Vote yes to ensure education's survival

It is essential that voters remember to vote yes for schools and the future of education in our district on Tuesday, March 8. This levy election is crucial. The amount taxed is minimal. We are walking a tightrope here. This levy funds one-third of our staffing, supports our elective programs, and helps fund both academic and athletic extracurricular activities.

I am proud to teach at Sandpoint High School, where the mission to empower all students to reach their full potential is upheld by all. But I am afraid that a lack of funding could eliminate many of the programs, interventions and strategies we have in place to meet our goals at SHS. I believe my art program is essential. I believe art requires enormous self discipline. It requires setting goals, generating a strategy, determining how to apply it, and continuously making assessments and revisions- in other words, thinking and solving problems. It is the human mind operating at its very best.

However, if our levy does not pass, I also fear for arts education. The state wants to drastically cut our funding again, and without this replacement levy many programs, like mine, could suffer.

Please know where to vote next Tuesday, and then, don’t forget to do it. The best way to predict a bright future is to help create it.

HEATHER GUTHRIE

Sandpoint