My name is Matthew Titus, and I am a senior at Gig Harbor High School doing Running Start through Tacome Community College.
I am interested in becoming a lawyer when I am older, and I talk with my dad about topics such as how high taxes in Washington State have become. I was excited to hear different politicians’ viewpoints.
Meeting Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, seemed like it might be very intimidating. However, I was excited to get to understand more about her. She was very kind and open to discussing questions I had. It was a very special experience for someone my age to have a conversation with someone like her.
Caldier told us how important it will be if she is re-elected that “Republicans are back in the room when budgets are being discussed.”
She also explained how “out of reach” it is for young adults to become future homeowners. This is something that concerns me because someday I want to own a home. She made me think differently about how much people know about where their tax dollars are going. There isn’t much budget clarification for the public.
She will best represent people who are business owners in Washington.
Interviewing Sen. Deb Krishnadasan, D-Gig Harbor, was also an exciting experience. I’ve come to realize how empathetic of a person she is. I also was curious to see how different interviewing Krishnadasan would be from Caldier.
But I was pleasantly surprised that both were very kind and open to questions I had.
Krishnadasan enlightened me on the complexity of how schools are able to get federal funding. She shared a recent federal situation that has since been revised, when the federal administration halted funding for public schools.
This shocked me because I had no idea of the severity of budget problems, such as schools being unable to hire teachers to work this school year. She also shared that, “4-6% of Peninsula School District’s funding comes from federal (government).”
This is a small percentage; however, schools have no savings which makes this a bigger deal then it seems.
Schools “have to do more with less.”
Krishnadasan made me think differently and want to understand why the funding for schools is so complex.
Krishnadasan will best represent people who want to improve schools in Washington.
After meeting both candidates, I encourage everyone to do their research on these two strong candidates and go out and vote in the primary.
This is one in a series of five op-eds submitted by students of private teacher Mimmi Beck, who interviewed local politicians. They will run over the next three weeks.
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