As a middle school social studies teacher, I see every day how the Educational Programs & Operations and the Technology renewal levies will benefit our students and parents in our community.

Levies do not build schools and must be renewed every four years. The EP&O levy will support equal, robust programming. Teachers, parents, and students all desire an expanded foreign language program, STEM and coding classes, and rich music programs. The levy will ensure these programs are expanded and equitable in the middle schools, and support our students’ high school, college, and career readiness.

If the levy does not pass, not every school can have these programs, which will pit parent and student communities against each other over who has what programs in their school.

The technology levy will update computers in our labs, devices in our classrooms, and finally put 6-12th grade students at a 1:1 ratio of students to computers. Our district is behind our neighboring districts in technology. In my building, teachers compete for a cart of Chromebooks that does not serve all our students in our large classes. One-to-one computers would address this and prepare our students for the competitive work environment. Finally, with consistent access to computers we can fully leverage our online 6-12th grade curriculum.

Public schools cannot function without a community’s renewed support of local levies. Not voting, or voting against the levies, will make students feel the direct effects by potentially losing existing programs, counseling services, nurses, additional classroom support, and more.

Please renew your support of our students’ success by voting “yes.”

Emily Rourke

North Bend