Video: Randy Dorn Speech

Posted on 21. Nov, 2009 by Jen.

For those of you who haven’t seen Superintendent Randy Dorn’s speech to the Washington State School Directors Association on delaying math and science requirements, we’ve got the video.

To see video of the entire conference, go to TVW.

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Lobbying Legislators - Tips from Rep. Ross Hunter

Posted on 16. Nov, 2009 by Kelly.

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 some of you, most of this is old news, but there is stuff in here worth repeating and a few things were new to me.

Build a relationship with your legislators. They will listen more, are more likely to read your email, and are more influenced by people they know. (Just like us…we listen to the people we trust)

Communicate primarily when the legislators are not in session. During the session they get to meet with people in 15 minute slots at best, they are lucky to remember your name and your main issue at the end of the day. The legislator can meet with you easily outside of the session, 2-4 meetings a week they usually have, it’s much more personal, and there is much more time to really understand the issues.

Rep. Hunter receives roughly 20-30 emails a week outside of the legislative session. But during the session he receives hundreds, thousands. He can’t read them all, so they tally them based on what the “ask” is. During the session, if he can read any email at all, he will read email from those he already has a relationship with.

“Ask” for what you want. Don’t make him guess; he needs to know what it is you want. Don’t be afraid to ask, everyone else will.

Be polite. Don’t do all caps in email, don’t do all lowercase, make it easy to read otherwise. Don’t yell, don’t get mad. This is about relationships; try to get him to understand with facts, stories.

The Gateway to the legislator is through their Legislative Assistant. The Legislative Assistant makes the appointments, discusses issues with the legislators is basically the force that keeps the legislator on task, focused and informed. Always be polite and respectful, they can be incredibly helpful to you.

Thank them! This is a great way to build the relationship. Take the time to tell them that you appreciated what they did and tried to do. Thank yous will influence the relationship.

Keep working with legislators you don’t agree with. This is hard, but important to do. (I personally have to work on this with my own Senator – because we have such different views, I’ve kind of given up. I need to keep trying)

Letters/cards are very effective. They are more difficult to handle, how to respond, have to open, bulky. So, they make more of an impression.

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My hands are dirty, dirty with democracy.

Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by Maggie.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m 22 years old and last year Obama made me want to vote for the first time. I came home for the weekend from college so I could help vote him through the primaries and things have changed ever since. I think someone gave me the democratic bug (no, not H1N1) and I have been hitting the polls with full force ever since.

So what’s the reason for the three-year-lag in getting my voting gears rolling? Some might call it youthfulness, apathy, or laziness even-but I know there has to be more to it than that. I guess I never thought my vote mattered!

We were all sparked by the 2008 election, no matter which party you party with. But young people really got sparked. I never felt more like a member of my own generation than when I dove headfirst into democracy. Who’s with me?!

This year, when 2009 election time rolled around, I still had the democratic bug, bad. Despite being an “off year” for voters, not only did I vote, but I recruited five friends to vote, helped lead two phone banks for the no on 1033 campaign, spent my Saturday doorbelling TWICE (shout out to Laura Grant and Trick or Vote!!) and took part in an important yearly ritual: election parties.

Maybe the bug that bit me was on beast mode, but I don’t think so. I hope not, actually. I want young people to prove that I’m not an anomaly. I didn’t see many student faces out there last night… and for now I will just assume it’s because they were at home being good studiers. But LEV’s college intern Genna was actually doing her homework at the no on 1033 party last night, so, I’m just saying… When Genna asked herself the tough question of “do I celebrate political triumph or do I educate my mind?” She chose both.

A big thank you to everyone in Washington State-especially all my young people who voted and volunteered this year-for rejecting 1033 and approving Ref 71. It’s because of these results we can continue to do our work at LEV!

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Kudos to all of the organizations involved in the Pierce County Graducation Summit!

Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Kelly.

One of the highlights was an interview with a group of students who have all faced challenges, including juvenile hall, homelessness, abandonment, drugs, and deaths of friends and family. When asked how they made it, every single one of them said they got help; an organization, a teacher, mentor helped them and believed in them.
That really doesn’t seem like it should cost that much more money to accomplish.
Another interesting question was: If you were top dog and could help students, what single thing would you do?
• Longer lunch
• Extended day (when having to do class retrieval older students want to have as much opportunity to get the job done as possible)
• Summer School (same as above…once focused, they want every opportunity to finish)
• Classes not so long (1.5 hours) too boring
• Active classes, teacher is active with the students, the students are active with the teacher
• More cultural differences in the curriculum, all cultures should be covered in history
• More languages, the world is changing and all students should be bilingual.
• Be “on” the kids. Expect more, demand more.
I walked away thinking we need to ask students what they want more often. Really, they have the answers:
1. Support and believe in them
2. Expect more from them
3. Help them achieve to the expectation
This can be done. Even in this economy.

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I 1033 is really scarier than I originally thought

Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Kelly.

I’ve been doing some work on I-1033 to better understand what is going to happen to education if it passes. It’s really not good. It will devastate education and that is not an understatement. You all know me, I’m not about money, I’m about student performance, if we could take these cuts and keep student performance up, well then it’s a good thing. But that is not going to happen. Colorado saw graduation rates drop, this is what is going to happen to us. Colorado went from being in the middle of the pack in education funding to 49th (and in 5 years) what will happen to us? We are already at 43-46th!

If this issue passes we will spend the next 3-4 years cutting, figuring out what to cut, communicating what to cut, fighting over what to cut. At about 3-4 years we will all figure out that this is a disaster and as a state we will stop the initiative. We won’t have done anything at all to improve education, how could we? All we will do in education for the next 3-4 years is plan for cuts.

Meanwhile we will be failing kids.

Each of us needs to start thinking about how we can motivate our communities to think about this issue.
We need to move into campaign mode. And big time. What you should be doing:

1. Talk to your neighbors about why this initiative will cripple education (and the state)
2. Ask your PTA, homeowners association, realtors association, any group you can think of to endorse.
3. Ask your school board to take an endorsement
4. Ask your city council to take an endorsement (in the case of the city council and the school board, ask privately first, but if that doesn’t work, then go to the next meeting and ask publically) It DOES make a difference
5. Sign up to help on phone banks (I will send phone bank info out today or tomorrow.
6. Set up a phone bank – the Seattle council PTA has done it! LEV will offer its offices to you for the phonebank. Often realtors offices will help, the campaign will help you find a location, they will provide the materials and train you.
7. There is an education flyer on the www.no1033.com website – print it out, bring it to meetings, put it in your neighbors mailboxes…write a little note on it.
8. Write a letter to the editor, get your friends to write a letter to the editor.

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Guest Blog – Can we really be this stupid? I-1033 is so lame. John Stokes

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by jstokes.

All opinions are those of the author and do not represent the opinions of the League of Education Voters or its employees.

Tim Eyman’s latest tax cutting effort, Initiative 1033, is poised to wreck havoc on the state’s property taxes on which vitally important services for the average Joe and Jane and their children depend, and given the economic times, it has a good chance of passing unless we education voters do everything we can to combat it. Otherwise education funding will be dealt another crippling blow and our dreams of funding reform and education transformation will go down the tubes. Six billion new dollars for education will be mighty hard to come by if I-1033 becomes the latest expression of the will of the people in this state.

The great mystery is why ordinary middle class folks, and those who are hoping to become middle class, continue to embrace Eyman initiatives like I-1033 that would devastate them personally and help greatly in destroying the very middle class they represent? Yes, the idea of cutting my taxes is very appealing, and especially when it appears that the rich just keep getting richer, even in these dire financial times when those in control still seem to be pocketing the big bucks. A good friend of mine, with whom I enjoy jousting on economic and governmental matters, while supportive of higher education funding, supports I-1033 because “taxes are too much and the intent is to keep property owners from being taxed out of their homes.” Of course not, but that is what people like to believe?

Kelly Munn recently wrote a good piece about why I-1033 is a bad deal for education and for average people who use government services (that is most of us), and there is an excellent fact sheet on this web page, so I won’t repeat the against arguments here. But it struck me this morning as I read the latest blog from David Brooks in the New York Time (and I am getting to like him more and more as he morphs in his viewpoint), a piece called The Bloody Crossroads, published September 7, 2009.

In it Mr. Brooks poses the great conundrum of our times: when voters have relatively direct control over fiscal decisions, the result is that they vote to tax themselves like libertarians and subsidize themselves like socialists. That is exactly why California is in a fiscal meltdown, and instead of bringing down the special interests that are claimed to control government, it empowered them He cites the growing strength of the teacher’s union, as an example, and we are seeing signs of that here in this state. If the state coffers dry up from I-1033, the battles will more and more be waged on local turf, and children will be much the losers. So, if you care about education funding, work against I-1033 as if it mattered now more than anything, because it does.

John Stokes, Bellevue

All opinions are those of the author and do not represent the opinions of the League of Education Voters or its employees.

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Education is hot, debt is not.

Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by Maggie.

Today, the Wall Street Journal published an article stating that student loan borrowing grew 25% in the last year (and has been steadily rising for some time now). “Today, two-thirds of college students borrow to pay for college, and their average debt load is $23,186 by the time they graduate.” For many of us, this is no surprise.

The article goes on to talk about the consequences of a young generation amassing such measurable amounts of debt at such an early age-the effects of which I have been feeling myself! Graduated 20 somethings are postponing important life steps such as buying a home or starting a family due to debt.

This sucks. Walking around with $20,000 worth of debt on your shoulders doesn’t do much for one’s moral. But what upsets me most is who is BENEFITING from student debt. Private lenders!

The House of Representatives is slated to weigh in on this issue very soon. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) breezed through the House Committee on Education and Labor, but it’s going to need a lot of support.  I’m urging all students out there to contact your House Rep and tell them we’re tired. Tired of debt and tired of private companies making money off our debt.  While you’re at it, send that very message to Senator Murray. We need a companion senate bill to support SAFRA and she can do it!

Education is hot, debt is not. Private lenders collecting interest off my federal loans? Definitely not hot. Let’s change this.

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Where are all the education advocates?

Posted on 26. Jun, 2009 by Kelly.

I’ve been concerned about education in my community and state for over 10 years. As a volunteer I’ve been recruiting people for years to speak up. And now at the League of Education Voters I spend most of my time recruiting people to speak up for education.

It is a long, slow process. I find a person here or there, a couple in this community or that. But I find people in ones or twos, not hundreds or thousands. This used to amaze me, now I’m resigned to the fact that fundamentally, we are happy with education. I’m not saying that education is great in Washington State; I’m saying that we, as a general public are happy with it. There are lots and lots of reasons for this.

Just to list a few reasons for our complacency:
Every school district in this state tells its community that it’s doing fine, that they have a great community that their kids are improving. School districts rely on levies for their basic expenses now. Typically about 20% of a school districts operating budget comes from a levy. The school district needs to tell the community that everything is ok, that they should invest in their “good” schools. Who wants to invest in lousy schools? Who wants to pay for schools that have problems? So, districts communicate only positive, “good feeling” messages, regardless of whether it’s true or not.

Parents grew up as a generation of Americans who were educated in one of the top educational systems in the world. As parents, we look at our schools and we see our children receiving basically the same education that we received, and our education was one of the best provided in the world. And, our children’s education is slightly better then what we received, so we fundamentally believe things are ok. What we don’t realize is that other nations looked at us, wanted to have the same opportunities as us and those countries invested in their education systems. We have not moved down the ranks in international test scores, we have stayed the same, it’s just that 20 plus other nations have moved up, surpassing us.

Washington State is very equitable in school funding, but very low in per pupil funding. As a state, we are very proud of how equitable our education funding is. There are pockets of inequity of course, but for the most part, the money is evenly distributed across the state. The trouble is the money is equally low across the state. We don’t know what things we “could” have because no district has them. Just one example, many states have a 7th period day in middle and high school. Our state typically has only a 6th period day. This means that our children in Washington State who are competing for seats in colleges are at a distinct disadvantage. If two students have the same GPA and the same SAT scores, but one had more Advanced Placement offerings because of the 7th period, the student with the most classes will get into the college. Since we don’t even know that it’s possible to have a 7th period, we aren’t unhappy about it.

We haven’t figured out what the new global economy means to us. India and China have billions of people, and even if they only truly educate the top 10% of their population, they are giving an outstanding education to a lot of people, enough people to overwhelm our country. And those billions are now competing with us for jobs. Microsoft says it hires less than 1% of its people from the State of Washington. They are hiring globally. All things being equal, there should be more Washingtonians, but there aren’t, because we don’t have the education to keep up. We are not producing the engineers and scientists that they need.

There are many other reasons why we have grown so complacent. But we need to stop. We are falling behind, test scores are important, and we are falling behind internationally, but what really matters is jobs. And we are importing people for our very best jobs. We need this to stop. The children of Washington deserve better.

Please contact me if you’d like to help speak up for education in the state of Washington Kelly@educationvoters.org

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New session, new clout for education

Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by Lindsey.

Every year, we have the opportunity to improve education through legislative action. On Monday, the Washington State Legislature convenes for 105-days to make decisions on education that will impact more than a million students.

Our children are counting on all of us to get them ready for life. We can change our schools from early learning through higher education by testifying at hearings, contacting our legislators and rallying on the Capitol steps.

But first, take a couple minutes today to get ready for session.

• Encourage your friends and colleagues to join LEV and receive e-mail updates from us.
• Get to know your legislators and what committees they are assigned to.
• Hit ‘reply’ and update us with your personal/home e-mail address if this message was sent to one that ends with .gov or .edu.

New Clout for Education

More than ever, we need the additional oomph on the education committees this year. Our champions of education are moving to positions of greater clout and new allies have pledged to make education a top priority.

Changes in the State Senate

• Sen. Rodney Tom is the new Vice Chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
• Sen. Derek Kilmer is the new Chair of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
• Sen. Fred Jarrett is the new senator from the 41st Legislative District and the new Vice Chair of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
• Sen. Eric Oemig is the new Vice Chair of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee.
• Sen. Kevin Ranker is the new senator from the 10th Legislative District in NW Washington.

Changes in the State House

• Rep. Kelli Linville is the new Chair of the House Ways & Means Committee.
• Rep. Hans Dunshee is the new Chair of the House Capital Budget Committee.
• Rep. Reuven Carlyle is the new representative from the 36th Legislative District.
• Rep. Tim Probst is the new representative from the 17th Legislative District and the new Vice Chair of the House Education Committee.
• Rep. Scott White is the new representative from the 46th Legislative District.

Stay tuned next week for the launch of our 2009 Citizens’ Report Card on Washington State Education and opportunities to get involved this legislative session.

Chris Korsmo
Executive Director

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LEV Legislative Update

Posted on 07. Feb, 2008 by George.

We’re thrilled that your top three priorities from our E-Survey for early learning, K-12, and higher education made it through cutoff.

This week legislators reached the first cutoff deadline for the 2008 Legislative Session. Legislation that has not passed out of education policy committees in the House and Senate will most likely not receive further consideration this session.

Here’s the current status of each priority:

Create the Washington Head Start Program: HB 3168 to create a statewide Washington Head Start Program passed out of the House Committee on Early Learning & Children’s Services on Jan. 31. The bill would align the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) with Head Start program requirements and funding. This bill needs to pass out of the House Appropriations Committee by Tue., Feb. 12, the fiscal committee cutoff deadline.

Establish an End Date for the Basic Education Finance Task Force: SB 6879 sets a final date of Dec. 1, 2008 for the Basic Education Finance Task Force to recommend to the Legislature a new K-12 finance system for Washington’s public schools based on a new definition of basic education. The bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education on Feb. 6.

Approve a 10-year Vision for Higher Education: HCR 4408 defines the vision of the Higher Education Coordinating Board to expand access, affordability, and accountability for the state’s higher education system. Central goals of the master plan include:

    * An increase of the State Need Grant eligibility threshold from 70 percent of median family income to 85 percent;

    * Expansion of Bachelor’s and advanced degree programs in high-demand fields; and

    * A focus on diversity by increasing the percent of students, staff, and faculty of color in postsecondary education.

The bill passed out of the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Education this morning. 

For questions or comments on these issues, reply to this email or contact us at (206) 728-6448.

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