| |
Minority Report on
Washington Learns K-12 education funding and accountability to be
suppressed by governor’s office
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT (Requires Adobe Reader)
Rep. Glenn Anderson,
R-Fall City, questioned why Governor Christine Gregoire suppressed his
Minority Report recommendations to the Washington Learns Steering
Committee which addressed shortcomings of the committee’s final report
and offered solutions to solving Washington’s toughest education issues
– funding and accountability.
“I’ve been at the table with the rest of the dedicated Washington Learns
Steering Committee members for over a year now saying exactly what I
said in my Minority Report,” said Anderson. “It makes me wonder why they
are suppressing it. Unfortunately, the end result of the all our hard
work is a report that fails to do what the law authorizing the committee
required of it – address K-12 education funding.”
Anderson said the legislation authorizing the Washington Learns Steering
Committee, SB 5441, explicitly mandated the Committee to address the
state’s K-12 education funding system. And, he says, the governor’s
final report fails to offer a single solution for stable funding for
Washington’s K-12 schools.
“The governor decided to pass on addressing key issues such as funding
and accountability that are holding our children back,” said Anderson.
“With almost $2 billion in budget surplus, now is the time to address
these critical issues. We simply can’t improve our education system
without first addressing the issues of funding and accountability. The
longer we wait, the further our children fall behind their peers in
around the nation and the globe. Washington students can’t wait any
longer for the education the Legislature keeps promising them.”
The governor’s final recommendations and report for Washington Learns
will be rolled out Monday, November 13 at the Bell Harbor Conference
Center in Seattle. The final report unveiled at Monday's Education
Summit will not include Representative Anderson’s Minority Report
recommendations.
# # #
Rep. Anderson serves on the House
Education Committee and is the assistant ranking member on the House
Appropriations Committee and the House Rules Committee.
|
|