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

70% of schools finish no better than “Fair,” according to latest
Washington State Achievement Index  

PASCO — Parents across the state of Washington can once again find out how their public schools are performing thanks to the Washington State Board of Education’s annual Achievement Index.

The index is a comprehensive yearly grading system that gives parents and the community an indication of how well schools are performing.

The six rankings used by the State Board of Education are Exemplary, Very Good, Good, Fair, Underperforming and Lowest 5%. Following Governor Inslee’s recommendation for letter grades for the 2,100 public schools, Washington Policy Center reports these at A, B, C, D, F and F-.

Unfortunately, no schools in the major districts in the Tri-Cities finished with a top ranking of Exemplary or “A.” Seventy percent of schools finished no better than fair, according to the state. In the Pasco School District alone, 14 of the 17 schools rated no better than ‘Fair’, or ‘D.’ The results come at a time when the Pasco teachers union is threatening an illegal strike if it doesn’t get an 11 percent pay raise (state figures currently show Pasco teacher pay with benefits at $77,754).  

Category                        Letter Grade      # of Schools       % of Tri-Cities-area schools

Exemplary                         A                             0                            0%

Very Good                         B                             5                           10%

Good                                C                            10                           20%

Fair                                  D                           18                           36%

Underperforming                  F                             7                           14%

Lowest 5%                         F-                          10                           20%

According to the Achievement Index, the highest and lowest performing schools from each area district are listed below.

School District                     Highest performing                                             Lowest performing                    

Kennewick                   Southgate Elementary – Very Good (B)           Edison Elementary – Lowest 5% (F-)

Richland                       Hanford High School – Very Good (B)             Jefferson Elementary – Fair (D)

Pasco                            James McGee Elementary – Very Good (B)      Virgie Robinson Elementary – Lowest 5% (F-)

The State Board of Education has significantly changed how the Achievement Index ranks the state’s 2,212 public schools. The changes reflect the requirements of the U.S. Department of Education and anticipate the federal Smarter Balanced test to be taken by Washington students in 2015.

A look at the results for schools across the entire state show:

• 44% of public schools, serving 452,886 students, received a D ranking or lower
• 818 schools, 39%, received a B or C ranking
• Only 91 public schools, 4%, received an exemplary A ranking
• 267 schools, or 13%, were not rated.

Governor Jay Inslee has recommended “a system in which every school in the state receives a letter grade that’s accessible to parents.”

In creating the Achievement Index, the legislature provided: “The SBE [State board of Education] has responsibility for implementing a statewide accountability system that includes identification of successful schools and districts, those in need of assistance, and those in which state intervention measures are needed. 

“According to state figures, school administrators have assigned 53,873 students to the lowest-performing schools in the state. Many people believe that is not fair,” says Liv Finne, Director for Education at Washington Policy Center.

Lawmakers in some states, like Nevada, have provided fully-funded Education Savings Accounts to parents, so they can send their children to better schools. Lawmakers in Washington should consider a similar program, so every child can have access to a quality education.

The latest Achievement Index covers the 2013-14 school year and can be found here. Grades can be reviewed for every public school in our state. Washington Policy Center’s Policy Note explaining changes the State Board previously made to its methodology may be found here. Washington Policy Center publishes the results of the Achievement Index each year; results from the three previous indexes can be found on washingtonpolicy.org.