Employee pension systems, especially those of state employees (and thus state $$$), are no laughing matter. They are, however, quite complex and make my brain hurt when I spend more than 5 minutes thinking about them. Even so, it’s worth the time (and headache) to understand pension systems and how the states fund them. Getting [...]
A look at the Race to the Top finalists
July 30, 2010 By
This week, the U.S. Department of Education selected 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in round two of Race to the Top. These states will compete for $3.4 billion in federal funding to innovate and reform their public schools. The winners are expected to be announced in September. The Partnership for Learning [...]
Early education = earnings
July 29, 2010 By
Time and time again, studies show the importance of early childhood education. However, detractors like to point to research on the “fade-out effect” — middle and high school students who benefited from quality early learning showed little improvement on test scores over children who did not. Now, a new study promises to change the conversation [...]
What lessons should we learn about Race to the Top?
July 29, 2010 By
What lessons should we learn about our efforts to win a Race to the Top grant? Peter Callaghan from the Tacoma News Tribune pinpoints some of them in his column today. Here’s an excerpt below. Wouldn’t it be better to pass a great bill than a good bill? Probably. But Gregoire had developed a strategy [...]
Racing Stripes
July 28, 2010 By
Having sat out round one, Washington’s round two application for Race to the Top funds fell short of making it as a finalist. Disappointing? Yes. Surprising? Not so much. While we’ve pressed hard for real change in our system statewide, Washington started well behind the most competitive states, and in a strategy that sadly mirrors [...]
LEV endorses state Supreme Court candidates Rumbaugh and Wiggins
July 28, 2010 By
This morning, LEV announced its first-ever endorsements for the state Supreme Court. We endorsed Tacoma trial attorney Stan Rumbaugh for Position 1 and former Appeals Court Judge Charlie Wiggins for Position 6. Below is the press release. Today the League of Education Voters announced endorsements in two sharply contested state Supreme Court Cases. LEV endorsed [...]
Educate boys and girls separately?
July 28, 2010 By
The folks over at the Rainier Valley Post have asked their readers to weigh in on an interesting but controversial topic: Considering the many challenges facing schools in southeast Seattle, some have suggested that educating girls and boys separately may help fix our public schools, others say the concept simply reinforces outmoded gender stereotypes.What do [...]
The Rebirth of the Early Learning Challenge Fund
July 27, 2010 By
Just a quick note amid all the somber news of education funding in Washington. We just got the word from a reliable source that there is hope on the horizon for the child care funding at the federal level and the Early Learning Challenge Fund (click here for an old summary of the Challenge Fund). [...]
Washington State does not clear Race to the Top hurdle
July 27, 2010 By
Parents and education advocates were disappointed to learn today that Washington State was not selected as a finalist in the second round of Race to the Top. In June, the state submitted an application to win up to $250 million from President Obama’s $4.3 billion federal Race to the Top fund for education reform and [...]
Supplemental levies 101
July 27, 2010 By
(The following is a post by Lori Oviatt, Director District 1, Riverview School District) School funding is complicated to say the least. When the state does not fully fund basic education, it can get more complicated. The Washington State Constitution says that providing for public education is the “paramount duty” of the state. You have [...]
