The Senate is now debating the education reform bill, which would change the first-teacher-in, last-teacher-out rule.

Sen. Rodney Tom referenced the documentary, “Waiting for Superman.” He said in the movie, there’s something called “dance of the lemons” — the practice of rotating ineffective teachers to different districts instead of laying them off. He said this bill could change that.

“If we want good schools, we’ve got to put our money where our mouth is,” said Sen. Lisa Brown. She said it’s too bad that the biggest education bill this session is about how to lay off teachers — not how to prevent layoffs.

Sen. Pam Roach said it’s parents’ responsibility to make sure their children are educated. “Today, when we have both parents working and sometimes a lot of people that don’t even have two parents … if we just alert parents,” she said, that they don’t have much time to raise their children right, they might be more likely to spend time at home making sure their children are well educated. “It’s getting so bad these days that we need to be looking at something fresh and new.”

“I think it raises a critical issue that hasn’t been raised yet, that is the local control issue,” said Sen. Steve Conway. “My school district, Tacoma, they’re involved in addressing these same issues through their collective bargaining process.” He said everyone wants the best education. “I just think this is a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “Here we are, once again, the Legislature mandating a premise that would best be handled” by the collective bargaining process and the local districts.

Sen. Kevin Ranker said school districts were only recently asked to develop a four-tier rating program for teachers. He said the schools aren’t even done yet — so he said it doesn’t make sense to ask school districts to then tie Reductions in Force — also known as RIFs or layoffs — to performance evaluations that don’t yet exist.

“The plain fact is, if ratings matter … then we need to make the policy choice that connects them,” said Sen. Phil Rockefeller.

The Senate passed the bill 30 to 17.

Tags: education, education reform

The Senate Early Learning Committee is holding a public hearing now on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s idea for a preschool-to-Ph.D education system — or state education council.

“This is legislation that will impact and will engage all 83,000 of the members we work with,” said Lucinda Young, with the Washington Education Association. She said one of the largest hurdles facing the state is underfunding for K-12. She said her group supports the striking bill. “We have to all be vigilant, we have to all be involved,” she said, “if we want to continue  to improve student achievement.”

Watch live on TVW now.

Tags: education, preschool to Ph.D

Transportation, education and the future of the GET program:

Tags: education, GET, Legislative Review, transportation budget, tuition

In this week’s show, which you can watch at 6:30 on TVW, we covered a dozen or so of the week’s biggest topics in the Legislature. If you need more information once you’ve watched the show, look no further.

Budget: Once again, the budget is our top story. The House passed its version last week and sent it to the Senate. Instead of passing that bill, a bipartisan group in the Senate drafted their own version and, by today, passed that off the floor. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget director had previously said she needed a budget on her desk by today in order for maximum savings to go into effect.

Unemployment rate decrease: This bill would reduce employers’ unemployment insurance rate – saving businesses $300 million this year. But in order for that savings to go into effect, the bill has to make it to the governor’s desk by Tuesday. This proposal also allows the federal government to continue paying extended unemployment benefits. Though it passed the Senate, it had a snag earlier in the week.

Fraud: Lawmakers are looking at reducing fraud to boost the bottom line. One bill would go specifically after Medicaid. Another bill, which had its first hearing today, would include all government fraud and give cash awards to whistleblowers.

Heart attacks: Police officers and firefighters told lawmakers this week that the adrenaline they experience on a daily basis increases their risk for heart attack and stroke. For that reason, they’re asking for those conditions to be considered work-related illnesses – in some cases.

Capital budget: The Great Recession isn’t just affecting the operating budget – with reduced bonding capacity, the capital budget is also smaller. This week, schools, ports and others told lawmakers what will happen if they don’t get funding.

Red light cameras: Cities and towns like red light cameras because they make people think twice about breaking the law – and they bring in some money. But lawmakers in the House looked at regulating cameras via several bills this week. One would outlaw the cameras, while others would give voters more say. Here’s one bill, and another, and another. And this one.

Department of Corrections: After an officer was strangled last weekend, the Department of Corrections is reviewing its policies. We have the story about the governor’s response, and you can read more about the department’s next steps here.

Dorn reshuffle: Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to restructure the way education is administered – starting with the state schools chief position. Her proposal, which Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn opposes, got a hearing this week.

Social emotional learning: Some education advocates say if students learned more about their emotions, they’d do better in school. But in a hearing on the bill this week, some parents worried that the curriculum may not match up with their own values, or that it would take time away from more critical lesson plans.

Online university: Sen. Jim Kastama wants to establish a public online university. The proposal had a hearing this week and we’ve got the details.

Tags: Budget, capital budget, department of corrections, Dorn, education, fraud, online university, OSPI, police, red light cameras, unemployment

Here’s this week’s edition of The Impact, with Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and schools chief Randy Dorn.

Tags: Budget, Chopp, Dorn, education, The Impact

And here’s tonight’s Inside Olympia with Austin Jenkins. He talks to state schools superintendent Randy Dorn about K-12 education:

Tags: education, Inside Olympia, The Impact, TVW

Gov. Chris Gregoire was on the road for today’s bill signings. She signed the education reform bill — aimed at getting federal Race to the Top cash for schools — along with a handful of other education and other bills. The bill signing ceremony will be on TVW tonight.

“Today we take major steps to provide our children with the education that will allow them to compete in the global economy,” Gregoire said in a news release. “We are focused on skilled instruction, effective leadership and the funding to provide the education our children deserve.”

Here’s the full list of bills:

• Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 2560, relating to forming joint underwriting associations.

• Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 2617, relating to eliminating boards and commissions.

• House Bill No. 2621, relating to designating resource programs for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instruction in K-12 schools.

• Second Substitute House Bill No. 2731, relating to implementing a program of early learning for educationally at-risk children. (more…)

Tags: education, Race to the Top

The House is debating a bill to try to qualify for Race to the Top money and implement the new funding formula for schools over time.

“We’re no longer talking about Race to the Top, Mr. Speaker, we’re talking about race to the middle,” Rep. Skip Priest said. He said the provisions in the bill are not enough to win the federal grant money. But, he said, it’s critical to pass the bill — with the funding and Race to the Top provisions — now to keep the state moving forward.

Rep. Marcie Maxwell said she met with children from her district this morning. “I just want to strongly support it and say that every one of those kids is worth it,” she said.

Rep. Bruce Dammeier: “I am one that wishes it were bolder, that wishes we were moving a little stronger to the Race to the Top areas. We have an opportunity here and I wish we were taking advantage of it.“  He said the bill has a significant fiscal note, but he’s voting yes.

Rep. Mark Miloscia said he works as a substitute teacher. “I do appreciate a lot of the elements of this bill, I’m going to be a reluctant no… we don’t many times actually have true reform that actually has real accountability,” he said, and this bill doesn’t hit the mark.

Rep. Tim Probst said it’s a bill he’s proud to vote for. “We talk a lot about education and taking care of our kids … last year we had a major education reform and one of the things that we talked about is usually we do reform and we don’t follow it with funding and how that’s no way to make things happen,” he said, “And here we are keeping the promise.”

Rep. Reuven Carlyle said he’s torn and that the state is so much more than what its become. “If we were designing state government today with the depth of our Constitution’s commitment to public education, what would state government look like?” He said it would likely look different — with bigger commitments to education and public health.

Rep. Gary Alexander: “There is no money, Mr. Speaker, no money to address this requirement.” He said they’re setting up obligations in future budget periods that the state will not be able to pay for. “Don’t tell me about the fact that we funded it because we put it in the fiscal note,” he said. “I am just as dedicated to the education of our children as anybody on this floor, but until you show me the money — show me the money in the budget — I can’t vote for this.”

Update: The House passed the bill 76 to 22.

Tags: education, Reform

Sen. Joe Zarelli’s bill to reduce the local levy and increase property tax — providing the revenue to schools and evening out the playing field for levy-dependent schools — is scheduled for a hearing on Monday.

I usually don’t  post when a bill gets a hearing, but this bill got lost in the shuffle of Tuesday. Here’s what I wrote earlier this week.

Update: I just heard back from Sen. Zarelli. I asked him to explain how the tax plan works in a bit more detail. Here’s what he had to say:

“The proposal is revenue neutral (raises the same amount that it decreases) and has the effect of lowering overall property taxes for about 67% of the represented payers around the state.  In doing this it takes away half of the local levy authority (cuts it from 24% to 12%) and raises the state levy by a commensurate amount, thereby resolving the argument that districts have made around the state not paying for basic education operating costs, because the levy would be collected and allocated by the state.  All districts would see no reduction in funding but many would see an increase in funding. My argument is that if these costs are state responsibilities than the tax ought to apply uniformly (equally) across the state per the constitution.”

The hearing will be Monday at 1:30 in the Senate Early Learning Committee.

Tags: education, local levy, property tax

Sen. Joe Zarelli introduced a bill to reform the way the state funds education. In a press release, he said the bill would generate $900 million more a year despite the state’s financial predicament.

How? The bill would reduce all school district levy authority by 12 percent and increase the state’s property tax levy by the same amount. “Most districts have a 24 percent levy lid (meaning they can seek local funding equal to 24 percent of the combined state-federal funding they receive), so this functionally removes half of their levy authority. The state property tax levy would be increased by 88 cents in 2011, generating an estimated $828 million a year.”

Zarelli said the majority of taxpayers would have lower property taxes and school districts would get a more reliable funding source in return.

From the press release: “The leaders of the education community have called repeatedly for more state funding. This legislation says yes. It’s been questioned whether we can meet the constitutional mandate of ‘ample provision’ within our existing tax structure without cutting funding for public safety or the most vulnerable or the other genuine priorities of government. This bill says yes,” Zarelli said. “Property-poor districts are worried about losing their levy equalization money. This measure says they won’t lose a dime.”

“This legislation simply would do what so many have asked, and what the constitution requires: ensure Olympia is making ample provision for K-12 education. That it would do so in such an equitable, dependable fashion is a bonus.”

The bill isn’t scheduled for a hearing and there isn’t yet a bill summary. I’ll keep you posted on how it progresses.

Tags: education