Gov. Gregoire broadens her sphere of control

GOV. Chris Gregoire's proposed streamlining of Washington's educational bureaucracy is bold and echoes frustration with a system of silos and warring departments, yet this seismic shift appears less about government efficiency and more about control.

The Legislature would have to approve the governor's plan for a single agency to oversee education from early learning to college. Legislators must tread carefully. This could lead to a seamless educational system or another Department of Social and Health Services.

A glaring problem in education is that no one has clear power and authority. The governor, state schools superintendent and a plethora of boards and agencies compete for direction and funds.

Gregoire's idea is not inherently a bad one. Consolidations have merit in an era of heightened fiscal restraint and accountability. Aligning early learning, K-12 and the public universities and community colleges is a good thing. Perhaps being under one roof would halt, or at least quiet, the blame game in education, in which higher education blames the K-12 system for turning out unprepared students and K-12 blames early learning.

A single department combining basic operating functions, from personnel and accounting to research and data, could dramatically improve government efficiencies and functions.

Similarly, Gregoire's proposal to eliminate the state Board of Education and the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HEC) offers compelling possibilities. The two bodies produce important policy reports, legislative proposals and help galvanize the community around education's needs. But it is worth exploring whether this can be done within a state agency. A smaller but no-less-important bonus would be savings on staff, travel and meeting budgets and other administrative costs.

But let's be clear, this plan was not created to save money. Gregoire wants control of education. She has tapped into the huge disconnect between authority for education, which lies with school boards and higher-education governing boards, and the accountability placed at the doorstep of Olympia. This dichotomy challenges efforts as large as education reform and as small as trying to get schools to use similar math textbooks.

But Gregoire raises additional concerns about control with her unseemly dilution of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Gregoire essentially takes everything from schools chief Randy Dorn but his paycheck. His title, and the office, are protected in the state constitution.

This is not new territory. There is a national shift in this direction, with urban mayors taking control of school districts and states appointing, rather than elect, their education officials.

But leaving Dorn with little more than his paycheck is a passive-aggressive way to express displeasure with the schools chief's less-than-stellar performance. It is also a disservice to taxpayers who will bear the cost of Dorn's salary and that of the proposed education secretary.

Gregoire's frustration here is understandable. The schools chief has been a reluctant partner or outright obstructionist on a multitude of important goals, from academic rigor to college readiness.

The governor practically pulled him along on the state's unsuccessful efforts to compete for a Race to the Top federal education grant. Dorn rightly deserves some of the blame for Washington's failure to win a grant, and also its humiliating ranking far below dozens of other states on reform efforts.

But do we really want the governor to do what only voters have the right to do: essentially kick an elected official to the curb and install her own guy?

Better Gregoire push for a constitutional change to abolish the office, or rally the troops against a Dorn re-election or — and this may be the best idea in the long run — find a way to turn a recalcitrant partner into a willing one.

It is not that Gregoire is not correct about Washington's bureaucratic and dysfunctional educational system. But she is not offering a reasonable solution.