Wash. panel plans next steps in education reform

The committee trying to reform the way the state pays for education gets back to work next week amid bleak prospects for new money.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said Thursday the Quality Education Council made some progress last year and will keep on going despite the economy and a pending school funding lawsuit that has been appealed to the state Supreme Court.

The 2010 Legislature found more than $800,000 to pay for the switch to a new system for student transportation. Another $150 million a year would be needed to fully pay the costs to get kids to school across the state, Dorn said.

Lawmakers also approved the council's plans for switching to a more transparent way of distributing school dollars, and defined what it takes to run a prototypical school, ranging from teacher-student ratios to money for maintenance and supplies. But they did not put any new money into the new system.

"We know that resources are going to be extremely tight the next couple years," Dorn said. After making its first report to the Legislature earlier this year, the council will focus on how to streamline the education system and make the best use of the money and people available today.

One of the next items on the council's agenda is finding a stable and ample source of money to pay for basic education. The Legislature would need to approve any ideas from the collection of lawmakers, state officials and representatives of education groups.

Dorn believes it's possible the state will get some more federal dollars - up to $250 million - through the U.S. Education Department's Race to the Top competition.

"I believe we have a good chance if schools sign up," he said, referring to Gov. Chris Gregoire's plea to the state's 295 school districts to sign onto the reform plan that is part of the application for these new federal dollars. So far, only 30 districts have signed the partnership agreement, with the Seattle school board in the process of doing so, Dorn said.

The four goals in Washington's Race to the Top application will continue to be the state's reform goals, with or without the federal money, Dorn said.

They include:

-Entering kindergarten ready to learn.

-Being competitive nationally and internationally in math and science.

-Attaining high academic standards regardless of race or economic opportunities.

-Graduating from high school college- and career-ready.

The application for Race to the Top dollars calls on states to commit to at least some things on a list of reforms, such as improving teacher evaluation, agreeing to national education standards and fixing the lowest performing schools.

The governor's plan includes a new school accountability plan from the State Board of Education; the first state evaluation criteria for principals, who have been evaluated under general administrative guidelines; alternative new ways to become a teacher; and plans to pay teachers more for innovating, improving achievement gaps or developing a program that focuses on science and technology.

The state's application for Race to the Top is due in June.

The Quality Education Council this year will expend its oversight duties to work with a committee looking at decreasing the academic achievement gap between minority and white students and also will be keeping a watch on efforts to decrease dropouts.

The panel also plans to collaborate with the Department of Early Learning to make a plan for state support for all-day kindergarten and quality preschool.

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On the Net:

Quality Education Council: http://www.k12.wa.us/qec/

In a story May 6 about education reform, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the state of Washington can get a federal grant of up to $250,000 in the Race to the Top competition. The correct figure is $250 million.