School supplies, the tools of learning: reading, writing, freedom

HAPPY Fourth of July. We are back to ask your help to raise money for school supplies, and celebrate the civic virtue of education and its role in a healthy democracy.

Those lofty intentions draw their inspiration from Thomas Jefferson, whose Declaration of Independence is the soul of this national holiday.

Jefferson is the patron spirit of an annual editorial-page effort to provide school supplies for children who would otherwise return to class without the basic tools of learning.

Generous readers yearly turn his philosophical insights into action and help for needy families caught in an loop of economic anxiety. One school year ends, and the expense of starting up in the fall looms on the horizon.

School supplies — pencils, pens, notebooks and backpacks — have a pragmatic connection to the boldness of Jefferson's declaration.

Our Founding Fathers were guided by philosophers who saw freedom as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of property. Jefferson took "property" and flipped it. He substituted the word happiness, drawing on its Greek origins.

He saw a human flourishing based on learning and working toward the perfection of justice. Happiness equaled occupation, and personal fulfillment came with education. For the man who would be the nation's third president, learning was a key to happiness.

In Jefferson's view, educated citizens were fundamental to the strength of a democracy. He believed the cost of uneducated children was much greater than a good education.

Reader donations help buy the tools that build a solid education. In the weekly reminders about our campaign, which runs through Labor Day, we would like to acknowledge similar school-supply drives throughout the community.

Contributions will be divided among three agencies: Hopelink, the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County, and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.

As always, we believe Thomas Jefferson said "thank you" best:

"The reward of esteem, respect and gratitude (is) due those who devote their time and efforts to render the youths of every successive age fit governors for the next."

> Readers are invited to send a donation to: The School Supply Drive of The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy, P.O. Box C-11025, Seattle, WA 98111. For donations via debit or credit card, e-mail pdelaney@seattletimes.com for details.