Published: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
EDUCATION REFORM
Another opportunity missed?
A long-overdue effort to bring Washington's public education system into the 21st century may have been doomed anyway, given the current budget crisis. But the reasons significant reform will likely be kicked down the road again by the Legislature run deeper than that.
An excellent blueprint for expanding the definition of basic education, and putting state government on the hook for funding it, was put forward in January by a Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance, a bipartisan group created by the Legislature to figure out how the state can meet its constitutional obligation to "make ample provision for the education of all children ..." The task force was asked to figure out what basic education is today, and how to bridge the gap between the state's learning goals and its broken funding formulas. Too many things that most people would consider basics go unfunded, or are left to the vagaries of local levy votes.
Bills to implement the task force's recommendations won wide support in education circles -- from the state PTA, school superintendents, the League of Education Voters, the Washington Roundtable and other employer groups. In recognition of the current economic problems, major changes and funding for them would have been phased in over six years starting in 2011.
But the state's largest teachers union opposed the bills, and managed to get many of the most dramatic and necessary provisions removed, including a modified salary structure for new teachers that sought to reward excellence. The union essentially declared that because the task force didn't identify a specific source for new funding, the fruits of its work were unsupportable.
All that's left are a Senate bill (SB 6048) that does little but declare future intentions, and a House measure (HB 2261) that at least retains a few important accountability measures. Among those are an increase from 19 to 24 in the number of credits required to earn a high school diploma, better ensuring that graduates are ready for college or job training, and a move toward allowing the state to step in and fix low-performing schools. Passage of even those sensible steps is far from a sure thing.
The Legislature's unwillingness to act on most of the task force's recommendations increases the likelihood that the courts will force it to. A pair of lawsuits are already in the pipeline.
Perhaps some lawmakers want the political cover a court decision mandating a new approach would provide, but it won't make future choices any less challenging. Lawmakers should summon the gumption to revisit the task force's excellent recommendations -- now, before their hands are tied by a judge.
An excellent blueprint for expanding the definition of basic education, and putting state government on the hook for funding it, was put forward in January by a Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance, a bipartisan group created by the Legislature to figure out how the state can meet its constitutional obligation to "make ample provision for the education of all children ..." The task force was asked to figure out what basic education is today, and how to bridge the gap between the state's learning goals and its broken funding formulas. Too many things that most people would consider basics go unfunded, or are left to the vagaries of local levy votes.
Bills to implement the task force's recommendations won wide support in education circles -- from the state PTA, school superintendents, the League of Education Voters, the Washington Roundtable and other employer groups. In recognition of the current economic problems, major changes and funding for them would have been phased in over six years starting in 2011.
But the state's largest teachers union opposed the bills, and managed to get many of the most dramatic and necessary provisions removed, including a modified salary structure for new teachers that sought to reward excellence. The union essentially declared that because the task force didn't identify a specific source for new funding, the fruits of its work were unsupportable.
All that's left are a Senate bill (SB 6048) that does little but declare future intentions, and a House measure (HB 2261) that at least retains a few important accountability measures. Among those are an increase from 19 to 24 in the number of credits required to earn a high school diploma, better ensuring that graduates are ready for college or job training, and a move toward allowing the state to step in and fix low-performing schools. Passage of even those sensible steps is far from a sure thing.
The Legislature's unwillingness to act on most of the task force's recommendations increases the likelihood that the courts will force it to. A pair of lawsuits are already in the pipeline.
Perhaps some lawmakers want the political cover a court decision mandating a new approach would provide, but it won't make future choices any less challenging. Lawmakers should summon the gumption to revisit the task force's excellent recommendations -- now, before their hands are tied by a judge.
Comments
(