{"id":3202,"date":"2025-10-23T11:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/?p=3202"},"modified":"2025-10-23T11:46:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:46:23","slug":"i-know-how-important-education-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/10\/23\/i-know-how-important-education-is\/","title":{"rendered":"I know how important education is"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s officially fall, and I\u2019m back in the classroom teaching special education. As an educator in the Camas School District and a parent, I know how concerned teachers, parents, and students are about the potential impact of district budget shortfalls. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent the summer connecting with my fellow teachers and parents to talk about the challenges facing our education system. I\u2019ve also visited school districts in rural and urban parts of our state and spoken to superintendents about what they need to ensure their students succeed. Our state\u2019s school districts are as diverse as our students, and it\u2019s critical that we meet them where they are. We must ensure we can support every one of our 1.1 million public school students in Washington state.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the federal government slashes education funding, we are prioritizing our students, teachers, and schools in Washington. Last session, we passed a budget that invested $1.4 billion over the next four years to boost special education services and help districts cover materials, supplies, and operating costs (commonly referred to as MSOC). We also passed a bill I sponsored extending special education services for students with disabilities until the end of the school year in which they turn 22 years old. As a special education teacher, I know how critical specialized and inclusive learning environments are to students\u2019 lives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud of the work we accomplished this past session, but I know we must do more to meet our duty to fund education.\u00a0<\/span>At a time when the Trump administration is cutting funding for education including cuts to special education; our state must step up. <\/span>We cannot allow schools to close or our students to fall behind academically because we failed to provide the resources our school districts need. That\u2019s why I\u2019m already working with my colleagues to continue our efforts to improve and support education in our state<\/span> in a fiscally responsible manner<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an honor to represent you and a privilege to bring our southwest Washington values to Olympia.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Adrian Cortes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0 It\u2019s officially fall, and I\u2019m back in the classroom teaching special education. As an educator in the Camas School District and a parent, I know how concerned teachers, parents, and students are about the potential impact of district budget shortfalls. \u00a0 I\u2019ve spent the summer connecting with my fellow teachers and parents to talk about the challenges facing our education system. I\u2019ve also visited school districts in rural and urban parts of our state and spoken to superintendents about what they need to ensure their students succeed. Our state\u2019s school districts are as diverse as our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":3205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"\nI know how important education is - Sen. Adrian Cortes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/10\/23\/i-know-how-important-education-is\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I know how important education is - Sen. Adrian Cortes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0 It\u2019s officially fall, and I\u2019m back in the classroom teaching special education. As an educator in the Camas School District and a parent, I know how concerned teachers, parents, and students are about the potential impact of district budget shortfalls. \u00a0 I\u2019ve spent the summer connecting with my fellow teachers and parents to talk about the challenges facing our education system. I\u2019ve also visited school districts in rural and urban parts of our state and spoken to superintendents about what they need to ensure their students succeed. Our state\u2019s school districts are as diverse as our...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/10\/23\/i-know-how-important-education-is\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. 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