.

Jepsen and Grace complain of misinformation about Progress Shoreline, but cite only two related examples, the lawsuit and recall petition, which they correctly observe, were not filed by Progress Shoreline. In the case of the suit, two of the three individuals bringing action and their attorney are members of Progress. Four of the five individuals filing for recall are members of Progress. Both of these actions are by their members. They know these actions are less than admirable, else why would Jepsen and Grace try to distance themselves. They protest too much.

Much of the letter is self-congratulatory. They claim credit for supporting the parks bond but give none to hardworking supporters outside the faction.

There are no other specifics about “misinformation.” Would refuting my observation that their vision was “developer friendly” be awkward? How about the charge that the burdens of their policies fall most heavily on those outside the insulated neighborhoods of The Highlands and Innis Arden? Jepsen’s cottage housing, for example.

As they close, Jepsen and Grace ask the City Council to refuse submissions critical of Progress Shoreline. Quoting from their boilerplate “Shoreline … where residents and businesses are respected and their voices heard.” Amazingly, they include this line in the same letter that asks the Council refuse submissions from their critics.

They want their critics silenced. Their positions do not survive well in open debate. The citizens of Shoreline should be wary about returning control of our City Council to these people.

BRONSTON KENNEY

Shoreline