Comments

1
I would love to see how she's going to pay for this, considering we can't even fund our K-12 schools.
2
Yet another big city limousine bleeding heart liberal mayor wannabe that want's to bleed us dry.
3
Just make the fat people and property owners foot the bill.

Oh wait, that's what she's suggesting!
4
7 mil a year? Chump change. Maybe they could negotiate a group rate and get the price down a bit. How much does Seattle pay to settle police brutality and sexual harassment suits per year?
5
@3: Yeah, stick it to those homeless fat slobs and those skinny yuppie tech bro homeowners.
6
When in doubt, go left!
7
RITDMFOTP
8
$7 million a year is surprisingly cheap. The city has a $5.6 billion dollar budget, so I certainly think they could come up with that much money.

I would say they should subsidize 4 year colleged as well, even if they can't cover the full cost of tuition.
9
@1: Read the story; it's in the fifth paragraph.

So, how does Cary Moonbeam plan to pass a state law mandating a capital gains tax? Just wondering.
10
@7: What's the "D"?
12
@11

There's nothing wrong with the trades, but I'm a bit troubled by the implication that the poor should be funneled into the trades, and discouraged from aspiring to, say, law school.

If you're going to set up an education program for the disadvantaged, it looks pretty damned cynical to put a ceiling on it that keeps them out of the professions.
13
@11: However, it is simply not true that a college degree is required to enjoy a middle class lifestyle. The construction trades pay excellent wages and benefits after completing an apprenticeship (for which you are paid.) Journeymen plumbers and electricians make better than $40 an hour.

Which is exactly why I support this! From the article:

The program, modeled off an existing South Seattle scholarship program, would offer Seattle graduates, including undocumented students, counseling for their transition to college and then up to two years of tuition at any community college or technical college in Washington State.

A program for two-year programs at community or technical colleges means that you're less likely to subsidize the upper- and middle-class teenagers trying to get a random degree at UW (and are less in need of financial aid to do it), and more likely to put these resources where it counts to address poverty and job training issues.
14
@12 If you're going to set up an education program for the disadvantaged, it looks pretty damned cynical to put a ceiling on it that keeps them out of the professions.

Doesn't shut anyone out at all... instead, it provides a lower cost option for starting at a community college and finishing at UW or another four-year university. Why should the city government subsidize two years of tuition at UW or SU at a higher cost if they don't need to?
15
Elsewhere Durkan talked about cutting into the Families and Education levy money. That would devastate program already in Seattle schools. There's a health center at every single SPS high school and some middle schools that serve thousands of kids who might not otherwise get health care, physical and mental.

Just to note, Durkan also said in an interview at the 36th Dems that she found the Seattle Schools Board a problem and she'd have to think about how to work with them. She just like Murray; she will try to force a takeover of SPS. Beware.
16
This is one reason why I couldn't really vote for Moon in this match-up. A clear plan, versus a lot of platitudes? I know she's a genius and all, but I'd prefer my elected officials to, you know, actually get things done.
17
@16 Speaking of platitudes...have you ever listened to a Jenny Durkan speech? It is as if her speech writers had a verbal generator which contained every known platitude or otherwise empty stock expression in the English language. Just press a button and see what distressingly hollow and anodyne combinations are issued forth:

***Warning***Banality Alert***

Seattle has great coffee, lots of rain and computers, so let's get stuff done!

Every homeless person has a different story! Nikita Oliver is too cool, too cool!

Et cetera.
18
Why did the lightrail package include 1/2 billion in funding for education?!?!?!
19
First, the city needs to own its school capacity crisis. We are growing steadily at 1,000 students/year. That's 2 1/2 elementary schools. Classes run 30 to 35 students instead of 17 to 25. Class size is the biggest thing we could do to close the opportunity gap. We need developer impact fees to fund the next generation of school construction.

It would also be good if Seattle got 1/6 (per capita share of state population) of the $100 million in the proposed capital budget for school construction, but that's only $18M. We are hundreds of classrooms short.

Durkan should focus on Seattle's role in funding education, not the State's role. Impact fees are provided in the Growth Management Act to pay for schools, parks, roads and fire safety. We need to implement them, declare a school capacity crisis, and start lowering class sizes. If Durkan thinks paying for 2 years of college or tech school is a good idea (it's in the Demoicratic Party platform) then put it on the city's Legislative Agenda and start lobbying for it!
20
To the headline writer, a "plan" has resources. Durkan's idea/proposal doesn't.
She might steal ST3 money from other counties, or from Bridging the gap.

I don't think I've flipped my vote so quickly and easily before.
4 years of slush fund politics is a big NO.
22
This is absolutely the DUMBEST thing that Democrats can say right now. "Free College" is a policy that just hands all blue collar votes to Trump. Think about it people! It just paints Democrats as elitists who don't give a rat f*ck about working people who never went to college and whose kids are not likely to either.
23
@18 Sorry, this is the Stranger, so important issues like that tend to get overlooked.

What you are asking about is the Here's the Cliff Note version:

Basically the deal is that ST3 was stuck in the middle of folks complaining that taxes were too high already (yes, this was all about car tabs) and another contingent of folks complaining that ST3 jeaporadized education funding, because there is only so much money to go around (again, pretty much the car tab battle).

As a compromise, the legislature increased the amount of sales tax that Sound Transit was required to pay on certain labor costs associated with its projects. Sound Transit pays this tax into a special fund, and then it is doled out to a few of the Puget Sound area counties for educational funding.

So, rather than tax the general public, the legislature elected to tax Sound Transit. Guess what, though--the general public funds Sound Transit through, you guess it, taxes, so we pay more in tax in order to allow Sound Transit to pay more in tax! Makes perfect sense, right?
24
@23 Ugh, why can't you edit posts on here?

That was supposed to read "What you are asking about is the 'Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account.'"
25
@22 Let me see if I am following you. Are you saying that blue collar folks are going to find out that stuff like, say, the 6 month welding and fabrication program at South Seattle CC (http://www.southseattle.edu/harbor-islan…) is free, and they are going to resent that? What is elitist about getting into a trade through a free training program?
26
It's a good idea that is surprisingly cheap, realistic and most students will be able to attend while living at home. Dow, you listening?
27
Is education one of city's primary duties? Why didn't Jenny run for the school board if that is her top idea and concern?
28
Whoring out taxpayer dollars for votes.
29
How about you come up with a plan to deal with the homeless? now is not the time to take on new issues when we are struggling to deal with current issues. Besides that, the cost of tuition is not that much. Anyone who wants to attend these community colleges can go with a day or night job. Although a little help to those that actually can show the need and not get US government aid would be cool.
30
How again was Olliver going to pay for her ideas? Also, bad idea to force people into blue class jobs just because their grades aren't up to snuff. Britain tried that for decades and it back-fired to this day.
31
No better way to buy votes than to promise lots of fee govement cheese.
32
Freeattle.
33
@2 raindrop, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Oh, wait... haha But seriously, people learning a trade in community college (or preparing to transfer to a four-year) benefits EVERYBODY in society, even ignorant you, and helps the student to become a contributing member of society. People who are opposed to funding education are devastatingly sad because education is one of the main functions of government and the fact that you don't know that and/or don't care is the reason why the US is doing so much worse than the rest of our peers in the world. We're mired in ignorance and greed and it's harming everybody, yes, even you, even if you don't realize it. I suspect there's a lot you don't realize. Have you ever actually read anything?

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.