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K-12 Education: The crisis
we refuse to act on
By Rep. Glenn Anderson
Among the many questions
before the 60-day legislative session is: Are we going to act to
reinvigorate our K-12 education system to provide children the rigorous
and competitive education needed to be successful in today's global
economy?
In December, the Organization for Economic Development, an organization
of the world's leading industrial economies, released its Program for
International Student Achievement results. Once again, the PISA study
showed that the advanced international community has greater academic
achievement than the United States and that U.S. students are severely
lagging behind their international peers.
The PISA study is administered every three years and assesses the
international achievement of 15-year-old students in reading,
mathematics and science -- core competencies of the education system.
Perennial powerhouses such as Hong Kong, Finland, South Korea and Canada
are at the top of the OECD study. American kids are not even in the top
20. More alarming is that according to the U.S. Census, today's students
are less educated than their parents, and that includes students in
Washington.
This information is not new to Washington's Legislature or to the
governor. Over the past six years, I have participated in numerous
studies, commissions, task forces and committees evaluating the system's
shortcomings and possible remedies.
The outcome of all those efforts has been to continually "kick the
problems down the road" into the future. Some good things have come from
these efforts, but all have conspicuously avoided taking on the
structural changes necessary to give kids an education that makes them
global leaders, not laggards.
Now is the time to act decisively. I challenge the governing Democratic
supermajority in Olympia to avoid the business-as-usual election-year
dodge of kicking the hard decisions down the road until after the
November elections. Letting another high school graduating class enter
the world with an inferior education because of political risk is
unacceptable, cold and callous.
Washington should take the same approach as the nations that are global
leaders on education -- fund the fundamentals. These are the
cornerstones:
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Dedicating a "Fund Education First" budget that is agreed to and funded
before any other state spending is authorized.
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Reviewing our state's achievement-testing approach, and a recommitment
to achievement testing that is rigorous, globally competitive and
trusted by parents and teachers.
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Eliminating the current seniority-based teacher compensation model and
requiring a skills and knowledge compensation model to recruit and
retain the best young people to be our highly qualified teachers.
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Improving guidance-counseling services to ensure kids, parents and
teachers know what our education expectations are and what their options
and resources are to achieve them.
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Requiring that career and technical education and college bound
education pathways are equally encouraged and supported in our schools.
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Reforming English language learning programs to ensure that no child is
left behind.
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Ensuring school transportation spending reform is a priority.
In the education of each child is the future of our great state. There
is no greater obligation for lawmakers. The evidence is striking -- we
are failing our children.
The Legislature, both supermajority Democrats and minority Republicans,
must act decisively this session to address the education crisis. Our
children deserve our best effort. Their success is far more important
than political risk. Lawmakers must show leadership to meet our state's
constitutional "paramount duty."
Rep. Glenn Anderson of Fall City is the lead Republican on the House
Higher Education Committee, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
Education, the House K-12 Education Committee and the Basic Education
Finance Taskforce.
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For more information, contact:
Mike Deising, Public
Information Officer - (360) 786-7698
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