Last night's legislative town hall meeting in Montesano showed that people in rural communities are no less concerned about education funding than those in urban and suburban communities.
In fact, one attendee told Reps. Kevin Van De Wege and Steve Tharinger, who were hosting the town hall for their Grays Harbor County constituents, "Children in Grays Harbor deserve the same education as children in Bellevue."
She implored the legislators to fight for levy equalization funding in the state budget.
Around 90 people showed up at Beacon Elementary for a question-and-answer session with the two representatives, who are seatmates in the 24th Legislative District. The 24th District is one of the largest legislative districts, and is made up of mostly rural communities in Grays Harbor and on the Olympic Peninsula.
Education was by far the number one topic. In addition to worries about more costs shifting to local school districts, people expressed concern about the rising cost of higher education in Washington. Some said it was putting college out of reach for middle and working class families, while others said that it was forcing today's students to take on an excessive amount of debt.
Both representatives agreed that rising tuition costs are a concern, but Rep. Van De Wege added that what is even more worrisome to him is the possibility of lawmakers cutting enrollment slots at higher education institutions.
"If someone can't get in to a community or four-year college, or into one of our state's technical schools, that is going to affect the rest of that person's life," Van De Wege said.
Concern over education funding is clearly something that unites Washingtonians. In every corner of the state, families are worried about their children's future, and how they're going to pay for it.
