How is the WA school system holding up? (Seattle, Newport: credit, homes)
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Well I am furious after reading this article about our state's situation. I was wondering how Washington was holding up. Better? Not so good? How is the future looking? Thanks.
Gregoire basically cut about 1 billion from EDUCATION alone... essentially leaving the schools to rely on levies (people usually do NOT vote for the levies unfortunately). However there was a Judge that declared this action unconstitutional-- so, possibly another tax hike in this case. We have the lotteries that are suppose to go toward the schools, but I can't find any information about where those monies are going.
The state (and Seattle) hasn't really laid off anybody en masse, and it needs to lay people off. My friend works for a public school and told me already the unions are up in arms-- which is now a catch-22 situation. WA gov't supports/fears unions, and the unions are not going to let any of their employees to go.
... My friend works for a public school and told me already the unions are up in arms-- ...
This pretty well covers it, Not a surprise that WA State pioneered much of the recent homeschool movement (1970-90's). It worked for ours through grade 10, then free college instead of High School in WA via "Running Start". Of course the unions and public schools are all fried about that and make it tough on the students. The 'sending' public school entity has to send a few bucks to the college for tuition, but gets to pocket the remaining ~$8k/ student 'allocation' for the trouble of writing the check. The Running Start student will likely not set foot in the public school those 2 yrs.
We have diligently paid our taxes + volunteered as a family in public schools, tho never used the schools for any personal benefit.
EDU in USA needs to be 'outsourced'. That is ez to see looking at the depth of international curriculum and the continually improving scholastic merits of many 3rd world countries. I'm glad we got to live in foreign countries as a family so our kids realized the USA EDU is pretty pathetic. (including the 'watered-down' and declining higher ed programs) Too bad, so sad
Usually? No... If you're in a great/good school district, you can expect a greater chance of it passing. Bad/so-so SD are usually S.O.L. (not that they never pass, but it's an uphill battle for them).
Of course the unions and public schools are all fried about that and make it tough on the students. The 'sending' public school entity has to send a few bucks to the college for tuition, but gets to pocket the remaining ~$8k/ student 'allocation' for the trouble of writing the check.
Where did you get that information? As the person responsible for reporting enrollment at the public high school I worked in, I can assure you that schools get ZERO FTE* dollars for full-time Running Start students. All the dollars go to the institution providing instruction. Yet the school funds a counselor to follow the students' progress and make certain graduation requirements are met (at my school, this was a full-time staff position with benefits). The high school staff also transcribes the college course transcripts into the high school data system, prints report cards, grants the diploma, fullfills records requests for college admissions, etc, for free. Essentially, full-time Running Start students are an unfunded mandate for the local school.
But that's not the reason why a school might advise thinking hard about Running Start for a particular student. One, college classes are more rigorous than high school courses. College instructors are not as "flexible" as high school teachers. I saw many students who were on track to graduate on time leave the local school for running start, fail their college classes and return to the high school credit deficient and graduating late.
Second, most of the staff I knew, including the counselors, think Running Start is a fantastic opportunity for the right student and bent over backwards to accommodate schedules.
Just to pass on an interesting factioid - the most popular Running Start course by far was "Human Sexuality", which was how many Seniors chose to fullfill their social studies credit.
*FTE stands for Full Time Equivalent, and is a calculation used to determine funding based on how many minutes of instruction a student receives from the institution.
...The high school staff also transcribes the college course transcripts into the high school data system, prints report cards, grants the diploma, fullfills records requests for college admissions, etc, for free. ...
Why would a full-time RS student want a HS to issue a diploma? The college can offer a HS diploma if you think you need one (at least ours offered that option). Just get the college AA degree on a transfer program to a U, no need for a H.S. to spend time / $$. College can provide transcripts.
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Second, most of the staff I knew, including the counselors, think Running Start is a fantastic opportunity for the right student and bent over backwards to accommodate schedules.
Certainly NOT the case in our area
I only know of several hundred RS students from both Public and Home school, but none who went to college for the opportunity to take "Human Sexuality" Sounds like the normal public school 'idealist' propaganda machine
I also know of NONE who failed out or didn't appreciate the opportunity to actually learn to 'learn' instead of 'Be Taught' as in HS. (I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions)
As mentioned, and to the point of OP... Schools in WA (and much of USA) have often degraded to a level of questionable benefit. (as previous... Your Mileage may vary). Schools (and union teachers / staff) are pros at using Bond levies to hold communities HOSTAGE. (I.e. they threaten to cut out 'essential services' rather than administrative and operational fluff.)
There are still quite a few dedicated and effective teachers of whom we must be very thankful. They are able to contribute IN SPITE of their ineffective leadership staff and difficult teaching conditions. (Parents are often very apathetic, so sad)
Lately, public education in Washington has become a misnomer. Education is when you learn. Instead, Washington has test preparation. The idea has become to get the students to do well on the WASL.
The levies usually pass, even those that shouldn't. In the Tri-Cities it's mainly because the school districts presume that the population is fairly un-analytical and that if you say 'it's for the kids' those are the magic words that cause brains to disconnect and emotions to kick in. The districts are usually correct. I voted for the most recent M&O levy, but I felt filthy after mailing my ballot, and very nearly voted against it.
In my Thurston County district the levies are almost a sure thing... and I have the property tax bill listing the thousands of dollars it costs me each year...
Where are the districts where the levies almost never pass?
I attended the Highline SD schools and growing up, I always heard teacher's grumbles b/c of the levies fail. My interpreter who also worked on the PTA talked about having to go after the airport and demanding money from them for noises and vibrations that "disrupted" the classrooms. (While the "disturbance" was... questionable, the money was supposed to be used to buy better windows-- they never did replaced the windows the entire 6 years I attended BowLake.) I was very surprised to hear years later they finally got the monies to tear down and rebuilt BowLake Elementary school and Mt. Rainier HS. It was also a culture shock when I transfered to Newport H.S. to see levies actually passing.
Maybe it's a King County thing?
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How is the WA school system holding up?
(including the 'watered-down' and declining higher ed programs) Too bad, so sad
