Open Thank You Letter to Legislators & School District

Dear Legislators and School District Leaders,

I am writing on behalf of the Orca K-8 PTSA to express our gratitude and appreciation for the funding the Legislature was able to restore to K-12 Education in its final budget this year. At a recent Seattle Public Schools budget forum, I learned that $6 million had been restored to next year's SPS budget as a result of your hard work -- an enormous help in a year when the district is facing a $31 million shortfall.

I also want to thank Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson and her budget team for turning around and allocating that money back out to the schools instead of using it to help plug other gaps in the district's budget. We so appreciate your commitment to support students and teachers in our classrooms, even though it will mean difficult cuts elsewhere.

Orca had planned to make difficult and damaging cuts to our budget for next year. But with this additional money (given to us as discretionary funds -- thanks for that too), we were able to restore the most critical of these items. Our PTSA will still be contributing $55K to the school budget to support teaching staff (as we have for several years), but we no longer face the prospect of eliminating half of everything else we do so that our kids' library and art time won't be cut next year. I wish you could have seen the relieved smiles on our faces at last week's PTSA meeting, where this news was delivered.

I still believe school funding in our state is woefully (and unconstitutionally) inadequate and will continue to advocate for further increases as our economy recovers and the state's budget situation improves. But I was heartened to have a little bit of good news come our way, and wanted you all to know how much I appreciate it, and what a huge difference it has made at our school already. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mikala Woodward
Orca K-8 PTSA Legislative Chair