Deep Dive: Education in the 2014 Session
Every session has its challenges – its failures and successes. The 2014 Session was no different. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to use these e-news updates to take a deep dive into some of the issues impacting you, and examine how the Legislature tackled these challenges during the 2014 session that ended earlier this month.
The first topic I’ll examine is education. The bipartisan coalition that governs the Senate, and of which I am a member, has said from day one that providing our children with a world class education system that will allow them to compete for the jobs of the 21st century is one of our top priorities.
Last year, the two-year operating budget we approved followed through on that commitment. It includes a billion dollars extra for K-12 education – and we did it without adding some burdensome, broad-based tax increase.
In the end, here were the numbers:
- $15.2 billion: Total state K-12 investment level in 2013-15 budget
- $1.6 billion: Increase in state K-12 funding more than 2011-13 biennium
- $1 billion: New investments in K-12 directly
- 11%: Increase in state K-12 support over current budget
We also increased support to colleges and universities, making it possible for tuition not to increase at the state-run colleges and universities for the first time since 1986.
You and I know that money alone will not solve all of our education problems. We increased educational funding by 29 percent in the eight years prior to the formation of the Majority Coalition Caucus, yet our graduation rate remained flat at 76 percent and our achievement gap actually widened. That’s why we also fought for a number of educational reforms, including measures to help children read by third grade, changes to disciplinary processes and a measure to give principals more authority to determine the teachers in their schools.
This year’s session was about continuing the progress we made in 2013.
Below is an update on the legislative issues impacting education in the 2014 session. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on education. If you have questions or comments on this or any other topic, please send me an email or give my office a call. I want to hear from you!
 In contrast to the last 30 years, the Majority Coalition has prioritized education in the state budget. We did so last year, and this year’s supplemental budget continues that progress.
 As the chart above demonstrates, the growth rate in non-education spending over the preceding 30 years was twice that of the growth rate in education spending. This prioritization of state spending toward non-education not surprisingly resulted in a larger and larger share of school funding being shifted onto local school districts and their taxpayers, which was the precise problem identified by the state Supreme Court in the McCleary decision.
The current budget, including the 2014 supplemental, reverses that trend. In the 2014 supplemental budget, we prioritized education with two-thirds of increased spending going toward early learning, K-12 or higher education.
Senate Republicans fight to keep college tuition frozen for another year!
Taxes, death and college tuition hikes were among the certainties of life – that is until the Senate Republicans and our Democrat partners in the Majority Coalition took the helm prior to the 2013 session. Year after year, college students and their families had seen an increase in costs, with no sign of a break. Fortunately, this is no longer the case.
As you may recall, the current school year is the first year since 1986-87 that tuition has been frozen. This didn’t come easy. Democrats in the House of Representatives pushed for a 5 percent a year increase in their 2013 budget proposal. My Republican colleagues and I said no. Enough is enough. As a result of our efforts, the 2013 budget included a one year hard freeze in tuition. In the second year, however, institutions had the authority to raise tuition.
To address this, the Senate budget proposal this year put a “hard freeze” on tuition for a second year. Once again, House Democrats fought this move. They maintained the ability for institutions to raise tuition in their budget proposal. In the end, the “hard freeze” policy won out in negotiations and there will be no tuition increase in the upcoming 2014-15 school year!
As the chart below demonstrates, this is the first time since 1979-80 and 1980-81 that tuition will have been frozen for two consecutive years.
This is a tremendous accomplishment, even more so when you consider tuition increases at our research institutions (UW/WSU) over the last 40 years. In the chart below the red line compares tuition growth to inflation during this time. As you’ll see, tuition has far, far outpaced inflation over the last 40 years.
While I’m pleased that for the second year in a row we will have passed a budget guaranteeing tuition increases will not happen at our four year colleges and universities, there is still more work to do if we hope to keep higher education within reach of middle class families.
Along with no tuition increases we also put nearly $25 million into the state opportunity scholarship, another $12 million into the College Bound scholarship and another $2 million to EWU and schools like SFCC. These types of investment mark the start of the state reinvesting in education and in our state’s future.
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By Dave Bond, Kennewick School District Superintendent
In its Feb. 28 editorial, the Tri-City Herald editorial board criticized Sen. Sharon Brown for her vote on SB 5246 (Teacher and Principal Evaluation Process).
In my opinion, Brown did her homework and voted correctly. She understands that the use of state tests in teacher evaluations won’t be appropriate until:
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- the state testing system becomes stable, valid and reliable; and
- test results are received before teacher evaluations are due and school year growth can be measured by fall and spring state tests.
Use of data in evaluations. The Kennewick School District is a supporter of using appropriate, reliable and valid data in teacher evaluations. Many teachers use Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to track student progress in reading and math from the start to the end of the school year.
Teachers prefer these tests over state testing for a variety of reasons, including that the data is reliable, easy to obtain and results are available on testing day. Teachers have confidence in the validity and reliability of these tests and use the data in evaluations. So, why should we avoid using current state testing to evaluate teachers?
…At some point, we have to ask why the federal government, which provides about 10 percent of school funding, gets to determine how teachers are evaluated?
In conclusion, Sen. Brown consulted with local education leaders to carefully research SB 5246, and once she understood the significant issues associated with the bill, she correctly decided to vote against it. I commend her for that vote.
The above is an excerpt of a guest column in the Tri-City Herald, written by Dave Bond, the superintendent of the Kennewick School District. You can read his full column here.
The Senate Majority Coalition is fully committed to making sure K-12 education is once again our primary focus in the budgeting process. We are willing to make the tough choices in other areas of the budget so that we have the funding available for a 21st century education system. Knowing that funding alone won’t solve our educational deficits, we are also concentrating on several reforms to make sure that the dollars we spend and any new additional resources will be targeted at measurable improvements in student achievement.
Having students who are prepared to take the jobs available in this new economy is not only crucial to the lives of these young people, but are also vital to the health of the state’s economy and budget.
From our jobs situation to making sure state government has the resources to provide for our most vulnerable citizens, many of the challenges we face can be addressed by first improving our education system. I look forward to continuing that effort when we return to Olympia next year.
As always, it remains my honor to serve you in the Washington State Senate.
Sincerely,
 Sharon Brown
State Senator
8th District
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