Washington House Democrats

Education

Mathematics standards for public schools: Update on the State Board of Education's findings as well as my thoughts on how we can move forward to improve math achievement in our state (PDF, requires Acrobat Reader)
July 23, 2007

Education Funding

I believe we can have an education system that prepares ALL of the children in the state to be productive players in the economy of the 21st century. This requires a stable and ample funding plan and some structural changes that fix decades-old inequities. I am working on the issues here as part of the Education and Appropriations committees, and as a member of the Washington Learns K-12 Taskforce.

Inflation adjusted per-pupil school funding has declined over the past decade, despite incredible new demands on our children and education system.  Dependence on unstable local levy funds has increased significantly in that time.  Since I graduated from high school 25 years ago, the percentage of jobs available to a high school graduate has dropped from about 40% to less than 15%, and these jobs no longer provide a living wage.  Our school system must be able to:

• Prepare all children for some kind of post-secondary education. Some will go to 4-year colleges, but many will opt for community college or technical school. Many of today's children are not prepared for the demands of post-secondary education, and over half need a remedial course in community college.
• Provide the help at-risk children need to be able to graduate from high school. Only 67% of the children in Washington graduate from high school today. The percentages from some ethnic groups and from children who suffer from poverty are even lower - as low as 43% for some groups. A system that allows this sentences those children to a lifetime of scrambling for a living, at best. In addition to the moral difficulties in limiting the opportunities of these children they become a cost to society and the economy.
• Make sure that we have room at the inn for all the children graduating from high school. Our university and community college system does not have enough room for the graduating class of 2008, and of the slots available, far to few are in high demand/high wage areas like computer science, nursing, or engineering. Again, this is critical to our ability to function in the economy of the future.

Washington Learns

I serve on the K-12 Education Advisory Committee for Washington Learns, an 18-month comprehensive education study tasked with putting together a plan to adequately educate our children for the 21st century.  This is a major effort, with competent education experts serving from the public sector, nonprofit groups and business community.  The vision is to cover birth through higher education.

To find out more about Washington Learns, you can click the link below.

www.washingtonlearns.wa.gov

Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL)

The graduating class of 2008, this year’s sophomores, is the first class required to pass the WASL to receive a diploma.  We’ve made adjustments to address concerns and reduce the high-stakes nature of the WASL. Students can take the test up to four more times and they only have to retake sections they did not pass. The Legislature will also approve an alternative assessment that will allow students to show their proficiency.

Since we started testing students on the WASL, scores have shown a steady improvement. But still, less than half of sophomores passed all three required subjects.  We have a moral responsibility to provide the opportunity for kids that are not on track to graduate to participate in after-school, Saturday and summer school programs that would help them catch up. These programs would have smaller class sizes, certificated teachers, and be very focused. As with all programs, we should measure the results of individual programs so that we can focus resources on the most effective. I will introduce legislation and budget language that provides these programs.

Detailed information about the WASL is available here:

http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/news/200511_WASL.asp