If you listened to our State Superintendent Randy Dorn announce the yearly state and federal student progress reports this morning, you’d be shit scared to put your child in public school: More than $1 billion has been cut from the state’s public education system, while there have also been cuts to after-school programs, cuts to boys and girls programs, cuts to YMCA programs, cuts to programs helping struggling students… cuts, cuts, cuts everywhere.
Dorn said these sacrifices have partly caused the ups and downs in this year’s Measurement of Student Progress (MSP)—which tests third through eighth graders—and the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).
As if middle-schoolers aren’t already struggling with overcrowded classrooms, fewer teachers, and puberty, the state has gone ahead and made MSP math tests far more rigorous this year. Dorn said that although he had expected mixed results with the introduction of new state tests and online testing, the results also reflect two straight years of cuts to the K-12 education budget. “We are doing more with less and expecting more out of our kids,” he said.
Seattle Public Schools appear to be slightly better off (.pdf) than the rest of the state, with students’ average scores nearly four points higher than the state average.
The Annual Yearly Progress scores mandated under the federal No Child Left Behind (which expects all schools to reach 100 percent proficiency in math and English by 2014) aren’t too smashing either—45 percent (968) of Washington public schools failed to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements. Fifty-four percent (1,143 schools) did meet them, which is only slightly better than previous years. The Seattle school district failed to meet AYP requirements this year (only 25 schools in the district hit the AYP requirements, while 58 did not). Seattle Public Schools Director of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment Brad Bernatek says that the AYP needs to be about more than just meeting standards. “It needs to more about individual student growth,” Bernatek says.
When asked by a reporter at today morning’s press conference if student test scores should be used to evaluate teacher performances—a sticking point in the on-going contract negotiations between the Seattle teachers union and Seattle Public Schools—Dorn replied he was not against it. However, Dorn stressed that he was more inclined toward schools, not individuals, getting monetary rewards for improving test scores.
Is our students learning?
Children are our top priority…unless it’s going to cost money, in which case, any excuse will do.
Good thing the passage of those Eyman initiatives will insure that schools will only get worse forever.
Fuck. “Ensure.”
@2 @3 – that’s why the Income Tax on the Rich will pass.
It might just help (at least in Seattle) if we had a School Board and upper administration that knew what they were doing. From the most recent State auditor’s report:
“The School Board and District management have not implemented sufficient policies and controls to ensure the District complies with state laws, its own policies, or addresses concerns identified in prior audits.
The District Superintendent and executive management have not familiarized themselves with state law and District policy regarding school operations. Additionally, the Board does not provide oversight to ensure laws and policies are followed.
The District’s Board and Management have placed public resources at risk.
We recommend the Board and Management familiarize themselves with and follow state laws and regulations.”
Oh and there’s also the State Auditor documented issue of a $5,000 retirement party that the Superintendent threw (on your dime) with a carving station,salmon and gift certificates to a restaurant. And $650 for musical entertainment. Not to mention the $1.8M that the district spent in training small business owners how to do business with SPS AND all other government entities. What that has to do with educating children is a mystery.
Your tax dollars at work. Look, there’s yet another (the third this year) school levy coming up (aptly named supplemental). Do us all a favor and vote no and stop these idiots before they totally wreck this district. Do it for the kids.
I agree, vote No on Eyman’s stupid init, as westello says @6.
And yet how much money is McMayor sinking into improving the lives of bicycle riders?
Strange that we’ve done nothing but increase the amount of per-pupil spending since the early 70’s with only decreases in test scores and higher salaries for administrators to show for it.
Of course, I think tests are nonsense, so it hardly matters anyway.
LJM what planet are you on. I had kids in Seattle public schools from 1995 to 2002 and saw the shrinking budgets in every area including maintainance, supplies, special classes and teachers that were on food stamps. I saw one principal having to do his own carpentery work because he could not affoed to do it through regular channels. All the public school teachers I know pay for ever increasing supplies with their own money. If you ignore population increases and inflation you may be right but you obviously have no clue. The sad thing is as bad as SPS has it the rest of the state is worse.
1098 will remove 450 million dollars in property taxes.
That’s the part they don’t tell you.
It’s Prop 13 for WA state.