WashACE Blog

Keep our best teachers? It's a "no-brainer."

Partnership for Learning and Stand for Children have sponsored a radio ad in support of HB 1443 that is running on radio stations across the state starting today, Wednesday, April 20. Listen to the ad here and read the text below. Also, read an op-ed in Publicola by Washington Roundtable President Steve Mullin.

Most important, call your legislators and tell them to stand for children. Urge a yes vote for HB 1443. 

Here's the text of the radio ad:

Our schools face some difficult choices: budget cuts and teacher layoffs.

 What do you think matters most when deciding which teachers to lay off?

Seniority or excellence?

It's a no-brainer, right?

Wrong.

When it comes to layoffs and teachers, excellence should trump seniority. But in Washington schools today, pink slips go to teachers with the fewest years in the classroom-regardless of their performance.

And guess what? Students suffer.

Our leaders in Olympia are listening. We say "thank you" to senators from both parties who voted to keep our most effective teachers in the classroom. And we urge House members to vote yes on HB 1443.

Because excellence in our classrooms should matter more than seniority.

Visit GreatTeachersWA.org to learn more and contact your legislators.

 

Analysts compare house and senate budget proposals

The Washington Research Council posted its comparison of the house and senate budget proposals, concluding that the senate version

makes many of the same reductions as the House-passed bill, but it cuts $326.7 million more. The need for deeper cuts is a consequence of not assuming that $300 million would be raised by privatiz- ing the distribution of liquor.

 On the education front, the Partnership For Learning evaluates each of the budget proposals and provides a budget breakdown chart comparing the governor, house and senate's budgets on PFL priorities.

Similarly, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board compares the three budgets for treatment of their key K-12, community college, and workforce education issues. 

 Finally, on the workers' compensation reform front, the procedural move last week to bring SSB 5566 to the house floor for a vote failed, but the bill has been deemed NTIB -- or necessary to implement the budget -- so there is still the possibility of it being part of the final budget solution. 

Continue your calls and letters to your legislators. Tell them to pass a sustainable budget within existing revenues that includes important voluntary settlements for injured workers.

Higher ed funding cuts force rethinking of how we do college

Since higher education is unprotected by constitutional provisions (like basic K-12 education) or by federal program matching (like Medicaid) it is often a prime target for budget writers looking to cut spending. AP reporter Molly Rosbach writes about it here.

Among the changes currently in play for legislative consideration are tuition increases and tuition-setting flexibility at the state's 4-year institutions; accepting more out-of-state students, who pay higher tuitions yet; programs cuts; both cutting and increasing various state aid programs supporting tuition assistance for middle and low-income students; as well as fashioning better systems for moving students more smoothly and more productively through the education system from pre-Kindergarten through college and beyond.

The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce continues to advocate  for SB 5915 which grants Washington's 4-year institutions greater tuition-setting authority and the Washington Roundtable recommends that the state: 

...avoid disproportionately large cuts to higher-education funding in the 2011-13 budget, develop a more stable long-term framework for funding higher education and provide institutions with increased tuition-setting authority and operating flexibility, accompanied by clear accountability for results.

Stateline Staff Reporter David Harrison reports on education funding solutions being considered in other states, like three-year degrees in Ohio.

And, community colleges have long provided a less expensive alternative to the first two years of a four-year degree. They typically experience their largest enrollments during recessions when people are out of work and taking the time to get more education or to retrain for a different career. Stateline's Harrison writes on the community college role: 

With unemployment rates still stubbornly high, many laid-off workers now look to community colleges for the training and education they need to find a job. And steep tuition hikes at four-year schools have many high school graduates turning to community colleges as a more affordable alternative. 

 In his report Harrison describes the difficult challenge facing community colleges around the country and links to a helpful interactive map of the 50 states showing each state's community college enrollment and funding compared with the national average over time.

And, because education doesn't begin with college, the College and Work Ready Agenda (CWRA) and the Washington Partnership for Learning both have positive agendas for important solutions necessary in the state's K-12 system, like

1. Performance-based policies for teachers' reductions in force;
2. Alternative pathways to qualify new principals;
3. Mutual consent in teacher hiring policies; and
4. Maintaining our K-12 graduation requirements

...all promote greater efficiency and effectiveness in education spending and should be adopted by the legislature.

The CWRA says:

Whether they choose to attend a four-year college or go directly into the workforce after high school, we want our children to have the tools for success in hand once they have their diploma clasped in the other. The goal of the College & Work Ready Agenda is to ensure all Washington students graduate from high school with a more meaningful diploma that signifies they are ready for their next step in life. 

The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board has a side-by-side comparison of the Governor's and House budget proposals, showing how each affects various resources for K-12, workforce, community college, and Higher Education Coordinating Board funding.

We should be able to add the Senate's version soon...stay tuned.

 

 

 

Ed reforms needed now says U.S. Education Secretary

Washington's education community is receiving some help from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who was in town yesterday. The Seattle Times reports on his visit yesterday where he said:

...the state's education system is illogical and has an organization plan that isn't a viable business plan.

Duncan spoke in support of Governor Gregoire's plan for consolidation of the state's education system. Her plan, although receiving only lukewarm reception in Olympia, is still alive because it is considered Necessary To Implement the Budget (NTIB). Echoing Gregoire's earlier messaging on the plan, Duncan said:

...there have been enough studies.

"We have to get better faster. I just want to see the entire country share this sense of urgency," he said.

Duncan's earlier opinion editorial to The Times is here. 

The governor released a policy brief outlining how the state's current education governance structure places a direct million dollar drag on the biennial budget with an additional $100 million annual price tag for taxpayers in underprepared students, remedial coursework, course retaking, and the years necessary for most students to complete a 4-year degree. According to her brief:

Every year taxpayers pay more for students who fall behind, retake grades and grow discouraged. The more important costs are those to our students through higher unemployment and lower lifetime earnings. With the current structure — which operates in individual silos and with no accountability for the entire system — we are not serving students, families and taxpayers well.

Thrive Washington, a joint research series from the Washington Roundtable and the Washington Research Council, also acknowledges the problem in its fifth paper, Consolidation versus Specialization:

Outside OSPI and the challenges of a plural executive, the rest of Washington’s current education system remains similarly disconnected. The governor oversees five other education agencies. In addition, there are four independent boards: the Professional Educators Standards Board, Higher Education Coordinating Board, State Board for Technical and Community Colleges and State Board of Education.

Thrive concludes that:

A reorganized and more streamlined education governance structure could empower the executive branch to eliminate educational “silos” and forge a more cohesive and comprehensive educational plan.

As well, a number of additional education policy bills:

1. Performance-based policies for teachers' reductions in force;
2. Alternative pathways to qualify new principals;
3. Mutual consent in teacher hiring policies; and
4. Maintaining our K-12 graduation requirements

...all promote greater efficiency and effectiveness in education spending and should be adopted by the legislature.

 

 

 

Effective education reform must include consolidation & restructuring

   Depending on who's speaking and what precisely they're talking about, education reform and consolidation proposals in Olympia are moving, stalling, changing or dying. The AP reports:

The governor's plan would eliminate the State Board of Education, the Department of Early Learning and nearly 10 other departments, boards and committees and place their functions under a new Department of Education. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction would still oversee K-12 education but most administrative matters would move to the new department.

Under Gregoire's proposal, the governor would - starting next year - nominate a secretary of education, who would need confirmation from the state Senate. Gregoire said she foresees a nationwide search for a professional to head the department, someone with vision and leadership skills but also expertise in education...

Gregoire said she has heard some people think she is trying to change things too quickly.

"We can't go fast enough," she said.

   On the other hand:

[State Rep. Sharon Tomiko] Santos said everyone agrees that the state's education system is fragmented and that Washington needs a seamless system from early learning through college, but she supports a different approach...

   And at least one legislator would go further:

Sen. Rodney Tom has taken the idea one step further and proposed eliminating the superintendent of public instruction as an elected position. His idea would require a constitutional amendment because the superintendent's job was established by the state constitution. His proposal, which consists of two bills, was heard in the Senate Education Committee but has not come for a vote.  

    At a gathering of business lobbyists today in Olympia, Attorney General Rob McKenna said the idea of eliminating the superintendent's elected position has zero chance of being supported by the legislature. He said there were divides between democrats and republicans or between house and senate, but those divides pale against the divide between the legislative and executive branches of state government. The legislature is not going to give the executive more power by eliminating the elected education superintendent...even if it makes sense to do so, he said.

Jerry Cornfield's report in the Everett Herald confirms that this proposal is moot for now...he quotes Gregoire:

"I think everyone believed we need to move forward and that [this part of the proposal] can't hold us back," she said. "This is not about Randy Dorn and Chris Gregoire. This is about our children and their future."

   Meanwhile, Jim Camden reports in the Spokesman Review quotes the governor:

“It’s not adequate for tomorrow; it’s not even adequate for today,” she said of the state’s scattered authorities on education. “Everybody’s defending their turf.”

  In their Thrive Washington paper on consolidation of the executive branch the Washington Roundtable and the Washington Research Council recommend that the state should:

Place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that eliminates the elected office of superintendent of public instruction.

 

First cut-off claims teacher performance bill; supplemental budget moves forward

News from Olympia is mixed this morning...

Seattle Times reports that the business-supported bill requiring teacher performance be considered over seniority in school lay-off decisions is dead after missing the first cut-off in the House. 

The News Tribune says that House and Senate leadership conferees signed their supplemental budget report last night, clearing the way for voting as early as today.

And, Eric Smith reports in Washington State Wire concern that the budget compromise treats state employees differently. Here's an excerpt: 

 The budget bill that is expected to go to the House and Senate floors today sets up two classes of employees in state government, and it gives the state’s 16,200 non-union employees a worse deal than the one that was extended to unionized workers in December.

The non-union workers get an actual 3-percent pay cut, not the flexible furlough plan Gov. Christine Gregoire worked out with the unions at the bargaining table. That means non-union workers will be paid less for working the same number of hours.

 And the non-union workers get the whack immediately, on April 1. Most members of the state’s public-employee unions won’t start taking furloughs until the beginning of July.

Hmmm.

 

Message to lawmakers: Move HB 1609/SB 5399

The Tacoma News Tribune calls it a "no-brainer". 

Seattle Times says their "hope is that enough lawmakers are more concerned about the education of children than appeasing the Washington Education Association."

They're referring to business-supported HB 1609 (and its companion SB 5399), which would value teacher performance over seniority in any future budget-driven layoffs.

If legislators kill the bills with inaction, they are ignoring the calls of parents, education groups and brave teachers who've gone against their union on this issue. Lawmakers will be thumbing their noses at informed research, including the University of Washington's study underscoring the academic harm to students when layoffs rob classrooms of effective teachers.

Worse, lawmakers will be prizing their own political skins above children. 

Couldn't have said it better...so I won't. 

 

Teacher lay-off criteria debated in Olympia

HB 1609 proposes to change the criteria for how reductions-in-force are handled in the schools. If passed, a teacher's performance would carry more weight than his/her seniority. The bill analysis is worth a read, if you haven't been there yet.

Peter Callaghan reports for The News Tribune on Tuesday's hearing. These excerpts give a flavor of the frustration spurred by this important issue:

Love it or hate it, teacher evaluation is a topic that something calling itself an education committee should discuss. Especially one controlled by the same party as President Obama, who has placed it on his school reform agenda.

But the hearing on the bill sounded like an audition for the next Chipmunks movie, with 17 witnesses rapidly saying what they needed to say in less than a minute each. If they failed, they were cut off by Chairwoman Sharon Tomiko Santos, sometimes in mid-sentence...

Proponents said it makes no sense to leave weak teachers on the job and lay off better teachers simply because of seniority...Backers argue that without consequences such as pay, layoffs and retention, the new evaluation system won’t be taken seriously.

Some legislators are trying to make the bill more palatable to opponents, and it would probably pass if it came to a vote. But the bill does not appear to have much push from Democratic leaders such as House Speaker Frank Chopp. There doesn’t appear to be an appetite in a session marked by budget cuts and layoffs to take on the WEA over seniority.

This business-backed bill is more important than ever as our schools face budget cutting that will result in layoffs. How we handle these cuts will lay the foundation for the education system we will have in the future to support the state's eventual economic recovery and growth. 

 

Key ed reform bills heard in Olympia

Tuesday was a big day for education reform discussion in Olympia. 

Go here for the Kitsap Sun's report on legislation intended to redesign the education system from pre-K through college;

For the Seattle Times' take on legislation placing greater emphasis on teacher quality over teacher seniority during reductions-in-force go here.

And, read Jerry Cornfield's blog (Everett Herald) on a governor-request bill to ask voters to approve elimination of the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Also heard was a business-backed bill to create pathways for leaders outside the ed community to become principals.

The status quo is its own fierce advocate and change never happens easily, but with an area of the state budget that consumes nearly half of the funds available, insufficient state revenue, and perennially poor performance, change needs to happen. Not all change is created equal, though.

Business-supported bills to reward excellent teacher performance and to allow proven leaders to share their skills and experience are positive steps in the right direction.

 

Governor delivers state of the state

Gov. Gregoire delivered her state of the state message today, acknowledging the tough times and pledging resolve and optimism.

 

Early coverage in The News Tribune, Capitol Record, and SeattlePI.com.