State legislators should reject the proposal to delay the requirement that students pass the Washington State Assessment of Learning to get a high school diploma.
This year’s senior class must pass the reading and writing portion of the WASL to graduate. About 85 percent of Washington high school seniors have passed and many others will pass the test or the alternatives tests by the deadline.
A bill in Olympia would delay the requirement by four years to allow time to change the test .
To delay the requirement now would send the wrong message to students.
The class of 2008 has heard since elementary school that it would be the first required to pass the 10th-grade WASL to graduate.
Along the way, we’ve allowed retakes and created alternatives and given students extra help.
Many students who have passed or will pass gave up classes they wanted in vocational areas, the arts or foreign language to work on reading or writing skills. Others took summer, weekend or afterschool classes. Will we tell them their sacrifices weren’t needed?
And what of the students still struggling to finish over the next four months?
Will they believe that deadlines at work or in college don’t mean anything?
Will they think they can call the Internal Revenue Service and ask, “You say April 15, but when do you really need it?”
Yes, the WASL system needs changes, but the class of ‘08 would be ill-served with the requirement eliminated.
Anti-initiative legislators help Eyman
A month or so ago, I complained that initiative-sponsor Tim Eyman was creating a false crisis.
Eyman wrote about what he called anti-initiative bills in the Legislature.
Darlene Fairley, the Lake Forest Park Democrat who chairs the state Senate Government Operations Committee, said at the time that the bills introduced last year wouldn’t be revised.
However, some members of the House did revive the bills and got them to a hearing by House committee that brought nothing but grandstanding on both sides.
Some changes to the initiative process may be worth considering, but most of the bills in the Legislature are just petty attempts to restrict paid signature gatherers, a constitutionally protected activity.
These bills probably will go nowhere. They should go nowhere.
Bills that would require signature gatherers to register with state or to submit to background checks serve no purpose other than to harass Eyman and his organization, giving him more fodder for fundraising.
Primary is overly restrictive
I complained last week about having to swear allegiance to a political party to vote on the upcoming primary.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Many states do have primaries, but some allow Republicans or Democrats or independents to choose another ballot on election day.
Evan Smith is Enterprise forum editor. Send comments to him at entopinion@heraldnet.com.
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