Lawmakers of the 36th district touted a successful legislative session that incorporated record funding for public education and answered questions about local housing and transportation during a recent town hall meeting.

Reps. Helen Sommers, Mary Lou Dickerson and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, all D-Seattle, representing Ballard, Fremont, Magnolia and Queen Anne, met with about 50 residents at the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

They were asked about the combined Sound Transit and Regional Transportation Investment District package, "Roads and Transit," expected to be on the ballot this fall. It includes a study of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle, among other road and transit projects.

Dickerson will support the proposal but said she's disappointed it doesn't include more mitigation for the future replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"I'm very concerned about that..." said Dickerson, a member of the House Transportation Committee. "(The viaduct) is very important for north-south traffic so we're going to need some additional resources."

Ballard is scheduled to receive more frequent bus service in the coming years with the passage of "Transit Now" last November, but buses get stuck in traffic, too, she said.

Kohl-Welles isn't sure how she'll vote on the proposal, but said she was disappointed that a long-time plan for a Sounder stop in Ballard wasn't included.

Sound Transit commuter trains passes through Ballard by Golden Gardens Park several times a day on the way to and from Everett and downtown Seattle. Building a stop in Ballard has been prioritized in the Ballard Neighborhood Plan, but transit officials have said higher ridership areas must take precedence.

Kohl-Welles chaired a citizen's committee several years ago that lobbied for the Ballard stop and she's still working with Sound Transit to toward that goal, she said.

Several people voiced concern about housing and condominium development in Ballard.

Dickerson said finding affordable housing has become increasingly difficult for young people, and she encouraged residents to lobby the Seattle City Council to prioritize the issue.

A condo conversion bill died in the House that would have required developers to give tenants extra notice and hold off on construction until residents move out. It would have forced developers to pay relocation assistance to low-income tenants at up to three months' rent.

It's an especially sensitive issue here, because "there's no place left to rent," said one woman.

Kohl-Welles said she expects the bill to advance next session.

Another woman suggested Seattle look into creating a "land bank" where a percentage of profits developers make from turning over land for a large profit would go back into the community for public improvements or conservation.

"I think in this city, there would be support (for that idea)," said Sommers, chair of the House Appropriations Committee

Funding kindergarten-through-12th-grade and early learning education was a top priority for lawmakers this year. That's thanks in large part to education lobbyists from all over the state who worked to compel legislators to fulfill the Constitutional commitment to fully fund basic education, said Sommers.

The state has made "major investments" in education funding that totals up to more than a billion dollars, said Dickerson, including $140 million for smaller class sizes, $51.2 million to phase in full-day kindergarten, $379 million for teacher salaries and $880 million in capital construction.

"Seattle Public Schools will be solvent now but we all know we have to do more," said Kohl-Welles.

More than 2,000 slots were added in early childhood education programs like Head Start, and $75 million is slated for school districts with high enrollments of students with special needs.

"That's a lot of new money in education," said Dickerson.

Also passed, a bill that will allow voters this fall to decide whether to allow simple-majority approval of property tax levies for local public schools instead of the current 60 percent super majority.

The Washington Assessment of Student Learning was another major subject of debate, said Kohl-Welles.

"It's one of the most controversial issues we've had in education for a long time," she said.

After much deliberation, legislators and Gov. Christine Gregoire passed a bill that delayed until 2013 a requirement that students must pass the math and science portion of the state exam in order to graduate.

"I believe in strong standards but there is too much variety in math curriculum across the state and it needs to become more standardized," said Kohl-Welles.

The school district recently passed a math adoption program to standardize its elementary and middle school curriculum.

The class of 2008 was scheduled to be the first required to pass the reading, writing and math sections to graduate. The science section of the test was set to become a requirement in 2010. The class of 2008 still will be required to pass the writing and reading tests.

Recognizing the state's constant struggle to fully fund basic education, Kohl-Welles said one of her goals is to create a new funding formula to ensure it has a stable and consistent source of support.

Washington is one of a handful of states in the country with no income tax and education funding comes mostly from the state budget, while many other states put the bulk of the responsibility on local jurisdictions.

"It puts a lot of pressure on the state budget," said Kohl-Welles.

The Legislature passed a $33.4 billion two-year operating budget with no new taxes and a reserve of $724 million before it wrapped mid-March.

It allocated funding for a number of local projects, including Ballard Corners Park and the design and construction of a new facility for the Nordic Heritage Museum.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com