Improvement comes with support; vote yes

Problems always get talked about more than good news. That’s just a basic fact of society, one that applies to the way we view the institutions we all depend on, such as our local schools. That doesn’t mean good things aren’t happening too, or that we should stop supporting them.

That’s what the current levy election is about. It seeks to replace the one that will expire this year, and it presents your opportunity to support your local schools.

A change in approaches to leadership, professional development, and accountability is always likely to stir the organizational pot. That’s what the elected directors of the Grand Coulee Dam School District are pushing for with a new strategic plan they want to guide the district in a direction of accountability, staff development and student success.

At this moment in time, schools everywhere face many challenges as they try to help students make up for learning not gained during the pandemic, replace workers as changing priorities prompt life changes even as wages rise and public expectations include both more and less.

More responsibilities, that is, to embrace, protect and grow young people in uncertain times. And less time or resources than needed to handle them.

People running our small businesses know those challenges every day, but they seem especially acute in this moment as an aging workforce increasingly opts for retirement and the cost of keeping the doors open rises faster than their own prices do.

Schools also face these problems, but they have no options like raising prices, at least not without voters’ permission.

Some people want schools to improve first, before they’ll vote to support them. That seems like deciding to not fix your roof until it stops leaking.

Keep supporting local schools. Vote yes on the school levy.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher