education reform

Lawmakers reach agreements on key education bills

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Mike.

students-olyParents, educators and students have a lot to celebrate this morning. On the final day of the 2010 legislative session, lawmakers reached agreements on key education bills.

Thank you to legislators and especially parents and education advocates who worked so hard on behalf of kids this legislative session.

Basic education funding bill

Lawmakers took the next step in implementing last year’s historic education reform bill (House Bill 2261) by approving the Quality Education Council’s recommendations in House Bill 2776. The legislation:

  • Establishes a new and more transparent school funding formula;
  • Lowers class sizes in kindergarten through third grade and increases funding to cover maintenance and operations costs; and
  • Revises how the state pays for pupil transportation costs.

Thank you to Rep. Pat Sullivan, Rep. Marcie Maxwell and Rep. Skip Priest for your hard work to begin fully funding basic education.

Race to the Top reforms

Washington is in a better position to win a $250 million federal Race to the Top grant thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 6696. The bill will also improve Washington’s public schools by:

  • Adopting the State Board of Education’s guidelines on turning around consistently low-performing schools;
  • Revising teacher evaluations and creating new principal evaluation criteria; and
  • Expanding teacher preparation and recruitment pathways.

Thank you to Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, Sen. Eric Oemig and Sen. Curtis King for your work on this bill.

Early childhood education

Our state’s youngest learners received tremendous support from Olympia in House Bill 2731 and Senate Bill 6759. The bills reaffirm the state’s commitment to ensuring kids start kindergarten ready to succeed. The bills:

  • Expand pre-school programs for three- and four-year olds across the state;
  • Protect funding for early learning by making it a new state entitlement program; and
  • Consider the establishment of a program of early learning in basic education.

Thank you to Rep. Roger Goodman, Sen. Claudia Kauffman and Rep. Ruth Kagi for being champions for kids.

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Oh what a night!

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by Heather.

Today, the last of the 60-day 2010 legislative session, was a big day for education. First, in the late afternoon, Senate Bill 6759 passed both chambers. Then, this evening we had rapid final passage of three other bills, Senate Bill 6696, House Bill 2776 and House Bill 2731 (last of the night). Together, these four bills will bring meaningful reform to our state, and improve opportunity and education for all kids.

To all of the parents, students and citizens who advocated for kids this session, THANK YOU for all of your time, energy and hard work! We certainly could not have done this without you.

Now that it’s Sine Die, I think I am going to go watch something besides TVW.

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Spokane mom sends video message to legislators

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Mike.

Lisa Layera Brunkan, one of the famous library moms in Spokane, sent a video message to state education leaders today. In the message, she asks lawmakers to pass legislation to begin fully funding basic education and help Washington win a federal Race to the Top grant. Lisa talks about her young kids and why passing Senate Bill 6696 matters to them.

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Public invited to a CityClub event on education reform and funding

Posted on 17. Feb, 2010 by Mike.

From local schools to Olympia to Washington, D.C., education reform and funding is a hot topic. Next Wednesday, February 24, CityClub is hosting a luncheon and panel discussion on education reform and funding. It’s a well-timed event considering recent news such as the McCleary vs. Washington State decision, discussions about the education budget in Olympia and the upcoming federal Race to the Top competitive grant application deadline.

If you’re a parent, educator or student, or if you’re interested in the future of our state and nation’s public education system, you should attend this event.

Lisa Macfarlane

Lisa Macfarlane

Our very own Lisa Macfarlane, co-founder of the League of Education Voters, will join a panel of other education advocates and experts. The panel will feature:

  • Peter Donaldson, Board Director, Washington Education Association
  • Randy Dorn, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
  • Lisa Macfarlane, Director of External Affairs, League of Education Voters
    Scott Oki, Founder and Chairman, Oki Developments, Inc.
  • Moderator: Bob Watt; Board Chair, The Seattle Foundation; Vice Chair, Thrive by Five Washington

The luncheon and program is Wednesday, February 24 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM at Town Hall Seattle at 1119 8th Avenue (at Seneca Street). The cost is $30 for the general public and $20 for CityClub members.  Click here for more information or to register for the event.

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LEV testifies on Race to the Top bill

Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by Mike.

Yesterday, LEV co-founder Lisa Macfarlane testified on the Race to the Top bill (Senate Bill 6696).  Below are the talking points for the testimony she gave at the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

LEV’s Jan. 25, 2010 testimony on SB 6696

Lisa Macfarlane, with the League of Education Voters and Excellent Schools Now Coalition, a group that includes 27 organizations dedicated to meaningful education reform that increases student achievement, closes achievement gaps and prepares students to be college and career ready.

We applaud this legislation.  It takes a number of steps in the right direction.  We have provided you with an analysis of the strengths of this bill and where the places where it needs to be strengthened.  I’d like to quickly highlight four areas where we’d like to see changes:

1.  It is critically important for OSPI to develop one set of statewide measures of student growth and insist that school districts use it.

2.  Student growth data needs to comprise at least 50% of teacher and principal evaluations.

3.  It’s a good thing that the legislation directs OSPI to develop four-tiered evaluation models for teachers and principals.  We think it’s important to add language that school districts should be required to use one of the 4 tiered models developed by OSPI or get specific approval to use an alternative one.

4.  Lastly, we think it’s critical to provide extra pay for teachers who work in high poverty, high minority, or low-achieving schools, or hard to staff subject areas, –who demonstrate effectiveness in raising performance and closing achievement gaps.

All this work that the Race to the Top competition is driving across the country has a national context.  Our country used to lead the world in college success.  We have lost that lead and our US dept of Education has a very explicit goal of restoring that college success leadership by 2020.

And in our Washington, we have a math and science achievement crisis, and achievement gaps that are GROWING

  • Gap in NAEP 8th grade math scores between low-income and non-low income Washington students is growing. It is now 28 points, which is almost 3 years. This gap is the 12th largest in the nation in 2009.
  • Also on NAEP 8th grade math, Washington is 1 of 9 states where the White-African American gap is growing, and 1 of 7 states where the White-Hispanic gap is growing.

These sobering realities are a call to action and a reminder that we ALL need to own the performance of our schools and students.

The anchor in school improvement work is student growth data which is why we are insistent that it be a state responsibility to develop these measures.  All of this focus on evaluation is about improving instruction, which is all about supporting teachers in their professional growth.

When we do that– and we realize that funding education is not an expense, it’s an investment — we will close our achievement and opportunity gaps.

Race to the Top and its 4 priority areas are not trial balloons for flavors of the month.  This focus on college and career ready standards,

great teachers and leaders, using data to improve instruction, turning around lowest performing schools is right on the money and it’s clearly the priority of the US department of education.

We need to “assure” that we are making progress on these four priorities to get the rest of our fiscal stabilization money.

We expect Race for the Top to be the new frame for the re-authorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Future Title One School Improvement Grant money requires that districts use one of the four turn-around models specified in the legislation before you.

If we make these legislative changes, and then put together a bold, coherent Race to the Top application, we could win significant new federal money.

Regardless, it’s the work that we need to be doing if we want to accelerate school reform and boost our state’s economic recovery.  We are not going to have a strong, vibrant economy if we don’t do a better job of preparing our children for college and careers.

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PreK Now. It’s Basic!

Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Bonnie.

Today LEV Foundation board member Janet Levinger testified in support of HB 2731 - including preschool for at-risk 3- and 4-year olds in basic education. I have pasted it below. Janet was joined by 20 parents, providers, sheriffs (yes, there were two!) and child advocates who also testified in support of including preschool in basic education. At least 15 people also signed in to support 2731 without testifying.

Thank you Janet for standing up for Washington’s youngest learners.

Janet Levinger, LEV Foundation board memberGood afternoon. For the record, my name is Janet Levinger. I am here today as a community volunteer and child advocate. I currently serve on the boards of United Way of King County, Social Venture Partners, the League of Education Voters, Child Care Resources, and the Bellevue Schools Foundation. I am also on the advancement and communications committees of Thrive by Five Washington.

I am here today to speak in support of HB 2731 and applaud your vision to include PreK in basic education. I also like the mention of infant toddler programs in HB 2867.

Ever since I joined to Child Care Resources board - 13 years ago this month - my husband and I have focused our philanthropy and volunteer time on improving outcomes for all children by ensuring they have a strong state in life. Here’s why:

Imagine yourself as a 5-year-old. It’s your first day at school. You have a new lunch box and a new backpack and you’re all excited. But when you get to school, you have a hard time. You have trouble sitting still to listen to a story. You fight with other kids over a toy. You get in trouble with the teacher because you can’t wait until the end of circle time to play with the blocks. Other kids laugh at you when you don’t know how to write your name and have trouble holding onto a pencil. By the end of the week, the teacher now that you are one of the kids who is not ready for school and she can guess that you are one of the kids who will not graduate from high school.

Imagine yourself as a 5-year old - and you are already projected to fail.

My husband and I invest in quality early education because is shows that it makes a huge difference for kids.

Kids in quality programs enter kindergarten with a solid foundation of social skills and learning skills. They are less likely to repeat a grade, to be placed in special education, to commit a crime, or to become pregnant as a teen.

My husband and I invest in quality early education because it is a good investment for our community.

Research from prominent economists has shows that for every dollar invested in high quality PreK saves taxpayers up to $7 later. Not only are there savings from remedial and juvenile justice programs, but over the long-term, these kids are more likely to graduate from high school, gain stable employment, and contribute positively to our community.

Protecting PreK under basic education would ensure that the program could not be cut and that all eligible children would be served.

I grew up in Iowa and when I was 10-years old, my family moved to a new house. We were one of the first in a new development. My mother planted all sorts of trees - but they were scrawny twigs when she put them in no bigger than I was. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was planting trees so we would have shade from the sun, apples to pick in the summer, and privacy from our neighbors. I remember looking around from our prairie hilltop and noticing that we did not have any neighbors and I thought she was crazy. But of course she was right. Over time, the small plants she carefully watered and pruned sheltered us from the sun, gave us fruit, and offered us privacy from the neighbors who did move in.

I know it’s hard to think 5, 12, or 20 years ahead. But I hope you will be like my mother and have the foresight to know that caring for our children now will bring many benefits in the future. Imagine that 5-year old - we can offer her a hopeful future instead of failure.

Including a program of early learning in Basic Education will guarantee that our limited resources are focused where the can make the most difference in the life of every child, and to our community.

Thank you.

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Two polls help drive education debate

Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Mike.

Two surveys of Washington teachers and voters are helping to drive the education debate this legislative session.

A poll by the Excellent Schools Now Coalition (ESN) and one by Partnership for Learning (PFL) are in hot demand from advocates, educators, policymakers and the media.  ESN, which includes LEV, conducted a survey of 500 teachers about their opinion of criteria outlined in Race to the Top, such as standards and assessments, data systems, and evaluating educators.  PFL conducted a similar poll, but surveyed Washington voters instead.  The polls were released to the public at the ESN Race to the Top Luncheon on January 14, 2010.

The polls find that Washington State public school teachers and residents overwhelmingly support the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top reforms.

The media quickly honed in on the significance of the findings.

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Doing the Right Thing Always Matters

Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Chris.

For those of you counting at home – and by my count, from some of the comments, at least a few of you are following along – this legislative session is officially one week old.  Not to beat a dead drum, but there’s a lot at stake here, so each week counts and counts big. One big take away this week is the Governor’s intention to introduce an education reform legislation that addresses the state’s shortcomings in the federal “Race to the Top” competition. In previous episodes of my waxing on, some of you have raised questions and downright consternation about whether this is right-headed.  Some of you have said that the money isn’t enough to make a difference. Others have had specific policy issues. Why, when we have school districts in financial disarray, would we get “sidetracked” by Race 2TT?

Here’s why; It’s the right thing to do.

I feel you, dissenters, I feel you. But if we are going to get ourselves on the right track with higher student achievement, closing the achievement gap and creating the next generation of leaders we need to put some focus on what works and what doesn’t. Sorry, but with the exception of a few successful districts (and unfortunately, even there, a handful of schools linger behind), we don’t do that. We focus on what we’ve always done; what makes us feel comfortable; what we’re willing to accept. Sorry, kids, but that is no longer acceptable. Going after the Race to the Top solely for the money would be nearly as misguided as standing pat on the status quo.

Specifically, because I know specifics always help, we do almost NOTHING to address chronically underperforming (I get points for not saying “failing” here, don’t I?) schools.  The State Board has a plan to address this and the kids who attend these schools need us to implement that plan NOW. Item number two, with the exception of a few districts, we give teachers meaningless feedback about their performance (and we give principals even less feedback). Seriously, when was the last time you were graded “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory?”   Freshman art courses in middle school? In the world where I work, unsatisfactory is French for “go find another job.” Which is not very constructive feedback, I can tell you.  We need to stop pretending like everything our schools do needs to be created here.  District by district, school by school or even classroom to classroom. Standards, curriculum, testing, even lesson plans are transferable. Good ones allow for some state or local additions, providing a floor from which to work.  In the realm of Race to the Top, this would mean adopting the national standards and assessments.  There’s plenty more where this came from – I figure this is a good start for the conversation – and I for one, am looking forward to what the Governor puts forward.

Chasing federal money for the money’s sake usually winds up with the state budget going over a cliff. Making the changes we should be making anyway in order to give at least a few districts the chance to do things differently is the right thing. And the time is always right for that.

Chris Korsmo
Executive Director

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Gov: Legislation needed to compete for R2T

Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Heather.

Gov. Gregoire held a press conference today to formally announce Washington’s plan to become competitive for a Race to the Top (R2T) grant. [We were given a sneak peek last Thursday by Judy Hartmann, the governor's education policy advisor.]

To co-present her plan, Gov. Gregoire was joined by Randy Dorn, superintendent of public instruction; Mary Jean Ryan, chair of the State Board of Education; Dr. Bette Hyde, director of the Department of Early Learning; Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association; Gary Kipp, executive director of the Association of Washington School Principals; and Jennifer Wallace, executive director of the Professional Educator Standards Board.

The plan includes adopting legislation that would do the following:

  • Allow the state to intervene and oversee schools where student achievement is persistently low.
  • Revise teacher and principal evaluations to  focus on instruction and use multiple measures, including student academic performance.
  • Extend probationary period for teachers to 3 years, and allow districts to grant continuing contracts after 2 years.
  • Allow non-institutions of higher education to offer teacher and principal preparation programs.
  • Encourage increased parent involvement and input.
  • Provide for adoption of Common Core Standards.
  • Encourage local dollars to be used to close the achievement gap and increase STEM instruction. (e.g. TRI pay, changing the I from Incentives to Innovation).

Gov. Gregoire made the statement that she is ”confident that if we don’t pass this legislation we won’t qualify” for R2T.

We also learned that Washington State will participate in a pilot of  National Board certification for principals, and Dr. Hyde presented the governor’s proposed early learning program, called All Start.

The Senate Early Learning &K-12 committee will hold a work session on R2T shortly where Superintendent Dorn, Ms. Ryan and Ms. Hartmann will present their R2T plan. You can watch their presentation on TVW.

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Gates Sr: Race To The Top Provides “Unprecedented Opportunity”

Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by Jen.

In front of a packed room of Washington education leaders, Bill Gates Sr. delivered a keynote speech Thursday calling on officials to dramatically improve our education system and to compete for the federal Race To The Top funds. Below are the highlights of his speech.

At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, by far and away our biggest investment in the United States is education. We believe that public schools are the surest path to a prosperous future for the country as a whole. Our economic future depends on them. Strong public schools also promote some of our country’s most important values, including equality. They are the best way to give every single individual an equal opportunity to make the most of his or her life.

Washington is not currently giving students the opportunities they deserve. For example, the state ranks fourth in the country in technology‐based corporations, but we are 46th in participation in science and engineering graduate programs. Low‐income and minority students are least represented in STEM fields, which means that our schools are perpetuating inequality instead of ending it, which is what they should be doing.

When students don’t do well or drop out of school, a lot of states try to fix the problem by lowering expectations. That is precisely the wrong approach. In Washington State, there are already too many high school graduates without the skills to fill jobs that require less than a two- or four-year college degree. We also know from students who have dropped out of high school that they want rigor and high expectations. If we make school more challenging and more engaging, then we will not only see fewer dropouts – but also a high school diploma that really means something.

Washington State is eligible to compete for its share of the $4.3 billion in federal discretionary Race to the Top funds. This competitive federal stimulus package is designed to drive education reform across the country, and provides an unprecedented opportunity to move meaningful education reform forward in our state.

With the state facing a $2.6 billion budget deficit and you in the legislature looking for ways to balance the budget, this should not be viewed as a budget problem, but one of the largest possible budget solutions.

Washington State cannot afford to miss out on this tremendous opportunity to receive significant new federal funding to ensure every child is ready for college, work, and life.

President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan want Race to the Top money to go to states that are committed to a high quality education for every student.

They have laid out criteria they want states to meet…using quality standards and assessments; supporting great teachers and leaders; using data to link achievement, programs, and practices; and the critical need to turn around low-performing schools.

The Gates Foundation is helping Washington with its application, but I want to make one thing clear. We’re not doing it because we see a huge push for reforms that live up to the spirit of Race to the Top. We don’t. Not yet. We’re doing it because this is our home, and we are still hopeful that Washington State can become a leader in educational innovation.

In that spirit, I urge us not to spend time and energy defending what is currently in place and figuring out creative ways to say the status quo fits the Race to the Top criteria. That would be like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Instead, I urge us to be bold in our thinking about what needs to change.

Even if money were not on the table, the Race to the Top reforms — setting high expectations for students, getting great teachers and leaders, using data for improvement, and helping struggling schools — are the right steps to  ensure every Washington student has the tools needed to succeed  after high school.

 

The combination of the Race to the Top application and legislative support for stronger education policies will help ensure our students receive the resources, effective teachers, and academic rigor they deserve regardless of where they live.

Let’s do this right.

Thank you.

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