The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction just released this prepared statement by Superintendent Randy Dorn on teacher evaluations. He testified today on House Bill 1609, however the statement below is not a verbatim transcript of his testimony. The issue of teacher quality is a national one, not just a state one. My experience as [...]
Action Alert: Ask Sen. McAuliffe for a public hearing
February 15, 2011 By
Washington’s students deserve the most effective teachers. However, when schools are forced to layoff teachers due to budget cuts, seniority trumps effectiveness. This means a good teacher can be laid off, while a teacher everyone knows is unsatisfactory is kept. This is not in the best interests of our students. A proposal, Senate Bill 5399, [...]
Parents heading to Olympia tomorrow to support Great Schools legislation
February 14, 2011 By
Parents and education advocates will be in Olympia tomorrow for a very important public conversation about our children’s opportunities for success in school and life. The House Education Committee will hold a public hearing tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. on House Bill 1609, which would allow school districts to keep their most effective teachers. Currently, when [...]
Got questions about early childhood education?
February 14, 2011 By
Today at noon, Hannah Lidman, LEV’s Sr. Policy and Political Strategist, will be answering questions about early childhood education issues on MomsRising’s Facebook page. She will be joined by other experts in early learning such as the Executive Director of the National Head Start Association, Yasmina Vinci, and the Assistant Director of Outcomes and Accountability [...]
Legislative Session: Week 5 in Review
February 13, 2011 By
Perhaps in anticipation of the craziness coming in the next couple of weeks, Week 5 turned out to be a relatively quiet one. However, the LEV team was still busy working on our priorities and here were some of the week’s highlights: On Tuesday and Friday, LEV’s legislative director, George Scarola, testified in both the [...]
Korsmo’s education news roundup for Feb. 12th
February 12, 2011 By
Valentines not just for lovers
February 11, 2011 By
Senate education chair asks for feedback on budget
February 11, 2011 By
From day one of the 2011 legislative session, lawmakers have been thinking about how to close a $5+ billion shortfall in the current and next state budget. Now that we’re about a third of the way through the session, they are taking hard looks at difficult trade-offs. In public hearings, legislators are asking education stakeholders [...]
Let’s keep effective teachers
February 10, 2011 By
Next Tuesday, lawmakers and the public will be having an important public conversation in Olympia that will affect our children’s opportunities for success in school and life. Currently, when schools are forced to lay off teachers due to budget cuts, seniority is largely the deciding factor in which teachers stay or go. A proposal, House [...]
New report on charter schools
February 10, 2011 By
The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington released a new report that finds charter schools are able to innovate, but struggle with “powerful forces pulling [them] back to traditional practice.” The report, Inside Charter Schools: Unlocking Doors to Student Success, is based on a four-year study of teachers, leaders, and [...]
