Letter to the Editor: School funding questioned

The framers of our constitution showed a great deal of wisdom! Certainly it was more than our state legislators showed when they were pressured into fully funding basic education without having a definition of basic education. That little omission has cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.

I do not remember the exact year that folly took place, but I know that special levies for maintenance and operation had to be increased. The state took more money from each district so the amount of the levies had to be raised. This was unpopular, as it was also the time the state was pushing to close the small schools. I was the superintendent at Edwall and in 1972 our patrons wanted to show their support by passing our levy with a 100% yes vote that set a state record that still stands.

Shortly after that our federal government decided they wanted to be involved and they set a number of rules that had to be met to get funding. This has created a situation where people who are good at writing grants get the most money.

The result is a nation where three out of four graduate. Wow!

Gerald W. Ray

Spokane