Contact: Chris Cargill
509-570-2384
ccargill@washingtonpolicy.org

Spokane – The Public School Accountability Index, a new report released by Washington Policy Center using the State Board of Education rankings, rates the quality of schools in the Ellensburg area. Mt. Stuart Elementary received the lowest ranking of Struggling, indicating school officials are failing to educate students according to state standards. No school in the Ellensburg area received a ranking of Exemplary or Very Good. Overall, 8 of the 10 schools in the Ellensburg and Cle Elum-Roslyn School Districts rank no better than Fair.

The best and worst scores from each district are listed below.

Ellensburg School District
Best: Ellensburg High
Worst: Mt. Stuart Elementary

Cle Elum-Roslyn School District
Best: Cle Elum Roslyn High
Worst: Cle Elum Roslyn Elementary

The WPC Public School Accountability Index is a ranking of the 2,161 schools in Washington state. The Policy Center’s Index is based on data compiled by the State Board of Education’s 2010 Achievement Index, conducted to determine whether local school officials are fulfilling their paramount duty under the state constitution to provide a quality education for every child.  The Index ranks schools as Exemplary, Very Good, Good, Fair or Struggling.  A rating of Struggling is an indication local school officials are failing in their educational mission.

The full WPC School Accountability Index is available online here.  WPC’s two-page Policy Note explaining the School Accountability Index is available here.  Local schools are listed alphabetically.

Key Findings

• 597,000, or nearly 60%, of Washington children attend Fair or Struggling public schools. 
• Only 93,000, less than 10%, of students attend a Very Good or Exemplary public school.
• The great majority of schools, 1,208, rank as only Fair or Struggling,
• Only 212 schools, barely 10%, rank as either Very Good or Exemplary.
• The poor academic performance is not due to lack of support from taxpayers – funding for Washington public education is at record highs.
• Public schools receive just over $10 billion a year, or $10,200 per student, in operating funds, plus an additional $1.3 billion for school construction.
• Since 1980 education spending, adjusted for inflation, has more than doubled, while the number of students, due to smaller families, has increased by only a third.
• There are fewer students today in relation to the total population than in the past, and spending per student is the highest ever.

Governor Gregoire says she found that more spending does not improve learning for children: “I put a lot more money into K-12.  But then you sit there and say, ‘Why have I not been able to get the result I set out to achieve?’” Policy changes that would improve learning for children without increasing spending are described in Washington Policy Center’s education reform plan, Eight Practical Ways to Reverse the Decline in Public Schools.