Last week, my third-grade son and I attended an all-school show put on by the students at Schmitz Park Elementary School. "Honk!" played to a soldout crowd for two nights in West Seattle High School's beautiful theater.

The students were wonderful; they put a lot of work into this extravaganza and the work of the director, other staff members and parent volunteers paid off. Their performance was high quality and, more importantly, it was evident what a wonderful time they all had being a part of such a huge production.

On both nights before the show, my son and I collected signatures for Initiatives 87 and 88, also called the Great Schools for a Great City campaign. The idea behind them is to put $40 million a year into our Seattle Public Schools to restore funds for arts, music and other enrichment programs; to reduce class size (by about four kids per class); to provide tuition-free all-day kindergarten for every child in Seattle; and to help struggling students. We got help from teachers at Highland Park Elementary.

At Schmitz Park, the PTA supports the staff by raising a lot of money to make it possible to put on such a beautiful production. Parents also help with sets, T-shirts, marketing, programs and costumes. It is a huge undertaking. While this kind of support is not possible for some families, I believe every single child in our school district deserves the opportunity to be exposed to drama, music, visual arts and the beauty and color that come with that exposure.

We live in a city where we have school choice. The good news is that we can choose where to send our children. The unintended consequence is that birds of a feather flock together. All of us love our children. While many of us have the means to support wonderful enrichment programs, field trips and so on, I believe every child ought to have the opportunity to attend full-day kindergarten at any public school for free. Sometimes, the most affluent families and the ones who are poorest (since they get state support) are certain to attend full-day kindergarten.

For families in the middle, they might have to make some tough decisions based on their budget. Perhaps their children end up in a half-day kindergarten instead of a full-day program and that, of course, starts students off with an uneven playing field. Some may attend a school where the school community has decided to pay the bill at the cost of their arts programs.

The Great Schools initiative will put $40 million directly into classrooms for the next six years. Our state ought to be paying for basic education, but basic education is so narrowly defined that I worry. While the state continues to "study" their gross under funding of our public schools, we have students growing up today who don't have the opportunity to connect through the arts. Shouldn't it be a priority to restore the arts in all of our schools - not just the schools where parents can afford to pay for it?

This is a new tax. It would cost people who own a $400,000 home about $156 a year. It seems steep for some, but when you consider how much a family might spend for a night out of theatre or even a dinner and the movies, it gives one a different perspective.

I would rather pay an extra tax knowing it goes to all schools so every child can get a fair start in kindergarten or enjoy an arts program. Instead, we're spending much more than that just at the schools where the parents can afford it.

My dream is that every parent who has a child registered in Seattle Public Schools and who is registered to vote will take the time to sign these two petitions whether their school can support its own arts programs or not. Our current "Balkanized" approach to school funding impact each child, whether they are benefiting or suffering because of the socio-economic situation for the families at a school.

Please visit the initiative website, greatschoolsforseattle.com if you want more information. And please, no matter how busy your school is with all of the end-of-the-year activities, take two minutes to sign these petitions. Better yet, pick up a petition at your school (you all have them) and ask a few neighbors to sign on too so in the coming years the students in all of our schools can be equally busy with culminating music, art and drama events.

Fauntleroy