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Snoqualmie Valley – February 2018 ballot overview

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Proposition 1 – Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) Replacement Levy

Quick look  – The Proposition 1 levy would authorize an average of $15.5 million per year for 2019 through 2022.

Proceeds will fund:

  • School nurses, counselors, STREAM teachers, support staff
  • Instructional coaches and training to improve teaching
  • Educational programs and curriculum supplies
  • Substitutes
  • Food services
  • Pupil transportation
  • Student activity programs (music, art, club, sports, extra-curricular)
  • Summer school
  • Materials, insurance, utilities, other operational costs
  • Locally-bargained compensation and supplemental work
  • Community use of facilities

Proceeds will also fund these future costs and improvements:

  • Opening new high school (2019)
  • Transition to 7-period HS schedule
  • Reinstating third middle school (2019)
  • Opening preschool facility
  • School start times adjustments
  • Enhancing communications
  • Program enhancements: world language, music, art, positive behavior interventions and supports, STEM
  • Behavioral health services
  • Reduce student fees for classes/labs, extracurricular, supply lists
  • Increase school unit budgets
  • Collective bargaining to attract and retain staff
  • Staffing support to increase focus on student data collection and analysis

Proposition 2 – Technology Replacement Levy

Quick look – continues funding for technology, equipment, support, infrastructure needs, training for students and staff and expanding STEM learning opportunities. The levy would authorize an average of $4.7 million per year for 2019 through 2022.

Proceeds will fund these current programs:

  • School technology equipment and programs for students and staff
  • Network/wireless infrastructure upgrades and expansion
  • Emergency communications, safety and security systems
  • Professional development and training for staff

Proceeds will also fund these improvements:

  • One-to-one computers for students grades 6-12 for school/home use
  • Computers for classroom use grades K-5
  • Computer science instruction in elementary and middle school
  • Replace aging classroom projectors with interactive displays

Financial impact – The combined local school levy tax rate is expected to decrease an estimated $0.67 per $1,000 assessed property value (AV) in 2019. The state portion of school taxes will increase an estimated $0.94/$1,000 AV in 2019.

The combined 2019 EP&O and Technology levy rates are decreasing compared to 2017 rates of the expiring levies. The state is increasing its statewide property tax to fund additional staffing for K-3 class size reduction and teacher/staff pay.

 2017 rates2019 rates (estimate)Difference
EP&O Levy$2.26$1.50-$0.76
Tech Levy$0.35$0.44 $0.09
State Schools Tax$2.03$2.97 $0.94
Combined Total$4.64$4.91 $0.27

Calculating estimated costs: Assessed Value/$1,000 x Rate

Snoqualmie Valley School District website levy info page

About this series: EEN’s School District Ballot Measure Overview provides voters with information about the February 2018 levy/bond ballot measures, compiled from each school district’s website. EEN intern Cami Brix contributed to this series.

Mercer Island – February 2018 ballot overview

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Proposition 1 – Replacement educational maintenance and operations levy

Quick look – The levy would collect $11.75 million and $12.75 million per year from 2019 to 2022.  It will continue to fund 20 percent of the Mercer Island School District general fund, including 38 percent of special education funding.

Proceeds will fund:

  • Transportation (backfilling what the state does not cover)
  • Qualified substitute teachers
  • 7 period day at HS
  • Expanded electives at HS and MS
  • FTE to support students in the online learning program at CREST
  • Smaller class sizes for “focus” sections for struggling students
  • Ongoing professional development opportunities for staff in a myriad of areas
  • Stipends for staff to offer additional opportunities for students
  • Afterschool clubs and activities at all grade levels including Destination Imagination, student interest clubs such as coding, community service, etc.
  • Athletic opportunities beyond what ASB covers
  • Enhanced library collections
  • Some curriculum materials
  • Classified support in classrooms with overloads, additional Special Education/English Language Learning students, as well as student supervision and safety
  • Special Education, 38% of Special Education funding comes from local levy
  • Elementary K-5 Music, Art, PE and Spanish

Financial impact

Collection yearEst levy rate/$1,000 AVLevy amount
2019$1.00$11,750,000
2020$1.00$12,000,000
2021$1.00$12,300,000
2022$1.00$12,750,000

Note: The Mercer Island School District website did not include information about upcoming changes to the state property tax rate to pay for education across the state.

Want to learn more? Mercer Island School District bond/levy information page

About this series: EEN’s School District Ballot Measure Overview provides voters with information about the February 2018 levy/bond ballot measures, compiled from each school district’s website. EEN intern Cami Brix contributed to this series.

Eight Washington districts earn AP honor roll distinction

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This week The College Board announced its 8th Annual AP District Honor Roll. The award recognizes school districts in the U.S. and Canada for “increasing access to AP for underrepresented students while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher.”

Here are the Washington school districts awarded Honor Roll status by The College Board: Arlington, Everett, Lake Washington, Longview, Orcas Island, Peninsula, Shoreline, Walla Walla.

Learn more about the criteria for inclusion on the AP Honor Roll here.

First time honors – The Seattle Times’ education reporter Claudia Rowe writes this is the first time the Walla Walla school district has earned a spot on on the honor roll. The majority of students there are from low income families and a plurality are Latino. From Walla Walla High School principal Ron Higgins: “About six years ago was the epiphany when we said, ‘Let’s bring down the walls and remove the barriers to AP for kids you might not consider as advanced, just because their binders weren’t completely organized or whatever.’ ” Read more about Walla Walla’s commitment to enrolling minority students in AP classes here.

Repeat winners – Everett, Lake Washington and Shoreline all were recognized by The College Board for achieving honor roll status over multiple years.

What are AP exams and why do they matter? Developed and administered by The College Board, AP classes and their end-of-course tests are taken by well over two million high school students each year, covering over 30 different subject areas. Some universities give college credit to incoming freshmen for earning certain scores on the test.

Most importantly, AP classes remain one of the best ways to prepare for college. According to a leading researcher “AP courses have become the primary avenue for delivering advanced coursework in public high schools.” And this is important because research shows our high schools aren’t getting enough of our kids ready for college.

In school districts like Bellevue, it’s common to see practically every inch of available non-classroom space (e.g., gyms, libraries) devoted to students taking AP (or International Baccalaureate) tests. Here’s how the Bellevue School District describes the value of AP courses on its website:

  • High school graduates who do not take any AP courses graduate from college at a rate of only 33% by age 30.
  • Students who take only one AP course nearly double the likelihood of college graduation to 59%.
  • Students who take two or more AP courses raise the likelihood to 76%.

Learn more – You can find plenty of useful information about AP courses from The College Board at their website here. And you can learn more about your district’s participation and exam scores at OSPI’s website AP page here.

In Snoqualmie Valley, filling the gap between learning and doing

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Washington is home to an impressive array of industries, including national and global leaders in aerospace, software, online retail, agriculture, biotechnology, global health, forest products, tourism and more. This year CNBC named Washington “America’s Top State for Business.”

Yet many businesses in Washington, particularly in the Puget Sound area, struggle mightily to fill employment vacancies due to a “skills gap.” Put simply, we’re not graduating students (or retraining current workers) at a rate fast enough and with the right credentials to keep pace with job openings in our growing economy.

Here are a few eye-opening statistics from the statewide business group Washington Roundtable, and their education foundation, Partnership for Learning.

  • Washington is expected to have 740,000 job openings by 2021, the majority of which will be filled by workers who earn some type of credential after high school.
  • Thirty-five percent of these positions are classified as “career jobs” meaning they are higher skill, higher paying jobs with a salary range of $60,000 to $100,000+. More than nine-in-10 workers who fill these positions will have a postsecondary credential (73 percent) or completed some college (18 percent).
  • Forty-five percent of jobs are defined as “pathway jobs” with salaries of $30,000 to $45,000 per year. These offer a potential path to a career job. Nearly two thirds (64 percent) of pathway jobs will be filled by workers with a postsecondary credential (34 percent) or some college level course work (30 percent).

Across the state some school districts are partnering with local and regional organizations to help students learn more about potential jobs and the pathways to get them there. In Snoqualmie Valley, a new program “Career Exploration Fridays” plans to do just that. We spoke with one of the main architects of the project, school board member Carolyn Simpson.

Two hats and three goals – as a Snoqualmie Valley School District board member and as president of the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce, Carolyn Simpson understands both the school and business perspective of education and workforce training. At statewide gatherings of school board members, Simpson learned about programs that helped connect students to potential careers. And through her work with the Chamber of Commerce she’d also heard from business leaders about the substantial jobs/skills gap employers were seeing.

Inspired by what she learned, Simpson forged ahead with an effort to help high school students explore employment opportunities available to them. A partnership between the school district, chamber of commerce and a local non-profit came together and developed “Career Exploration Fridays” with these goals:

  1. Show students real job sites – The connection between academic work and the real world at times can be murky. Even if a student has some idea of what jobs interest them, they often don’t know what degrees or credentials they need or what the job entails. “There’s usually no straight line” when it comes to working and a career, observed Simpson. “There are jumping off points. Not everything requires a college degree.” Visiting job sites where professionals explain what they do and how they got there helps students better understand the process, and can make academic work seem more relevant.
  2. Try it out – No doubt about it, learning by doing remains one of the best teaching tools. “Hands-on experience with local employers enables students to explore their interests, understand job opportunities, and connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the skills they’ll need in their futures,” says Brian Jeffries, policy director for Partnership for Learning. And as Simpson observed, more trial-and-error up front can help students avoid wasting time, energy and tuition dollars preparing for a job that may not be a good fit.
  3. Train teachers, too – By encouraging teachers to visit job sites, they return to the classroom with a better sense of how to connect academic coursework to real-world employment experiences. Mount Si High School Engineering teacher Ashley Hutchison, in a video about the program, stressed the importance of showing students “there is more than one path to get to whatever career you are trying to reach.”

Community support – While the local school district and chamber of commerce were logical partners, a less obvious ally emerged when Snoqualmie Valley Community Network – a local non-profit that supports healthy youth and family initiatives – expressed interest. Simpson noted that with expertise in conducting focus groups and community surveys, they helped the program figure out prior to launch what students wanted and whether it could work. More importantly, they saw an opportunity to support students who have lost hope feel inspired about their future, a key part of their mission in supporting children’s health.

How it works –  Located about 30 miles east of Seattle, Snoqualmie Valley School District is home to two high schools: Mount Si, a comprehensive four-year high school for grades 9-12, and Two Rivers, an alternative program for grades 8-12. On select Fridays students travel via district bus to sites where they meet with employers, ask questions, observe production or manufacturing processes and learn what future employment prospects are like in that industry.

According to Simpson, so far student conversations with employees and employers appear to have the biggest impact. She recalled one student who was especially motivated when shown how he could apply his graphic design skills at a company that made medical monitoring equipment. She hopes to eventually make the program part of the regular curriculum during the school day so that students can rotate through many industries. She also sees the potential for connecting students via Skype or similar video access for regional employers that are too far to reach in person.

Mission completion – The mission of Snoqualmie Valley School District is to “educate all Snoqualmie Valley children to prepare them for college, career, and citizenship.” Helping connect students to an eventual career through hands-on experiences in real jobs is an effective way to further that aim.

“With 740,000 job openings in our state by 2021, our students are graduating into a strong economy,” said Jeffries. “When students understand the jobs available in our state and the skills they’ll need to succeed in those jobs, they’ll be better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities Washington has to offer.”

Learn more – Here are some resources about career-connected learning:

Ready Washington

Partnership for Learning

Video: Career Connected Learning – Creating Pathways and Opportunity

Washington STEM

Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board

In their own words: State Supreme Court justices weigh in on school funding

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This week the State Supreme Court issued an important ruling in the long-running school funding case known as McCleary. We’ve analyzed what this decision means here, and we’ve shared reactions from state elected leaders here.

In this latest ruling the Court gave its constitutional blessing to the school funding plan recently adopted by the legislature, and found that the State had adequately funded the components of basic education.

Because the opinion resolves the Plaintiffs’ most complex claims in favor of the State, it means we may now finally have a exit strategy out of this ten-year-old dispute. The only remaining issue is the timing – the Court wants the new plan rolled out faster – by one year – than the State had originally planned.

Below are key excerpts from the 46-page decision that provide the framework for the Court’s holding.

Significant progress funding schools – “[O]ver the past several years the State has made significant progress in fully funding the program of basic education, including by amply funding most of its components. Further, the 2017 legislature enacted a funding system that, when fully implemented, will achieve constitutional compliance according to the benchmarks that have consistently guided judicial oversight.” p. 1

Missed court-imposed deadline – “However, by its own admission, the State will not meet the established deadline of September 1, 2018, as to all components. Instead, the funding system adopted in [2017] . . . delays by over a year implementation of a constitutionally compliant salary model, a critical part of meaningful reform. While the court can appreciate the political and budgetary challenges that may explain the State’s decision to postpone full funding of the salary model, it cannot accept part compliance as full compliance.” pp. 1-2

“The court’s constitutional responsibility is to the schoolchildren of this state who have an enforceable right under article IX, section 1 to an amply funded education. We cannot erode that constitutional right by saying that the State is now “close enough” to constitutional compliance. The goals have long been clear, the deadline has long been clear, and the meaning of “amply fund” has long been clear. Until the State enacts measures that fully implement its program of basic education by the September 1, 2018 deadline, it remains out of compliance.” p. 2

Role of court and legislature – “This court in retaining jurisdiction has not purported to take over public education. Rather, the court is fulfilling its constitutional obligation as a member of the judicial branch of the state to determine whether the legislative branch, which controls the State’s purse strings, is complying with its positive constitutional duty to make ample provision for the basic education of all children in the state; it must order compliance if it finds the legislature is falling short. The court has consistently emphasized its deference to the legislature as to the proper means by which to fulfill the State’s constitutional duty, and it has refused to dictate specific guidelines for components of the basic education system.” p. 21 (citations omitted)

State funding formulas for schools are constitutional – “[T]he court generally agrees with the State as to the framework of the prototypical school model and what the State must do to fulfill its constitutional duty. ESHB 2261 [the “basic education” statute] is not designed to dictate reimbursements to school districts for their actual expenditures on the components of basic education. Rather, the prototypical school is a prospective allocation model encompassing evidence-based formulas that take account of the actual costs of supporting the program of basic education. It is designed to calculate the amount of state funding necessary to provide for the program of basic education while maintaining the ability of individual school districts to decide how best to spend the allocations to meet local needs.“pp. 26-27

“This court has never held that to meet its constitutional obligation, the State must precisely account for every school district’s actual expenditures in providing basic education.” p. 28

Basic education fully funded – “In sum, with respect to the components of basic education addressed above, the State has satisfied the court’s mandate to fully fund the program of basic education established by ESHB 2261 in accordance with the formulas and benchmarks set forth in SHB 2276 and this court’s orders. The legislature’s actions as to these components are not perfect, but the legislature has acted within the broad range of its policy discretion in a manner that ‘achieves or is reasonably likely to achieve’ the constitutional end of amply funding K-12 basic education. At this point, the court is willing to allow the State’s program to operate and let experience be the judge of whether it proves adequate.” p. 37 (citations omitted).

Teacher/staff salaries fully funded – “The court is satisfied that the new salary model established by EHB 2242 [the new education funding law] provides for full state funding of basic education salaries sufficient to recruit and retain competent teachers, administrators, and staff. This is consistent with the standards established for constitutional compliance.” p. 40

State missed deadline to fund plan by one year – “The program of basic education cannot be said to be ‘fully implemented” by September 1, 2018, when it puts off full funding of basic education salaries until the 2019-20 school year. If compliance by 2019-20 is close enough, why not 2020-21 or the following year? Further, the argument that the current legislation establishes the steps that will automatically result in full funding of salaries by the 2019-20 school year is undermined by the State’s acknowledgment that funding for that year will depend on the legislature making the necessary appropriation in the 2019-21 biennial budget. However confident the court may be that the legislature will fulfill its duty to make the appropriation, a program that depends on action being taken in 2019 is necessarily not ‘fully implemented’ by September 1, 2018.” p. 42

State should have met the Court-imposed deadline – “The opportunity to take timely action did not suddenly present itself in the 2017 legislative session. The court is not insensitive to the political considerations and compromises that necessarily characterize the legislative process, but there is the political question and there is the constitutional question. It is the court’s responsibility to give meaning to constitutional rights and ensure the State complies with its constitutional duties, particularly its paramount duty to amply fund K-12 public education.” p. 43

Court will keep jurisdiction until plan is fully implemented – “As things stand today, the salary allocation model . . . complies with the State’s obligation to fully fund K-12 basic education salaries, but it will not be implemented by September 1, 2018. The State thus remains out of full compliance with its constitutional duty under article IX, section 1. Accordingly, the court will retain jurisdiction to ensure full constitutional compliance by the established deadline, and it will maintain the sanction of $100,000 per day’ with the expectation that the State will enact measures to achieve full compliance during the regular 2018 legislative session.” pp 43-44 (citations omitted)

Supreme Court maps out exit strategy in school funding case

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This week the State Supreme Court issued another ruling in the ten-year-old education funding lawsuit known as McCleary.

At this point in the long-running case, the Court is trying to figure out whether the new education funding plan enacted in 2017 meets the State’s “paramount duty. . . to make ample provision for the education of all children” under the Washington constitution.

Because the new plan isn’t fully implemented by the Court-imposed 2018 deadline (by the State’s own admission the plan is completely rolled out by 2019 – one year later), the Justices opted to keep jurisdiction and continue the $100,000-per-day sanctions against the State.

But that’s not why this new opinion is a critical one. In the 46-page ruling, the Court resolved several complex legal issues that could have extended the dispute for many more years, and narrowed the State’s to-do list down considerably. Here’s how they did it.

1. The Court blessed the legislature’s school funding plan – In the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers enacted a plan that overhauls how we pay for schools, with the aim of ensuring the state – not local districts – pick up the bulk of the tab for teacher salaries and other components of basic education.

The Court held that, when fully implemented, the new funding plan “will achieve constitutional compliance.” The Court’s endorsement of the new plan means the legislature will not have to go back to the drawing board and rewrite the law. And that moves everyone closer to the finish line.

2. The State’s funding formulas are constitutionally sound – one of the more complex aspects of the case involves funding formulas. The State relies on a “prototypical school” model to determine how much money to send to each district, then leaves it up to those districts to allocate funds accordingly. But plaintiffs sought a different formula – one that would require reimbursement of actual costs for all 295 school district (that’s 1.1 million students across the state).

In siding with the State, the Court held the prototypical model is an “evidence-based” formula that supports the “actual costs” of the program of basic education while giving districts the flexibility needed to meet local needs.

The reimbursement model proposed by plaintiffs did not define a precise dollar amount, and by plaintiffs’ own admission would have required more time (and more legal briefs, more hearings, etc.) to gather data from each school district. Again, by resolving this issue in favor of the State, the Court moved the case further along to closure.

3. Achievements unlocked – basic education’s components are now funded – There’s a bundle of required components rolled into what’s commonly-referred to as “basic education.” The Court analyzed these one-by-one and determined that each discrete element is now adequately funded. Again, this finding helps bring the case to a close, as the legislature will not have to revise these complex formulas.

Exit strategy – While the Court recognized the State’s substantial investments in schools, the Justices took issue with the timing of the plan. Put simply, the State missed the mark by one year. And that’s why the Court kept jurisdiction and ordered the State to figure out how to implement the funding sooner – by September 2018.

But given the complexity of the issues, and especially considering plaintiffs’ push to expand the scope – and by extension the duration – of the case, the Court’s ruling suggests the Justices very much want a solution and closure.

Now it’s up to the legislature to figure out next steps and report back to Court by April 2018 with a plan.

We’re almost there.

Elected leaders react to State Supreme Court ruling on education funding

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The State Supreme Court handed down an important decision yesterday in the now ten-year-old school funding lawsuit known as McCleary.

In their ruling, the Justices mostly gave their constitutional blessing to the new education funding plan enacted in the 2017 legislative session. That complex plan overhauls how the state funds schools, with the aim of ending years of over-reliance on local levies to pay for basic education.

The ruling – The Court held that the plan meets the state’s constitutional requirement to amply fund schools, but took issue with the legislature for missing a court-imposed deadline by one year. Because the plan as written will not be fully implemented until 2019 (the Court had imposed a deadline of 2018), the Justices retained jurisdiction and will continue to impose a $100,000 per-day fine.

What happens next? – The Court ordered the state to report back in April 2018 – the end of the 2018 legislative session – on its progress speeding up implementation of the plan. Right now various options are being floated around to meet the Court’s deadline.

Here are reactions to the decision from elected leaders:

Gov. Jay Inslee

“I’m encouraged the court recognized the incredible progress we’ve made toward fully funding basic education. As the court noted, the plan the Legislature adopted, but for the timing, will meet constitutional requirements.”

You can read the rest of Gov. Inslee’s statement here.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal

“The Supreme Court largely affirmed the state’s position that most of the mechanisms for full funding of basic education are in place. I agree with that. As the Court wrote, the state “has made significant progress” toward that goal. . ..

I applaud the Legislature’s work. They have substantially increased basic education funding during the past three biennia. . ..

But I don’t believe the work is done.”

You can read the rest of Superintendent Reykdal’s statement here.

State Sen. John Braun (Centralia) – budget writer in the 2017 session and member of 2017 education funding negotiating team

“Providing students with the support they need and deserve required us to solve a generational problem with a generational solution, which resulted in a historic funding infusion for our schools. The Legislature brought this situation on itself by shirking its responsibility to public schools for decades. Over the past five years we have demonstrated that only by making education our top priority could we pay for schools in a way that works for students, teachers and taxpayers. Judging from today’s ruling, our way also works for the court.”

You can read the rest of Sen. Braun’s statement here.

State Sen. Christine Rolfes (Bainbridge Island) – incoming chief budget writer and member of 2017 education funding negotiating team

“We are very pleased that the Legislature and the Supreme Court are in strong agreement that the state has made significant progress on basic education policy, and that some important work remains. Many lawmakers, myself included, have had conversations with our school districts since the 2017 session concluded. We know some steps need to be taken to ensure they have the flexibility and funding they need to provide students with the best education possible and in the fairest way for taxpayers.”

You can read the rest of Sen. Rolfes’ statement, along with a statement from Sen. Andy Billig (Spokane), here.

“What do you want this Court to do?”

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The Washington State Supreme Court recently held an important hearing about progress in the long-running education funding case known as McCleary.

Here are three main questions the Court tried to resolve:

Question 1 – It’s clear a lot more money has been allocated to schools. Is that enough to end this case?

Both the state’s attorney (Alan Copsey) and the attorney for plaintiffs (Tom Ahearne) were on the receiving end of many questions about whether the State has fulfilled its duty under the Washington State Constitution to make ample provision for the education of all children.

State’s position – The State argues, and previous rulings from the court have agreed, that “ample provision” means funding the formulas set out in a law passed in 2012 that overhauled our state’s education system.

The State points to recently enacted budgets to show it has either met or gone well beyond those formulas. So, over half of the state budget now goes to education, and by 2019 public schools in Washington will see an unprecedented $4.6 billion in spending. In fact, over the next four years the state will invest $7.3 billion in new spending on our K-12 schools. State Senate staff estimate that by SY 2019-20, Washington will rank 5th nationally in state funds per pupil.

Plaintiffs’ response – Funding increases notwithstanding, Plaintiffs believe the legislature should engage in more fact-finding to figure out, and then reimburse, actual costs for every school district (that’s 295 districts). Note that some justices focused mostly on the narrower issue of whether the legislature could speed up its rollout of the new teacher pay system to meet the court-imposed 2018 deadline.

Why this matters – If there’s still no agreement on how to measure “ample,” and if as Plaintiffs’ attorney suggested there should be more fact-finding (or, as the state characterizes it, “moving the goal posts”), this case could drag on for many more years. Other states are instructive. In New Jersey, school-funding litigation first filed in 1981 continues to this day.

Question 2 – How can we bring this case to an end? – The justices in their questions sought specific recommendations from both parties about how to resolve the case.

State’s position – The State offered two solutions: dismissal or continued oversight through 2019 to ensure implementation of the plan that passed out of the legislature in 2017.

Plaintiffs’ response – Attorney Ahearne struggled to set out a clear remedy, prompting several pointed queries (emphasis added):

Justice Wiggins: “Mr. Ahearne – I’m not sure what you think we should do. . .. Do you think we should remand this . . . to take evidence and make a finding of fact as to what’s ‘ample’? I guess I just don’t know, especially in light of the fact that I think is undisputed that a great deal more money is going into the K-12 education system now, but I’m not sure. So, what is it you think we should do to second guess or recalculate?”

Justice González: “I still don’t hear you answering the direct question: ‘What do you want this Court to do?’ Not repeating what you think the shortfalls or the problems are, but tell us specifically, ‘Court, I want you to order this, that and the other thing’ so that we know what the request is, so that we can decide whether to grant it or deny it.”

And the consensus among veteran Olympia reporters covering the case? The justices are frustrated with both parties.

Question 3 – Can the Court make these types of fine-grained policy decisions? – Whether they realized it or not, some questions from the bench show just how ill-suited courts are at choosing which policies are best for the state’s 1.1 million students. One exchange between Justice Mary Yu and Copsey about a new provision to help attract and retain teachers shows why:

Justice Yu: “Should I be concerned about the state adding this regionalization measure to the salary formula? I mean – I just have to say that – at a common-sense level – that doesn’t make any sense to me. . ..”

Copsey – “This is a policy choice the legislature has made. The idea is to put every school district on equal footing. . ..It was an attempt at equity – at fairness – to give every school district the money it needs to fund teachers. . ..The constitutional question is not is it the best policy judgment.”

Have we lost our vision? – Courts are well-equipped to resolve issues of access in education, such as whether students with disabilities are entitled to an education alongside their peers. But when it comes to policy, the wheels of justice (still) turn slowly. That means every back and forth between the legislature and the courts about policy choices (even those tied to funding) inevitably lead to analysis paralysis that’s not conducive to building a world class school system.

State Schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal recognized as much when he launched an ambitious long-term plan for Washington’s schools earlier this year. In his proposal, Reykdal acknowledges that after many years slogging it out over funding, we’ve lost sight of the big picture (emphasis added):

The goal of Washington’s public education system is to prepare every student who walks through our school doors for post-secondary aspirations, careers and life. To do so, we must embrace an approach to education that encompasses the whole child. In the ongoing struggle to amply fund our schools, we have lost this larger vision. The challenge to amply fund schools to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court is not the final goal – it is merely the first step in a much larger transformation that will propel Washington state’s K-12 schools atop the national conversation in quality, outcomes and equity.

School board elections – almost there

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We’re just days away from the November 2017 general election. School board candidates across the state are out campaigning, meeting voters and learning about the issues that matter in their communities.

Back in July, Eastside Education Network sent “Meet the Candidate” questionnaires out to every candidate who filed to run for school board in the districts we cover.

Our questionnaire is one of our most popular features here at EEN. It’s a simple, effective way for voters to learn more about the candidates running for this important office, and for candidates to have a platform to share their views.

Below are all the responses we have received so far. If you don’t see your school board candidate(s) listed, reach out and ask them to respond. You can assure him or her that we’ll publish every response we receive, right up until election day.

And of course, please remember to vote!

Hugh Gladner/Bellevue School District

Cassandra Sage/Lake Washington School District

Anita Damjanovic/Lake Washington School District

Amy Cast/Northshore School District

Jackie McGourty/Northshore School District

Bob Swain/Northshore School District

Sherry Krainick/Northshore School District

Lori Oviatt/Riverview School District

Stuart Lisk/Riverview School District

Gary Fancher/Snoqualmie Valley School Disrict

Melissa Johnson/Snoqualmie Valley School District

Tavish MacLean/Snoqualmie Valley School District

 

 

State PTA adopts ambitious agenda for 2018

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Approximately 200 delegates representing 134,000 members from across the state recently attended the Washington State Parent Teacher Association (WSPTA) 39th annual Legislative Assembly in Tacoma, Washington. The body adopted several positions for their existing legislative and public policy platform.

Same event, new focus – WSPTA Legislative Director Nancy Chamberlain, who organized the assembly, said she wanted to make this event different from past years. In addition to passing resolutions which guide advocacy work, Chamberlain also sought to “educate the delegates on all the issues.” This way delegates would be better informed voters during the assembly as well as knowledgeable advocates when they return to their respective schools.

In the morning assembly, delegates attended brief presentations to learn about the issues up for consideration. This was followed by class offerings with panel members from outside of PTA leadership, including Washington state legislators, school board members and leaders from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All offered advice on how to be better advocates or inform members about new laws.

Resolutions and issues – What makes the WSPTA process unique is that issues and resolutions are brought forward by members themselves, so the final product reflects a bottom-up, grassroots effort.

“It gives the PTAs at the local level a little more clout when the individual school districts, principals, school administrator or building realizes that the PTA is not just popping popcorn for a carnival but that are actually advocating for the same things that the principal needs, the school district needs and the superintendent of the school district needs,” said Teri Davis, WSPTA Vice-President. “We are all working together for the same things.”

Resolutions adopted:

  • Mental Health Needs for Children
  • Trauma Informed Care
  • Increasing Access and Affordability of Post-secondary/Higher Education Degrees and Certificates
  • LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Legislative issues adopted (in alphabetical order):

  • Addressing the Teacher Shortage
  • Best Practices for School Meal Policies
  • Career Connected Learning, CTE and STEM
  • Dual Credit Equality and Support
  • Equity for Highly Capable
  • Preventing and Mitigating the Impacts of Gender-based Violence
  • School Construction and Class-Size Reduction

From Chamberlain: “A few of our issues that we are looking at … are already bills in the pipeline and we are excited to be able to take a position on.” These include best practices for lunch policy, as well teacher shortages.

See 2018 WSPTA Supported Issues for entire positions on issues.

What happens next? – Delegates will return their schools to share information about the newly-adopted legislative platform and resolutions with their local PTA chapter. This helps PTA members advocate effectively for students not only in their district but across the entire state of Washington. For example, members often testify in Olympia during the legislative session in support of bills furthering the aims of the voter-approved platform.

“People think of PTA as the local PTA at your school and you might have 100 members or so. They don’t realize that as a statewide association we have over 134,00 members,” Davis said. “We represent the voices of those members and the children across the state. It is a different perspective when you put it into the big picture overall to see how we are working and what we can do.”

Cami Brix is a junior at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, where she is a writer and editor for the Nordic News student newspaper. As an EEN contributor, Ms. Brix shares the student perspective along with research and writing support for ongoing EEN projects. On October 20-21 she attended the Washington State PTA Legislative Assembly in Tacoma and filed this report.