Washington school system

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The Washington public school system (prekindergarten-grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards members and superintendents.

In the 2009 Washington was reported to have 299 school districts, a total of 2,311 schools, 0 charter schools and 957 Title I schools.[1]

The Washington state constitution requires that the state legislature provide "a general and uniform system of public schools." Additionally, the constitution stipulates that revenue from the common school fund and the state tax be used towards education.[2]

[edit] School revenues, expenditures and budget

See also: Washington state budget
Washington's education costs are 23% of the state budget

The finalized 2009-2011 statewide budget for Washington is $71.8 billion, education accounts for $16.84 billion.[3] Gov. Christine Gregoire recommended a smaller total budget of $69.59 billion, of which K-12 education accounted for $14.4 billion. The governor's K-12 education budget included a $800 million reduction in light of a reduction in state revenue.[4]

[edit] Personnel salaries

The chart below details the average salary for K-12 certificated instructional staff in the State of Washington for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years.[5]

Years of Service Bachelor's Degree Master's Degree Doctorate Degree
0 $34,237 $41,047 $46,115
5 $36,492 $43,319 $48,523
10 - $48,995 $54,692
15 - $56,913 $63,266

[edit] Role of unions

The main unions related to the Washington school system are Washington Education Association (WEA), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). WEA is the largest education association in the state. For the 2003 tax period WEA had: $25.3 million in total revenue, $25.6 million in total expenses and $21.6 million in total assets.[6] The second largest union is AFT Washington, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. For the 2003 tax period AFT Washington had: $1.05 million in total revenue, $963,016 in total expenses and $225,378 in total assets.[7]

List of local Washington school unions:[8]

[edit] Role of school boards

The State Board of Education is comprised of a total of 16 members of which are an assortment of education, community, business leaders and students from Washington. The board is responsible for developing the education policy, improving student achievement and providing oversight over the statewide school system.[9]

[edit] Taxpayer-funded lobbying

See also: Washington taxpayer-funded lobbying

The main education taxpayer-funded lobbying organization is the Washington State School Directors' Association. Another taxpayer-funded lobbying organization is Washington Association of School Personnel Administrators.

[edit] Transparency

See also: Washington transparency headlines

The State of Washington has an official spending database online, thanks to the passage of Washington Senate Bill 6818, Promoting Transparency in State Expenditures, a bill that mandated the creation of such a database by January 1, 2009.[10] The Washington State Fiscal Information site is available here.

[edit] Reports

A 2009 study, Leaders and Laggards, conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for a Competitive Workplace, Frederick M. Hess of the conservative American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, and the Center for American Progress, gave Washington: "A" in academic achievement; "C" in truth in advertising about student proficiency; "C" in rigor of standards; "C" in post-secondary and workforce readiness; "A" in for its teacher workforce policies; "A" in data quality.[11]

[edit] Academic performance

The chart below details the percentage of students that made and did not make the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2008 school year. AYP is used by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program to determine the academic performance of schools.[12]

Grade Reading - Met AYP Reading - Did not meet AYP Math - Met AYP Math - Did not meet AYP
4th grade 71.1%26.5% 53.0% 45.5%
6th grade 67.4% 30.3% 48.6% 50.0%
8th grade 65.3% 32.2% 51.3% 46.6%
10th grade 77.0% 14.9% 44.2% 47.9%

[edit] School choice

School choice options include:

  • Charter schools: The state of Washington does not have an active charter school law.[13] In 2004 the state passed a charter school law, making them the 41st state to authorize the statute. However, the law was overturned in a November 2004 election. Charter school voter initiatives in 1996 and 2000 both failed to pass in the state.[14] [15]
  • Public school open enrollment: the state of Washington has two open enrollment policies: inter-district and intra-district. In other words, students are permitted to enroll in any school within their neighborhood school district or in any alternative district in the state.[13]
  • Online learning: several school districts in the state of Washington offer online-learning. In 2006 the state announced that the "Insight School of Washington" would be the first virtual school to offer a high school diploma.[16]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ U.S. Department of Education,"2009 Washington profile," retrieved November 5, 2009
  2. ↑ Washington State Constitution,"Article IX, Section 2," retrieved November 5, 2009
  3. ↑ Washington Legislature,"Finalized 2009-2011 budget," retrieved November 5, 2009
  4. ↑ State of Washington,"Proposed 2009–2011 Budget Highlights," retrieved November 5, 2009
  5. ↑ Washington Department of Education,"Washington K–12 Salary Allocation Schedule for Certificated Instructional Staff," retrieved November 5, 2009
  6. ↑ Center for Union Facts,"Washington Education Association," retrieved November 4, 2009
  7. ↑ Center for Union Facts,"AFT Washington," retrieved November 4, 2009
  8. ↑ Center for Union Facts,"Washington teachers unions," retrieved November 4, 2009
  9. ↑ Washington Department of Education,"Washington State Board of Education Members," retrieved November 5, 2009
  10. ↑ Washington Senate Bill 6818, Promoting Transparency in State Expenditures
  11. ↑ U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute,"Washington Education Report Card," retrieved November 17, 2009
  12. ↑ School Data Direct,"Washington Public Schools - student performance," retrieved November 5, 2009
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Heritage Foundation,"School Choice in Washington," retrieved November 5, 2009
  14. ↑ Washington Policy Center,"Charter Schools Come to Washington," July 2004
  15. ↑ Washington Charter School Resource Center,"About," retrieved November 5, 2009
  16. ↑ The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,"Virtual high school offers real diplomas," May 9, 2006
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Washington school system
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