Published at ClarkCountyToday.com Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com I recently attended the Battle Ground School District levy information session and heard one side of a debate. District Superintendent Shelly Whitten gave an overview of the levy proposal on the ballot, which calls for the collection of $116 million dollars over three years. T.J. Kelly, the chief financial officer from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state, presented the state’s assessment of the district’s financial position if the levy is not approved. The … [Read more...]
15 Failures of U.S. Public Education in 2025
This article claims there are 15 definable reasons why public education is in decline in the USA. Do you agree (we don't believe this is an accurate list but it's a place to start. Here's a link to the original article: 15 Failures of U.S. Public Education in 2025 Introduction American public education is at a crossroads. Once hailed as a global standard, the system today faces deep, structural problems that undermine its ability to deliver on its promise of equity and opportunity. From worsening academic performance to chronic underfunding, the failures of the American public education system are not isolated issues but interconnected challenges. In 2025, the stakes have never been … [Read more...]
How are public schools in the US funded?
This information comes from USAFacts which is funded by Steve Balmer. However, when you look at their data do so with a critical eye. They lump information together that needs to be parsed to be useful. Today we explore the US in general and then finish up on Washington State. It's also important to note that their data is for 2021/2022 which means it's 3 years old and the numbers have only gotten bigger. Now for your reading pleasure... In the 2021–2022 school year, the most recent year of available data, about 44.1% of public school funding came from state sources like income and retail taxes, and another 42.2% came from local sources like property taxes. The federal government … [Read more...]
Reykdal seeks $3B injection for WA public schools in next budget
Wait...it appears he wants about $4 billion more. The original article was published at the Washington State Standard. Reykdal seeks $3B injection for WA public schools in next budget • Washington State Standard Are you ready to spend more taxes to give schools another $4 billion? Test scores have declined even with the massive increases in the last 8 years. Over 80% of all money goes to personnel. Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal wants a big ramp up in spending on Washington public schools in the next state budget. How big? Try $2.9 billion. A third of those new dollars would go to fully fund special education. Another $695 million to add and retain … [Read more...]
OSPI candidates weigh in on school choice
This article was originally published at The Centersquare.com What do you want? (The Center Square) – A few days after The Seattle Times editorial board came out against school choice, or vouchers, that give families access to education funding, people – including the two candidates for superintendent of public instruction – are weighing in. Live Finne, director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center, was sharply critical of The Seattle Times piece and its contention that "private or religious schools could pick the top tier students and athletes and leave the others in public schools with even fewer resources." “The research shows that applicants to … [Read more...]
WA school leaders make case for more spending despite court-ordered funding bumps
How much money is enough for K-12 education in Washington State? The article shared today provides details. The original can be found at: TheCenterSquare Share the information with anyone you think is concerned not just about their taxes but the education of tomorrow's children. The Washington Association of School Administrators launched a new website last month that makes the case for increased state spending on K-12 education, even as the state's public schools now spend $19,000 on average statewide for the education of each student, a dramatic rise over the pre-McCleary level of $10,000 per student. The state Supreme Court’s January 2012 McCleary decision ordered the state … [Read more...]
How $20 million becomes $90 million in 14 years at Ridgefield School District
This article was published at Clark County Today on April 1, 2024. No it's not April Fools...walk through the numbers for yourself. The Ridgefield School District budgeted a roughly $3 million loss for 2023-2024 and is projecting a roughly $1.3 million loss now. Ridgefield resident Heidi Pozzo doesn’t believe it is due to a lack of funding. Heidi Pozzo for Clark County Today By now you’ve probably seen the news from Clark County Today that school districts are struggling with budgets. Those struggles aren’t confined to larger school districts, virtually every school district in the area is working on budget shortfalls. Heidi Pozzo Will Ridgefield School District suffer … [Read more...]
Battle Ground School District – Budget Deficits
In the 2023-24 budget year the district projected a deficit. You can read the details from the district website: BGSD 2023-24 Budget Teachers in Battle Ground, Evergreen and Vancouver school districts all got significant wage increases. Vancouver has announced they will run a $30+mm deficit and need to lay off hundreds of teachers. Evergreen is reporting a deficit of ~$20mm and laying of hundreds of teachers. Now we move into the 2023-25 budget planning. Battle Ground sent out an internal email which was shared with us. The end of pandemic relief funding and a significant reduction in federal Title program funds will require Battle Ground Public Schools to lower costs by … [Read more...]
School Vouchers – 2021 – Washington State
Representative Vicki Kraft, 17th LD, is going to reintroduce her school voucher legislation in the 2021 session. Following are some news reports of what she will propose: From February 2020 here is an article at CCT: https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/rep-vicki-kraft-introduces-bill-to-offer-parental-choice-of-where-their-children-attend-school/ December 7, 2020: https://vickikraft.houserepublicans.wa.gov/2020/12/07/kraft-school-choice-opinion-editorial/ December 8, 2020 this article in The Reflector: http://www.thereflector.com/opinion/article_db09bc56-39b9-11eb-9d24-03c99016ddc4.html Here is a link to two articles we've shared on vouchers: … [Read more...]
State Superintendent of Schools Election – Chris Reykdal: What are his positions on issues? Investigative report
Let’s start out by making it clear that we asked Mr. Reykdal multiple times to respond to questions regarding his positions on key issues. He chose not to respond no matter how many times we reached out. His opponent, Ms. Espinoza, did respond. So...we’ve decided to research what he’s said and done in the past 4 years and share that with you. To be clear this is an investigative report and analysis because he didn’t want to respond. Why wouldn’t he respond? Perhaps because he felt that his answers would hurt his re-election? Perhaps he thought he wouldn’t get his responses posted as he wrote them? In any case we believe that people have the right to know where he stands on key issues that … [Read more...]