Lynne Dodson on:

All of the candidates for this position agree that public education is one of the important issues facing our state. I am the daughter of two public school educators, the mother of two Seattle public school graduates, a full-time teacher at nationally-recognized Seattle Central Community College since 1993, the four-term President of the Seattle Community Colleges Federation of Teachers, and the Chair of the statewide American Federation of Teachers Washington Community College Council for seven years. Unlike the other candidates, I am not just an "ally" of public education; I have devoted my life to public education.

An excellent education system must ensure that every student and family is welcomed and enriched, and every staff worker and teacher is respected and supported. That requires thorough and sustained funding, along with a deliberate, collective commitment to eradicating institutional barriers and inequities. I'm not sympathetic to simplistic, overnight "gimmicks" or privatizing, pseudo-solutions. Education is a public, democratic good. It requires public funding, democratic community involvement, with committed, strong and accountable political leadership.

• The development of a seamless, high-quality Pre-K through 16 public education system. Fully-funded accessible education for all, from three year old children through college students and motivated adults serving sentences in correctional facilities, decreases unemployment and crime, improves our tax base and strengthens democratic community participation. We've under-funded education for our children for too long.

• Eliminating inequities in pay and working conditions. All educational staff deserve equal treatment: teachers, two and four year faculty, adjunct professors, early childhood educators, substitute teachers, non-instructional staff professionals and graduate academic student employees.

• Eradicating institutional inequalities. We can't tolerate institutionalized achievement gaps, discrimination, bullying or harassment on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation/gender identity, immigration status, or religious beliefs. We must promote programs and policies that lift up and educate all the members of our education community about themselves and each other.

• The restructuring of our tax system. We cannot provide adequate education without a fair, stable tax system that is accountable to all of us.

• Development of a publicly funded, universal, integrated early learning education system;

• Unionization efforts by early childhood education providers to provide family wage jobs and benefits for those caring for our children;

• More funding for the Early Childhood Education Career and Wage Ladder;

• Scholarships for, and continued development of innovative, culturally inclusive education programs for early childhood educators,

• Subsidies to make quality early learning accessible, especially for low-income/at-risk children,

• Funding to encourage more school districts to offer expanded, holistic, culturally competent pre-kindergarten & full-day kindergarten programs.

• Full funding of Initiatives 732 and 728, and for health care benefits for school employees. The voters of this state approved those two initiatives, to provide annual cost-of-living increases for teachers and other education workers, and mandate smaller class sizes for our children. But some legislators tried to undermine the voters' decisions on these issues.

• A simple majority for levy approval, so that a minority of voters can't hold our children's education hostage;

• Pay increases for classified staff and teachers to provide adequate compensation for those caring for our children's future;

• Programs that solicit, enable, educate and welcome parent & family involvement;

• Redefining "Basic Education" to include early childhood education, higher education, and the arts for our 21st century.

• Using multiple measures of student assessment for graduation, not a single high stakes test like the WASL;

• Levy equalization measures to end inequalities in our state's school districts;

• A housing allowance for teachers in high-cost areas.

• Unionization efforts by all higher education faculty, academic student employees, and college and university staff to provide adequate wages and benefits and a voice at work for our state's education workers;

• Respectful working conditions and salary increases for staff and faculty;

• Increased state support to end increases in student tuition, so that education remains a realistic option for our working families.

• Full equality in pay and working conditions for part-time and contingent faculty, ending a system that leaves many teachers without a livable income;

• Full funding of increment step increases for two-year college faculty;

• Academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance, to ensure that students receive the most insightful, challenging and rewarding education possible.