West Seattleite Brendan Kolding, who challenged 34th District Position 2 State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon in 2014, says he’s running for the State House again. This time, he says he’s seeking the Position 1 seat long held by Rep. Eileen Cody. Kolding, a 33-year-old Democrat and father of three, says education is his top priority. From his announcement:
It is unacceptable that the State continues to be in violation of its Constitutional obligation to fully fund public K-12 education. The Supreme Court has made it clear that education funding is priority number one within the operating budget, and there is more than enough money to meet the additional four to five billion dollars that is needed. Once education is fully funded, then tough decisions will have to be made regarding cuts to other entities that fall within the operating budget. If the citizens of Washington are willing to accept more taxes to augment the budget, then funding can be restored to the non-education entities, but withholding resources from education until new funding sources can be identified is completely untenable.”
Kolding is a member of the Holy Rosary School Commission and says he sees private schools as complementary to public schools:
“Private schools save the taxpayers over $800 million annually. If we can make these schools more accessible to the families who are interested in enrolling their children in them, the funding and class size requirements of McCleary will be easier to attain. It’s a win-win. For that reason, I am proposing legislation that will incentivize donations that support private schools.”
Kolding is a former substitute teacher who is now a sergeant in the Seattle Police Policy Unit. He also volunteers as a youth-basketball coach. The position he’s running for will be on the August 2nd ballot.
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