I’m an educator who found it frustrating to receive a campaign mailer stating a blatant untruth about Teri Hickel’s stance on funding our schools and calling it fact.

A Kristine Reeves mailer stated Teri Hickel thinks we “pay too much” for our schools. That is taken completely out of context! Teri has always advocated fully funding basic education at the state level! Federal Way has had to supplement teacher salaries from our local levy dollars, unlike in other districts where teacher salaries are fully funded by the state. The local levies are intended to be used by teachers for the classroom. Teri Hickel has stated clearly that this is unfair for our local taxpayers because we have had to pay too much compared to other districts like Seattle, Bellevue and Mercer Island. Teri’s ultimate goal is fair funding, and to finish what former Superintendent Tom Murphy and former school board President Dave Larson started when they sued the state for fair teacher compensation. Teri is committed to fixing the 30-year outdated school funding system to make it fair for our local taxpayers. That is her top priority!

Teri has lived in Federal Way for 27 years, and she has a deep understanding of the issues – including fair school funding, public safety, reducing traffic congestion, and encouraging economic innovation (new and forward-thinking jobs to support our tax base).

Vote for Teri! Her 20-year record of supporting schools, beginning with her work in the trenches to pass levies through Citizens for Federal Way Schools, speaks for itself! She will continue to be our voice in Olympia and work on the issues that are critical to our quality of life and to our children’s future!

Maria Summerfield, Federal Way