Letter: Need a responsible third choice for 9th Legislative District

In the upcoming 9th Legislative District race, our children and their futures should be a priority.

We need to elect a legislator who is going to look out for public education. Mary Dye, the incumbent legislator, has repeatedly voted against enforcing the McCleary decision, which would have the effect of keeping property funding in our district and bettering education for our children.

Dye has repeatedly voted for charter schools. While charter schools may make sense for larger cities like Seattle or Bellevue, in a district like ours, they simply do not make sense. They would cost us too much money for little benefit. Given the lack of student density in the district, it would make much more sense for us to prioritize having a strong public education system — not establishing a brand-new one.

On the other hand, Jennifer Goulet’s proposals to cut agricultural assistance to pay for education would be disastrous for our district’s economy. In fact, Goulet’s platform wholly ignores agricultural issues. How can we trust her to look out for our district’s largely agricultural way of life?

Neither Dye nor Goulet have our best interests at heart. We need a responsible third choice to be our legislator.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 4:19 AM with the headline "Letter: Need a responsible third choice for 9th Legislative District."