By Jeff Hansen

Bellevue is home to one of the top school districts in America. From personal experience I can tell you this is no accident.

The key to our success is that parents, educators, and local leaders are all committed to providing the support our students need to succeed. This includes adapting to the needs of our rapidly changing global economy.

More than one-third of our students speak a first language other than English, and Washington state has the third highest percentage of jobs in science, technology, and engineering. So this commitment means funding for the language programs, computers, science labs, and coursework our students need to thrive in today’s world.

Our community is all-in for a world-class education system. We need the same level of commitment from our legislators.

The Supreme Court has ruled that we are failing our constitutional responsibility to fund public schools. While the governor and House of Representatives have risen to the challenge with their budgets, the Senate’s budget – led by Eastside Sens. Andy Hill and Rodney Tom – falls short.

The reality is that more than half their “new” funding comes from cutting one part of the education budget and transferring it to another. For instance, they raid a fund for building schools to fund operating costs. This may work for accountants, but it doesn’t help students. With their proposal we will have the fourth most crowded classrooms in the nation.

Even worse is the proposal to cut funding for community services that help our students arrive to school ready to learn. With the Senate budget more than 35,000 families would lose affordable housing and 4,000 slots for childcare would be eliminated. Kids that are hungry, sick, or homeless simply can’t learn.

The Senate’s budget is just as notable for what it doesn’t do: end tax breaks for special interests. There are 640 tax breaks on the books. The Senate fails to end a single one and creates a dozen more.

The Senate budget is the wrong direction for our kids and our classrooms. Budgets are about choices, and we must choose to fund education instead of protecting outdated tax loopholes. This choice reflects both our values as a state and the reality of our budget.

Parents, kids, and local leaders stand united in support of providing our kids the world-class education they deserve. The only question is if our senators will join us.

Jeff Hansen has served as a trustee and past president of the Bellevue Schools Foundation, and as a partner with Social Venture Partners and current Chair of their K-12 Grant Committee. He lives in Bellevue.