High expectations were dashed earlier this month when a long-awaited plan for overhauling the state’s education system was issued without its most important piece: funding.
The Washington Learns report, a series of recommendations that were anticipated as a new blueprint to guide state education policy from preschool through graduate school, is full of great ideas, such as:
* Greater emphasis on early learning, including free full-day kindergarten.
* Earlier introduction and a more standardized curriculum for math and science.
* Smaller class sizes through third grade.
* More personalized help for students who need it.
* Keeping teacher pay on par with other states, and incorporating pay for performance.
* Producing more degrees in high-demand fields, and figuring out how to fill the need for four-year degrees in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties.
But great ideas won’t get far without funding. Creating a stable funding source for education was supposed to be at the heart of the report prepared by a distinguished panel of education, business and political leaders, but it’s being punted away for another two years.
That would be an enormous mistake and an opportunity painfully missed. There’s a better way, and it’s contained in the Washington Learns Minority Report.
Its author, Rep. Glenn Anderson (R-Fall City), a member of the Washington Learns Steering Committee, calls for bold, overdue changes in K-12 funding. Two key proposals top the list:
1. Fund education first. The Legislature must pass and the governor must sign the K-12 budget before any other operating appropriations can be brought to the House or Senate floor.
2. Ensure reliable budget reserves to protect K-12 funding by enacting a constitutional rainy-day fund, an idea that already has bipartisan support.
Anderson also calls for fixing funding inequities between districts and other flaws in the state funding system. Addressing those is important; they’re getting worse every year. But the first two proposals are the most urgent, because they’ll set the foundation that allows the report’s great ideas to take shape. And the opportunity is here right now, while the state is sitting on a nearly $2 billion budget surplus.
Funding education first would have a positive ripple effect on the rest of the budget, because it would force an open, honest look at spending priorities. Think of what that could do for voter trust.
The state already faces two lawsuits by school districts that say it isn’t fulfilling its constitutional duty to adequately fund K-12 education. A third, by a coalition of education interests, appears ready to go. Moving now toward a meaningful funding solution could head off a court-mandated requirement to do it anyway.
Gov. Chris Gregoire, who chairs the Washington Learns Steering Committee and who promised bold action, should think twice before rejecting Anderson’s plan. It offers the best chance to quickly begin providing Washington’s children the world-class education system they need and deserve.
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