The opening shot in this year's race for the U.S. Senate in Washington was fired at Garfield High School on Saturday, March 18.
It was standing room only in the gymnasium as Seattle greeted Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wa., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at an event sponsored by Cantwell's office. Garfield principal Ted Howard welcomed nearly 4,000 people to hear discussions on education from the junior senators from Washington and Illinois. International overtones hovered in the crowd.
An antiwar message and call to action rang in Rev. Kenneth Ransfer's opening prayer. Ransfer is pastor of the Greater Mount Baker Baptist Church in Seattle's South End.
Beneath the purple championship pennants of the Garfield Bulldogs, elected officials, civic activists, and area students prepped the crowd with tales of success overcoming hardship through education. Mary Bass, a member of the Seattle School Board, introduced Seattle SCORES, a program inspiring students to academic and athletic achievement - combining soccer and creative writing - serving 384 third-through-fifth graders at 11 schools in Seattle, Tukwila, and White Center. Friends of the Children of King County was also honored for work with the most vulnerable students. Making Connections, a program of the University of Washington's Women's Center, was highlighted by LaTasha Green, a senior honor roll recipient of the Ku 'Onesha Award, which recognizes academic achievement by African American students at Garfield High.
But it was the keynote speakers that drew the crowd.
Cantwell confronted
Rev. Dr. Samuel McKinney of Mount Zion Baptist Church introduced Cantwell by stating, "Now let us talk about education." Cantwell took the podium wearing a bright red dress and white blouse and framed by an American flag. Before she could speak, antiwar protestors interrupted the program. Stage left, a woman in the bleachers challenged the senator's position supporting the war in Iraq.
King County Executive Ron Sims led a contingent of Democratic Party faithful in a chant of, "Cantwell, Cantwell, Cantwell!" Though they drowned dissent, the issue settled on the throng. Saturday was an international day of protest, from Europe to Japan, marking the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. While the senators met in the Central District, downtown protestors rallied against the war, parading signs condemning Cantwell's approval of the United State's invasion of Iraq.
Cantwell described the federal education policy fight as, "a battle for the priorities of our country." According to Cantwell, the president's proposed fiscal year 2007 budget cuts $7 billion from education initiatives, eliminating 42 programs. Cantwell singled out two Bush administration plans that she felt needed to be stopped.
The U.S. Department of Education's TRIO Talent Search and Upward Bound program is one of Bush's budget-cut targets. The program assists disadvantaged individuals with the potential to succeed in higher education, and serves 50,000 Washington state students. If eliminated, $6 million would be cut in funding to Washington. This funding, she said, was "restored in the last week before the congressional recess," but still is threatened by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Pell Grants for college students, too, have been targeted for restriction by White House policy.
"I fought to expand the Pell Grant system," Cantwell asserted. "I am someone who went to school on a Pell Grant."
For the fifth year, said Cantwell, Bush's budget freezes Pell Grants at a $4,050 maximum award despite rises in higher education tuition.
Other administration targets Cantwell highlighted include GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, which provides counseling, mentoring, and tutoring), Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities state grants, all vocational and technical education programs, and Educational Technology Grants.
In a lighter moment, Cantwell recalled being her college Democratic Party Club president, and explaining to its advisor, "Jesus was a Democrat. He didn't ride into Jerusalem on the back of an elephant, did he?"
She summarized the Bush education position by stating that, "The administration grade should be an 'F.'"
Obama onstage
Welcomed by a standing ovation, the junior senator from Illinois spoke with eloquence and conviction, establishing an easy rapport with an enthusiastic audience.
"There are times when we feel we live in the most cynical times," he said, his tone reminiscent of the reverends Ransfer and McKinney. "They call it the 'Ownership Society,' but if you're not wise enough to choose your parents, you're on your own."
Obama echoed Cantwell's concerns.
"Every child is special, but our budgets have not reflected that," he said. "America has become a place where people hope for something else, something better. Public schools have always been a part of the promise. We are in danger of losing that ideal."
Obama described the nation's education system as a vestige of "an agricultural era." He emphasized the role of parents and personal responsibility.
"When I talk to parents, I tell them I will fight in Washington to get the resources you need, but that money won't make a difference if you don't turn off the television set," Obama asserted. "Each of us has responsibilities. We need reform and we need more money."
He praised Cantwell for her efforts to secure adequate federal funding for American education.
"We must retain a sense of hope. If you're a parent, make sure you're a parent. If you're a teacher, make sure you're a teacher," Obama concluded at the end of his speech.
Yet the controversy of the Iraq war dogged Obama, too. At one point, an audience member yelled from a seat in the middle of the auditorium, "How about the war?"
"I did not vote for the war," Obama replied, provoking the loudest round of applause that afternoon. Obama was not elected to the senate until 2004, approximately a year and a half after the United States Congress authorized the Iraq invasion.
Educational stumping?
Though billed as an open house on education policy, the event had all the trappings of a campaign event for Cantwell's re-election this November. Not all attendees were happy with the effort. Upon leaving Garfield, some angrily denounced Cantwell's cause while others lined up across the street at Ezell's for chicken to discuss the meeting's political points.
She faces two challengers, Green Party candidate Aaron Dixon, a long-time Seattle African American activist, and Republican Mike McGavick.
McGavick, former Safeco CEO, is also drawing on party connections to boost his campaign. Arizona's popular senior senator John McCain, who is speculated to have presidential ambitions, appeared at a McGavick fundraiser on Tuesday, March 21, downtown at the Westin Hotel. A private photo reception cost $4,200 per person, while attendance at a VIP reception drew $1,000 per person. Dinner was served at $250 a plate.
Craig Thompson may be contacted through editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]
