DFER Washington Blog
Ideology Trumps Opportunity
April 24, 2012
Photo courtesy Stock XChange
By Lisa Macfarlane, DFER WA State Director
Last week in Seattle, Robin Lake and Alison Krupnick both expressed the need for civil discourse around the issue of education reform.
Sarajane Siegfriedt, the newly minted Democratic Party nominee for the 46th district open legislative seat in Seattle, gave this response last week when asked about education reform. It provides a clear example of the type of cutting remarks we need to move away from in order to see real improvement in WA's education system.
"Education reform' should be in quotes. It is a right-wing corporate business agenda being foisted on parents..."
It is disheartening to hear such unconstructive language from someone who chairs the platform committee of the King County Democrats.
And, she is not the only one with resistance to change. The Chair of our state Democratic Party, Dwight Pelz, recently told the Seattle Times, "Ed reform is like weather. If you hang around long enough, it will change."
New flash: We reformers are here to stay.
Unfortunately, some of our Democratic Party leaders in WA have missed the memo that improving public education is the civil rights issue of our time. Our Democratic leaders should be embracing education reform as an economic development strategy.
After all, the Democratic Party platform is undergirded by a commitment to a healthy and growing middle class. This is reason enough to put ideology aside and look for ways to improve our schools. Employers of every size have precious few job-ready Washingtonians to choose from. Many have had to resort to importing talent from other states and other countries.
REPUBLICAN FY 2013 BUDGET PROPOSAL
March 29, 2012
REPUBLICAN FY 2013 BUDGET PROPOSAL
DRAMATIC AND RECKLESS CUTS TO EDUCATION SPENDING
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives began debate on its budget proposal for FY 2013, the upcoming fiscal year that begins October 1st. The debate resumes on the House floor today.
In Washington:
• Almost 3,500 children will be eliminated from the Head Start program;
• Nearly 32,000 students with disabilities' costs will shift to states and districts as part of cuts to IDEA; and,
• Approximately 52,000 students from historically disadvantaged groups will have reduced or eliminated services due to Title I cuts.
Read more here.
Shake, Rattle and Roll
March 22, 2012
By Lisa Macfarlane, DFER Washington State Director
Education reform ground is finally shaking in Washington State and you can now see some fault lines.
After a lively exchange between one of the state's largest Democratic donors and strongest public school advocates, Nick Hanauer, and the President of the Washington Education Association, Mary Lindquist, the Chair of the State Democratic Party, Dwight Pelz, weighed in with a spirited defense of the status quo. No surprise there, since D's in our state get an awful lot of money from the WEA. But Mr. Pelz's open hostility to education reform was special. Mr. Pelz told the Seattle Times, "Ed reform is like the weather, if you hang around, it will change."
And then there's our Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire with her hardheaded unscientific opposition to charter schools and her treat to veto any charter school bill that gets to her desk. "I have told them I will veto it. I will veto it," said Gregoire.
Governor Gregoire does not seem to care that 41 other states have charter schools and she must have missed the memo from President Obama and his Democratic administration promoting their strong support for the expansion of high quality public charters. Why would our Democratic President do such a thing, our state party leaders might ask? Because there is an urgent need to accelerate student achievement in under-represented groups, and the research shows that public charter schools serving low-income, urban students consistently outperform traditional public schools.
DFER WA Director Responds to Justin Baeder's Article in EdWeek on Charter Schools in WA
January 27, 2012
Washington State Director of Democrats for Education Reform, Lisa Macfarlane, responds to Justin Baeder's recent article in Education Week, "Charter Rhetoric Heating Up in WA State."
Justin,
What is heating up in Washington State is a desire to do better by our children. It is for that reason why those that have previously opposed charters (including myself) have switched sides to be supportive of this form of public education.
Why is there so much interest now in public charter schools for Washington State?
Because the status quo is keeping our poor and minority kids at an educational disadvantage.
Because it is unconscionable that an African American kid growing up in South Seattle or South King currently has an 11% chance of getting a college degree or career credential. The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce predicts that, by 2018, 67% of the jobs in Washington State will require a college degree or a career credential. In the meantime, our region's high paying jobs are going to kids from other states and other countries.
Our achievement gaps are unacceptable and unconscionable. If we stay on our current path, Washington will close its achievement gaps in 105 years, according to the Center on Education Policy. States more committed to education reform, like Louisiana, will close their gaps in 12.5 years.
Charter school advocates are the first to admit that there are both good and bad charter schools, which are serving a higher proportion of minority and low income students than traditional public schools. But let's be honest. The high quality public charter schools, like K.I.P.P., Aspire, YES Prep, and Uncommon Schools are making major headway on helping disadvantaged kids succeed. They have given thousands of low-income and minority kids a fantastic education and, as a result, have changed the trajectory of their lives.
Washington has precious few traditional public schools serving the needs of low-income and minority students. A few good high achieving charters serving the kids in our high poverty communities would give us the proof points we so desperately need. The bill that is before the Washington legislature is very different from the ones voters turned down in the past. It focuses on educationally disadvantaged students and it takes advantage of the lessons learned in other states about the need for a strong authorizing environment.
Why Democrats Support Charter Schools
January 17, 2012
By Lisa Macfarlane, DFER Washington State Director
Trying to have a conversation with Washington State Democrats about allowing the development of charter schools is like trying to talk to Republicans about implementing an income tax. Their minds are closed and they don't want to be confused with facts. (Washington Voters have repeatedly turned down charter school and income tax proposals.) But, fortunately, thanks to leadership from Representative Pettigrew (D-Seattle, 37th District), Senator Rodney Tom (D-Bellevue, 48th District) and others, our legislators will be revisiting the issue of public charter schools this session.
The news of an upcoming legislative charter school debate has sparked charter hater ideologues to hit the blogosphere, posting things like "Why Democrats Oppose Charter Schools" and "A lesson by a Seattle teacher on charter schools."
New flash to the haters: There are many Democrats who support charter schools. Our country's top Democrat, Barack Obama, the man we all fought to elect, is a big charter school fan. He believes in the ability of successful charter schools to help some of our most educationally disadvantaged kids.
Charter schools are not a silver bullet. Not all charter schools are great, just like not all traditional public schools are great. Over 40 states now have charter schools and a number of lessons have been learned from the last 20 years. High quality charter schools like KIPP have figured out how to close achievement gaps and they are successfully replicating themselves across the country to achieve greater gains in student achievement for at-risk student populations.
Local Democrats should examine the reasons why the National Democratic Party platform, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and many good Democrats support high quality public charter schools.
Here are a few good reasons:
• High quality public charter schools are successfully closing achievement gaps.
• High quality public charter schools can give underserved parents a choice and voice in their education.
• High quality public charter schools can act as laboratories of reform, identifying successful practices that can be replicated by traditional public schools.
• High quality public charter schools offer teachers autonomy not typically found in traditional public schools.
What great charter schools have in common is a relentless focus on high student achievement for a group of kids that the traditional system has failed, and their results are making urban educators and policy makers take notice.
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