Joe Fitzgibbon, who has represented Vashon in the state House or Representatives for four years, is challenged this fall by a political newcomer running on the platform that the state should solve its education funding problem by indirectly funding private schools.

Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) is challenged by Brendan Kolding (D-West Seattle) for a House seat representing the 34th Legislative District, which includes Vashon Island, West Seattle and Burien.

Kolding, 32, works at the Seattle Police Department, where he oversees the agency’s policy unit. A former substitute teacher and father of two, Kolding says education is important to him and he became interested in politics after the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision mandated that the state fully fund public education by 2018.

Kolding believes the state could better fund education per-student if more students left public schools for private ones. Since law prohibits the government from funding religious institutions, Kolding says the state should reimburse citizen donations to private schools up to $1,000, generating new funding that private schools could use on scholarships or lowering tuition.

Similar legislation exists in 13 other states, Kolding said, though those states mostly provide state income tax write-offs. He said he didn’t know where funding for the reimbursements would come from and that the idea would be a “tough sell.” However, he emphasized that the state will need to generate new funding for education anyway, and those dollars would go further by supporting private schools.

“The ultimate goal is to reduce the impact on the public school system by making private school an option that is feasible for families that desire it,” he said.

Kolding has a private school background himself, having attended a Catholic high school in Sacramento. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Gonzaga University and a master’s degree in political science from Marquette University, a Catholic university in Wisconsin, in 2007. He is also active in and has served on the board of trustees of the Fulcrum Foundation, which supports Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle. He joined the Seattle Police Department as a patrol officer in 2008.

While Kolding’s statement in the voter’s guide focuses solely on his plan for education, he said he is interested in representing the 34th District on other issues as well. He knows transportation is particularly important, he said, and is personally interested in mental health issues. Since deciding to run, he has visited Vashon three times.

Fitzgibbon, 28, said he does not support the state funding private schools in any capacity and believes other lawmakers would oppose Kolding’s idea as well. He does believe the state needs a new revenue source for education.

“My approach to education is we need to have public schools that are quality for everybody and not focus on private schools at the expense of public ones,” he said.

In March, Fitzgibbon sponsored a bill that would establish a carbon tax to fund schools. If reelected, he said he will continue to push a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system when the Legislature resumes in January and will take up the issue in the House Environment Committee, which he chairs.

“In either case, those programs would generate a lot of revenue for the state that would be a big part of how we secure more funding for education,” he said.

Such a program likely wouldn’t bring in all the funds needed to meet the McCleary decision, and the idea is controversial, Fitzgibbon said, but it already has some support.

“There are a lot of legislators I’ve talked with who are really interested in the idea of taxing pollution to pay for education,” he said. “We have a lot of details to work out.”

Fitzgibbon defeated democrat Mike Heavy in 2010 and ran unopposed in 2012. In the House, he has opposed proposed cuts to ferry service and pushed for environmental protection. In recent years, he and other lawmakers have been unable to agree on new funding for education and transportation, and those issues are mounting, Fitzgibbon said.

“The magnitude of the problem is before us no matter who is in control in the next few years,” he said. “I’m still hoping to get things done.”

Kolding has not raised funds for his campaign, saying he would prefer money got to schools or other good causes. He has attended forums when there hasn’t been an entry fee, he said, and campaigned over social media. As of Monday, his campaign’s Facebook page had 112 likes.

Fitzgibbon has raised nearly $100,000 this campaign season, but said almost all of it will go not to his own campaign but to other politicians in the House democratic caucus.

Ballots were mailed last week for the Nov. 4 election. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle), who has filled the 34th District’s second seat in the House since 2003, is running unopposed, as is Sharon Nelson (D-Maury Island), who has been in the Senate since 2011.