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Teachers' union objects to tying test scores to teacher evaluation; Washington becomes first state to lose education waiver

As expected, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a letter to Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn today declined to renew the state’s education waiver.   Dorn pulls no punches in his press release. “Washington state has been doing great work under our waiver agreement,” Dorn said. “We have developed our own system that more […]

Minimum wage and the kludgeocracy

In this week’s EconTalk episode, host Russ Roberts talks with Steven Teles about the kludgeocracy. Teles wrote about the idea of a kludgeocracy in a Fall 2013 article in National Affairs. Some excerpts from the article: If anything, we have arrived at a form of government with no ideological justification whatsoever. . . . Understanding, […]

"Cruel budgeting," in CA and WA

Dick’s column yesterday is about a blast from the near past: A proposed initiative for the ballot this year would reduce class sizes. This idea is very similar to I-728, approved by voters in 2000. I-728 “redirected money from a fleeting state surplus, one that disappeared shortly after the initiative passed.” This year’s initiative “doesn’t […]

More on union-backed class size reduction initiative – costly and unfunded

In my column today, I write about I-1351, the class size reduction initiative endorsed and promoted by the Washington Education Association. We first wrote about it here. I note that the initiative bears some resemblance to Initiative 728, passed by the voters in 2000 as an unfunded mandate. Like I-728, I-1351 doesn’t raise taxes. It […]

March 11 – April 10 state revenue collections were $12.5 million above forecast

However, the positive variance was due to a $20.7 million one-time assessment payment. Without this unanticipated payment, collections would have been $8.2 million below forecast.  This news comes from the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s monthly Economic and Revenue Update, which was issued today. Here are the key bullets on revenue from the summary: Major […]

Teachers' union promotes class size initiative for fall ballot

The Washington Education Association formally endorsed Initiative 1351, another unfunded mandate to reduce class sizes. The union describes it this way. The initiative reduces class sizes for all grades. For example, I-1351 would fund class sizes of 17 students per class in K-3, and 15 per class in high-poverty schools. The initiative would also will […]

Tax incentives for research and development are important to state economy

In my column today I address the state legislature’s failure to extend R&D tax incentives that have been in place since 1994. It’s a topic we’ve written on before, including this policy brief. Similar incentive programs are standard in most states, particularly those with a strong tech sector. I imagine their reinstatement will be a […]

Seattle Times business columnist faults Legislature for failing to renew R&D incentives

Jon Talton, business columnist for the Seattle Times, skipped subtlety and got right to the point in writing about the effects of some Legislative inaction in the recently completed session. Noting that it’s not correct to say lawmakers did nothing, he writes, In fact, legislators delivered a sledgehammer to state competitiveness by killing the nearly […]

Looking ahead to the McCleary session: Education funding takes center stage

Our new policy brief on the supplemental budget passed by lawmakers notes that the minor changes made this year set the stage for a much more active budget writing session next year. By the end of next month, the Legislature will have to deliver a funding plan for meeting the state Supreme Court’s order to […]

New Brief: The 2014 Supplemental Budget Increases Education Spending, Holds Line on New Taxes, and Fails to Extend R&D Credits

In a new policy brief, we write about the 2014 supplemental operating budget that was passed by the Legislature. The gist: It makes mostly minor changes to the 2013–15 operating budget while increasing spending for public schools—a prelude to next session’s likely focus on meeting the state’s McCleary obligations.