Issues
Below are LEV’s whitepapers on key issues for the 2011 legislative session.
- Charter Schools
Charter schools are public schools funded by government dollars. They vary from traditional public schools because they are granted “charters” by authorizers and exempt from many of the federal, state, and local laws regulating traditional public schools. - Common Core Standards
National standards have been a recurring issue of interest in education for roughly 25 years. The standards are meant to provide a consistent framework across states lines, be aligned with college and career expectations, include rigorous content and application of knowledge, and build on leading state and international standards. - Length of School Day and School Year
With middling student achievement scores and increasing focus on international comparisons of educational performance, the length of the school day and year have gained more traction in the past 30 years as possible strategies for improving educational outcomes in the United States. - Achievement Gap
Across the nation and here in Washington State, there exist long-standing gaps in educational performance between middle- and upper-income and white students and low-income students and students of color. These achievement gaps, or opportunity gaps, have wide ranging implications for individuals, schools, society, and our economy as a whole. - Class Size
The issue of K-12 class size has continued to be a hotly debated topic in education policy discussions. However, very little of the debate has centered on the general effectiveness of class size interventions. - K-12 Funding Landscape
In education, virtually any assertion provokes a raging debate — especially the question of ample school funding. On the one hand, there is no compelling evidence that any particular level of funding guarantees a particular outcome. Moreover, it’s nigh impossible to refute the argument that school districts should do a better job with the funding they have. On the other hand, common sense, and lots of research, tells us there is statistically-significant relationship between funding levels and student performance. Great schools that run on bargain basement budgets are the exception, not the rule. Like everything else in life, you mostly get what you pay for. - Early Learning
The last two decades have seen an explosion of research on the effectiveness of and the need for high-quality early childhood education programs. Groundbreaking investigations into the developing brain reveal the incredible learning capacity of very young children and the long-term impacts of adverse experiences early in life.
