Recommendations of the Basic Education Task Force

Among the recommendations from the state's Basic Education Task Force to the state Legislature:

• Paying teachers different amounts, comparable to regional wages paid to nonschool employees in their communities.

• Defining basic education as the schooling needed to help students meet new high-school-graduation requirements adopted by the state Board of Education, and Washington's college-admission standards.

• Increasing instructional time, particularly for high-school students, and therefore paying teachers more.

• Decreasing class sizes in grades kindergarten through third grade.

• Paying teachers for a set number of training days outside of the 180 days of instructional time and strictly reserving all instructional days for education.

• Equalizing the ways school districts pay district employees in their central offices.

• Setting minimum support levels for special education, bilingual education, vocational programs and gifted education.

• Giving more money to schools with more low-income students.

• Providing money for technology, libraries, utilities, teacher training and other costs.