Simple majority continues to make a difference for kids and schools

Sign waving for Anacortes schools.

In living rooms and makeshift campaign offices around the state, thousands of parents, educators and students eagerly awaited election results for critical school levies on Tuesday night. When the first results were released after 8 pm, cheers went up in a majority of communities.

Despite these tough economic times, voters showed that they care deeply about their public schools. In Rochester School District, the “successful campaign for the school levy was carried out on the backs of many dedicated community volunteers and hard working school district staff members volunteering their personal time as well,” said Karen Sanchez, levy committee chairperson.

Shoreline schools supporters.

But in Rochester and in many communities, the celebration would have been put on hold. With 59.27 percent of voters saying “yes” to the levy, it would be failing without a constitutional amendment that passed in 2007. A massive grassroots effort by more than 6,000 volunteers and a coalition of 250 organizations led by Washington Education Association, Washington State PTA and League of Education Voters made it possible for voters to approve school levies by a 50 percent plus one vote, instead of a 60 percent supermajority.

“All of the supporters who helped pass simple majority received a huge return on their investments of time, money and effort. Everyone should feel very good about the victory that continues to make a big difference for thousands of school children across the state,” said Nick Hanauer, co-founder of LEV and major contributor to the simple majority campaign.

Here’s the difference simple majority made in this election (special thanks to LEV volunteer Deborah Parsons for researching all of the election results):

Maintenance and operations levies

• 49 passed between 50 and 60 percent
• Raised $1.4 billion
• Benefited 218,624 kids

Capital and technology levies

• 15 passed between 50 and 60 percent
• Raised $305.4 million
• Benefited 138,263 kids

Transportation levies

• 2 passed between 50 and 60 percent
• Raised $700,000
• Benefited 4,515 kids

Instead of gearing up for another election and preparing layoff notices to staff and teachers, school districts such as Marysville, Aberdeen, Kent, Ellensburg and Battle Ground can focus on preparing our students for life.

Below are the levies that passed due to simple majority for school levies (as of Wednesday or Thursday):