If you like five months of rain broken up by intermittent fog and drizzle, it’s your time. The Puget Sound condition known as fwing (fall, winter, spring) is upon us. Enjoy.
Have the Shrimp: If you’ve ever been to a party so bad that you wished for a tiny bit of food poisoning just to have a good excuse to jet, you have a sense for how legislators in Washington must feel. Called back for a post-Thanksgiving special session to remedy what is currently a $2 billion problem (this could get worse after the November 17th revised budget forecast) their options are grim. They must find the money to bring the budget into balance – but they can’t raise taxes without 2/3 majority – thanks initiative 1053! You are the gift that keeps giving – so cuts are inevitable. Cuts means jobs. And in an economy largely built on sales tax, every lost job means fewer dollars of revenue. So, to get back into balance, cuts will be made, and jobs will be lost, which means the hole won’t stay filled very long. And we’re out of balance. Admittedly, I’m not an economist, but Ray Charles could see that this is a bad set up.
Worse still is that roughly half the $2 billion hole will paved over with education funds. And by some estimates $350 million of that will come from higher education. The community college system has already declared a state of emergency. Our major employers ought to consider something similar – with thousands of unfilled jobs and at least a few growth industries in town our higher ed system will be hard pressed to help prepare folks for these jobs without significant increases to tuition, major cuts to courses or radical transformation. Not that change wouldn’t do some institutions good. But flying the plane while you’re building it is usually not advised. Meanwhile, here on terra firma, yet another study finds that education is the one, true antidote to poverty.
Racing: This week, Washington joined 36 other states in applying for round III of Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge funds. The state is seeking $60 million, mainly to support its quality rating system. The Feds have said they’ll award between five and ten grants totaling roughly $500 million. Fingers crossed, prayers said, and just in case, there’s this little doll with pins who bears a small resemblance to the man we affectionately call Mr. Duncan. Wondering why all the fuss over early learning? Here’s why.
Charterlicious: Washington’s long, drawn-out and supremely complicated love affair with education innovation came full circle this week when the state’s PTA (Radicals! Liberals! Conservatives! Centrists! (I’ve secretly longed to be called a radical centrist. Instead, I get things you can’t print in this column) voted to support charter schools as one innovation to remedy struggling schools serving “at-risk” kids. The issue is far from over for the PTA, but good on ‘em for at least going there.
Most folks agree that one of the most important parts of ensuring high quality charter schools is accountability which begins and ends with the authorizers. They open the schools and should close the bad ones. A new playbook is emerging for effective authorizing – removing some of that mystical quality to the whole process.
In other places, Green Dot and New York’s UFT have come to agreement on a teacher contract that lacks tenure and seniority based layoffs. Green Dot teachers make more and receive performance bonuses. The contract of the future?
Speaking of differentiated pay, the ProComp system being used in Denver seems to be netting some student gains. A new study finds that the bonus system does correlate to higher student scores and, importantly, is driving changes to the systems of recruiting and data gathering. Interesting that teachers enrolled in the program didn’t always set rigorous student achievement goals, but when they did, they were more likely to achieve them. Not sure what that says about teachers who didn’t set rigorous goals. But what it does say is there needs to be more consistency in how the goals get set among all teachers.
Last Word: The Harkin/Enzi bill to overhaul ESEA (NCLB) should be DOA. Accountability? Gone. Teacher evaluation? Gone. Transparency in student achievement? Gone. What’s that old phrase about painting lipstick on a pig? Never mind. No reauthorization is better than this reauthorization. Don’t take my word for it.
And with that, friends, get your weekend on. And, yes, say it with me, go Pack.
“The issue is far from over for the PTA, but good on ‘em for at least going there.”
The former is an understatement. The Washington State PTSA did not have locals talk this through. I know many, many parents who are completely puzzled by how this got on their legislative agenda if their locals haven’t even discussed it. There is no done deal here no matter how the people at the top of the Washington State PTSA are trying to push it.
I think this should be quite the interesting education for all. That the discussion is taking place when we have a recession that won’t go away and the state cutting funding from already existing schools is baffling. But sure, let’s really talk it through.
NCLB should be DOA? Someone forgot to tell the Senate Education Committee. It passed the reauthorization bill written by Harkin/Enzi four days after it was introduced. It’s on its way to the Senate Floor. Due to be discussed and voted upon before Thanksgiving and should be passed by Christmas. Hmm..