Editorial

The 2004 regular session of the 58th Legislature convenes on Monday, Jan. 12, and although this is not supposed to be a “money year,” for legislators, as with just about everyone else, it is always about the money.

And while that is true again for this off-year in the state’s biennial budgeting process, there will be other marquee issues, including charter schools.

The state came close to having its first charter-schools law this past legislative session when a reconciled version of bills that passed in the Senate and House didn’t make it under the wire.

The issue will come back this session and lawmakers and voters should be wary of the implications of any charter-school legislation. The public school system that is the underpinning of the strongest society and economy in the world is already feeling the irrational stick-and-no-carrot approach of the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act. Any changes at the state level that would facilitate further influence from the federal level should again be set aside in Olympia.

This state is doing fine in working through the thorny issues of change within the public school structure. Why elected officials would help a meddling federal law from the same party that at one point urged abolishing the U.S. Department of Education is a head-scratcher.

And as for the money, Gov. Gary Locke has proposed his last budget. In the past, the astute politician’s efforts often appeared to be conversation starters, a place to begin negotiations, rather than a plan passable as proposed.

This time, perhaps because he is a lame-duck governor, Locke is doing the right thing right away by urging investment in education and creating a more friendly business climate.

Locke’s $193 million supplemental plan targets colleges, health care, prisons and other core state services for investment. He would take advantage of historically low interest rates for capital projects that will pay off for decades to come.

If there is a weak spot, it is in using some reserves to balance his plan. However, as the state joins the rest of the nation in shaking off a three-year recession hangover, Locke correctly realizes that now is the time to move ahead.