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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MAy 21, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
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JEREMY FELDMAN
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OUR VIEW
If you witness trouble, stay on the beach
Drill offers chance to give
key advice to public
uring Emergency Medical
Services Week, it is fitting
to salute all those who are
trained and ready to respond to any
crisis with skilled professionalism.
We are especially fortunate that
we are protected by the fine per-
sonnel, paid and volunteer, at our
coastal fire departments. Medix
Ambulance crews work closely
with them to ensure a level of care.
And professional staff at our three
local hospitals are ready to treat
emergency-call patients 24/7.
These folks handle calls year-
round and their service should be
saluted.
A key element of those efforts
involves ocean rescue.
Our beautiful Pacific Ocean
coast can be a treacherous place.
Despite repeated warnings to visi-
tors about the danger lurking amid
all that beauty, every year there
are people who underestimate the
waves and the undertow and get
into trouble.
That’s when rescue team mem-
D
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
A Coast Guard vessel sits offshore as emergency responders practice a rescue drill in Seaview.
bers go to work.
One important nuance emerged
from a recent drill involving the
Coast Guard and the volunteer
surf rescue team across the river in
Washington.
Leaders of the event, which
involved more than one-half dozen
agencies, took time to emphasize
the need to get the word out to the
public about an important manner
in which they can help.
If you observe what appears to
be a person in distress in the ocean
and call 911, you must stay at the
location and watch for responders’
rigs.
That’s because early arriving
rescuers from fire departments,
law enforcement agencies and the
Coast Guard need to know what
they are looking for — and where.
Both Doug Knutzen, longtime
leader of surf rescuers based in
Seaview, Washington, and Lt. Jes-
sica Shafer, Coast Guard com-
mander at Cape Disappointment,
made that the single most import-
ant takeaway from the drill.
Knowing how many people are
in the water — and being able to
locate them — are uppermost in the
minds of responders as they unpack
their rescue gear and launch into
the water.
No one wants to call off a res-
cue until all missing people are
accounted for.
In an ideal world, locals and vis-
itors alike would heed the repeated
warnings about the dangers of the
ocean and never need to be res-
cued. Alas, that is not the reality of
living next to the ocean.
Members of the public who see
someone in trouble and call 911 for
help have another part to play, too.
Don’t leave the scene. Stay on the
beach, identify yourself to respond-
ers, and repeat what you told the
911 dispatcher.
WHERE TO WRITE
• State Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court St. NE, H-285, Sa-
lem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.tiffinymitchell@oregonleg-
islature.gov. Web: oregonlegislature.
gov/mitchell
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Cap-
itol, 900 Court St. NE, H-374, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431.
Email: Rep.BradWitt@oregonlegis-
lature.gov. Web: oregonlegislature.
gov/witt
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court St. NE, S-209, Sa-
lem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1716.
Email: sen.betsyjohnson@oregonleg-
islature.gov. Web: oregonlegislature.
gov/johnson. District Office: P.O.
Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone:
503-543-4046. Astoria office phone:
503-338-1280
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D):
2231 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC 20515. Phone: 202-
225-0855. District office: 12725 SW
Millikan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton,
OR 97005. Phone: 503-469-6010.
Web: bonamici.house.gov
GUEST COLUMN
Time to start investing in our future
E
arlier this month, thousands of
teachers across Oregon walked out
of classrooms and rallied both in
their communities and on the state Capi-
tol steps with one laudable request: that we
take bold action and finally fund our edu-
cation system. That same day, I spent my
afternoon calling educators from the North
Coast to talk about what a $1 billion dollar
per year increase in educa-
tion funding would mean
for our school districts.
Unsurprisingly, educa-
tors in our communities
shared the same concerns
as thousands of students
and teachers across the
TIFFINY
state and urged me as their
MITCHELL
legislator to vote “yes”
on legislation that could
deliver on that promise.
For too long, Oregon’s public schools
have been chronically underfunded, and
students have paid the price. Early in 2018,
the Legislature sought to tackle this long-
standing problem through the formation of
the Joint Committee on Student Success.
The product of their yearlong tour — the
promise we owe to teachers — is the Stu-
dent Success Act.
The bill, which has been signed into
law, directly dedicates investments in early
learning, K-12 public schools and critical
wraparound services for students. Schools
will be accountable for meeting perfor-
mance targets in areas such as graduation
rates, reading levels, and attendance. Spe-
cifically, the investments must go towards
expanding learning time, reducing class
sizes, expanding student access and par-
ticipation, or improving student health and
safety.
One critical need I have heard consis-
tently from parents, teachers and students
is increased mental health support. When
kids are struggling at home, they bring
that strain with them to school. From Sep-
tember through June, kids spend most of
their time in schools where a confluence
of home stressors come together under
the added pressure of a resource-strapped
school and overworked teachers. Kids who
are affected by these external stressors
aren’t ready to learn, and even a single dis-
ruption from a student who is struggling to
manage their mental health can derail an
entire classroom.
Increasing revenue to invest in educa-
tion will empower our schools and edu-
cators to implement approaches that will
improve student mental health across the
North Coast so that they can be ready to
learn and succeed. For the most vulnera-
ble students in our communities, school
is often the only support and stability in
their lives. If we invest now, not only will
we see immediate improvements in stu-
dent performance, but we will see ripple
effects for years to come as healthy stu-
dents become successful adults. When we
address student mental health in the envi-
ronment where they spend most of their
time, we can set them up to grow in both
learning the skills needed to get good-pay-
ing jobs, and how to manage their mental
health into adulthood. Taking approaches
like these and others will reduce the bur-
den on social services and our health sys-
tem as our kids become adults.
What this means for our local commu-
nities is millions in new investments. For
instance, the Astoria School District will
receive $1.4 million more in the 2019-
2020 school year. The district will focus
on reducing class sizes, hiring mental
health counselors, and adding at least three
additional days to their academic calendar.
Seaside School District will use its $1.2
million investment to hire a staff dedicated
to trauma-informed care and would incor-
porate STEM and arts classes in all K-12
schools.
Every school district is different, and
the support of this bill gives school dis-
tricts the autonomy to decide where to best
spend those funds. We need solutions that
work for the North Coast, and this will
give our schools the ability to best serve
the unique needs of our kids.
All of this would be paid for through
a modified commercial activities tax on
businesses earning more than $1 mil-
lion per year. This proposal has a low rate
for companies, just over half of one per-
cent. In addition, the legislation con-
tains exemptions on motor fuel, medi-
cal and insurance provider assessments
and groceries. It also gives every Orego-
nian income tax relief. This new tax struc-
ture will add long-term stability to school
funding and ensure we are able to con-
tinue supporting students in every corner
of Oregon.
The Student Success Act represents
a carefully crafted, well-designed pro-
posal that will help us reverse the trend of
overfull classrooms and lagging gradua-
tion rates. I am so proud to have supported
this proposal and thrilled that it has been
signed into law. It is time for Oregon to
finally start investing in our future.
Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell, D-Astoria, rep-
resents House District 32 in the state
Legislature.