Last year the Seattle School District attempted to force the closure of Alki Elementary, move students from Cooper School and replace them with those attending alternative Pathfinder. The resulting tumult caused the district to beat a fairly quick retreat.

Some of the complaints of parents were not well focused - but others were. The bottom line was that the district attempted to force a major change without asking the people who consider the school where their children go each day as part of their own special private reserve. Such feeling, often missing in too many schools, breathes life into a neighborhood.

But reality forces the district to consider some closures and one is bound to come to West Seattle. Parents, lawmakers and school managers must not only deal with a coming financial crunch, but they must use constructive arguments and not emotional ones.

In short, we must agree to tax ourselves more, force the Legislature to appropriate more. The alternative is cutbacks because the Seattle School District must do exactly what all of us must do, live within its income.

We must repeat this well worn but ignored line: the Washington Legislature has violated the state constitution for many years by not fully and completely financing schools. It has instead reacted to many forces from many stakeholders to spend the money in other places. Gov. Christine Gregoire and lawmakers did increase school teacher salaries this year after denying that increase in previous years.

Still, Seattle schools are shrinking. Only 270 attend the new Cooper School. Either more students must come to the school or it must be closed. However, closure is virtually impossible because it is a new building.

Those students must come from some other school, therefore some school must be closed.

Parents, students, teachers and the rest of us taxpayers must rally around and provide the committee seeking to close 11 - or is it 12? - Seattle schools.

Reason is needed and reality needs to be respected. If a West Seattle school is closed and/or consolidated, it must be done with facts and not undone by loud, baseless information. It must not be done in a fury of shouting and accusations.

Otherwise it is only the kids who lose and they are our hope for the future.