Along with the rest of the United States, Washington State has hit a fork in the road with regards to education. As the world, especially Asia, is advancing itself scholastically, America seems to be dragging its toes trying to make the most out of its relative recess.
Although the State Superintendent Terry Bergeson is responsible for the workings of the Washington Public School system for another couple years after beating challenger Randy Dorn on November 4th, reelected Governor Chris Gregoire and the lawmakers carry just as many responsibilities in aiding the improvement of our schools.
There were three major dilemmas in this year’s race for education. In the following sections, I will outline my opinions on what is to be done in the contested topics:
Amending the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL)
Having successfully completed all four portions of the WASL, I cannot come from a completely objective view on the validity of the testing. Although that may be the case, I can still subdue my subjectivity in the name of facts and reason.
One of the primary complaints about the exam is the state-mandated requirement that all outgoing seniors must pass the WASL in order to graduate and receive a diploma. Another dissention held toward the test is the cost. An estimate made by the Mothers Against WASL group claims that the test costs the average taxpayer $72 dollars per student.
But despite the costs and the difficulty of the test – there isn’t a good alternative to the WASL. The test is aimed to judge student progress and provide funding to districts based on their scores. The ultimate goal is to improve learning through testing.
A common misconception held by the people strongly against the WASL is that the test was designed by Olympia to keep diplomas out of the hands of some. But in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only do parents have the ability to opt their child out of the test in favor of another form of assessment held by the district, every student is given five tries total to pass the test before they can graduate. If they go zero-for-five, there are other scholastic options to help achieve the diploma. Certainly these can be burdensome, but wouldn’t it be worth it to the student to just get it over with and graduate?
Unfortunately for the system, there is no better way to replace the WASL. If there was, Olympia would have replaced it. Think about all the other tests we have taken – Stanford, Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), SAT/ACT – and riddle me a better way for the government to achieve their aims and make the test more passable. It can’t be done. Olympia wants the kids to pass, but they don’t want them to pass easy, as it would be a useless project.
As such, it would be practically and fiscally irresponsible for our state government to make significant changes to the WASL. There are copious ways to achieve a high school diploma even with a failing WASL, and to ignore those in the argument is absurd. In addition to these safety nets, it should be allowed for a student to take another standardized test, such as the SAT/ACT, in order to gain their diploma. With a score high enough, this test should be able to cancel out the WASL.
Is Teaching a Business?
With the increased unionization of teachers, teaching has become less-and-less competitive and more and more engulfed in red tape. Be it the hiring of new teachers or the releasing of decrepit ones, the public school system is lacking more and more in bringing in high-quality educators to best teach the youth.
Teaching is a skill, not an occupation. Some teachers just have what it takes to make their kids understand. Some teachers are able to motivate students in ways that others do no. Some teachers know how to effectively manage a classroom while others do not.
Experience helps, but qualifications become moot at this point.
The teacher isn’t supposed to be a scholar, they are supposed to aid the scholars. Continually, which can be seen in our public school system, less-and-less talented teachers are making their way into the system. In a recent interview with Principal Hechtman, she expressed displeasure over the amount of time it takes to remove a poor teacher, which, depending on their credentials, can be longer than a year.
Credit our issue to capitalism or to the staleness of academics – fewer intelligible and well-qualified teachers are making their way onto the public school circuit. Attracted by big business or other monetary motivations, the teachers best for the job are becoming rarer and rarer by the year.
With the students continually falling behind the pace set by other kids around the world, the United States is at a turning point. The union system hasn’t been catastrophic, but it certainly isn’t the best way for educatory progression.
As such, the best way for Washington lawmakers to change the retarding education system is to pump more funding into education and, in some ways, abolish the need for a teaching union. If the best teachers are attracted to high(er)-dollar positions at schools – they will be more likely to take that kind of a job over one at Boeing or Microsoft, which will only help the growing students being taught.
It ultimately comes down to whether the government is willing to funnel more money in an economically taxing time toward something that will pay off in a decade (or more) from now. It seems impractical in our current situation as it would not be passed by Washington lawmakers, but it is one of the only viable methods to ensure that we are attracting the best teachers to these positions, regardless of their tenure in the district or qualifications.
Funding Higher Education
With our current economic recession, fewer American families are able to afford the increasing price of an increasingly inferior school, often cutting spending by attracting teaching assistants to teach the lower-level courses, among other things.
If we as Washingtonians want to preserve the American idea that anybody can receive a high-quality education and be who they want to be, it comes down to Olympia funding those who cannot go. Be it through student loans or grants, many kids need help paying for school. This one, to me, really is a no-brainer. Although the monetarily conservative in government might be opposed to giving out large amounts of money to those desiring an education, it seems as if it is a simple liberty that should be enjoyed.
This doesn’t seem to be as large of a problem in Washington state as it does nationwide, but as Americans, not just Washingtonians, we have to be sure we are doing everything to support each and every neighbor in achieving the very best they can.
Comments
At least you acknowledge that unions are the problem. They make it exceedingly difficult to remove unqualified educators. The solution to that problem, however, does not lie in increased spending. By creating charter schools and instating a tuition voucher program, we could hold poor educators accountable and create incentives that reward exemplary teaching.
That is true, I focused more on the building from the ground-up idea, but that is another possibility. Although, I am hesitant about how well that would work — but who knows how well any of it would work?
I would absolutely dispute that a college education is a simple liberty or a basic right. It is a privilege and an honor. That being said, those that have earned the privilege through hardwork should 100% be given the chance at a college education through financial aid. UW’s financial aid system is atrocious. It is god awful. I was given practically nothing. At other schools, I was given at 30,000 dollars (A YEAR) without merit scholarships. Currently it’s cheaper for me to go to Occidental than it is for me to go to UW while living at home. It’s just pathetic the aid that they offer.
Also, if you read the piece in the Times yesterday, they’re thinking about cutting funding of higher education in Washington by up to 600 MILLION DOLLARS. That’s 20 percent of the entire budget. Wowzies. I’m sorry Class of 2009, honestly. That really sucks hard. It’s gonna be very difficult to secure funding for a college education, even through outside loans (which will be increasingly difficult to secure).
Root of the problem? How about Washington’s screwy tax system? The revenue collected from the state tax goes into the state general fund, which is where the money used to fund education is kept. Our sales tax is ridiculously high, but only because, and I’m going to say it, THERE IS NO INCOME TAX!!!!! Washingtonians are so afraid of taxes that a politician cannot even mention the possibility without being lambasted by his/her constituents and the media. Meanwhile, as the economy plummets, spending goes down, as does our revenue from the sales tax. Therefore, there is no money left, and a deficit is created. We need to spend money so solve our problems, and I am 100% behind the way it is being allocated by this administration, but the state constitution prohibits deficit spending. So Gregoire will be shackled for at least the next two years as she spends practically nothing so that she can balance the budget.
An income tax would provide another source of revenue for the state, take the pressure off the buyers, and therefore jump start the economy because the prices would be lower. The sooner people strap on a pair and deal with this, the sooner we can make progress on this stuff that doesn’t have to be backtracked because of deficits.
What I find appalling is that we live in a country that is so focus on capitalism and the expansion of markets, yet it is so against helping students recieving governmental help on financing higher level education. The last time I checked, the bigger pool of well educated workers, the stronger of an economy a country has (please give me examples if I am mistaken here). Can anyone would so kindly explain to me why this pro-capitalism paradox, so often championed by the right wing, is a valid political belief?