Letter to the Editor: WFEA recommends candidates for District 13 House, Senate

The North Dakota Education Association (NDEA), in cooperation with the West Fargo Education Association (WFEA), recently recommended its 2010 Legislative Candidates for District 13. These candidates were recommended by local association members based either on their responses to interview questions or on their past record of performance on education issues.

For the District 13 House seat, we recommend Democratic candidate, Mary Tintes. Tintes understands issues with great depth and thoughtfulness. Tintes understands that Main Street economies in all communities across the state of N.D. would benefit if our teachers and public employees received fair compensation and a stable defined benefit pension plan. House candidate Tintes knows this would be an investment in our states' economy that would have a widespread, direct effect like no other investment could have. Tintes believes even more jobs would be created, resulting with an important tool to retain young talent in our state.

For the District 13 House seat, we recommend Republican candidate, Rep. Kim Koppelman. For the District 13 Senate seat, we recommend Republican candidate, Sen. Judy Lee.

Rep. Koppelman and Sen. Lee deserve re-election. Their legislative records show strong support for education in N.D. and for the West Fargo School District. They were able to secure additional dollars for our district, which was shortchanged in the revision of the K-12 formula. Rep. Koppelman and Sen. Lee supported investing in quality education, including most recently delivering 100.18 million dollars toward property tax reductions from the state general fund.

I encourage you to vote for House candidate Mary Tintes, Rep. Kim Koppelman and Sen. Judy Lee as they will best support great public schools for every child and our economic well being.

Joan Connor

President

West Fargo Education Association