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Making the most of education investment: maintain standards, target early learning, scrap 1351

The headline summarizes some recent editorial observations. And nicely comports with budget realities. The News Tribune takes a strong editorial stand in support of academic accountability. At a time when the world is demanding more of high school graduates, Washington’s public schools shouldn’t be demanding less. Washington and many other states are phasing in the […]

Voters delivered a sensible message: What it means for 2015

In my column yesterday I assessed last week’s election, finding parallels between the national and Washington state outcomes. Using national trends to interpret our state elections can be risky. We’re different out here and proud of it. But last week showed some unmistakable signs that the wave sweeping most of the country splashed us as […]

Washington ranks 6th best in growth since 2008 in per-student state funding for public schools

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a new report examining changes in state government spending on K-12 education since the beginning of the the Great Recession. Between fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2015, per-student inflation-adjusted state support has decreased in 30 states and has increased in 17 states. For 3 states, data […]

With ballots arriving, here's our take on I-1351

Ballots are in the mail or already delivered, so I thought I would re-post the link to our policy brief on one of this year’s initiatives: Initiative 1351 Class Size Reduction: A $4.7 Billion Unfunded Mandate with Dubious Educational Merit. It may also be helpful for voters to consider I-1351 in the broader budget context. […]

Harvard Business School on "An Economy Doing Half Its Job" and the Need to Improve Education, Workforce Skills and Transportation

My column today used a Harvard Business School competitiveness report as its launching point. It points out a signal danger to our economic future. The report, “An Economy Doing Half Its Job,” is based on a survey of Harvard business graduates and the school’s own academic research. The research team writes that the nation is […]

I-1351 in the news

There have been several articles written about I-1351 over the past few days. For an initiative without an organized opposition campaign, it has been getting a lot of press. For good reason: the devil’s in the details. The Columbian writes, By Evergreen School District Superintendent John Deeder’s math, if Initiative 1351 were to pass this […]

Seattle Times urges no vote on I-1351, CWU's president sees need for budget cuts

The Seattle Times editorial board is urging voters to reject Initiative 1351: ON the surface, Initiative 1351 appears appealing, promising smaller classes in Washington public schools. But what it really does is unnecessarily complicate the state Legislature’s very serious job of meeting a state Supreme Court order to fully fund basic education. . . . […]

Davis column: Hard to do priority budgeting if you don't set priorities

My column this week suggests that the presidents of the six four-year colleges should have complied with the governor’s budget office and shown the effects of a 15 percent budget cut.  They prefer to paint with broad brushstrokes as they make a strong case against any further reductions in the higher education budget. I write, […]

McCleary, I-1351, and budgeting choices

Budgeting is fundamentally about choices. The McCleary decision and the prospect of I-1351 are making this plainly evident to many. Last week the League of Education Voters decided to oppose I-1351. Even though they supported a previous class size reduction initiative (I-728), LEV said, We know there is no single silver bullet that will close […]

Class size Initiative 1351: Threat to safety net and higher education, yet no organized opposition

Seattle Times columnist and editorial board member Erik Smith writes that despite its $4.7 billion price tag with no funding attached, Initiative 1351 seems to be sliding to the November ballot with no significant opposition. This is all the more surprising because, as Smith points out, when informed arguments are presented, even those most predisposed to […]