SEATTLE – Gov. Chris Gregoire presented her education task force’s glossy Washington Learns report Monday after a Seattle audience heard from Bill Gates that the state’s plans for education reform don’t go far enough.
The 15 months of work by the Washington Learns task force has already generated some concrete results – including creation of the state’s new Department of Early Learning – but the final report makes no budget recommendations for funding its ideas.
The report calls for an education system that helps Washington be more competitive in the global economy, that attracts and keeps the best teachers, that has math and science requirements that match or exceed the standards in other states, that makes better use of technology in the classroom, that increases the opportunities for kids to get post-secondary education, and that is held accountable.
Gregoire said after her speech that she and everyone in the education community heard Gates’ challenge and would answer it with reform.
“We are now looked upon around the country as the state to watch when it comes to early childhood education. We’re now going to take K-12 up a dramatic notch,” she said. “I’m not going to shy away from his challenge at all.”
The 2005 Legislature created Washington Learns to review the state’s entire education system, from preschool through college. The task force issued a preliminary report in November 2005. The 2006 Legislature acted on several Washington Learns proposals, including expanding the use of a new career guidance program and putting money into improving math education.
In the final report, every policy recommendation is prefaced by the phrase “subject to appropriations.”
Gregoire said that doesn’t mean the money to turn the recommendations into reality is in question. She said the Washington Learns proposals have bipartisan support in the Legislature.
“I don’t think this will be an issue that divides us. I think it will be an issue that brings us together,” she said.
Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, a member of the Washington Learns steering committee, said he issued his own “minority report” because the Washington Learns report didn’t address what he called the most important and difficult education issue: the state’s school finance system. Anderson estimated it would cost more than $1 billion to revamp the system so education money is distributed more efficiently and equitably.
Gregoire agreed that reforming school finance is important, but said it was also important to create a vision for what should be funded.
The Washington Education Association, the state teacher’s union, commended the report for acknowledging the need to invest in education. But a group of teachers’ aides protested outside the Seattle gathering to say that school security and student health should have been addressed in the report.
In the Washington Learns final report, the Legislature is asked to make small class sizes more of a priority for kindergarten through third grade.
In the area of math and science, the report said the state should adopt higher graduation requirements, offer more courses and seek out the best training for teachers.
To attract more science and math teachers, Washington Learns recommended expanding a student-loan forgiveness program for educators who commit to teaching math or science in Washington.
To encourage more students to pursue math- and science-related degrees and to help low-income students go to college, the report recommended two new scholarship programs.
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