Schools on minds of Stonier, Topper in 49th race

On a recent fall evening, Yvette St. John, a former teacher, opened the door to her home in the 49th Legislative District to see who was knocking.

She listened politely and told the woman running for office standing front of her, “Anyone who works in the schools has my vote.”

Alishia Topper paused.

She explained why she would be a strong voice for St. John in Olympia. But, she added, “You’ll notice in the voter’s pamphlet, you’ll have two women, two Democrats, and we both work in education.”

Topper, 38, is a director of strategic partnerships with Vancouver Public Schools. She’s currently a Vancouver City Councilor. Monica Stonier, 40, works as an instructional coach, focusing on student tests and curriculum design. She is a former seventh-grade teacher.

The two are vying to replace Democratic state Rep. Jim Moeller, who is running for the 3rd Congressional seat.

The greatest challenge facing voters will be deciding between two candidates with impressive resumes, relevant experience and who both are philosophically aligned with the left-leaning district.

Monica Stonier

When Kelly Mahoney, who had a Stonier sign in his yard, opened the door to see the candidate standing in front of him, his response was, “Thanks for moving.”

Stonier served one term in the state House for the 17th Legislative District until being defeated in a close race by Republican Lynda Wilson. She recently moved to the more favorable 49th Legislative District. She dismissed criticism that her move was purely political. It’s a condemnation usually reserved for a candidate who moves from out of state, she said, not to a different area in the same town.

“No policy I ever worked on stayed in the 17th Legislative District,” she said. Now Stonier is battling her way back to Olympia to represent the 49th.

“There was work I got started and didn’t get to finish,” said Stonier. “It’s my driving force.”

Stonier first got involved in politics in 2008 when she was sent to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Later, she witnessing the swearing-in of President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C.

Stonier was raised in what she’s characterized as a hard-working military family. Her father is Mexican-American, and her mother is Mexican-American and Japanese-American. Stonier and her husband, Brandon, have two children who attend public schools in Vancouver.

This legislative session, the state will focus on the chronic underfunding of the state’s public schools. Stonier said it’s crucial to have a classroom teacher’s voice at the table. Teachers bring a different perspective, which is evident by the policies the state has created so far that aren’t helping students graduate or learn, she said.

“If you’re not a classroom teacher … you don’t understand the challenges of implementing those policies, and that voice is lacking, which is why I’m running,” she said.

Stonier said she is open to a new revenue stream, including raising taxes, to pay for public schools. That’s a departure for Stonier, who while representing the 17th Legislative District said she wouldn’t vote to raise taxes — and didn’t. Stonier said the economy is improving and noted that the constituents of the 49th Legislative District are more open to the idea of taxes funding public schools.

Stonier touts her previous experience in the Legislature as distinguishing her from Topper.

“The upcoming session is so important to my profession and the reason why I ran. It makes my candidacy more timely,” she said.

Alishia Topper

One of Topper’s proudest achievements while serving on the Vancouver City Council was leading the affordable housing conversation. It’s a topic she’s intimately familiar with and one she sees as being tied closely to academic achievement.

Topper’s mother was 15 when she gave birth to her. Shortly after, Topper’s sister was born and her young mom was juggling two children by herself. It led to stints of being homeless — sleeping on a mattress on a garage floor or occasionally spending the night in the car.

Topper left home when she was 15. She was the first in her family to attend college. She attended Washington State University in Pullman and received a master’s degree from Portland State University. She competed on a national stage when she qualified for the Olympic trials in track.

Topper has worked with the Fort Vancouver National Trust, Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center and Share, she said.

At 35, she was elected to the Vancouver City Council.

When 152 residents at Courtyard Village Apartments, a run-down, low-income complex, were given 20-day notices to vacate their units, the city discovered that there wasn’t much they could do to help the people living there. The event spurred the creation of a task force and eventually an ordinance to protect vulnerable renters. One ordinance requires landlords to give 60 days’ notice for “no cause” evictions.

Topper was a crucial player in the conversations around affordable housing and sees it as a statewide conversation. She’s worked with families who were forced to leave their homes and has seen what it does to students who are trying to learn.

It’s not just about learning outcomes, she said. Stable housing is a crucial component of a student’s ability to learn.

“Next year could be a big year,” she said. “McCleary will suck the air out of the room, but we have to focus on other issues. It’s huge, but it’s not the only thing. There’s mental health and affordable housing.”

In the McCleary case, the state’s top court ruled that the Legislature is not fulfilling its constitutional duty to fully fund the state’s public schools.

Topper sees her familiarity with the district as being a key distinguishing factor in the race. Topper has lived in the 49th Legislative District for more than a decade.

Fundraising similar, but with a big asterisk

Outside sources are pumping big money into the race between Stonier and Topper.

The two candidates are nearly neck-and-neck in the money they have individually raised for their campaigns. Stonier had brought in $116,804 as of Thursday, with Topper raising $125,779, a difference of only $8,975.

Topper called the donation amount from the teachers union shocking.

“We are both staunch supporters of teachers,” Topper said. “It should be a cause for concern that the WEA has chosen to dump an obscene amount of money … the most in any statewide race for a single candidate. I don’t understand why they are spending so much money in a race between two Democrats who both work in public schools. I am proud to have bipartisan support and am not a single-issue candidate.”

State Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, who represents the 49th Legislative District and is seeking re-election, said it’s concerning that a statewide political action committee can give unlimited amounts through independent expenditures.

“Unchecked campaign contributions such as this are exactly the kind of big money in politics citizens tell me they dislike,” said Cleveland, who is supporting Topper.