Oh, please – read through the baloney! Your guest columnist (Jeff Jared, May 13) is interpreting the state Constitution, not quoting it as he implies. Article IX, Sect. 1 (1889) does not state “that K-12 education” is the “paramount duty of the state;” rather, it states “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders,…”

Sect. 2 states: “The legislature shall provide for a general and uniform system of public schools. The public school system shall include common schools, and such high schools, normal schools, and technical schools as may hereafter be established.” “Children” is undefined, not as “K-12” as the columnist would have you believe. I am a child, and so is he, unless he’s a clone.

Our constitutionally-elected government is left to decide what ages of children fall under this part of the Constitution as well as what the heck they meant in 1889 by “common schools” and “normal schools.” The government has decided that over time (“hereafter”). If you don’t like it, then get elected and change it, but don’t misrepresent words to fit your point of view.

Brian Tucker, Kirkland