Re: “WA lawmakers sacrifice students’ futures for small savings” (June 8, Opinion):
I agree with the editorial board that the state’s decision to cut funding to the College Success Foundation by $12 million is tragically shortsighted.
I worked seven years on the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund committee in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood, helping to establish our partnership with CSF to ensure that the students we served would receive the kind of counseling and support necessary for successful college enrollment and completion. Having worked in higher education for nearly 40 years, I knew it was crucial for first-generation students from underrepresented populations in Seattle’s South End to be guided through the college process.
Public middle and high schools cannot meet the needs of all these students and benefit greatly from the assistance of organizations like CSF. Community donors are eager to help, but they want assurances that students will succeed in achieving their college goals. You cannot simply supply scholarship funds and assume the students will figure everything else out on their own. CSF has an excellent track record in student completion, as the editorial pointed out. By gutting state support for these young students, we gut our state’s future.
Chris Kellett, Ph.D., Seattle
