About 2 years ago I met David Spring. We met during a meeting about education in our state. He urged me to visit Olympia and meet my representatives. David has been actively fighting for adequate funding of our schools for years and has gotten to know our state legislators very well.
One early morning the following January, he picked me up in his truck and we drove to Olympia. He spent the day introducing me to as many legislators that we had time to meet. I was impressed with the ease of his rapport with our representatives, his understanding of the politics of Olympia, his knowledge of how bills are initially created and eventually passed, or not, and his understanding of the political history of Washington State.
David Spring has my vote.
On the flip side, his Republican opponent is Chad Megendanz who is backed by the League of Education Voters and Stand for Children. You might recall him from posts that I have written regarding the Washington State PTA and how the plank on merit pay and the one on charter schools was manipulated through by LEV “Key Activists”.
But getting back to David Spring. David is running in East King County as a candidate for 5th District Representative, Position 2.
David Spring is a parent of a child attending public school. He has a Master’s Degree in Education which he received at the University of Washington and has been an Instructor at Bellevue College for almost 20 years.
This is what David has to say about education:
WHAT IS THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE FACING VOTERS IN YOUR DISTRICT:
The most pressing issue in East King County is the lack of adequate school funding. Our children are forced to attend some of the lowest funded most overcrowded schools in America – three thousand dollars per child or 30% below the national average. Yet families in East King County pay State taxes at a rate which is 20% above the national average. It would take $3 billion per year to restore school funding in our State to the national average. Our State used to be 11th in the nation in school funding. We are now 45th. The reason for this decline has been a rapid rise in tax breaks for wealthy multinational corporations – which have tripled from $15 billion per year in 1996 to $45 billion per year today.
IF ELECTED, WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS IN OFFICE TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE?
I will submit a bill to roll back corporate tax breaks for any corporation making more than one billion per year in profit. For example, last year Microsoft made $23 billion in profit on $73 billion in sales. They evaded paying their fair share in State taxes by pretending that their products are made in Nevada. Had they paid a normal tax like any other business in our State, they would have paid one billion in State taxes. This would not have harmed Microsoft as they could deduct their State taxes from their federal taxes. Rolling back this single unwise and un-needed tax exemption would allow us to hire 10,000 more teachers.
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If you live in the 5th District, please vote for David Spring. David supports our children and has fought for the education they deserve.
If you don’t live in the 5th District, please donate to his campaign. He is running against a candidate who is being backed, via Stand for Children, by Gates and other millionaire/billionaires.
Check out his website and e-mail him, springforschools@aol.com, if you have any questions or can volunteer during these last two weeks of campaigning.
Dora
Seattle Education 
At the WSPTA legislative assembly Chad Magendanz testified AGAINST having PTA lobby for more school funding. That he was one of two people to do so shows how extreme his views are and how out of step with the well-founded wishes of Washington parents.
Magendanz surely knows that there is no way we will fully fund basic education in this state without adding new revenue to the budget. Yet he, in lock step with fellow radical conservatives, would pull as much money as he can from parts of the existing, shrunken budget. To be precise, from the social programs that are crucial – in some cases literally life and death – for so many of our students and their families.
In short, this a man who puts his anti-tax ideology above the rights and futures of our state’s children. He talks a mesmerizing line about supporting public education. He absolutely does not.