When three Democratic senators joined all 22 Republican senators Feb. 2 in passing a Senate budget, they broke the public’s trust in two important ways: first, by going back on their promise to make education a priority, and second by denying the public any opportunity to comment on the proposed budget.

Since the beginning of the legislative session, the Republican mantra in Olympia has been “Fund Education First.” The idea underlying all of this was that the Legislature was wasting money on social services that were not necessary and was creating a state of dependency.

Whether social services create a state of dependency is debatable. But what was clear was Republican commitment to making education the top budget priority. With the passage of the Senate’s budget it is difficult to see how Senate Republicans can claim they were sincere about the education promise.

The budget made $44 million in additional cuts to K-12 education and $30 million in additional cuts to higher education. For a party that claims to put education first, they sure have a funny way of showing it.

Adam Sherman, vice president, UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate, Seattle