To the Editor:

In February 2006, Federal Way voters will be asked to vote for the School Construction Bond measure. This measure will provide needed funding for essential facilities improvements, support services, and needed new schools.

Several months ago, I was asked to serve as co-chair of this upcoming campaign. Even though I felt a bit over-committed to community activities in Federal Way and Tacoma, I wanted to do what I could to help. The education of our youth is important.

You may ask why I should be concerned. My children have completed their education in the Federal Way school system and have gone on to graduate from college and to pursue successful professional careers. Kevin, our oldest, is currently in graduate school at Northwestern and will graduate next May. Helen and I are proud of the foundation the educators in Federal Way laid for each of our children.

Yet I often wonder if they might have even done better if improvements and enhancements had been completed during the late seventies and 1980s. I can clearly see the improvement in overall district performance with the improvements made since the early 1990s. I am convinced that the work is not done of replacing old, inefficient schools with new ones.

Quality education is not an event but a continuous journey. It requires a community fully committed to educating all of its children. It's not enough to have quality teachers. We must have quality learning environments which accelerate the learning curve. I must say that it is sad to see so many of our youth falling behind on the WASL. Although the trends are in the right direction, we can, and we must, do better.

Tom Murphy, our school superintendent, and our school board have taken a courageous step in placing this bond issue before you. They have done this with a lot of foresight and vision. They are committed to a high level of quality in our schools in all aspects, and that helped convince me to sign up and help with this campaign. It takes all of us to make our school system, a "school system of choice."

In comparing Federal Way spending on school bonds issues by comparable districts such as Edmonds, Evergreen, Lake Washington, Puyallup, and Northshore, our bond dollars spent per student is $6,304 as compared to $16,813 in Puyallup according to OSPI.

The February School Construction Bond measure, in the amount of $245 million, would provide funding for substantial improvements in facilities, including a rebuild of Federal Way High School, and a number of elementary schools most in need of replacement. It also calls for a new performing arts center and more efficient and effective support services.

Over the next few months you will be getting a lot of information about the bond campaign. Please study it carefully. I think you will agree that the ROI (return on investment) created by this bond campaign will help sustain our Federal Way Schools as a model of excellence in our state and around the country.

Please join State Senator Tracy Eide and me, as co-chairs in supporting this upcoming bond measure.

Effenus Henderson