The education community is anticipating a major policy speech by Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. before the Washington State School Directors’ Association annual conference. Last week, the Seattle PostGlobe reported that Superintendent Dorn would call for yet another delay in science and math requirements for high school graduation. Since the [...]
Race to the Top: Eligibility & Priorities
November 17, 2009 By
Race to the Top: Final Guidelines
November 17, 2009 By
As we all learned last week, the final Race to the Top (R2T seems to be the preferred acronym) guidelines were released. So what changed? Generally speaking, not that much, although a fair amount of reorganization occurred (for the better if you ask me). Each R2T application will be evaluated on a 500-point scale, with [...]
Make CORE 24 a top priority
November 17, 2009 By
Last year, the State Board of Education approved the CORE 24 graduation framework to better prepare students for college, job training and the workforce. CORE 24 is an integral part of the basic education reform bill signed by Gov. Gregoire this year. Policymakers are now planning how to implement and fund CORE 24. Kathleen from [...]
Tune in tonight to watch the film Paramount Duty
November 16, 2009 By
How does Washington’s education system stack up against other states? Does money really matter? Is early learning the key to improving outcomes for students? See and hear the faces of our public education system as they comment on these questions in the film Paramount Duty, which debuts today and airs through Nov. 22 on the [...]
Weekly roundup of education news from LEV
November 16, 2009 By
The state Supreme Court’s decision and release of the final Race to the Top guidelines have made it a busy last few days in local and national education news. Here’s a roundup of stories from our blog and the media that will continue to shape the education debate for days and weeks ahead. News from [...]
Dweck Townhall: Maximizing Your Child's Potential
November 16, 2009 By
(This post is by Melinda Mann, LEV’s Development Director, who organized the event.) Last Thursday, education activists and parents were treated to a provocative presentation about how praising your child can be good – if it’s done the right way or how it can have long-term negative effects if it’s not. Dr. Carol Dweck, renowned [...]
The Supreme Court's decision in Federal Way School District v. State of Washington is problematic
November 16, 2009 By
(This post is written by Steve Miller, who is vice president and founding board member of the League of Education Voters and wrote statewide Initiative 728 and 884. He is a lawyer, vice chair of the Board of Trustees for Bellevue Community College, and previously served for 10 years as a school board member for [...]
Lobbying Legislators – Tips from Rep. Ross Hunter
November 16, 2009 By
Kudos to Stand for Children for a very informative, useful workshop this Saturday! Rep. Ross Hunter gave a really informative session on “How to Lobby Your Legislators”, he thought he didn’t have an hour worth of material! (Those of you who know Rep. Hunter are laughing right now). I wanted to share his thoughts, for [...]
"Meet the Press" discusses education reform
November 16, 2009 By
A cast of unlikely characters – Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Fmr. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton – discuss graduation rates, charter schools, Race to the Top…and their plans to improve the quality of education in this country. Required viewing. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and [...]
