Blog

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 […]

Two good columns on education and trades

Don Brunell writes in The Columbian about underemployed and unemployed college graduates and the shortage of skilled workers in the trades. I recommend the piece. It addresses an important issue, one deserving more attention as we consider how to assure a better match between education, career opportunities and the demands of the workplace. Nationally, an […]

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 […]

Victory for teachers' union – defeat for local schools

One of the more critical things left undone in the waning hours of the legislative session was the failure to make necessary changes in the state’s teacher evaluation program. TNT reporter Melissa Santos explains. Washington lawmakers adjourned Thursday without changing the state’s teacher evaluation system, which probably means Washington will lose its waiver from the […]

Headline writers give lawmakers an incomplete

Detect a pattern? Washington legislature adjourns; punts on big issues Legislative session ends without tackling some major issues State budget OK’d by Legislature, but much left undone Lawmakers pass budget, little else, as session ends

Seattle's $15 minimum wage debate heats up; Jordan Royer article in Crosscut provides needed perspective

The Seattle City Council and the Mayor’s Income Inequality Advisory Committee held a joint public hearing last night on the $15 minimum wage proposal. The Seattle Times has the story. It sounds like quite a show. About 700 people, many wearing red T-shirts with “15” on the front, cheered calls to enact a pay increase […]

Today's column on a swift budget resolution and on-time end to the legislative session

In my column, I speculate that the legislative session will end on time as lawmakers are very close to agreement on the basic contours of the budget. Few legislators want a repeat of last year’s marathon. A special session is unnecessary and unlikely. The side that wants the least typically prevails in these negotiations. By […]

House and Senate base budgets are close; that's before you get to House-proposed new taxes and school spending

Yesterday House Democrats proposed their 2014 supplemental budget (documents here). It’s the time of year when things happen quickly; the Appropriations Committee hearing was last night at 6:00 In addition to a base budget, which closely resembles the plan introduced earlier by the Senate Majority Coalition, the House rolled out a proposal to increase taxes […]

Senate Democrats propose $100 million in new taxes for education, teacher COLAs

This morning Democrats in the state Senate laid out a plan to put another $100 million into the state budget for education, including cost-of-living adjustments for teachers. (Here’s the press release.) The new taxes, which they characterize as “closing unproductive loopholes,” are recycled from past efforts to boost revenues: applying the sales tax to bottled […]

Bipartisan supplemental budget proposal from state Senate adds $96 million, no tax hikes

Senate Ways and Means chairman Andy Hill, R-Redmond, just concluded a press conference unveiling his proposed 2014 supplemental operating budget. To underscore the bipartisan nature of the process, he was joined by the Democrats’ lead budget writer Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam and other Republicans and Democrats involved in developing the proposal. Although Hill had previously said […]