Seize the Crisis to Make Needed Changes
Washington State is facing a crisis. We cannot continue to do business as usual. The Legislature simply cannot continue trimming or suspending enough programs to plug a $4.6 billion budget gap. Instead, Washington must take advantage of the current budget crisis to make structural changes and reforms so the state can refocus on essential services, in particular its paramount duty to educate our children.
Governor Gregoire proposes to consolidate and streamline the number of agencies involved in education into one, leaner, more coordinated department of education focused, not on institutions, but on students — from early learning through higher education. While there are still too many questions to understand all the implications, this is the right direction. It’s the kind of bold leadership the crisis calls for.
We urge the Legislature to continue exploring other reforms and potential savings in all areas of state government, including:
♦ Consolidation of government agencies
♦ Elimination of non-essential services
♦ Restructuring public employees’ compensation, benefits, and pensions
♦ Reducing the cost of prisons through sentencing reform
♦ Revising K-12 funding practices
The new reality is all students need to be prepared to pursue education beyond high school, whether that is a one-year certificate in a skill area, a 2-year, 4-year, or advanced degree. Our state’s future depends on getting more students to achieve at higher levels of education.
Early Learning
Reading by 3rd grade is one of the more important education milestones. Quality Early Learning is one of the only proven strategies to address the achievement gap. We must support proven programs that set up our kids to be successful throughout their academic careers and in life.
Don’t go backwards on quality early learning for 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families. Preserve slots for 3-year-olds in the state’s prekindergarten program (ECEAP). – $9 million
Continue the commitment to full-day kindergarten. Maintain funding for the 22% of schools already participating. – $88.5 million
Include the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WA Kids) in state-funded full-day kindergarten schools. Foster strong school transition for young students, build partnerships between early learning providers and schools, and give teachers the information they need.– est. $1-2 million
K-12 Education
Use the budget crisis to eliminate or reform obsolete, or less optimal, K-12 funding practices. Consider:
♦ Moving up the time line for building a better salary structure that attracts and keeps the very best teachers.
♦ Eliminating the state practice of funding higher salaries in some districts than others, based on pay differences dating from over 30 years ago.
♦ Restructuring levy equalization.
♦ Encouraging Education Service Districts and the school districts they serve to expand their efforts to consolidate services and administration.
♦ Eliminating non-basic education programs, including I-728, in favor of funding the new basic education formula.
Dedicate the savings from finance reforms to begin fulfilling our basic education commitments, starting with the programs that will make the biggest difference for students:
♦ Lower K-3 class sizes.
♦ Continue phase-in of all-day kindergarten.
♦ More counselors for middle and high schools.
♦ More individualized instruction for struggling students.
♦ More challenging math, science and CTE classes.
Adopt the Common Core Standards to allow for more meaningful comparisons across the nation and to ensure Washington students are competitive with students from anywhere on the globe.
Adopt and begin funding implementation of the State Board of Education’s College and Career Ready high school graduation requirements for the Class of 2018 to ensure that every graduate will be ready to succeed in college, work training, and career.
Continue development of meaningful teacher and principal evaluations, scheduled for implementation statewide in 2013. – $3 million for continued pilot and $15 million for incentives.
Maintain commitment to demonstrated effectiveness in the classroom by funding incentives for National Board certified teachers. – $99.5 million
Allow districts more flexibility to focus on raising student achievement through:
♦ Use of innovative school models,
♦ Inclusion of student growth measures and evaluations as well as seniority in Reductions in Force (RIF) decisions, and
♦ Encouraging mutual consent between principals and teachers in hiring decisions.
Support OSPI’s work on student growth assessments to better track student learning progress.
Higher Education
In many respects, supporting higher education presents the state with an even more difficult challenge than K-12. The mission of higher education is necessarily more multifaceted, ranging from basic skills training to theoretical research. And there is no constitutional mandate.
While it’s still true today that Washington’s higher education institutions provide high quality education at a bargain price relative to other states, we are rapidly moving towards a different future, where the burden of cost is being shifted dramatically to parents and students. Very quickly this will work to discourage more and more students from pursuing their higher education goals. We are building a new social crisis: preparing more students to pursue post-secondary education but denying them access.
Use the budget crisis to make needed reforms in the higher education system:
♦ Streamline financial aid,
♦ Promote use of technology to lower cost of materials and instruction (Western Governors University is a good example), and
♦ Restructure the Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) plan.
Consolidate worker retraining program into one user-friendly system, and protect funding while unemployment rates remain at historic high levels.
Protect State Need Grants that make it possible for students from low- and moderate-income families to pursue college and work training. As tuition rises, increase State Need Grants to protect access. – $100+ million.
Raise tuition as a practical, short-term measure while exploring new, dedicated funding sources. Meanwhile encourage institutions to:
♦ Maintain transfer agreements between 2- and 4-year institutions,
♦ Expand delivery options including university centers, and
♦ Focus on improved degree completion,
♦ Monitor student debt loads.
Outside the Classroom
The League of Education Voters weighs in on issues beyond the classroom that directly affect students:
The League of Education Voters urges the Legislature to protect Apple Health, which provides basic health care coverage for children from low- and moderate-income families and oppose the elimination of eligibility for children’s health coverage for 27,000 children. – $59 million.
The League of Education Voters will continue to support efforts by citizens and lawmakers who take up the thankless but necessary work of advocating for a fairer, more stable revenue system that is sufficient to fund our essential services and common priorities.
