Several times in England the English chose to bring in a new king from elsewhere. George I, was from what is now Germany and didn’t even speak English, and William and Mary came from Holland.

Federal Way, in a sense, now faces some of the same challenges as these new monarchs faced in England as the citizens of Federal Way bring in a new Mayor and a new school Superintendent.

New Monarchs, and I would guess Mayors and Superintendents, would want to take a close look at the situation in their new fiefdoms and then decide how they might improve them.

Perhaps, in the case of Federal Way the previous powers didn’t take this closer look as they seem to believe that “All is well.”

What would the citizens of Federal Way want to do to improve Federal Way? A look at all of the vacant office buildings, a lack of well
paying employment opportunities, some significant crime issues and an education system that is not well regarded by employers might be some of the issues for the new Mayor and Superintendent to think about.

Several years ago I was on a flight from Dallas to San Francisco. My seatmates turned out to be two executives from one of the premier
management consulting firms. They were involved in making recommendations for where businesses that were expanding should locate
new facilities.

Their discussion revolved around a couple of locations in Texas, places near Washington, DC and Western New England. After they wound down a bit I asked them if Puget Sound was ever a consideration. Their response was something that more people
in Puget Sound ought to consider.

“Puget Sound is often in the first round of the selection process, but when our clients, who have a need for highly educated workforces, look at the opportunities for hiring these people they find Puget Sound to be lacking. In addition the people that these employers hire are
looking for quality education for their children and this requires school districts that are nationally rated to attract this kind of
candidate.”

At the November meeting of the Washington State School Directors Association the parting remarks from the President-Elect referred to
the take-overs of school systems by Mayors that can no longer tolerate the problem that my seatmates described.

How could the Mayor and Superintendent of schools in Federal Way change the image of Federal Way to attract well paying employers?

Hillary Clinton wrote, “It takes a village.”

I think the Mayor ought to take this adage to heart. Federal Way could become a lighthouse for potential employers if the City and the
School District were to address the problems of our youth.

A consistent, coordinated, positive message, coupled with aggressive, consistent actions for those who don’t get the message would likely change the focus of some of our kids who seem to be lacking in the skills needed to make the right decisions.

Some parents might not like this insistent, persistent, consistent hectoring and decide to leave the city. Other parents would likely be
very thankful for the support that these two parties offered.

Let’s just imagine what Federal Way would be like if we were known for a school district that exceeded the national average in National Merit Scholars, graduated a significant number of vocationally certified students, placed a significant number of kids in competitive colleges,and had all of its high schools nationally rated by national rating organizations as well as by local colleges.

I think my management seatmates, who are well aware of these numbers, would be headed this way daily.

As it is, Washington is rated 43rd in the nation for high school completion and the district is said by the national educational newspaper, also read by location experts, as only graduating 45.7% of its 9th graders.

We can do better. We will have a new Superintendent and a new Mayor coming to town. What if they decided that our youth could do better if the adults in this community insisted that they did?

What if the youth of Federal Way knew and understood that laws were meant for them as well as for adults? What if parents who did not properly raise their children came to understand that the community would devote their resources to insisting that this wasn’t the place for them, if they were not taking responsibility for the conduct of their children?

What if you didn’t see kids out at 11 pm on weeknights?

A coordinated effort by the city and the school district that parents and children understood could make us a “Lighthouse” in the Northwest.

Perhaps “Prosperity is just around the corner!”

Bring on the change!