Cornelius is a father of two. His son attends Achievement First Bridgeport Middle School, a charter school in Connecticut. Cornelius shares his experience with his charter school, saying the school’s rigor and college focus is a big part of what makes the school great. His son is so focused on going to college that he took the SAT in seventh grade in order to get into a Johns Hopkins program for middle schoolers. Cornelius also compares his son’s education at an Achievement First school to what he could get at a private school for a public school price. He says:

My dream for my son is to be able to do everything he wants to do when he leaves school, to be fully prepared before he goes to college. Every parent dreams to have their child do better than they do.

With big decisions being made right now about creative learning opportunities in Seattle, the 2012 Arts Education Forum couldn’t be more timely. Join Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle Public Schools Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield and youth for a lively panel discussion and community forum about arts education, creative learning and student success.

Forum organizers encourage you to bring your questions for our panel of students and policymakers and learn how the city of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools are partnering to help ensure arts learning can be a part of a basic education for all students.

Last August, the district received a grant from The Wallace Foundation to engage the community in developing a plan to provide greater arts education access citywide. The forum will provide our community an opportunity to learn about a coordinated effort to create a comprehensive K-12 visual and performing arts plan for Seattle Public Schools.

The event is presented by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Arts Commission, Seattle Public Schools and Seattle University.

Children are welcome. There will be free supervised arts activities and snacks for school-aged children. To sign up, call (206) 684-7372 by Friday, Feb. 10.

What: 2012 Arts Education Forum

When: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Reception to follow.

Where: Seattle University, Pigott Auditorium.
Located in the Pigott Building, 1017 E. Marion St.

Due to the weather, Region 6 PTA was forced to reschedule its public charter school forum. It will now take place Wednesday, February 29th at Washington Middle School Cafeteria from 6:30 – 8:30pm.

The forum will be an opportunity to discuss the Washington state PTA platform on charters as well as National PTA policies on charter schools.

There will also be presentations by pro and con sides of the charter school debate that will include LEV’s own Rosalund Jenkins, the Director of the Black Education Strategy Roundtable.

What:WA State PTA Forum on Public Charter Schools hosted by Region 6 PTA

When:Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, from 6:30 – 8:30pm

Where:Washington Middle School Cafeteria, 2101 S. Jackson St, Seattle 98144

Your senator and state representatives will hold a town hall meeting in your community this month. It is a crucial time for education in our state and they need to hear from you. Tell your elected officials what’s important to your kids, community and local schools.

Don’t know your legislative district? Click here to find your legislators.

Disclaimer:The times and locations for many town halls are still to be decided. We’ll update this post as we get new information.

If you have updated information, please let us know in the comments or send me an email at alante@educationvoters.org.

Feroze is a ten year teaching veteran who has taught at both traditional public schools and charter schools.

When comparing charter schools to traditional schools, Feroze said this;

“[Charter schools] represented a lot of what I didn’t find  in traditional public schools but it had a lot of what I wanted in public schools, the social mission, a commitment to equity, educating one and all, a much clearer college joining mission…”

Feroze also addresses opponents of charters. He wants those to know that charter schools are not a threat to traditional schools and can (and do in other parts of the country) co-exist while improving education for underprivileged students. Feroze agrees that while charter schools are not a silver bullet to closing the achievement gap, they have the ability to create some real change in areas where they are needed the most saying;

“It’s easy to point to some of this research that says, well on balance there’s no huge gains for charters. I think that’s true. But, I have seen lots of charters doing really incredible small scale innovation that if disseminated properly [and] researched properly can have huge impacts for the rest of the public school lanscape.”

To listen to more of what Feroze had to say, check out the video below:

Written by Seattle student Dexter Tang

In any functioning system of democracy, it is the collective majority whose interests are represented. But in education, the student body, whose collective majority ranges in the tens of thousands, doesn’t seem to have their interests thoroughly conveyed. Therefore, the Seattle Student Senate serves to be the public student’s advocate.

The Seattle Student Senate is a student advocacy organization that represents the interests and ideals of the over 47,000 students of Seattle Public Schools. Consisting of representatives of the 12 different Seattle public high schools, the Seattle Student Senate’s primary goal is to lobby for and represent the Seattle student body’s general goals and to the serves as tool for the student body to voice their concerns and articulate their perspectives on matters unheard.

Our group’s primary focus is on establishing communication with the Seattle School Board over procedural and legislative amendments. Some of the work we are doing right now includes advocating for modification in the district’s competitive foods among other policies that are adversely affecting schools’ capabilities to generate revenue for their associated student body (ASB) budgets.

Already, our organization holds strong relationships with the Seattle Council PTSA, the Seattle School Board, the District Leadership, and numerous other educational organizations. However, as a result of the recent turbulence in the state and local governments’ support of public education, we are attempting to expand our focus and actively participate in the legislative process that profoundly affects our schools.

Please feel free to contact us about our work. We welcome all support.

Dexter can be contacted at dexter.e.tang@gmail.com

It’s that time of the legislative session. Bills need to be moving out of their committees of origin. Budget writers are teeing up the next phase of the session. And all hell is breaking loose. If the legislature were cheese, we’d be serving fondue. Because it’s meltdown city all up in here. I’m not enjoying this mess, oh, no. But I am enjoying this mess, if you know what I mean.

And how could you? I’ve not even given the news that amuses just yet. (Snark alert. Yes, it’s surprising. I know. But it was not a good week for taking all of this so very seriously. You may find your news with a little more than the average snarkicity.)

Tuna Melt on Wry:  I’ve worked the halls of a state legislative session where the only thing that stood between a bill getting passed out of committee and likely the floor of the Senate was a Senate aide who “misplaced” the formal bill documents behind a radiator in a Capitol restroom. I’ve been in the hallways at three a.m. when real compromise is being worked out because folks see a way forward through the middle. But that fish you smell is the two ed reform bills put forward by Rep. Pettigrew and Senators Tom and Litzow being held hostage by leadership that doesn’t want to upset the union. Yes. I know it’s shocking. Not that this is happening. Oh. Heck. That happens every session. No the shocker is that anyone would say it. Like Lynne Varner said it. Preach, girl! (technically, it was the Times Editorial staff, but not technically, it was deeply informed by Varner’s work.) Want some more truth with that brunch mimosa?  We can’t pass a teacher/principal evaluation bill with teeth – evaluations have meaning in terms of employment – because the bill committee leaders want to put forward is the product of some kind of deal worked out with the union and that’s the bill that the “leadership” is comfortable with. And the problem with that, friends, is that anybody gets “comfortable.” We’ve been way too comfortable for a really long time. And we have a pipeline to poverty and prison for our kids of color and disadvantaged kids to show for it. That’s not a flag I’m going to continue to salute.  No one should.

One guy who wouldn’t put up with it is former Louisiana schools chief, Paul Pastorak. He was in town this week to share the learnings from Post-Katrina New Orleans and to put a little pep in our step (and a little bit of boot in our behinds.) His words of advice: This isn’t a battle. It’s a war. A war for kids who don’t have much of a chance otherwise. Fight like it matters. (I’m paraphrasing here, but the sentiment was the same.)

As for the rest of Olympia, what’s dead and what’s alive are separated by the invisible will of a legislator who will continue to fight for something. Unless its necessary to pass the budget, in which case, it’s alive because of the invisible will of a legislator who will continue to fight for something. WaKids died an unfortunate death – the expansion statewide – due to budget concerns and other inferences from folks who either didn’t read or don’t care about the State’s application for Race to the Top  early learning funds. The quality rating system necessary to implement the Race to the Top plan is still alive (QRIS) and as long as the folks at the Department of Early Learning are still able to fog up a mirror, I think we’ll be ok. But as they say in baseball and opera, it ain’t over til the fat lady sings.

Speaking of early learning, check out the increasing awareness of the importance of PreK – 3, nationwide. Washington – commonly considered a laggard in many of the ratings on education change – leads in this area, and could be an incubator for new ideas and initiatives. (If we can get out of our own way in the statehouse.) The Education Commission of the States lists Prek-3 at the top of its 12 for 12 campaign. (The rest of the list is pretty good too.)

Whack a Mole: Bellevue schools chief, Amalia Cudeiro has resigned from her post. She originally took a leave of absence to care for her sick mother. The text messages had barely hit the inbox over rumors of Seattle’s interim chief, Susan Enfield, heading east to Bellevue when her interest in the position was confirmed. Enfield was in the running for the position when Cudeiro was hired.

Meanwhile, the Seattle School Board will vote Tuesday night on its process for hiring a permanent Superintendent. While I know these things can be sticky and difficult to orchestrate, I’m pretty sure this will look a lot like the Macarena. Forward, back, criss –cross, jump around, hands to head and big finish, everyone…. I’d prefer the Dougie, but I’m not the one choosing. (Related, RIP Don Cornelius. The creator of the one and only dance show we all – all y’all – wanted to be on, Soul Train.)

The Great Beyond:

• The growing costs of higher education received a lot of attention this week. A Senate hearing, WaPo editorial, and a reversal in position  by someone other than the Komen foundation, Sallie Mae found its heart and will no longer charge a fee to student loan borrowers in forbearance.
• Locally, the presidents of Washington’s six publicly funded universities lamented the impact of budget cuts – citing a brain drain as one of the most glaring issues.
• A new report out of Oregon shows that chronic absence is a big problem there. Nearly a quarter of the students miss close to a month of school every year.

That’s it, edu-peeps. This girl is heading to the great outdoors. Thanks for everything you do every day to help our kids. Keep up the good fight.

This editorial ran in the Seattle Times.

STATE lawmakers are again punting on sensible education reforms.

Senate education committee chair Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, and her counterpart in the House, Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, used their gavels to doom promising legislation adding accountability to teacher evaluations and allowing a small number of charter schools into our state.

“It is discouraging that two individuals could completely block the dialogue from happening,” said Ramona Hattendorf, of the Washington state PTA. “The idea of having a good evaluation and discussing how it should be used is not radical.”

McAuliffe and Santos were aided by a stunning lack of political courage by all but a handful of Democrats.

Many thought the moment for true progress had come in the Senate, where the charter and evaluation bills have broad support.

But McAuliffe and the majority of her committee were at an impasse Friday. She refused to let her committee vote on a single education-reform bill, even canceling Thursday’s committee meeting where votes were expected. Colleagues, led by Republican Sens. Steve Litzow, R-Mercer Island, and Rodney Tom, D-Medina, refused to take a vote on any bill if McAuliffe refused to consider charters.

The governor spent Friday trying to broker an agreement.

It’s worth reviewing what’s at stake. Stronger teacher evaluations are set to go statewide in 2013 but a key ingredient, student achievement, is missing from the policy critera. Teachers like the more-robust evaluations’ inclusion of individualized development plans and training to help improve their craft.

But efforts to tie them to student growth measures — including test scores — have been rejected by the teachers union and the Democrats who do their bidding. That’s too bad. The credibility of the new evaluations hinges on the ability to hold teachers accountable.

Continue reading >>>

We know that our kids must know how to write well in our digital, global world.

A bill is moving forward that would remove passing the writing assessment as a graduation requirement. Really?

What gets measured, gets done. By removing this benchmark, we will be sending students into the world without knowing if they are prepared.

I don’t think that makes sense…do you?

Please speak up NOW and tell legislators to keep the writing assessment. They have a full day of hearings on Saturday, and your email will be timely.

Veronica is a part of the founding class of Impact Academy, a public charter high school in California. Veronica discusses honing her leadership and communication skills at Impact.

When comparing her charter school experience to traditional schools, Veronica notes all of the policy red-tape in the traditional school system that blocks change, stating that “[At Impact] I felt that I had a bigger voice…”

Watch the video below.

Julie is a graduate of Impact Academy, a public charter school operated by Envision Schools. Located in the San Fransisco Bay area, Envision Schools was founded in 2002 to serve students falling behind in the traditional school model.

“To the people who oppose charter schools, I feel that it takes away an option that under-privileged students could have and [the] chance to succeed…”

Listen in as Julie discusses how she came to Impact, what she believes are the differences between traditional and public charter schools, and much more.

This op-ed was written by Paul Pastorek, former Louisiana state superintendent of education. It appeared in the Seattle Times.

The Big Easy is about food, music and Bourbon Street, not about innovation, right? Wrong! New Orleans is at the center of an education revolution that is developing an “education system” that defies conventional wisdom.

If, as they say, an ill wind blows no good, then Katrina, while devastating in many ways, was not an ill wind. It provided an opportunity for New Orleans to wash away not only the old decrepit buildings, but a decrepit education institution that was the seed of poverty and crime in the city.

So in 2006, community leaders conducted neighborhood meetings to consider promising ideas for school reform from around the country. Instead of focusing on the latest fad for the superintendent to force-feed every educator, we focused on what climate would be necessary to motivate educators to search for their own best practices tailored to each child. Competition was the answer.

The community identified the portfolio-management model to administer public schools. Its most prominent feature was discarding the traditional command and control of a school district central office, which micromanages its version of a “one size fits all” approach to educating children. Instead, the new central office would: 1) set goals; 2) allow schools (meaning principals and teachers) the autonomy to direct the school; 3) hold each school in its portfolio accountable to meet goals, and 4) if the school met goals, offer the principal the opportunity to run more schools — or, if the school failed to do so, it would be removed from the portfolio and replaced with new management.

Continue reading >>>

This op-ed by Kaya McRuer ran in the Seattle Times.

I am a high school student and I spend seven hours a day, five days a week in school. So shouldn’t I get a say in how I am being taught?

In many Washington high schools, the classes are so full that almost every core course is taught by at least two different teachers, teaching from the same basic curriculum and textbook. Why, then, is there almost always a favorite between these pairings when they are teaching, more or less, the same course?

According to my peers, favorite teachers allow for student creativity and independence in the classroom. They understand and explain to their students why it is important to learn the curriculum. A favorite teacher is not created by giving easy A’s, but by challenging his or her students and encouraging inquisitiveness. Favorite teachers make every effort to give clear, easily understood instructions and explanations and provide extra help to any student who needs it.

The problem is that these types of teachers are viewed as lucky breaks in education, rather than the norm.

Great teachers can make their students fall in love with their subject, whereas a bad one can cause an antipathy that could prevent further interest. The subject being taught does not define whether the students will like the class, rather it is the teacher who makes the subject interesting or not.

Continue reading >>>

House Bill 2533 would change the state operating budget process and prioritize K-12 education funding. LEV agrees with the intent and spirit but opposes the legislation. Here’s where we believe the Fund Education First legislation falls short.

LEV looks at the entirety of the public education system, from early learning to higher education. We want to see more integration, more coordination and more shared incentives that support better outcomes for kids across the spectrum of our public investments. By excluding early learning and higher education from this legislation, we are reinforcing barriers between worlds that ought to work closer together. The data and evidence are clear; it no longer makes sense to separate K-12 from our other education investments. It makes even less sense to pit them against each other in budget debates.

We wholeheartedly endorse the intent and spirit of this proposed legislation. Some have characterized this as a partisan effort. We do not agree. The sponsors have the best interest of our students, and our state, in mind. We support prioritizing funding for education as called for in the Washington State Constitution, the recent McCleary ruling and laid out in recent legislation (2261 and 2776).

The Legislature has the Constitution, Supreme Court rulings and legislation already on the books that forcefully establish public education as the state’s most important area of investment. One more piece of legislation will not change the fundamental issue of resources.

Our current tax system, which is bad for business and morally bankrupt in terms of how it treats our low income residents, cannot provide the secure and stable funding required. We are literally billions of dollars short. Funding education first will not add the resources needed, nor provide enough resources to fully fund education. We could shut down all our prisons, and end Apple Health, and still not have the resources for public education our constitution demands. And of course ending those programs would increase other costs dramatically. We cannot cut our way to fully funding education, nor can we simply repurpose current dollars without severely damaging the basic fabric of our state.

Crystal Garvin is a mother of three from Bellingham, WA. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education from Whatcom Community College.

I am a stay at home mother of three children. My oldest is an Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) graduate and is currently in kindergarten. She is a model student and helps her peers when they struggle. My second child is a current ECEAP student in her second year of preschool. She enjoys learning and helps in her classroom in many ways, like showing other children what to do during class and encouraging children to use their words when they are upset or need something.

My son is two years old and is in the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers program (ESIT) because he has a social-emotional delay. He is doing well in the program and my husband and I already see improvements. However, we are still concerned. My family has worked really hard to succeed. My husband is the only working person in our family. One year ago, I was also working in my field, but I had to quit because my wage was not enough to pay for childcare. At the end of the day, I owed more than I made. I am a smart woman. I have an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education and I won an award for best student in my field. I want to work, but that is not an option for my family right now.

My husband has worked very hard to get where he is in his career and has done so well that he now makes enough money to put us just above the income eligible limit to qualify for the ECEAP program. This means when my son turns three and is no longer in the ESIT program, he will not be able to go to preschool. This terrifies us because if he is not in a prekindergarten learning environment, any progress he makes with the ESIT program will be lost. Social-emotional skills are skills that have to be practiced and the place to do that is in a prekindergarten class.

I have checked into other preschools in our area and I have not found a preschool that we can afford. If we pass the High Quality Early Learning Act of 2012, we would be able to have our son in an exceptional prekindergarten learning environment and we would most likely pay a fee that we can afford. If my son does not get into preschool, he will not be prepared for kindergarten. No child should have to start school unprepared! No child should be left out of a prekindergarten learning environment because their parents made too much money to qualify for low income programs but were unable to pay private school tuition because they still didn’t make enough money. I urge you to support the High Quality Early Learning Act of 2012 and give all children the chance to succeed!

Too many kids are falling through the cracks. The status quo is hurting our state’s students. Statewide, 30 percent of all our students don’t graduate on time, and the numbers are worse for low-income students and many students of color.

No more excuses. We need solutions now.

High-performing public charter schools can help some of the most vulnerable kids as early as next year. It’s time for Washington’s students to have another option for a great education. Our kids can’t wait.

Here’s how to help:

1) Watch and share our starfish video with friends, family and coworkers.



2) Contact legislators today and ask others to do the same.

Joel Key is an eight year teaching veteran who, before coming to Impact Academy, taught at a traditional public school in New York. Four years later, Joel believes that he has seen much more professional growth for his students himself as a teacher at Impact.

Joel does not think that charters are a the end-all be-all but he does believe that they enable the flexibility needed for innovation.

“I do not think that charter schools have the answer to everything but there is a lot of freedom, a lot of energy, and there’s a lot of change that’s happening in charter schools that excite me as a teacher.”

He also discusses conversations he has with friends who teach at traditional public schools, the flexibility and freedom that charters give to teachers and administrators to respond to students in more relevant way, and the hope it gives to families.

Watch Joel’s video below.

With teacher performance on our–and the President’s–minds, the 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook couldn’t be more timely. The Yearbook, released by the National Council on Teacher Quality, grades states on the effectiveness of their teacher policies. The report focuses on five main areas:

1. Delivering well-prepared teachers
2. Expanding the pool of teachers
3. Identifying effective teachers
4. Retaining effective teachers
5. Exiting ineffective teachers

In all of these categories, Washington state’s grades are mediocre. Overall, the state earned a C-, scoring C’s in expanding, identifying and retaining effective teachers, while earning a D+ in delivering well-prepared teachers and a barely passing D in exiting ineffective teachers. This report card puts Washington 26th in the nation in terms of teacher quality policies.

The good news is that the C- overall grade is an improvement over 2009′s D+. Still, the study notes serious areas for growth, particularly in Washington’s lack of objective measures of student performance when evaluating teachers. The study also indicates that Washington’s grades could improve with higher standards for conferring teachers’ licenses, increasing selectivity and streamlining alternative routes to teaching, and making the pension system more portable, flexible, and fair to all teachers.

Read all of Washington’s grades and learn more about the study’s methodology here.

This column is by Macy Olivas. It appeared in the Spokesman Review.

“If I close my eyes, I can still see the college pennants hanging in the classrooms, and hear the echoes of voices asking who’s staying after school for Advanced Placement tutoring. I can still feel the texture of the well-used SAT prep books that were glued to everyone’s hands and served as reminders of our college goals.

That was the atmosphere and those were the expectations of the public charter school I attended in California. And now that I’m attending college in Washington, I believe this state should offer that same opportunity to families and students here.

My parents immigrated to the United States with the sole purpose of ensuring that my brothers and I had access to a great education. Living in San Diego, I learned about The Preuss School University of California San Diego from a neighborhood friend. I instantly sat with my parents and helped them translate the public charter school’s application to Spanish.

The application asked if I had thought about going to college, and which schools I was considering. My 12-year-old mind quickly caught on that this school was unlike any other I had attended. It was a public charter school dedicated to helping low-income minorities become the first generation in their families to go to college. This is the intent of HB 2428 in Washington, which will offer opportunities to low-income students and those in persistently struggling schools.

Continue reading >>>

Erika is the daughter of two traditional public school teachers, and always assumed that her own children would go to a traditional public school. In fact, she says she was very skeptical of charter schools. Her views began to change when her daughter started kindergarten and spent all day in her traditional school sitting at a desk doing worksheets. Trying to help, she offered to start a garden at her daughter’s school, and even got a grant to pay for it. But red tape and rules got in the way, and nothing changed for her daughter’s learning. That is, until she found WISH, a local charter school.

“Because it’s independent of this mammoth district, we can make decisions about what we want our school to look like,” she says. “It feels like every person is valued.”

“I think the charter school movement helps us make really good choices for our families and find what fits for our families.”

Hear the rest of her story and what eventually happened with her garden:

The Senate Early Learning & K-12 education committee will hear testimony on this bill today at 1:30pm.

LEV has been a firm supporter of investments early learning for many years. If we want to give all kids the opportunity to succeed in life, high quality early is bedrock strategy to do so. From birth to age 5, children go through growth that profoundly influences the course of their lives. Long before they reach kindergarten, children build the fundamental brain architecture that will help them get along in the world.

This is why we, along with our partners at the Early Learning Action Alliance are supporting House Bill 2448 and its companion in the Senate, SB 6449. These bills will establish voluntary preschool program for 3- and 4- year olds in Washington, with concurrent targeted focus on birth to three programs.

Below is a Q&A that can help understand what is, and what is not, in the bill.

Question: Who will be eligible to provide services for the program for 3- and 4- year olds?

Answer: The bill states in Section 2, subsection 3 (a) that:

“Eligible providers may include, but are not limited to, nonprofit, profit, and faith-based organizations; licensed child care centers and family homes; private schools; school districts; educational service districts; community and technical colleges; local governments; tribes; and tribal organizations.”

This bill is about increasing access to high-quality early learning for as many children as possible. The Early Learning Action Alliance wants that to be through a system that encourages parent choice and services that are culturally relevant. We are working on stronger language in the bill around a mixed delivery system that includes a range of providers, goals for proportions of community-based providers in the statewide system and a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process for with contract selection panels that include a diverse range of providers, underrepresented communities, and other experts.

Question: How would this bill impact child care in Washington?

Answer: This bill builds upon state and federal efforts and our current state program, ECEAP, which is a part-day comprehensive preschool, health and family support program for 3- and 4-year old children. This bill does not impact child care licensing; there would be no change to requirements for child care centers or family child care homes based on this bill.

With the universal approach of Washington preschool and the intentional work to strengthen the bill to ensure a mixed delivery system, more families will be able to access high-quality comprehensive preschool services, including in child care settings. In this bill, cost-sharing for the program for families above 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (about $56,000 for a family of four) will mean that more families will have access to choices for their young learners in a range of high-quality settings.

Additionally, some child care providers may braid funding together so that the low reimbursement rate for child care assistance (Working Connections Child Care) combines with funding for preschool (which is part-day) to result in high-quality, full-day programs. This bill will increase the number of child care providers who will be able to use this innovative strategy to offer high-quality full-day services for children. In that case, the new requirements of the bill would apply to either the portion of the day established as Washington Preschool, or to the full day if the provider chooses.

ELAA is working on language that would assure that funds cannot be supplanted or diverted from already-existing programs such as Working Connections or Seasonal Child Care to fund this program. The expansion of universal preschool would build upon the current investment in ECEAP.

Question: With the recent Washington Supreme Court decision in the McLeary case, how can we afford to focus on early learning?

Answer: We can’t afford not to. We need to revolutionize our thinking about the needs of tomorrow’s kids, who have been poorly served by yesterday’s systems. The best time to make a significant contribution to effective financial management of our state’s constitutional obligation to K-12 is to support kids’ healthy development before they enter kindergarten. We know the McLeary ruling will necessitate significant investments; we need to spend money upfront so we spend less in K-12. Research shows that high-quality PreK saves school districts about $3,700 per child over the course of the K-12 years. Children who attend PreK have increased K-12 achievement and decreased rates of special education placement and grade repetition. Additionally, there is $1,000 in savings per preschooler for programs outside the school system, such as health care, drug prevention, child protection, and juvenile justice.1 Savings are even greater when children have access to the right supports from birth. For Washington to raise the bar and close the opportunity and achievement gap so that our state truly provides all children with ample education, we must focus some of our education reform attention on early learning.

Question: What will happen if this bill passes?

Answer: This bill would create a new program in Washington State called “Washington Preschool Program.” The bill is designed to give universal access to pre-k programs to all 3- and 4-year olds in Washington, whose families choose to participate, regardless of income, by 2025. The program would be based on a mixed-delivery system which would include a variety of providers, including FCC providers (see above). Immediate impacts of the substitute bill in development:

• Will push out the deadline for full implementation of the current state PreK program (ECEAP) by 2018 to full implementation of the Washington Preschool Program by 2025
• Convert current ECEAP slots into Washington Preschool Program slots by 2020
• Require DEL to prepare a gap analysis report regarding availability, affordability and access of early learning providers to higher education.

This report will be utilized by the Early Learning Advisory Council (ELAC) subcommittee assigned to guide the development and implementation of the Washington Preschool Program. The group will make recommendations about the phasing-in of provider requirements and education. The subcommittee will be made up of community stakeholders, including child care providers, Tribes, and Head Start/ECEAP and other experts. The requirements and plan implementation would not take effect until the subcommittee was able to make adequate recommendations to the legislature and the legislature approved of the recommendations.

Empower an Early Learning Advisory Council subcommittee to plan for concurrent phase-in of birth to three programs.

Question: How will child care providers be able to achieve the higher standards given the very low reimbursement rate for Working Connections Child Care?

Answer: Child care reimbursement rates in Washington are too low to expect child care centers and family homes who accept high numbers of subsidized children to reach these new higher standards immediately. At the same time, we recognize we all want children in Washington to get the high-quality early learning they need. We are working to strengthen the bill by including further work to look at the challenges and barriers for child care providers in access and affordability to training and education, and to work with higher education leaders, child care centers, family child care homes, Tribes, and other stakeholders to work towards solutions to overcome these barriers. The phase of implementation will include phasing the standards, considering equivalences as appropriate, and looking for innovative ways to share professional development resources so that more child care providers can offer the high-quality services that children need. The goal of the bill is to ensure a true mixed delivery system, parent choice, and high-quality. We are also working to ensure that any new funding for the Washington Preschool program does not supplant funding for Working Connections or Seasonal Child Care.

The Early Learning Action Alliance will continue its robust advocacy efforts to strengthen child care in Washington. This session, we are working to protect Working Connections Child Care in the budget and promoting a policy bill (HB 2569) to improve Washington’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). QRIS will provide the data to parents about the quality of care available and provide professional development supports to child care in order to improve quality.

Question: This bill expands degree requirements for early learning teachers. Why do that?

Answer: We know that development in the period from birth to five is the most rapid in a person’s life; it makes sense to try to ensure that the professionals guiding that development are well-trained. Multiple studies have shown a positive correlation between higher levels of education and child outcomes in early learning programs.

We do recognize that there can be significant barriers to attaining a degree. We are working to ensure that the bill has provisions to work together with higher education institutions, child care providers, Tribes, and other stakeholders to develop a plan for implementation of the degree requirements that considers capacity at higher education institutions, affordability to attain a degree, and availability of needed courses at non-traditional times for child care providers currently in the field. The group will also consider equivalences as appropriate, and look for innovative ways to share professional development resources so that more child care providers can offer the high-quality services that children need.

Question: Will ECEAP providers be more likely to be awarded contracts in this new system?

Answer: No. This bill includes language for current ECEAP slots to be converted over to the new preschool program in implementation. There is a desire for phasing to happen relatively quickly, over 5-6 years, so that there is not undue confusion about two different preschool programs in Washington at the same time. However, the program will not prioritize specific providers when creating new Washington Preschool Program slots. Instead, the RFP process will prioritize providers who can ensure they can meeting the program requirements, and can provide services in areas of the state with full-day kindergarten services that are currently underserved by ECEAP and Head Start.

As mentioned earlier in this document, for new expansion of the program, we are working on strengthening language in the bill around a mixed delivery system that includes a range of providers. This will include goals for proportions of community-based providers in the system and a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process with contract selection panels that include a diverse range of providers and other experts.

Question: Will providers with a religious focus be allowed to participate?

Answer: Yes. As with any publically funded education program, religious instruction cannot be part of the curriculum during the time of day funded for the preschool program. However, there are publically funded preschool programs in Washington operated by religious organizations that agree to not engage in religious instruction in these preschool programs, and there are publically funded preschool programs renting space from religious institutions. There are also Family Child Care providers and centers who provide publically funded Head Start services on the same basis, so there is precedent for this in our state.

It’s that time again. And while I have loads of stuff in my Friday file, today’s focus is on Washington. Well, both Washington’s.  And because Washington is synonymous with leadership, here’s something extra on just that topic. Here’s your news:

Charters Await the Daylight: I don’t know about you, but if one more person tells me that they wish we could do something about the achievement gap, but bringing public charter schools to Washington will only help a few kids, somethin’s gotta give. I swear I’m going to go buy every copy of Schindler’s List I can find and hand them out like a human Pez dispenser.  How about we start fixing the gap problem for SOMEBODY? Anybody. Washington’s obsession with the perfect as a foil for the good is about to drive this Midwestern girl back home where she can eat fried cheese without guilt or notice.

I normally don’t do this in these missives. But honestly. It’s past time we use all the tools at our disposal. You’ve undoubtedly seen media coverage of the proposed charter school legislation put forward by Rep. Pettigrew and Senator Steve Litzow. As in previous years and iterations, the issue is not without its controversy. Goodness knows change doesn’t come without its dissenters. But even of those who support the issue, some think it has no chance. They are wrong.  But we have to act now. We must push to get these bills voted out of committee over the next five days. While we wouldn’t be completely sunk if they didn’t it would be optimal if we could get the bills out of the house and senate committees by the Tuesday, January 31 cutoff. To that end, please call or email your legislators. I know what some of you saying; “but Chris, I work at XYZ Foundation and I just can’t do that.” Yes. You. Can. On your time and at your expense, you absolutely are allowed to participate in this chunky stew of a mess we call democracy. So, please. Don’t make me beg. It’s not pretty.

Executive Privilege: With four competing teacher/principal evaluation bills in motion, attempts to  “exec”a bill out of committee have been, shall we say, interesting. Despite widespread support for evaluations that factor in student growth and will be used as part of employment decisions, getting these issues past the committee room door – on the House side, at least – has been a challenge. Attempts to move a bill Friday failed and with the clock ticking – Tuesday is the deadline for bills to get moved out of their committee of origin –  it’s not clear at this moment just which, if any, of the provisions will move forward. You’ll recall a similar measure passed the Senate last year. It’s probably obvious, but the sun came up the next morning, and no one came to collect our brains to put in jars on display at the Gates Foundation. Ask a school leader what would help them the most in building an effective team: end seniority based employment decisions and don’t force them to take teachers from the displacement pool. The solution to that conundrum is HB2427/SB6203.

WaaaaaKids: When Washington won federal Race to the Top (RttT) money for the Early Learning Challenge grant, much hoopla ensued and I swear I heard an acoustic guitar somewhere playing  “Kumbaya.” But before the confetti can even hit the floor, that lovin’ feelin has lost a lot of its luster. A cornerstone of our early learning proposal in RttT, WaKids, until now, a universally loved and hailed policy, has come under fire.  OSPI – which played a significant hand in developing the RTtT proposal and budget (including WaKids) – came out with concerns over the cost of full implementation and has reportedly turned in a budget number that would make Donald Trump think about cutting back hair care purchases. Meanwhile, the WEA registered concerns over the funding and those doggone Tea Party folks lodged complaints about just about everything else you can think of including teaching infants about gay marriage. Despite all that, HB 2586, legislation phasing in statewide implementation of the WaKids program did get out of committee on Friday. Hard to say whether fiscal worries will put this bill – and the $60 million in RttT funds – on hiatus.

SOTU: The President’s State of the Union Address had something for everybody. New initiatives. Air punches at the Congressional GOP’ers who’ve stalled nearly every one of the President’s priorities. A list of his accomplishments in office. I’ve been told there was one joke. I couldn’t find it, but I kinda hope that it was when he suggested state laws requiring students to stay in school until graduation or the age of 18. Come on. The world’s most prison-obsessed country is going to put kids in jail for not finishing school? Don’t we already do that? Where’s the focus on what will keep them in school? I liked his reference to high quality teaching and paying teachers more. And emphasizing the need for higher education.

Enjoy what remains of your weekend, fellow travelers. And yes, the Pro Bowl does count.