Little came easy this legislative session. And that goes for discussions about whether to extend it to handle unfinished business.
You'll remember that shortly after the clock ran out on the session, Gov. Gregoire said she'd call lawmakers back for a one-day session. (The link is to Adam Wilson's story in the Olympian.)
Details, like what were the must-dos and when must they be done, remained to be worked out. As time passed, urgency waned. Wilson reports that Tuesday the governor told Democratic leaders, "time's up." A decision needed to be made this week. The AP's Rachel La Corte summarizes the issues in a story the Everett Herald headlines "Gregoire may cancel special session." (Can you cancel something that's never been scheduled? Can you lose a friend you never had?) Briefly:
The three bills that have been discussed by the governor for a special session are:
A plan to reduce state spending on a program that benefits
"property-poor" schools, saving about $60 million, while allowing
school districts to collect more money from property tax levies. That
bill is seen as the biggest priority.
A measure to clear the way for illegal immigrants in state prisons to be deported, saving the state more than $8 million.
A criminal sentencing bill that expands the low and high end of the
sentencing range, allowing more discretion for judges when sentencing
offenders. This bill could save the state nearly $376,000 through 2011
because it is expected that sentences will be reduced.
But, she notes,
... House leaders have been lukewarm about rushing back to Olympia.
House Majority Leader is quoted as thinking September might be better, when legislators have to return to Olympia anyway.
Republicans, who seem to have little influence on the governor's decision, have been clear from the beginning that there's no hurry. That's particularly true for Sen. Joe Zarelli, who headlines his latest Budget Tid Bit "no special session to pass bad public policy." He's particularly opposed to the levy equalization measure. He desxribes
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1776 [as]a "reverse Robin Hood bill" that would adversely impact the majority of school districts in the state while benefitting a select minority.
Disagreement on the bill tied up lawmakers in the waning hours of the session.
In addition to the aforementioned issues, swine flu could emerge as a special session topic, at least a reason to bump public health funding.
It's always a bad idea to make predictions just before decisions are likely to be announced. But here goes: I doubt they'll be back soon.
At a press conference recently, new Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn announced his plans for replacing the WASL. Dorn asserts that he has the authority to change the test without legislative approval.
Dorn consulted with legislators and Gov. Chris Gregoire before making his announcement, but emphasized that he did not need their approval to make the changes. Under state law, the superintendent can, in consultation with the state Board of Education, develop and revise a statewide system to test proficiency in reading, writing, math and science.
Some disagree.
Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, called Dorn "pretty arrogant" for speaking about what he could and couldn't do without the Legislature.
"It's as if he's never served in the Legislature before," Hewitt said of Dorn, who was chairman of the House Education Committee. "Well, we're still controlling the budget, and we still make the laws in this state."
WashACE has strongly supported rigorous accountability requirements for the schools. Steve Mullin of the Washington Roundtable appeared with the superintendent at yesterday's press conference. His comments in this Spokesman-Review story effectively capture our conerns.
Mullin said that his group would oppose any changes that might make the WASL ?less rigorous, even if it meant saving time or money.
At Wednesday?s news conference, Mullin spoke cautiously, saying the Roundtable appreciated being consulted on the matter, and that there?s plenty of common ground ? in requiring a test for graduation, for instance.
But as far as other specifics, Mullin would say only that ?I think there are potentially some parts of what he?s proposed that we may have continuing concerns about.
We'll be watching closely. Meanwhile, watch the press conference.
As she predicted, reactions to the governor's budget have been swift. While the scramble to understand the details will take us all a while, the broad brush strokes are enough to frame the likely debate.
As we posted earlier today, Sen. Joe Zarelli likes the approach Gregoire has taken, saying it puts the process on the proper course. Zarelli is ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee. His counterpart in the House, Rep. Gary Alexander, also likes the direction.
I commend the governor for putting forth a balanced budget that does not raise taxes or fees. House Republicans have long believed that increasing taxes or fees is not the right approach while families are struggling with everyday expenses and workers are losing jobs.
While there are certainly some details of her plan that we might do differently, the governor has offered a good first step in correcting the past four years of overspending.
Alexander and Zarelli both emphasize the importance of building early savings into the 2009 supplemental budget.
AWB president Don Brunell issued a brief statement.Noting that AWB continues to review the budget proposal, Brunell emphasizes the groups support for her decision not to raise taxes on families and employers. He adds:
It is critical that Washington state look beyond the current budget woes and prepare for what happens after we emerge from this recession. Part of that discussion must include creating the conditions for a healthy business environment so that when we do emerge from the recession, Washington is positioned as a good place to create those jobs.
As devastating as the economic conditions may be, the recession is an opportunity to reshape the way government operates and position our state to attract and retain businesses.
The largest union representing state workers call Gregoire's plan dead on arrival. They say that approvingly, looking for legislative support for tax hikes.
?Our biggest concern is that everything should be on the table and that includes tax loopholes and revenue enhancements, Federation Executive Director Greg Devereux said. ?If the economic parts of our negotiated contracts that were ratified two months ago can be suspended, why can?t a campaign pledge on no revenue increases be retracted?
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown has reservations as well. She calls reliance on $1 billion in federal assistance a "glaring flaw" and, pointedly, does not pledge to resist tax hikes. Brad Shannon notes her concern in his Olympian story, which includes Alexander's assessment that the estimated federal money is a "reasonable assumption." Today's Wall Street Journal story on the Obama stimulus plan adds weight to the Gregoire/Alexander position.
The broad parameters of the package are known already. It will include a tax cut designed to pump $50 billion to $100 billion into the economy almost immediately; about $100 billion in aid to state governments, primarily to temporarily assume more of the cost of Medicaid, in hopes of staving off benefit cuts or tax increases; and funding in five main areas: traditional infrastructure, school construction, energy efficiency, broadband access and health-information technology.
While it's good that agreement was reached relatively quickly, the successful strike again demonstrates the toothless nature of the laws prohibiting public employee strikes.
Two recent articles provide an intriguing frame for the dispute. Sunday's Seattle Times looks closely at the "push for perfection" that led to the now-controversial - or at least unpopular with teachers - common curriculum promoted by Mike Riley, Bellevue's acclaimed former superintendent of schools. It worked.
A $1.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006 allowed the district to pay more teachers to write curriculum for six core subjects, post it to the Web and add supplemental materials. Teachers' daily calendars and lesson goals were posted. Some teachers created videos to reteach difficult concepts.
Bellevue parent Susan Edmond remembers her daughter struggling with math three years ago as a freshman. She hadn't understood a teacher's explanation, but she went online and watched another teacher's video of the same lesson ? over and over until the light went on.
"That's the beauty. Everybody is doing the same thing. It lets parents partner with teachers to make the kids more successful," she said.
But many teachers balked.
[A district teacher] remembers a meeting at which teachers asked Riley when they could use their professional judgment to deviate from the set lesson plans.
"Riley told us that the judgment had already been made and we were to teach the lesson as written," [he] said.
Rob Prufer, a social-studies teacher at Newport High School, said Riley was an inspirational leader and a personal mentor to him, but he believes the superintendent began to view teachers as an obstacle to improving education.
Nonetheless, the district consistently ranks among the state's highest-performing public school districts.
And as Marysville school board member Michael Kundu reminds us in this Everett Herald op-ed, we still have a long way to go.
During the 2007-08 school year, only 39.7 percent of Washington's 10th-grade students met state standards in science. Fewer than half (49.3 percent) met math standards. While science percentages reflected a small (slow) increase over 2006-07 (science 36.4 percent, math 50.4 percent), and 2005-06 (science 35 percent, math 51 percent), math scores reflect a gradual decline.
Public employee strikes are illegal in Washington, but the union has nonetheless called the strike to apply pressure on the District in collective bargaining. Negotiations continue with the assistance of a mediator from the Public Employment Relation Commission. Information about the issues in dispute and the District's contract proposals can be found on the District website.
The Seattle Times doesn't address the legal issue, but makes good substantive points about why the strike is wrong.
First, they point out the economic reality.
... the district's offer of an 8.1 percent pay raise over three years and an additional $1 million in health-care benefits ? allowing a third of the teachers to pay nothing and others to pay between $6 and $62 a month ? shines amid recessionary gloom. Yet, the Bellevue Education Association demands 14.1 percent raises. The district must say no.
The news story in the Times points out that compensation in the Bellevue district is already among the highest in the state. There may be - and probably is - an argument worth making about improving teacher pay in high-cost districts, but it ought to be explored in a more comprehensive conversation that includes performance pay, increased compensation for math and science teachers, and the like.
The editorial goes on to dismiss the union's demand for curriculum change.
Union cries that the curriculum imposes a one-size-fits-all standard are wrong. Parents ought to know when their children are going to learn fractions. This provides a counterbalance to education reform's emphasis on assessment. Classroom dynamics are constantly changing. Some students come to class half-asleep, others alert and ready to learn. Bellevue has said time and again that teachers can adapt the curriculum to fit individual needs...
Bellevue has spent the past five years creating the curriculum with a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ? an organization known for vetting academic initiatives. Meanwhile, the district continues to be recognized nationally for its quality schools and its emphasis on getting all students into high-level classes.
The episode is sadly reminiscent of the WEA's rejection of grant money to improve math and science education. In Bellevue, you have a curriculum that works. So the union demands it be changed?
High-performing schools play a critical role in our state's economic competitiveness. We hope for a swift conclusion to this disruption of student education in Bellevue.
Release of the latest round of WASL scores provides some good news and some, well, needs improvement marks. As Debby Abe writes in The News Tribune, "It's not all gold stars for WASL test results." She has a good discussion of the test - and the inevitable political implications - in a story worth reading in its entirety. Here are the bullets.
This fall?s incoming 12th-graders are setting a slightly faster pace at meeting new graduation testing requirements than last year?s seniors did.
Scores in science, the most recent addition to the WASL, rose 3 to 6 percentage points in the three tested grades. At least 40 percent of fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders passed that section.
Reading and math scores appear to have ?stalled out in most grades.
Linda Shaw's Seattle Times story also provides good context for understanding the latest results. She also get the Partnership for Learning reaction.
... the Partnership for Learning, a business-backed group that's long been a WASL supporter, said that even though most scores remained flat this year, improvements are in the works that will change that, especially the plans to significantly shorten the test in all grades but grade 10 next spring.
As Shaw notes, Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson also celebrated Washington's top ranking on SATs. Here's Education Week's story on the SAT results - mostly flat with some questions.
Public Schools Get Lower Grades than the Post Office?
Posted by Richard Davis on 8/21/2008 2:22:00 PM
The valuable Joann Jacobs blog recently pointed to the 2008 Eduction Nex-PEPG Survey of Public Opinion report showing that Americans give the public schools a not-so-respectable C on performance. Although the nationwide survey of 2,500 adults and an oversample of 700 public teachers reveals "an abiding commitment to public education," this might hurt.
Local public schools receive lower marks than they did a year ago. More significantly, perhaps, survey respondents claim that their local post offices and police forces outperform their local schools.
The survey contains an abundance of good information. For example,
Though support for No Child Left Behind is dwindling, Americans continue to believe that schools should be held accountable through national standards and tests. No less than 69 percent ofthe public think the federal government should set standards for the country and administer tests in math, science,and reading. (Page 17)
As they did in 2007, a plurality of the overall public and every subgroup continue to support charter schools.Indeed, supporters of charter schools outnumber opponents more than two to one.The modal response, however,continues to be ?neither support nor oppose. (Page 20)
The schools seem to be doing better than the nation.
A slight majority of those surveyed, nonetheless, think that the public schools in their community are improving. Fifty-six percent ofthe public say that the local public schools are heading in the right direction,compared to 44 percent who believe they are on the wrong track.In this respect, Americans? views of the nation?s education system appear to be considerably more optimistic than their views about the affairs ofthe nation more generally.When Gallup,NBC and the Wall Street Journal,and the Associated Press used the same language to ask Americans about the direction ofthe nation as a whole while our survey was in the field,less than one-quarter reported that it is on the right track achievement... (Page 16)
Most of that seems to square with perceptions of Washington schools. The national souring on NCLB has not eroded support for accountability. Neither has Washingtonians' growing apprehension about the WASL diminished enthusiasm for standards. The challenge, of course, is that its easier to embrace accountability and standards in the abstract than it is to agree on a particular set of criteria against which to judge. Tossing NCLB and the WASL in hopes of coming up with something better sometime in the future seems self-defeating.
For an excellent account of California's unrealized Scharzeneggerian education reform, see No Country for Strong Men. Daniel Weintraub documents how caution, budget woes, and the lack of a comprehensive and coherent reform vision doomed the governor's plans for major improvements in that state's public schools.
H.S. Graduation Standards, Higher Education, and Gaining the Competitive Advantage
Posted by Richard Davis on 8/14/2008 1:25:00 PM
A couple of recent reports link several themes relevant to the competitiveness of our state and nation.
Education Week (free registration required) reports that states that have tied their accountability standards to high school graduation face increased calls to relax the requirement.
Though 26 states have adopted such mandates?most of them since 2000?that number has remained static since last year, according to a report scheduled for release this week by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization that has tracked the trend for the past seven years.
And for nearly a dozen states, compliance deadlines that once seemed far off have begun to bite, leading Arizona, Alabama, Maryland, and Washington, among others, to soften their mandates by offering alternative paths to a diploma, or by also weighing factors such as a student?s grade point average.
Chester Finn, a supporter of standards-based accountability, aptly frames the challenge.
Mr. Finn, the Fordham Institute president and an assistant U.S. education secretary in the Reagan administration, said the struggle for states is to strike a balance between enforcing a rigorous policy and understanding students? needs.
?I really do think a kid shouldn?t have his entire life blighted because he can?t do well on a particular kind of test, Mr. Finn said. ?Yet at the same time, you allow too many alternative paths and too many exemptions and you dilute the meaning of having a graduation test.
It's a good overview of the national debate, a debate mirrored in this year's OSPI campaign.
Three valuable reports by AeA underscore the value of education to our state's economic competitiveness.
Cyberstates, an annual state-by-state overview of the high tech industry, looks at the contributions of technology to state economies. Washington regularly ranks near the top, led by software publishing.
"Washington?s tech industry remains strong, experiencing it's third year of job growth with average wages that are more than double those of the private sector, said J.D. Hammerly, Vice President, Energy Infrastructure. "While many people associate Washington state with the software industry, they may not realize how fast it continues to grow. This growth runs on the knowledge and intellectual capital of some of the smartest and most skilled workers in the world. Washington's challenge is that we are not graduating enough scientists and engineers to maintain this growth. All you have to do is look at the websites of our technology companies ? large and small ? and you?ll find thousands of positions going unfilled."
"Our Evergreen state needs to do more to prepare our workforce for careers in the tech industry, from the K-12 system to our universities, continued Hammerly.
Cybercities, the metro area equivalent, reports Seattle is now the ninth largest "cybercity" in the nation by employment. Again, Hammerly cites the education challenge.
"... future growth depends on our ability to make high-tech careers attractive to our children. We need to spark more excitement and enthusiasm for technology, sciences, and math. These skills are critical to prepare young students for an increasingly technical world, providing them with the foundation to become highly paid tech workers.
The United States trails other countries in the number of people graduating with bachelor degrees in engineering. While the United States is the largest economy in the world and the third most populous nation, it only ranks seventh in the number of bachelor degrees awarded in engineering. China graduates almost six times as many engineers as the United States, according to the most reliable data available. Japan, with less than half the population of the United States, graduates 60 percent more engineers. ?
On a country-by-country basis, the United States still leads in the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctoral degrees granted by a wide margin. But significant portions of these are awarded to foreign nationals who increasingly cannot or choose not to stay in the United States after graduation. Between 2001 and 2005, U.S. S&E doctorates awarded to foreign nationals increased by 25 percent and comprised nearly all of the overall growth in S&E doctorates awarded over this time period.
While our state - like many states - faces a significant budget shortfall, technology has been the key to our strong economic performance during these tough times. We cannot afford to see our position erode because of a failure to adhere to standards and make critical investments in higher education a priority, even during these straitened days.
This month's issue of Washington CEO carries an excellent cover story, Failure to Compute, on math and science education in Washington. Senior writer Aaron Corvin puts the issue in proper context.
Our state may now be a hotbed of high-tech, bioscience and entrepreneurial activity, but that hotbed will cool if we don't have educated workers with strong math and science skills.
The numbers don't look good.
The story looks at dismal WASL performance - scores so bad that lawmakers postponed requiring students to pass the science and math WASL in order to graduate from high school. Corvin reports on how the US lags globally in math and science, the challenges tech businesses face in recruiting employees with solid math credentials, and the remedial math now required at the UW to overcome the knowledge deficit of incoming freshmen.
And he identifies one source of the problem.
...critics say, when it comes to math and science education, Washington has been watching the grass grow, in part because changes in the teacher-pay policy have been resisted by the politically powerful Washington Education Association, the teachers' union.
...Given the shortfalls in funding and teachers, experts say it's important to narrowly focus policy prescriptions. One of the cheapest, quickest and most laserlike ways to remedy the shortage of math and science teachers and pump up student performance is to pay salary premiums to those teachers, especially in high schools.
Yet, as we've written here, the union balks at even modest pilot programs designed to strengthen math and science education.
Read the whole story. And remember that if we're going to continue to have a strong tech sector in this state, lawmakers will have to put the interests of students ahead of those of the WEA.
MORE Liv Finne of the Washington Policy Center has an op-ed in The News Tribune today proposing other reforms to address the shortage of qualified math and science teachers. (h/t Jason Mercier)
