Lfinne

Last week I had the good fortune to participate in a principal-led tour of Asa Mercer Middle School on Beacon Hill in south Seattle.  The school serves 900 eager young students, ages 10 to 14, mostly from immigrant, low-income and minority families.  Twenty different languages are spoken at the school.

Teachers union executives in Seattle had a bad day yesterday.  They failed in their effort to ban Teach for America from Seattle classrooms.  Teach for America (TFA) is a nationally-recognized training program that provides highly motivated, talented teachers to schools nationwide, especially helping poor and minority children in inner city communities.  The union supported the election of two new board members, Sharon Peaslee and Marty McLaren, who then moved to cancel the Teach for America contract and ban these talented teachers from Seattle.  

As I drove to work last Monday, I listened to a fascinating discussion on the Bob Rivers radio show (KJR 95.7FM-Oldies).  Bob was describing how school districts in Washington now offer all-day kindergarten in high-poverty schools.  Having conducted extensive research into the educational claims of funding all-day kindergarten, this caught my interest.

Today a new poll confirms that 60% of voters favor allowing charter public schools in Washington.  This poll, from the Freedom Foundation and Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, confirms Washington Policy Center's recent poll findings. 

I have been reading the House and Senate education budgets, and compared them to the level of education spending in the last budget.  Here is what I’ve found out. 

The Senate Republicans’ budget, which passed so dramatically in the wee hours Saturday with the help of three break-away Democratic Senators, would increase spending on K-12 education and higher education by more than either current spending or the Democrats’ House-passed budget. 

Here are the details:

A new poll shows that 60% of respondents support giving parents and students the choice of attending a charter public school in Washington.  Below is our press release describing the poll results. 

Washington state is in the process of implementing the Common Core Standards Initiative, which the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has reported will cost $300 million in professional development for teachers, the cost of new books and new tests, as I have written about here,