Governor shares plan for school reform

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire has a long list of education reforms she'd like the Legislature to approve to set Washington up to compete for federal Race to the Top dollars, including a plan to put experienced teachers on probation after several years of poor evaluations.

The governor's K-12 education-policy adviser, Judy Hartmann, presented the plan on Thursday to a group of lawmakers and community leaders gathered to talk about the federal initiative that promises to distribute $4.3 billion to states that embrace school reform.

The governor's plan also includes:

• Extending the probationary period of teachers from two years to three

• Approving the new school-accountability plan from the State Board of Education

• Establishing the first state evaluation criteria for principals

• Adding alternative new ways to become a teacher

• Creating a plan to pay teachers more for innovation, improving achievement gaps or developing a program that focuses on science and technology.

A bill including these proposals will be introduced next week, Hartmann said, speaking to a coalition of education advocates calling itself Excellent Schools Now. The application for Race to the Top is due in June.

The chair of the state Senate Education Committee said after the event that everyone who works on behalf of education in Washington is lined up to support the changes.

"We're there. All working together to make it happen," said Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell. "... I want to sponsor that bill."

The state's largest teachers union will wait until it sees the bill before commenting, said Washington Education Association spokesman Rich Wood.

A statewide survey of teachers shows many back the sort of ideas being discussed, at least in a general sense.

The poll conducted in November by Portland-based Davis, Hibbits and Midghall, and paid for a coalition of nonprofit groups — League of Education Voters, Partnership for Learning and Stand for Children — was released Thursday as part of the Race to the Top presentation.

The random phone survey of 500 Washington public-school teachers found nearly 70 percent support paying teachers more for growth in student achievement and for filling shortages in math, science and special education. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

The survey also found most teachers favor higher standards, turning around the lowest-performing schools and adopting national education standards, but it uncovered a mix of opinions on extending the probationary period for teachers and allowing principals to grant, deny or extend contracts based on evaluations.

Thursday's event included a speech by Bill Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates chastised the state education establishment for not giving students the opportunities they deserve, highlighting dropout rates and too many students graduating with inadequate job skills.

He said the foundation gave the state money to help prepare its Race to the Top application, but not for the same reasons it helped other states with their proposals.

"The Gates Foundation is helping Washington with its application, not because we're seeing a big push for reform," Gates said. "We're doing it because this is our home and we're still hopeful."