There is a joke about a teacher who asks students to identify the most amazing example of technology in their lives. A student quickly responds, “A thermos! It keeps hot things hot and keeps cold things cold.” The teacher asks what is so remarkable about that and the student just as quickly replies, “Well, how does it know?!”

That’s my segue into education, technology and the ability to know what you have to do.

Federal Way Public Schools is seeking your approval to extend the technology levy for our schools. As many of your readers have stated in their letters of endorsement, it is not a new tax, but a continuation of a tax that is expiring. Expiration of the tax would not stop the advance of technology, but it would most certainly hinder our children’s ability to keep pace with technology and their ability to leverage technology for the advancement of their education. Students made the effort to address the Board of Education and made clear the value of technology in being able to do homework, research subject matter, and get assistance from parents through better awareness of class requirements.

Technology is also what the teachers and administrators need to keep track of student progress and adjust educational strategies to ensure the student succeeds. Technology is how the system knows that a student needs more academically challenging work or academic assistance in particular subject areas or has special needs to be accommodated for the student to be successful. As technology changes the teachers must be ahead of the curve, and that means training to teach what is new so student knowledge does not stagnate.

Technology enables students to succeed, and when government fails in its duty to properly resource public education it falls upon local communities to step up and carry the load to enable our children to succeed.

That is what the voters in Federal Way did in 2010, and they are being asked to do this again this February.

We are all hoping that the citizens of Federal Way will once again show their support for continuing the technology levy to keep the futures of our children bright.

Hiroshi Eto, Federal Way