It's Friday morning September 22, 2023. We just got off the phone with the Evergreen School District HR; Evergreen Teachers Association Union office; Camas School District HR and Battle Ground HR. We contacted Evergreen and Camas to get copies of the newly approved teachers contracts. Neither contract is published and there is no target date for publication. Both districts said that once the teachers have approved the contract the district must then go through a review process to correct any wording and formatting. The proposed final document then goes back to the Union with any revisions and then back to the district, rinse and repeat until it's approved by both parties. In the case of … [Read more...]
School choice foes turn to ballot referendums as states expand voucher programs
The number of states that have added an option to allow some or all of the funds for K-12 education in public schools to follow the children appears to be causing issues with....teachers unions. In the following article from The Washington Examiner they spell out some of the efforts and tactics teachers unions are going to try and stop "choice" Voters in Nebraska are likely to weigh in on the state's school choice program after a group submitted more than 100,000 signatures last week, seeking to force a ballot referendum. The effort seeks to repeal a state law passed this year that established a $25 million tax credit program for donors who give money to a scholarship fund that … [Read more...]
Washington State K-12 compensation and other data
Our friend Jeff has a website we've mentioned before. Given the strikes at Evergreen and Camas and talk of striking at Battle Ground and other districts around the state we reached out to Jeff asking for an overview of the information he tracks. Following is that discussion with links to his website and data for your perusal. Note: Jeff does an annual update in December to capture the most current data published by OSPI. This data is entirely from OSPI. Jeff amalgamates and organizes it. So if someone claims the data is false refer them to Chris Reykdal the State Superintent of Schools. I have these charts already online for all 295 traditional school districts in WA plus most of … [Read more...]
Washington State Teacher pay #1 in USA?
An interesting article for your consumption today. Published at Zippia.com by Chris Kolmar. Food for thought. It's important to note that there are a number of ways to do such an analysis. Most use salaries (not benefits) and in highest $$$ amounts not adjusted for cost of living or other factors. Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do teachers get paid where I live? And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for teachers by state across America broken down by seniority level. … [Read more...]
Hockinson Levy – Part Deux Updated Feb 1st
Here is a copy of the OSPI Enrichment Pre-Levy for the Hockinson SD: OSPI Enrichment Levy PreBallot Approval Jan 2022 Added Feb 1st on request. Our article about the Hockinson levy appears to have hit some nerves. We've been contact by multiple people sharing their thoughts as well as asking questions. The following letter (from a Hockinson district resident) seems to spell out the issues and concerns from parents and taxpayers viewpoints. Give it a read and consider the authors input: Though I share the sentiment that Hockinson is a great community and that a small local school district is a fine thing, after 30 years of voting in favor of school levies I cannot vote in … [Read more...]
WA State School Superintendents and Asst. Superintendents total compensation report
Are Superintendents and Asst. Superintendents paid too much? Does the size of the school district make any difference? What’s the cost per student for the Superintendent piece of the pie? In today's article we share information from Jeff Heckathorn’s website. He’s assembled some data that you may find interesting. Specifically he looked into the costs from the leadership side of school districts. Let’s look at Superintendents: Total Compensation For Superintendents Vs Enrollments | The School Data Project : In 2019/2020 the highest paid District Superintendent was...Vancouver SD in Vancouver, WA. Slightly over 20,000 students. Certainly one of the larger districts in the state but far … [Read more...]
Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) – the true cost of K-12 education in Washington State
There is a national organization called NCES – National Center for Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov) that tracks education data across the United States. They have a recommended method for identifying the true cost of K-12 education...and the State of Washington (OSPI) does NOT conform to that recommended standard. Specifically, NCES says there are four (4) cost factors in determining what the true cost of educating a student in public schools is: State contributions to a school district Local levy funds Local capital bonds Debt service costs Washington State (OSPI) only includes state contributions and local levies. They ignore capital bond and … [Read more...]
K-12 is fully funded, so why are school districts and unions asking for more?
For those of you who are interested in policies impacting Washington State please take the time to add The Washington Policy Center to your favorite websites: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/ Today we bring you an article written by CHRIS CARGILL, LIV FINNE Share their article and information. Shine the light on Washington State education Local voters have always been proud to pass school levies, usually with high margins, whether they appear on the ballot in winter, spring or fall. Lately, however, some voters have shown a new skepticism, and lawmakers, school administrators and teachers’ union executives have only themselves to blame. Most school officials complain they … [Read more...]
K-12 Education Washington State: Does more $$$ = higher test scores?
This article is going to be one of those that is complicated and full of data. There's simply no way around it. However, we'll summarize the data AND provide the spreadsheets and links so you can go look for yourself. The graphic chart to the left comes from an article from the Seattle Times titled "Washington’s 2018 state test scores still show large gaps between student groups". The title of the article is a hot link incase you want to read it. Please note that the Times makes it clear that Washington States "passing" score levels are lower than other areas of the United States...which means that the "passing" scores are even worse when compared to other states. What is the … [Read more...]
Battle Ground School Levy increase $1/$1000 – and no public notice and hidden vote by school board
On Monday August 12, 2019 the Battle Ground School Board held a regularly scheduled meeting. As part of that meeting they reviewed the proposed 2019/20 budget. They allowed public questions. The Board of Directors adopted the budget as presented. What they didn't tell people is that the approval of the budget included an increase in the Levy from $1.50/$1000 of assessed value to $2.50/$1000 effective January 1, 2020. There was no notice of intent to increase the levy. There was no vote to approve the increase. It was all part of the budget approval. This was the only budget meeting. In past years they held 2 public sessions. Normally at Laurin and Yacolt or Amboy to take questions and hear … [Read more...]
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