It’s surprising to see the longtime chairwoman of the Washington state House Education Committee struggle to cite three recent votes she’s proud of. But that was the case when Democrat Sharon Tomiko Santos met recently with the editorial board to discuss her bid for reelection.
She highlighted a bill she’d successfully sponsored to fund preservation and development in Pioneer Square and the Chinatown International District, and another outlining parents’ rights. But that was all.
This is a real concern when considering the record of a lawmaker who’s held an outsized role in state education policy for the past 15 years.
Her opponent to represent the 37th Legislative District, fellow Democrat Kelabe Tewolde, presents as more engaged and forward-thinking, particularly on education, but he is unseasoned and untested as a lawmaker. He’s also voiced support for ideas like a statewide corporate payroll tax that could further discourage big business from investing in Washington. He should reconsider that view.
Still, on the pressing matter of K-12 schools, Tewolde comes across as a much-needed breath of fresh air.
For the past eight years, he has been a history teacher and associate leadership development director at Rainier Scholars, a nonprofit focused on academic acceleration for students of color. The organization was also an early supporter of Washington’s oldest and most successful charter school, Rainier Prep.
Treading carefully on this third-rail terrain, Tewolde calls charters “a niche issue,” since there are only 15 operating statewide. But with nearly 5,000 students enrolled in them, he feels charters, which do not have access to local levies, should be served like any other public school.
That’s notable, because the state’s education chief, Chris Reykdal, has opposed charters, yet nonetheless endorses Tewolde in this race — rather than Tomiko Santos, a leader in education with whom he has worked for years.
One reason might be the incumbent’s praise for a move to indiscriminately slash $138 million in education grants doled out through the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The decision threatens to obliterate some low-cost programs with proven benefits, like Treehouse’s Graduation Success, credited with helping many more foster kids leave high school with a diploma.
Tomiko Santos also shrugs off the notion of reforming Washington’s K-12 funding system as little more than “moving deck chairs around on the Titanic.” How’s that for an optimistic view of education?
What Washington really needs, she said, is a “vision” for education. Tomiko Santos has been running the Education Committee since 2011. Shouldn’t that vision have arrived by now?
There is no question about her dedication and long service to community. But Tomiko Santos’ lack of urgency on education, the arena where she’s spent the bulk of her legislative career, leads the editorial board to recommend that voters choose Tewolde instead.
