Blog

STEM education increases opportunity, drives economy

The shortage of workers with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills means that too many jobs go unfilled even as too many Washingtonians need jobs. The mismatch is the them of a good op-ed by AWB president Don Brunell in the the Bellingham Herald. Simply put, employers need people proficient in science, technology, engineering […]

The legislative education funding challenge: How do you solve a problem like McCleary?

My column in the current issue of AWB’s Washington Business considers the state budget problem. It was written weeks ago, but holds up I think. With next week’s revenue forecast likely to be down (and a new caseload forecast tomorrow apt to show increased costs), the challenge is a bit tougher than it looked in […]

Repealing tax preferences is not a cure-all

Andrew Garber reports that Governor Inslee will propose “closing some tax loopholes” to fund education. (He has yet to announce which “loopholes” he’s talking about.) On TVW this morning, the governor said, I was very clear that the way we should move forward to fund our schools and improve our education is rather than from […]

New poll shows teachers and voters agree on need for performance data and better education outcomes

A new poll commissioned by Excellent Schools Now, an education reform coalition, shows strong support by voters and teachers for better performance data, as well as agreement that the U.S. education system is not producing college- and career-ready students. Key poll results are here.   The group polled 500 voters and 500 teachers in late […]

Public libraries caught up in education funding lawsuit in West Virginia

As I wrote here, several states are facing education funding lawsuits. Apparently West Virginia is too, with a bit of a twist: In a special act, the legislature required nine counties in the state, including Kanawha, to use a potion of their state education funding to provide for public libraries. Public libraries in the 46 […]

A capital gains tax for Washington? Probably not, but they're discussing it again.

Senate Democratic Leader Ed Murray has proposed a new capital gains tax. Murray is proposing a 5 percent tax on capital gains to start in 2015, which he said would raise between roughly $600 and $700 million per year to help fund basic education and higher education. He proposed something similar last year. Under Murray’s […]

Lawsuits and education finance policy

An article in Education Week calls attention to education funding lawsuits that are pending in several states, complicating policymaking: As state budgets slowly recover from several years of economic contraction and stagnation, significant court battles continue to play a related yet distinct role in K-12 policy, even in states where the highest courts have already […]

New Brief: Comparative Analysis of School Funding

In a new special report, we look at school funding in Washington — level of funding, sources of funding, and how that funding compares to other states. As it turns out, Washington’s schools are funded heavily from state sources: Washington ranks 11th nationally in state revenues per student, but it ranks 40th in revenues from […]

Options for basic education spending

In a blog post yesterday, state Rep. Ross Hunter provides a good overview of the education funding problem in Washington. He notes the report of the Joint Task Force on Education Funding (JTFEF), which was released December 31, 2012. Created by House Bill 2824 last year, the task force was charged with “developing a proposal […]

The Effectiveness of Higher School Spending and Class Size Reductions

One of the main issues to be tackled this legislative session is education funding. Gov. Gregoire’s 2013-15 budget proposal calls for a “$1 billion down payment on the $3.4 billion in new K-12 spending the state has committed to over the next six years.” Additionally, the budget proposal would reduce K-2 class sizes in high […]