Local politics

30th District Democrats

Group meets at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at the Federal Way Senior Center, 4016 S. 352nd St. To learn more, call (253) 661-2287 or e-mail chair@30thdemocrats.com. Also visit www.30thdemocrats.com.

30th District Republicans

Group meets 7 p.m. the third Thursday of every month at the Intellipass building, 1925 S. 341st Place, Federal Way. To learn more, call (253) 839-8048 or e-mail waltschrader@yahoo.com. Also visit www.fwgop.org.

asked. I didn’t have the energy to tell her about the WASL fiasco, the expense of the test, its questionable quality as a measure of academic mastery, its colossal waste of teacher time, classroom time and the fact that given poor student performance on the math section, the state has decided with a wave of the legislative wand, that it doesn’t “count” as a requirement anymore for graduation. Never mind the hundreds of millions already spent.

I didn’t tell her about the lawsuit several school districts have waged against the government for the inequitable funding of districts across the state, and how the governor is fighting the Supreme Court ruling against her that deemed the system unconstitutional. Nor did I tell her about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the Washington Education Association and our own state laws that sought to undermine paycheck protection of our teachers by having their union dues used, without permission, for political candidates.

I just didn’t have the energy. But, well, anyway, Happy Freedom Day.

Federal Way resident Angie Vogt: vogt.e@comcast.net

or www.soundupdate.com.

Committee members also become important project advocates and omsbudmen, utilizing contacts and networks to solve real world challenges. In 2005, Sequoyah couldn’t get the lights on in order to open on time. State Rep. Skip Priest, who has served on both the 1999 bond committee and the current committee, knew who to call at the utility to solve the issue — and open the way for a lighted school.

I don’t know that I’ll be able to make any groundbreaking phone calls, but I can share with you readers the existence of this committee that is working for you to get those eight new buildings constructed as promised in the bond: On time and on budget.

Chris Carrel is a lifelong Federal Way resident and executive director of Friends of the Hylebos. Contact: chinook@hylebos.org or (253) 874-2005.

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