Lawmakers: Education is focus of 2013 Legislature
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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Lawmakers meeting to discuss the start of the 105-day legislative session on Thursday made it clear that education will be the No. 1 issue in Olympia this year.
The Supreme Court's McCleary decision on education dollars has been hanging over their heads for more than a year, but it was obvious at The Associated Press Legislative Preview that education will truly overshadow every other issue before the Legislature this winter.
"McCleary is about moving education forward; it's not just about dollars," said Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, who will be the majority leader of the newly formed "majority coalition caucus" that includes the Senate's 23 Republicans.
Legislative leaders said that besides funding, they also want to focus on student success, as well as the achievement gap between rich and poor children and among kids from different ethnic groups.
Sen. Ed Murray, the Senate Democratic leader, agreed: "We have to get at the opportunity gap, or we won't move the needle."
Democrats have a small majority in the chamber, controlling 26 of 49 seats. But with Tom and fellow Democrat Sen. Tim Sheldon, of Potlatch, recently agreeing to work with Senate Republicans, the coalition holds a 25-24 advantage.
Lawmakers are still working out how to share power between Republicans and Democrats in the state Senate and whether a bipartisan approach is workable before the legislative session begins Monday.
"What the citizens are interested in is governing. The bipartisan issue is an inside game," Murray said.
But despite their ongoing discussions about who will chair Senate committees, both Murray and Tom said education would be a more important issue than politics.
"I'm just excited that education is being talked about as a central component of a legislative session," Tom said, after reminiscing about some empty committee rooms of the past when education issues were being discussed.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said there's no agreement in the Legislature about how to come up with more than $1 billion for education, as a down-payment on the McCleary decision. He predicted lawmakers would pull something together for the short-term and then start planning for a sustainable, long-term solution.
About 43 percent of the state budget - $13.6 billion - currently goes to public schools.
Various revenue ideas were tossed out during the hours-long preview: devoting future Internet sales tax revenue to education; using sales tax income from marijuana for schools; putting school buses into the transportation budget and using a gas tax to pay for school transportation; and reviving the levy swap idea that was reviled by some during the political campaign.
Gov.-elect Jay Inslee said he was open to any creative idea and promised "this is not going to be resolved overnight."
Like Hunter, Inslee predicted it would take years to solve the education funding puzzle.
When asked if he had a dollar number he wanted to see infused into K-12 schools this year, Inslee said, "I have a number in my head, but I don't have the money in my pocket."
He talked about using economic growth, closing tax loopholes and government efficiency to cover some of the cost.
The Washington Supreme Court has given lawmakers until 2018 to fully fund basic education and the reform plans the Legislature has already passed, while making sure local school districts are not forced to make up for a lack in state money through the use of local tax levies.
Lawmakers have said they need to find more dollars for all-day kindergarten, student transportation and class-size reduction, as well as technology and equipment to supply schools of the 21st century.
Higher education also got a share of the attention on Thursday, with lawmakers and Inslee calling for a recommitment to the state's public universities and more focus on sending Washington kids to college to fill science, technology and engineering jobs.
It's a "crime against nature" not to have enough skilled workers for high-tech jobs, Inslee said.
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AP reporters Rachel La Corte, Mike Baker and Chris Grygiel contributed to this story.
The Supreme Court's McCleary decision on education dollars has been hanging over their heads for more than a year, but it was obvious at The Associated Press Legislative Preview that education will truly overshadow every other issue before the Legislature this winter.
"McCleary is about moving education forward; it's not just about dollars," said Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, who will be the majority leader of the newly formed "majority coalition caucus" that includes the Senate's 23 Republicans.
Legislative leaders said that besides funding, they also want to focus on student success, as well as the achievement gap between rich and poor children and among kids from different ethnic groups.
Sen. Ed Murray, the Senate Democratic leader, agreed: "We have to get at the opportunity gap, or we won't move the needle."
Democrats have a small majority in the chamber, controlling 26 of 49 seats. But with Tom and fellow Democrat Sen. Tim Sheldon, of Potlatch, recently agreeing to work with Senate Republicans, the coalition holds a 25-24 advantage.
Lawmakers are still working out how to share power between Republicans and Democrats in the state Senate and whether a bipartisan approach is workable before the legislative session begins Monday.
"What the citizens are interested in is governing. The bipartisan issue is an inside game," Murray said.
But despite their ongoing discussions about who will chair Senate committees, both Murray and Tom said education would be a more important issue than politics.
"I'm just excited that education is being talked about as a central component of a legislative session," Tom said, after reminiscing about some empty committee rooms of the past when education issues were being discussed.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said there's no agreement in the Legislature about how to come up with more than $1 billion for education, as a down-payment on the McCleary decision. He predicted lawmakers would pull something together for the short-term and then start planning for a sustainable, long-term solution.
About 43 percent of the state budget - $13.6 billion - currently goes to public schools.
Various revenue ideas were tossed out during the hours-long preview: devoting future Internet sales tax revenue to education; using sales tax income from marijuana for schools; putting school buses into the transportation budget and using a gas tax to pay for school transportation; and reviving the levy swap idea that was reviled by some during the political campaign.
Gov.-elect Jay Inslee said he was open to any creative idea and promised "this is not going to be resolved overnight."
Like Hunter, Inslee predicted it would take years to solve the education funding puzzle.
When asked if he had a dollar number he wanted to see infused into K-12 schools this year, Inslee said, "I have a number in my head, but I don't have the money in my pocket."
He talked about using economic growth, closing tax loopholes and government efficiency to cover some of the cost.
The Washington Supreme Court has given lawmakers until 2018 to fully fund basic education and the reform plans the Legislature has already passed, while making sure local school districts are not forced to make up for a lack in state money through the use of local tax levies.
Lawmakers have said they need to find more dollars for all-day kindergarten, student transportation and class-size reduction, as well as technology and equipment to supply schools of the 21st century.
Higher education also got a share of the attention on Thursday, with lawmakers and Inslee calling for a recommitment to the state's public universities and more focus on sending Washington kids to college to fill science, technology and engineering jobs.
It's a "crime against nature" not to have enough skilled workers for high-tech jobs, Inslee said.
____
AP reporters Rachel La Corte, Mike Baker and Chris Grygiel contributed to this story.
 Hey! Great,our lawmakers could use a better education. Have them "focus" on Reality 101 first !!!!
More taxes.lol
Forcing more poor property owners to sell their homes because they can't afford the ridiculous property taxes.
The WEA, as with every union, has good members and worthless members. Until the WEA agrees to get rid of the slackers, we will get very little for our tax dollars.
@MidnightRambler How about you quit screwing them over every time their contract is up for renewal? The high school drop outs at Boeing strike for a fraction of the crap public sector workers have to deal with.
 @MidnightRambler For the first three years a teacher can be ânon-renewedâ (fired) for any reason without cause. After that it just takes a little effort from the principal to remove an incompetent teacher. Step one: Observe and document that the teacher is not meeting the Teaching for Learning Standards. This can be done in as little as a one hour formal observation. Step two: Teacher is placed on a Plan of Improvement. Here the teacher meets with a mentor in the field to see if there is a chance for improvement.  This often lasts 60-90 days. Step three:  An outside expert, chosen by the District Administration, offers their opinion after review and observation. Based on this the district will choose to fire or retain said teacher. The Union supports this process and assists in removing a great many poor teachers each year. This entire process is skipped if a teacher is accused of physical or sexual misconduct. They are placed on paid leave until the accusations are confirmed or disproved. Teachers are considered guilty until proven innocent.
Just an off hand idea.... Follow the specialization example of Henry Ford and automobile construction.
This State has a number of colleges and universities. Many of them duplicate programs. For example UW, WSU, Northwestern, and Everett CC all offer nursing programs. Divide the education programs up so that a minimal number of institutions specialize in that specific program. WSU has already done this to some extent with its Vet sciences program. Community Colleges could better focus on general education and major pre-requisites. Instead of each institution trying to offer everything and having all programs competiting for the same dollars reduce the number of programs and become national leaders in those programs. Much like WSU has already done with its Vet Sciences program and UW has done with its medical programs.
Don't they say this every year?
Why wouldn't a bipartisan approach work???? All that means is that the voting isn't all done along party lines and why should it be. These people should vote according to what's best for the people of the state not what their party politics are. It would mean cooperation and an end to gridlock on issues. If one party or the other is always in complete control it just means more of the same and that hasn't been working very well for the people.
I am convinced that no one is really concerned with quality of education in this country. The teacher's unions only want to preserve the jobs of existing teachers, preferring "retraining" instead of replacement. There are 295 school districts in our state, each with a board superintendant and loads of useless administrators making 100k each. All of the levies and bond issues begging for even more dollars conceals how much these idiots are wasting on a continual basis. Can we imagine what a state ballot would look like if all that begging for additional funds were placed in the state versus local ballots. Inept lawmakers and a powerful union does nothing but cheat students out of what could be. Without the inordinate amount of waste and abuse of funds we could have a world class education. More dollars thrown to the same system only creates more overpaid, useless administrators each making that magic 100k or more.
Looks like my property taxes are going up again...
@lakeview They are. Everything the state isn't willing to pay is added to the ATM property taxes. The biggest problem as I see it is that so many people voting for more levies and bonds don't have a clue where that money comes from or who pays it. Even worse is the levies/bonds used to be for a specific purpose and now they are being passed as operating money with no accountability for use.