State Sens. Rosemary McAuliffe and Paull Shin both shared thoughts on education recently.
Both Democrats are in the second half of the Legislature’s 60-day session in Olympia.
Shin, whose 21st District includes most of Edmonds and Lynnwood plus Mukilteo, told me last week that having to make cuts in funds for education brings him to tears.
To make up for the cuts, Shin has proposed letting school districts sell advertising on the sides of school buses.
He said school bus advertising could raise hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for large school districts.
He told me that states that allow advertising on school buses have had no problems with safety or complaints about commercialization.
McAuliffe, whose 1st District includes Bothell, Brier and Mountlake Terrace, is chairwoman of the Senate committee on K-12 education and early learning.
In that capacity, she was the lead sponsor of a bill that Gov. Christine Gregoire requested with the purpose of making the state eligible for federal “Race-to-the-Top” money. Sen. Shin was a co-sponsor, as were Sen. Steve Hobbs of the 44th District, Sen. Darlene Fairley of the 32nd District and 22 other senators.
McAuliffe told me last week that the bill both holds schools accountable for student achievement and helps struggling schools. It included provisions for evaluation of teachers.
The Senate passed the bill last week after eliminating a provision that would have allowed principals to remove any teacher who received an unsatisfactory evaluation and failed to improve within three years. It goes to the House this week.
The Race-to-the-Top program provides grants to states that meet certain criteria.
Fairley, Kagi defend suspending I-960
State Sen. Darlene Fairley and state Rep. Ruth Kagi, Democrats from the 32nd District, both have defended the Legislature’s decision to suspend and amend Initiative 960.
The 32nd District includes Woodway, unincorporated Esperance, part of Edmonds, and the King County cities of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park and Kenmore.
The state Senate voted last week to suspend Initiative 960, which allows tax increases only with either a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature or with a statewide popular vote. Similar action has cleared a committee in the state House of Representatives.
Kagi wrote in the online ShorelineAreaNews that the legislature needs to suspend the initiative to close some tax loopholes.
Fairley told me a few days ago that many constituents have asked her to find more revenue to support health and education programs.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@verizon.net.
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