Editorial
WASL passed on election day

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Washington voters have spoken clearly and affirmatively in favor of education reform and its most visible instrument, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson's margin of victory was larger than those in nearly every other statewide race. Call it a round of applause following a decade of focused reform. Signs of progress are everywhere. The high-school dropout rate is down, WASL test scores are rising and our graduating seniors post among the highest SAT scores in the nation.

Bergeson's opponent, former state education chief Judith Billings, campaigned on fear that the WASL is too difficult to be used as a graduation requirement starting in 2008.

Voters understood, however, that the WASL is an important benchmark for this state's high academic standards. Flexibility measures, including multiple retakes, have been instituted by the state Legislature. Alternative means of assessing students who don't do well on paper-and-pen tests are planned.

In her third term, Bergeson must be more visible and communicate her intentions more clearly. The teachers union, the Washington Education Association, was wrong to blame her for stagnant teachers' pay — didn't a recession and consecutive state budget deficits play a role? Yet, Bergeson must reach out to the union and its 77,000 members. Tensions between the two camps aren't going to go away overnight, but they will need to team up to battle for education funding.

Referendum 55, the charter-schools proposal, suffered a resounding loss. If this vote is not the final nail in the coffin for charter schools in Washington state, let it at least be the final word for a while.

A core of parents is disenchanted with public schools. What other explanation is there for private schools popping up like mushrooms? Or families moving from one community to another in search of educational quality?

Nonetheless, voters cast their ballots against charter schools. All education efforts should now be directed toward funding and supporting public schools.