I Attend A Community Conversation With State Elected Officials

AT THE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION – My Earlier Thoughts, The List of Many Topics, and A New State Government Office

Oak Tree Beyond Window

My Earlier Thoughts - Yesterday I got a Tacoma Public Schools newsletter that describes a Pacific Lutheran University partnership between PLU and Tacoma Public Schools to foster the languages and the cultures of the residences within the whole context of learning.  One project involves student teachers from PLU at Tacoma Schools.  “We need to reflect the languages, the culture and histories of our community in our classrooms as we move forward…” (Spotlight, Tacoma Public Schools Fall 2015)

My thought on that topic is, that perhaps descendents of Scandinavian-Americans need to discuss this with emotional reference.  Another quite recent PLU project was about Caring Burnout.  A mistaken perception could exist in communities involved with this partnership.  In truth, in the history of the Scandinavians with Tacoma Public Schools, the Schools have not fostered the language and cultures of Scandinavians.  Scandinavian groups formed committees to request their languages in high schools, and Tacoma Public Schools rejected this. 

Fey, Darnielle, Jenkins

It was always true that Tacoma Public Schools offered their students an education in a supportive and varied way, with diversity present. I adored school, but my Scandinavian Experience was light years away from our curriculum.  We did do family trees with some holiday traditions in eighth grade.   As adults we have not been misguided - we live in a diverse Tacoma.  However, for non-English people the languages and cultures have not been taught.  Nor has their historical perspective.

At the Community Conversation - The List of Many Topics:  Jake Fey, Jeannie Darnielle, and a slightly late arrived Laurie Jinkens at Wheelock Library meeting room began their community conversation by gathering a long list of topics people wanted to cover:  mental health and civil rights and helath care...

The discussions began with Immigrant Rights and the Detention Center on the tide flats,  continued with Social Security disability cuts and other budget issues. 

Taxes,  laws on religion...Ms. Darnielle explained that some issues were federal (not state) issues, that there were several tiers of government.

They discussed budget issues – with a 25 million dollar fire budget, we have just had a 75 million dollar fire.  And they discussed the slow but progressive action taken, the McCleary response – in affirmative rights the government must support public education. 

I mentioned it might be important to listen openly to the thoughts about non-parents on education.  They experience paying for education without using the service. 

They discussed medical marijuana.  As our representatives, they described how they were strategic in how they tried to engage the many issues of the time.

A new state government office:  And they discussed youth.  Many are homeless.  They are acting to change the fact that many are suspended or expelled without re-entry plans.  They plan a new state government office to address what is bringing children into homelessness and to study how for committing so-called “status offenses”, like running away or skipping school,  children could be incarcerated.  Gray's Harbor County, they said, has a high rate of student incarceration for these offenses.  Adults cannot be incarcerated for these behaviors. 

“There is a huge gap, and what is happening now is not a solution,” said a representative from Hilltop Artists.

They discussed the removal of the Washington State Telephone Assistance Program, now to be managed by a federal program.  Many people under the poverty level will no longer have assistance with telephone bills.