advocacy: part II

From left to right:

• Senator Karen Fraser, Democrat


• Rep. Brendan Williams, Democrat


• Rep. Gary Alexander, Republican

(They all look much better in person.)

As promised, I spent the bulk of my evening at the WEA Chinook office as legislators, teachers, and other interested persons discussed the future of education in Washington state. The three legislators who came, late thanks to interminable committee meetings, patiently listened as local educators told stories of lost electives, lost students, lost health care benefits, lost opportunities.

Though the tone was at times bleak, educators and lawmakers alike expressed optimism that with the right push from the electorate, real education reform in Washington--not just standardized testing, not just higher teacher salaries--is possible. But it's going to take a hell of an effort.

Karen Fraser opened the longest-running dialogue by talking about the upcoming battle over the WASL, our flagship assessment. "It is a raging dispute," she said. "I don't think there's any guarantee about how that's going to come about. I'm one of these ones that's in a quandary about it. What's going to happen to the kids who don't pass the WASL?" As she noted, the debate isn't so much about the WASL's existence, but about its use as a graduation benchmark, its efficacy, its length, and whether it makes educators merely teach to the test.

Teachers spent the better part of a half hour demonstrating exactly how the WASL is doing just that. As someone whose debate class was dropped in part to make room for more remedial classes, I can sympathize. As my colleague, David Johnston, put it, "It's an example of so much good energy being focused on a narrow perspective. Vocational education, alternatives are being sacrificed in order to get students to pass the WASL... It boggles my mind after 15 years that shop classes and extracurricular activities are being cut."

Of the three legislators, Brendan Williams voiced the greatest skepticism about the benefits of the WASL. "I've taken a good number of standardized tests," he said. "I've taken the ITED, OlyAlt, ACT, SAT, GRE, LSAT, even the ASVAB. I don't put a whole lot of stock in standardized tests being more than a snapshot in time."

Still, the test is likely here to stay. Fraser pointed out that proponents would have to delineate a real plan for the state to meet its standards. Even the most WASL-sympathetic member of the panel, Gary Alexander, who spoke of all the students he's met telling him to "stay the course" on the WASL, admitted that right now the situation looks bleak, since everyone has to "come together" to get the great results other states have noted when tests are tied to graduation. Alexander pushed the issue back toward the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Terri Bergeson at the helm, since the WASL is largely its doing. The legislature is funding the voyage, but the OSPI has to steer the ship.

An hour into the conversation, I stood up and spoke about class sizes, reading this passage by one of my students.

In the states of Washington and Oregon, I think that a way you can improve education is to limit or reduce the size of all classes so there are 15 people in a class, max. If you reduce the size of classes, then each individual student can receive more attention, and because of that, their grades will rise from the increase of attention. If you receive more help, the problem that you needed special attention with will stick in your head more. The downfall of bigger classes is that there are too many student for each teacher and the teacher winds up getting oferwhelmed in questions and gets distracted from other people that will wind up getting worse grades thast will reflect badly on the student, making people think less of him or her.

I closed by asking, "What is your commitment to reducing class sizes?" (Healthy applause followed.) All three expressed a strong commitment to the concept. Alexander, in particular, pointed out that Washington's voters sent a pretty clear mandate in the form of I-732. Fraser doubted that the initiative could be afforded given the current tax structure, and called for a state income tax as a remedy, while Alexander claimed that with some creativity the legislator could keep its promise and maintain the fiscal status quo.

Pension guarantees, health care packages, and adequate compensation also garnered mention, but only toward the end. When the forum finished, I handed typed copies of the students' statements and questions to the three, and promised them I'd email them. I'm considering inviting all three to speak at Capital (I'd be happy if even one could make it.) I'm sure my sophomores would be interested to hear what I heard, firsthand.

If you're a concerned area resident, I'd encourage you to contact any of the three.

Gary Alexander
Brendan Williams
Karen Fraser

Or call the legislative hotline, 1-800-562-6000.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure I was the only blogger in attendance.