I see Stefan Sharkansky has already introduced the Seattle Times run-off on I-884 today, and in fine and flattering fashion ("Smoked!"). Thanks, Stefan!

Since I didn't get to preview Mr. Gates' op-ed before publication, I went ahead and wrote some direct responses to it, which I'm including in the extended entry for interested readers. (My comments are italicized.)

Meanwhile, if you like the better side, please forward the article on to your friends! Our "this is a bad, bad idea" information campaign doesn't have any money to run television ads like the ones that started on the pro-side this week, but who needs money to win?

Pro: Vote 'yes' for our future
By Bill Gates Sr
Special to The Times

I might appear an unlikely champion of Initiative 884. I am committed to tax reform, and I am no fan of initiatives. Yet my enthusiasm for the education initiative is unwavering.

Tax reform: Mr. Gates has been promoting a state income tax for years.

I am deeply passionate about our public schools. I know I-884 is the right answer at the right time for our schools, our children and our future.

I am not alone. A diverse coalition has rallied behind this initiative — from the state's largest corporations to small, grass-roots organizations fighting for the poor.

Most of the coalition members to which Mr. Gates refers are special interest groups that stand to gain from the billion-dollar tax increase. I think businesses like Microsoft and Starbucks are supporting it for the same reason many of them supported R-51 (the massive transportation tax increase proposal that overwhelmingly failed a few years ago): They’re desperate and don’t know where else to turn. Desperation without facts and direction leads to poor policy.

Our state faces a crisis that has the power to touch every one of us. If we do not respond swiftly and boldly, we are headed for trouble.

Add “intelligently and correctly” to the “swiftly and boldly” and I completely agree.

It is no mystery what happens when we do not educate our children well: Individually, they suffer; collectively, we pay.

Quite simply, our state's prosperity and well-being depend on how well we prepare our sons, daughters and grandchildren to succeed in school and meet the demands of our economy. When we fail, we slam the door of opportunity on our children. Businesses find qualified workers elsewhere. Our economy suffers.

Washington is already behind. Warning signs exist at every level of our public education system.

One of every three students in Washington does not graduate from high school. Half our state's African-American and Latino students drop out.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Part of the trouble is thousands of low-income children are not ready for school when they start kindergarten. Too many who start behind stay behind.

The claim this makes is that parents who have “low incomes” are less likely to interact meaningfully with their three- and four-year-olds. That’s pretty bigoted and elitist.

Many of those who do graduate face a shortage of space at our community colleges and universities. If we do not act soon, more than 30,000 hard-working students will find a no-vacancy sign when they apply for higher education. To make matters worse, rising tuition costs mean too many strong students cannot afford college.

Our state’s colleges and universities are not being run efficiently or effectively. That’s why tuition is going up and that’s why taxpayers are being squeezed.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board did a survey in 1994 and found out the average teaching (not research) faculty member in our state colleges spends less than twelve hours a week (self-reported) with students. That includes class time, office visits, etc. The embarrassing survey has never been updated.

I-884 is a straightforward, common-sense solution. It will improve our education system from preschool all the way through higher education.

I-884 will spend more money on our education system from preschool through higher education. It will not improve it.

We know good preschools make a difference, particularly for low-income children. Students who attend high-quality preschools are far more likely to graduate from high school and twice as likely to go to college. Preschool investment pays. Every dollar invested in quality preschool saves $4 to $7 in reduced crime, welfare and health costs. I-884 will give an additional 16,000 children from low-income families access to good preschools.

The claims that preschool is connected to high school dropout rates and college attendance are ridiculous. I’ve done point/counterpoint with seventeen different people from the I-884 campaign now, and many of them have spouted those statistics. Not one has been able to name the source. Meanwhile, hundreds of studies (including some done by the federal government evaluating its own preschool programs) have concluded there is no verifiable long-term academic benefit from preschool. By the third or fourth grade, preschool-goers are academically indistinguishable from their peers.

In addition, every school district in Washington will receive additional funding to reduce class sizes, support teachers and provide extra attention for both struggling and high-achieving students.

See my op-ed about how these lovely promises have failed.

The initiative will provide 32,000 additional enrollments in two-year and four-year colleges and universities, including 7,000 enrollments in high-demand fields like nursing, computer science and engineering. It will also keep higher education affordable for thousands of working families every year by supporting 7,000 new Promise Scholarships and increased financial aid for 9,000 students.

See above about higher education. But one other note: According to sponsors, I-884 guarantees “Promise Scholarships” (which pay for one or two years of college) to every student in the top 30 percent of a high school graduating class whose family income is $85,000 or less. Why should other hard-working families have to pay for college for kids whose parents are earning enough to prioritize and afford it?

Business leaders understand the importance of a well-educated workforce. Over 100 large and small businesses across the state, including Microsoft, Starbucks and Washington Mutual, have endorsed I-884.

Groups fighting poverty also recognize the importance of an adequately funded education system. Organizations such as the Children's Alliance, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, the Minority Executive Director's Coalition, and ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) have all endorsed I-884.

I bet most, if not all, of these groups get grants from government (i.e. a cut of this new tax).

I-884 is funded by a 1-cent-on-the-dollar increase in the state sales-tax rate. Food, rent, health care and transportation are all exempt from our state's sales tax. That means a family earning $52,000 per year would pay about $18 per month in additional sales taxes.

The “one cent” figure is disingenuous, even if it’s technically true. That “one cent” becomes “five cents” every time you grab a burger for lunch. In reality, I-884 would increase the state portion of the sales tax by 15.4%. The average family earning $25,000 a year (barely enough to cover expenses, if you ask me) will have to pay an additional $115 a year. That’s two or three phone bills; a car insurance payment; a couple of weeks worth of groceries. What should they go without so education bureaucrats in our state can have ten billion dollars a year to spend instead of nine billion?

This is our only option. There is no other revenue alternative on the horizon. Everybody pays the sales tax, and everybody benefits from education. Our tax system needs an overhaul, but our children cannot wait while we argue about how to do it.

I-884 is not the only option. It's not even a good option. We should adopt the solutions that work, which are summed up on EFF’s website.

Too many members of the education establishment care more about their own jobs and reputations than they do about kids. They hate reforms that mean less control and money for them. Too bad.

This is one initiative we can support with confidence. I-884 establishes a dedicated education trust fund that can only be used for specified education improvements. A citizens' oversight board, that includes the state auditor, will ensure every dollar is used wisely.

I-884 is not a trust fund. Even the attorney general’s office says so. It can be amended by the legislature with a super majority the day it passes, or with a simple majority after two years. And we know that’s what the legislature does, especially with something so tempting as a billion dollars to spend.

The “Citizen” Oversight Board has twelve members. Eleven are appointed by the governor or state agencies. The twelfth is the independently elected state auditor, but he’s not permitted to vote or help determine the scope of any performance audits the Board might deem necessary. How ironic.

All of our children deserve a quality education — no matter where they live or how much money their families make. I-884 is our best chance to make sure they get what they deserve.

I-884 is the best way to make sure those kids don’t get the education they need. It would expand failing programs and delay necessary reforms.

Bill Gates Sr. is co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was chairman of the Washington State Tax Structure Study Committee.

Marsha Richards directs the Education Reform Center for the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a policy research organization dedicated to individual liberty, free enterprise and limited, accountable government.