Who We Are
We’re parents who believe in the power of grassroots and political action. No issue matters more to us than education, year after year. We understand that our future depends on preparing ALL of our children for success in college, job training, careers and life. We know schools and educators are doing the best job possible with the resources available. We also know our education system needs help. While our expectations of our students, educators and school leaders have increased, our level of state support has been on the decline.
We’re students who believe our future depends on our voice. We need to stand up for a high school diploma that means we’re ready for life. It’s unacceptable that a student can earn a 4.0 in high school and not be eligible to apply to a university in our own state. We need to speak up to ensure every child has access to a high quality education in our state-no matter where they live.
We’re educators who believe our school finance system is broken. Every day we see the basic needs that are not paid for by the state-and are instead paid for by local levies and out of our own pockets. It’s time that we hold our lawmakers accountable for what our schools need to educate our students TODAY, not what our schools needed 30 years ago.
We’re community leaders and advocates who believe that we get the schools we demand. That’s why in 2001, we founded the League of Education Voters. We believed it was time for a truly independent, powerful voice for parents, educators and community members to improve Washington’s education system through grassroots and political action.
And we’re policymakers who are impatient about progress. We’re tenacious about the work of building a true coalition to support change. We believe local activists, opinion leaders, lawmakers, the PTA, unions and especially young people must fuel the momentum for change. It’s the momentum we need to help every lawmaker step up to true leadership on education.
At LEV, we believe reforms plus resources are the keys to improving outcomes for children. That’s why we wrote and passed Initiative 728 in 2000 to lower class sizes and provide more learning opportunities like preschool and all-day kindergarten for students. I-728 was just the beginning. LEV was founded one year later to ensure state lawmakers fulfilled their promises and the will of the voters. LEV has successfully passed a statewide initiative, worked to pass two constitutional amendments, defended an important education revenue source and pushed for the creation of a seamless public education system.
Most of all, we’re only successful with your support. Our state’s 1.5 million public school students in early learning through higher education are counting on us to help them succeed in life.
