League of Education Voters Foundation Proposes Major Reforms to Washington’s Education Finance System
Proposal to be presented to Basic Education Finance Task Force
SEATTLE – The League of Education Voters Foundation (LEVF) will propose major reforms to Washington’s public education system at the Basic Education Finance Task Force meeting Tuesday, June 10.
“The time for bold education reform solutions is now,” said Lisa Macfarlane, co-founder of the League of Education Voters Foundation. “We’ve got a once in a lifetime opportunity to redesign our public schools to work for the next 30 years.”
LEVF’s proposal, A Way Forward, is the culmination of a yearlong effort to develop a new education finance model that prepares all students for college and the workforce.
“We based A Way Forward on one simple premise: we need a public education system that will prepare all students to succeed in today’s competitive economy,” Macfarlane said.
A Way Forward proposes a series of reforms and investments to achieve results and boost student achievement.
“Today’s education finance system is overly complex and too prescriptive,” said Ken Hoover, superintendent of Monroe Public Schools and co-author of A Way Forward. “This proposal would give local school leaders more flexibility to solve problems and then hold them accountable.”
“The state does not provide enough funding for what it costs to educate students today. Communities have stepped up to subsidize public education through local levies.” Macfarlane said. “Our proposal redefines Washington’s commitment to public education.”
LEVF will present A Way Forward to the Basic Education Finance Task Force in Olympia on Tuesday, June 10 at 9 AM in House Hearing Room B, O’Brien Building.
Click here to view the full proposal.
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The League of Education Voters Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to engaging ordinary citizens, educators, policymakers and the media in the effort to provide a quality education for all students in Washington State from early learning through post-secondary education.
One comment on ““The time for bold education reform solutions is now.””
Federally mandated testing is needed to provide all concerned with a standardized means by which the quality of education made available to students throughout the various states can be compared. Politicians, however, do not appreciate being made aware that their constitutants’ children are far less educated than those of other senators and congressmen. The publicized presence of national standardized tests may provide the stimulus needed for respective states, particularly poor performing communities, to fund necessary improvements designed to improve the quality of education offered. The potential, challenges, and obstacles that currently litter the the public education landscape are discussed in the novel, The Twilight’s Last Gleaming On Public Education, available via http://www.Xlibris.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.borders.com, or http://www.amazon.com. This intriguing, socially relevant, and enlightening story possesses many of the elements commonly found in just about every school system throughout the United States. Check it out for yourself. Discuss it with your friends. See if you can identify with the characters and situations presented. Do you agree with the proposed solutions?