Gloomy forecast: State’s budget woe widens to $8.3 billion Real world impact: All-day kindergarten to end next fall in Puyallup Some good news: Bills would ease unfunded mandates on schools On the airwaves: State teacher’s union advertising for school money
We need to drop the “k” bomb more
February 19, 2009 By
How many conversations have you been in lately where you talk about teacher compensation? Where you find out that National Board Certification isn’t as great as everyone hopes, where you have conversations about teachers pay and how it’s supposed to be equal and fair. Conversations about how little teachers make, how no-one is qualified to [...]
Searching for a sophomore to serve on the State Board of Education
February 19, 2009 By
I’m an advocate for youth voice. It has always seemed ironic to me that students’ voices are rarely heard while so many decisions are made on their behalf. Fortunately, the Washington State Board of Education is on the right track. The SBE encourages student involvement in policy discussion, and the Board is looking to fill [...]
Washington among budget deficit leaders
February 19, 2009 By
In today’s edition of The Olympian, we learned the state is now anticipating an $8 billion deficit for 2009-11. Sure, we hear California is looking at $42 billion, but how does Washington’s projected deficit really compare to other states? The National Conference of State Legislatures surveyed the states to see what the estimated budget deficits are [...]
Education news of the day
February 19, 2009 By
Basic Education Reform 2.0: Your action needed!
February 18, 2009 By
Basic education reform is now moving to the next stage. In order to continue the conversation about basic education and education finance, Sen. Eric Oemig introduced an “intent only” bill this morning and Representative Pat Sullivan introduced a companion bill on the House side. These bills serve notice that it is the legislature’s intent to [...]
SBE: System Performance Accountability recap
February 18, 2009 By
Yesterday, the State Board of Education’s System Performance Accountability advisory groupmet at the Puget Sound ESD in Renton. The meeting was largely an opportunity to update members and receive feedback. Many of the updates were presented at the SBE meeting last month in Tumwater (you can read about that here). The advisory group was also [...]
A fresh start for education reform
February 18, 2009 By
Senate and House education leaders hit the “reset button” this morning. Realizing they could not reach consensus to move either the Basic Education Finance Task Force or Full Funding Coalition bills forward, they killed those bills and opted for a fresh start. Sen. Eric Oemig and Rep. Pat Sullivan have sponsored new legislation, Senate Bill [...]
Latest stimulus estimates
February 18, 2009 By
President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act yesterday, and more precise estimates for Washinton’s slice of the stimulus pie are now available. Program – Education Washington Fiscal Stabilization – Education $818.5 million Fiscal Stabilization – General Purpose $182.1 million Title I $175.2 million Education Technology $8.6 million School Construction – Child Care $33.4 [...]
Education news of the day
February 18, 2009 By
