Grandson’s STEM career at stake in charter politics

As grandparent of a charter school student, I’m struggling to understand how our legislators could continue to play politics with our kids.

My grandson, Benjamin Moses Bradley is a seventh grader at Excel. Our family chose Excel in part for the STEM curriculum — science, technology, engineering, and math. These subject areas are the gateway to a financially stable future. Eight of 10 top-paying jobs for college graduates are in STEM.

We have never seen Ben more excited to go to school. He likes all of his teachers, is excited about computer science and is learning how to code. He enjoys science and is looking forward to learning more about the science topics he is already interested in.

I retired from a career in information technology and clearly see that technology has grown and continues to grow. The STEM education that my grandson currently receives isn’t available in the traditional public schools near us. Why would we shut this school down? We need to open more great schools like Excel.

I urge our lawmakers to find a bipartisan solution that secures permanent funding for Washington’s charter schools. We are not bargaining chips but real families who finally have a fit for our children’s needs. As I see it, the choice is simple — be heroes for our kids or betray our families and devastate hopes for successful STEM futures.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Grandson’s STEM career at stake in charter politics."