17th of June 2016
13th of June 2016
Special-ed advocates chime in on K-12 funding
The Seattle Times reported Friday on a brief filed by special-education advocates in the ongoing McCleary case, which deals with state funding of K-12 public schools. They argue that the state's funding, and funding formula, for Washington's 125,000 special-ed students are inadequate: For 20 years the Legislature has paid for special education as if every […]
29th of January 2016
The latest on McCleary & K-12 education funding
You practically need a flow chart these days to keep track of what's happening on McCleary (the 2012 state Supreme Court ruling – which the Legislature is in the midst of complying with – that said the state is unconstitutionally not paying the full cost of basic education). The big remaining task of the state is […]
30th of October 2015
21st of October 2015
House committee explores K-12 financing
Yesterday in Olympia the House Finance Committee looked at how public schools are funded, here in Washington and nationwide. Committee staff prepared in-depth reports with lots of information (the Research Council in 2013 published a report on on K-12 financing, comparing Washington’s funding to other states’. You can read that here). Some highlights: Washington differs […]
19th of October 2015
More on charter schools: The Los Angeles experience
The Washington State Charter Schools Commission met last week to "consider how it can keep monitoring the independent public schools while making plans to dismantle itself" (it also suspended applications for new charter schools). The commission finds itself in this strange position after the state Supreme Court, controversially, ruled in September that charter schools are unconstitutional. Some lawmakers are considering ways to counteract the ruling, […]
7th of October 2015
Washington scores good – not great – on new "Opportunity Index"
Our friends at Opportunity Washington are out today with a brand-new assessment – called the “Opportunity Index” – of how Washington stacks up against the rest of the country on education, transportation and economic vitality. In partnership with the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable, the Research Council conducted a data-driven analysis of performance of all 50 states […]
24th of September 2015
Taxes: The grass is always greener…
With the first meeting today of Gov. Inslee’s legislative McCleary workgroup, we’re likely to see another round of calls for new taxes – specifically, an income tax and/or a capital gains tax – to fund the rest of the state’s K-12 obligations. Arguments in favor of new forms of taxation include: Washington’s tax system is unfair and regressive, […]
23rd of September 2015