I was writing my check for my second half property tax payment to Island County just before I read the front page article on “Scores improve but still fall short,” in the Whidbey News-Times Sept. 28.

Why am I paying 59 percent of my property taxes to state and local schools for a failing system? It seems as if it’s the same old story. I can’t believe that it stated in the article that not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) isn’t unusual; 74 percent of Washington school districts didn’t make it.

How is that working for everyone that pays over 50 percent of their property tax to a system that isn’t cutting the mustard? It looks to me like the Oak Harbor School District isn’t meeting the requirements or has the required skills to teach the next generation. I wonder how private schools in our area are doing? My hat’s off to the staff, teachers and parents of Hillcrest Elementary who met AYP this year. Keep up the good work you are doing and you deserve a pay raise for a job well done.

William (Skip) Augle
Oak Harbor