As the other candidate in the race for Northshore School Board District 2, I must respond to Ms. Quinn’s letter. I have been pleased with the cordial tone of our campaigns and I know Ms. Quinn did not mean to imply that I view teachers or unions as adversaries. In fact, I met with the district unions and sought their endorsement. My wife and sister have been professional educators and union members for years in Seattle and Northshore, respectively; I taught composition and creative writing at Cornell and was in a union while fighting for the indigent at the Defender Association downtown; my father-in-law was a Boeing machinist and my maternal grandfather was a lifelong Teamster who saw the Seattle general strike of 1919. I see no contradiction to this legacy in a non-partisan public office where parents, community members, business owners and professionals of all political backgrounds join forces to strive for innovation, fiscal responsibility and excellence in education for our kids. There are no adversaries here. We are all allies.

Joe Marshall