In an NBC news article, they pointed out that 2018 was the year for women in politics as more were running and winning than ever before and for a very good reason: the voters want change because they are unhappy with “the status quo,” and the messages from these female candidates are resonating with all types of voters.

In our district, we have one of those candidates: her name is Claire Wilson and I am endorsing her and urging you to support her at the polls. There are many reasons for my decision to support her but the biggest one is education. Unlike her opponent, she has more than 30 years of educational experience including seven years on the local school board in which she now serves as president. She was one of the board members who voted unanimously to hire Dr. Tammy Campbell as our superintendent and ever since, the district has been getting better and better. I could cite numerous examples but the biggest one is our high school graduation rates are now over 80 percent and climbing (before it was stagnated in the 70 percent range for an extended period because this issue was not addressed).

The biggest political issue of this campaign, I feel, is the underfunding of our school district by the Legislature going back more than 40 years. When the Legislature had to address the McCleary decision, the school districts got more funding; however, our district got “shortchanged” once again because the “regionalization factor” they gave us was less than our neighboring school districts (hence, less funding). Was that fair? The answer was clearly “no” because we are the seventh-largest school district in the state. Although they were clearly aware of this problem, were our legislative representatives able to address this problem? Again, the answer was “no,” which is another way of saying we need to make a change to someone who can get this important issue addressed so we get what our scholars deserve and that is “fair education funding.”

As Laurie Garrett pointed out in her article, Sen. Mark Miloscia opposes I-1631; as a individual who is pro-environment (and a member of NRDC and UCS), that alone is reason enough to vote against him because the environment and fighting climate change must be one of our top priorities.

I have known Claire Wilson since 2011 when she first was elected to the Federal Way School Board of Directors. I can attest to the fact that education is her No. 1 priority, she is experienced, trustworthy, totally dedicated, ethical, transparent and she “tells it like it is.”

Other issues she will address (besides education) is transportation improvements, property tax relief, safe, supportive neighborhoods and affordable, quality health care. She is a leader dedicated to helping all people, uniting our community and investing in our children and our future. For her, the people come first – not special interests – and that is why we need her representing us in the Senate. Her endorsements include the top politicians in our state: Gov. Jay Inslee; Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Rep. Adam Smith. They endorsed her because she is the right choice and that is why you need to vote for her as well.

Gary Robertson

Federal Way