November 14, 2006
Washington Learns (that Mrs. Gregoire is living in a fantasy world)
Mrs. Gregoire unveiled her "Washington Learns" final report with much fanfare yesterday.
One of the big goals outlined in the final report is "personalized education". Gregoire mentioned this in yesterday's speech and listed a number of consumer products which today are personalized as never before (e.g. car seats that remember personal adjustments). Likewise, she wants to personalize every child's educational experience. An excellent goal, but note that all of the personalized consumer products came from businesses that had to compete for customers. It's an unrealistic fantasy to expect personalized education to spring forth from a government monopoly that has no incentives to listen to its customers.
(The final report includes a portion of Rep. Glenn Anderson's dissenting report, which criticizes the Washington Learns taskforce for failing to address its primary objectives. Anderson's full report is here)
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 14, 2006
09:56 AM | Email This
1. Here we go.
These two bills where left seating last year because of the November election, for fear of losing Democratic seats in Olympia
Bills pending on property-tax increases HJR 4205-2005-06 amending the Constitution to provide for a simple majority of voters voted to authorize a school Levy.
Bill HB 1484 - 2005-06 authorizing voter approved regular property tax levies for school purposes. Revised for 3rd Substitute: Providing cost-of-living salary supplements to school district employees.
How much more money do they need for education. Learning starts at home buy the parents.
George
2. I didn't know that George. Why didn't the Rs capitalize? I'll wait to give my assessment when we have a post-mortem at SP.
This is neo version of Twilight Zone- it is way out there but it is a comedy.
3. With the composition of the state legislature, brought to you by the WEA, it's as good as passed. You won't see a school levy fail in this state after that.
4. Unfortunately they keep looking for some magic replacement for effort, drive, motivation. The biggest problem with the left is that they replace hard work with envy. That formula never provides a way up for anyone except those "Pied Pipers" of the perpetual under class which they have created.
5. Stefan, of course all personalized consumer products came from businesses. Government doesn't make consumer products. Duh.
Education is a service, not a product. It is required by law, unlike consumer products. It is provided by the government in every modern society, unlike consumer products. Maybe it should be privatized, but your analogy to consumer products fails to account for these facts.
You say it's unrealistic to expect a government monopoly to listen to its customers. Yet when the leader of our state (hate to break it to you, Stefan) advocates doing just that, you use the occasion to ridicule her optimism -- the sort of defeatist attitude that you, as a public school parent, should loathe. For that matter, your blog's cause celebre is that our state's election officials are too responsive to the majority of citizens who are willing to trade some election security for convenience. You seem to want to go both ways.
If you want to attack Washington Learns or privatize education, argue each on its merits. But you're confusing the arguments.
6. 1. The public has a interest in education because people have to be educated for both economic and civic reasons. Bill Gates has recently expressed the need for workers who have math and science skills. I, personally, maintain that one has to be able to be aware of and read basic political documents like the Consitution and Bill of Rights.
2. The question really is what is the proper role of government in today's society?
3. The reality is many children come from dysfunctional families. What caused that is a debate for another thread. Schools have now become places of refuge for many children.
4. In my opinion, the role of government is to state a standard of basic education which all children must attain. Then, the government should not license or certify teachers, but should license or certify each school. If the school is failing to educate its children to the standard of basic education. Revoke its license. If the school is meeting its duty to give the children a basic education, leave it alone and let it continue to do what it is doing well. The government spends too much time on individual teacher certification. Teachers who have strong subject matter knowledge can learn pedogogical skills. Schools should be allowed to experiement by hiring teachers without certification, paraprofessionals, longer school days, uniforms, and whatever it takes to motivate their population of kids. There should be one standard of basic education for all. How a school meets that standard could vary.
3. My theory is most "leaders" did not have or currently do not have children who have attended a failing school.
4. The discussion should focus on the role of state institutions in the public school arena. I contend that there is a role, but only in enforcing a standard which applies to all, not in micromanging what happens in an individual school.
7. vouchers now. REAL hire-fire powers to principals & school boards. no tenure. make educators sweat their job security and performance just like we do in the privae sector every day. loss of all retirement & bene's to convicted educators. (remember the recent Seattle lesson & cover-up?) performance audits to cut layers of bureaucrats. outsource admin functions if needed. cut silly programs like diversity and focus on time-tested 3 R's. parents sign on and are held to contracts to participate or their kid is dumped.
8. OK, now that we have Gregoire's Vision when do we get Proposition XYZ? Along with the spiel "Vote for XYZ and levy your butts to the max. It's for the kids! Endorsed by firefighters, single moms, nurses, youth sports, and the future Seattle School District Bus Drivers Teamsters Local"
9. When is the government in this state going to realize that "personalized education" is what a child receives at home, and not in the classroom?
10. Here we are in Gregoire's 3 year.
Locke campaigned on education for both of his terms and we have the BIGGEST class of seniors this year who won't graduate because their math skills are at a 3rd grade level.
Apparently Democrats KNOW exactly how stupid the voters are.
funny- didn't this next batch of seniors start school at the beginning of Locke's first term?
11. There will actually be three property tax levies -- Seattle has two of them in the hopper -- and this one -- about a modest 25% per year INCREASE in most bills --
12. Unfortunately, when Gregoire says "listen to the customers" in education, what she really means is "listen to the WEA", an organization that exists to improve the contracts of its members (hint; no children pay union dues).
13. This is all about raising public support for a massive new state income tax. It is all about framing it around the children you see...