Majority against idea

I am a school board director. If Lynne Varner or Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, had polled school board directors about this, I think the majority would be against the idea [“Time to pay school board members,” Opinion, July 27].

For one thing, $25,000 per year is not enough to quit our day job, so board directors will not have more time to put into the school board job.

Some states require school board directors get training every year; Washington does not. We do have a self-funded organization that provides training, but we are not required to take the training.

School districts would get better directors if voters focused on the candidates answers. A school director’s first job is to increase student achievement. The first goal of a school director is to get more education for more students for the same or less money. If a candidate says they are interested in anything else, then don’t vote for them.

A bigger paycheck for school board directors is not the answer. If Carlyle wants to pass laws that will help student achievement, I have a few: Amend RCW 28A.150.260, put all public employees in the same health-care pool, instead of the 200 the state has now; change seniority laws to end last in, first out; and stop passing unfunded mandates and get rid of the ones already on the books.

Thank you for the thought though, and the good work you do.

— Susan Goding, director, Highline School Board, Burien