Blog

Former Govs. Spellman and Gregoire Urge Supreme Court to Exercise Restraint, Caution

In today’s Seattle Times, John Spellman and Chris Gregoire offer timely counsel to the state Supreme Court ahead of tomorrow’s hearing addressing whether the court should hold the Legislature in contempt for failing to make adequate progress on education funding. Republican Spellman served as governor from 1981-1985; Gregoire served from 2005-2013. The pair note that […]

Regarding McCleary, does the Legislature need its mind concentrated?

As Dick noted, in June, the state Supreme Court ordered the state to address why it should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with an earlier court order to submit “a complete plan for fully implementing its program of basic education for each school year between now and the 2017-18 school year.” […]

Washington exports college students – a trade deficit that we cannot afford

The Seattle Times reports that Washington sends more students out of state for a college education than come here to attend school.  [Bjong “Wolf” Yeigh, chancellor of the University of Washington Bothell,] was analyzing the data this year and was surprised to learn that Washington experiences the opposite effect. In fact, it’s one of only 11 states with a net loss of first-time college […]

New Brief: Initiative 1351 Class Size Reduction: A $4.7 Billion Unfunded Mandate with Dubious Educational Merit

In a new policy brief, we look at Initiative 1351, which will be on the ballot in November. I-1351 would reduce class sizes for kindergarten through 12th grade. Below are a few main points about the initiative, which are fleshed out in the brief. It would increase state K–12 spending by $4.7 billion through 2019—over […]

Fiscal impact of class size initiative, and other budget complications

The Office of Financial Management released its fiscal impact statement of I-1351 today. The initiative would lower class sizes for grades K-12 but contains no dedicated funding source. According to OFM, if approved by voters, I-1351 would increase state spending by $4.7 billion over 5 years ($2 billion in 2015-17 and $2.7 billion in 2017-19). […]

Various and sundry links

“Cancelling Washington R&D Incentives Will Erase Success,” by Tom Ranken and Eric Viola of the Washington Clean Technology Alliance, in Xconomy: “Before the programs, Washington tax law was punitive to R&D growth—and the job growth that goes with it.” (Here’s our policy brief on the R&D incentives: “Supporting Research and Development with Responsible Tax Policy.”) […]

Cost effective education spending includes charters

How is education like baseball? When money is no object, cost effectiveness is less important. Patrick Wolf of the University of Arkansas links education and Moneyball in a post for EducationNext: The cost of public education is largely ignored by both the media and education policymakers. Many people think it is awkward, complicated or destroys […]

The "shortsightedness" of "pay it forward" college financing

Via the University of Washington’s Office of Planning and Budgeting blog, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) has a new report on the “pay it forward” (PIF) higher education funding idea that has received a lot of play around the country recently. (Including in Washington, as a Washington Business Alliance blog post […]

Class size Initiative 1351 hides costs, consequences

My column today compares and contrasts Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1325 with the Washington Education Association’s Initiative 1351. The former failed to qualify for the November ballot; the latter apparently did. Eyman’s sales tax reduction would have cost the state about $2 billion over the two-year budget cycle without specifying what programs and services would be […]

State Supreme Court orders lawmakers to explain why they should not be held in contempt on school funding

The Court’s has long signaled its impatience with the legislature’s slow progress toward meeting the McCleary obligation to fund basic education. Wait until next year wasn’t going to work again. Yesterday’s action – an order to appear at a show cause hearing – steps up the pressure. The state’s response to the order is to be […]