Gov. Chris Gregoire’s visit to Shoreline Community College July 5 attracted a who’s who of politically active and community-involved Shoreliners, from state senators to Shoreline city leaders, from vocal school parents to the college’s Student Body Association.
About 100 people mingled that Thursday in the school’s Automotive Showroom while Gregoire toured the college’s automotive training center nearby — her first stop at the college.
Among those in attendance was Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, who taught history at the college for 26 years before getting into politics.
“This is where the rubber meets the ground,” he said, describing community colleges.
As head of the Higher Education Committee in the state Senate, Shin has pushed for more high tech programs and more of an emphasis on math and science, he said, because countries like China, Japan and India are gaining on the United States in those areas.
“Unless we do something, they will catch up,” Shin said.
Nearby, Tom Moran, college Interim Dean in Libraries, Distance Learning and Computers, said it was good for the governor to visit because it gives her an idea of what the college is doing.
Carin Chase, 32nd Democrats first vice-chair for Snohomish County, stood by the back wall with her son Chase Simerka. Carin Chase, daughter of Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Edmonds, who also was in attendance, has been a vocal proponent for the Room Nine Community School in the Shoreline School District which Simerka attends.
“I’m proud to have the governor visiting the Zero Energy House, because I think alternative energy is one of the most important issues facing us,” Carin Chase said. The Zero Energy House, on the college’s campus, runs entirely on solar power.
As she spoke, Gregoire arrived and the buzzing crowd moved toward the podium at the front of the room.
College president Lee Lambert launched into an introduction while Gregoire stood to his right. She sipped lemonade and wore a yellow cardigan sweater set despite the heat.
Gregoire’s talk was short but touched on several issues, including early childhood, K-12 and higher education.
“In the K-12 system we have some challenges,” she said. “We’ve made gains in reading and writing, but there are students coming here to Shoreline (Community College) totally unprepared for college level math.”
Shin leaned toward this reporter.
“I told you!” he said jovially, referring to his earlier comments.
It’s not about the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, Gregoire said.
“Every day I have employers come into my office and say, ‘I need employees,’” she said. “Part of it is an aging work force, part of it is losing students in high school.”
She spoke of the state’s reputation for exporting quality goods.
“The key to that is education,” she said.
Gregoire also described alternative fuels and the need to address global warming.
At the end of her talk, she took questions from the audience.
Jessica Phuket, a Shoreline Community College transplant from Louisiana, asked Gregoire why the state hadn’t moved to an income tax system from a sales tax system, since sales tax hits the poor the hardest.
“It’s unfair,” Phuket said.
“No matter how hard people have tried in the past, every time we’ve tried to make it happen, it’s fallen flat,” Gregoire answered.
She described previous governors’ unsuccessful efforts to gather voter support on the issue, and said a change had to come from the people.
“What you just expressed is not in the minds of six-and-a-half million Washingtonians,” she said, adding that it’s especially not now because the economy is good.
After the talk, Andrew Ivanhoe, Student Body Association president, stood with his fellow students near the back. Known simply as “Ivanhoe,” his name tag was inscribed with that single name.
“I hope the college is committed to continue to push the envelope on environmental education and leading the state as a good example,” he said of the governor’s visit to the school.
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