Should you vote Yes or No on the levy? There are two camps: (1) Those who believe that student education should be funded no matter what the cost and, (2) Those who say it's gotten too expensive and vote No. Should this be an emotional or logical/fact based decision? Emotional Position (Yes vote) “Our children shouldn't pay the price for an adult budget dispute.” Protecting the child who needs the most help. Safety is difficult to put a price on. Give teenagers something to belong to. Don't close doors before children discover what they're capable of. A community has an obligation to its next generation. But there is an important counter-emotional argument A … [Read more...]
Opinion: ‘It may be time for McCleary 2.0’
Dick Rylander provides an analysis of the Battle Ground School District’s November 2026 EP&O Levy Dick Rylander for Clark County Today This article is my analysis based on my research and interpretations. It contains a significant amount of detail and numbers. As such, if you need clarifications please reach out to someone whose opinion you trust and ask for their assistance. Every attempt has been made to be accurate and, in the case of projections or estimates, to incorporate information gleaned from conversations. If there are factual errors please notify me. On Thursday July 16, 2026 the BGSD Superintendent (Shelly Whitten) presented a levy proposal to the School Board … [Read more...]
How Washington’s Campaign Finance Watchdog Actually Works: A Real-World Case Study (Ridgefield School District)
Today we bring you a guess investigative report. It's going ot be a 2 cup of coffee read. It's detailed. While you may not think the Public Disclosure Commission is important...you would be wrong. This is the group charged with being the watchdog for expenditures by political candidates and those spending money on promoting a ballot position. Give it a read and share with others. Note: It appears the Columbian has just written a piece about the PDC as well: In Our View: Vacancies on PDC demand attention, action - The Columbian The Agency Most Voters Have Never Heard Of Every election season in Washington State, thousands of candidates, political committees, and lobbyists … [Read more...]
Why vote no on the Battle Ground School District levy? Updated Jan 24, 2026
Update Jan 24, 2026 BGSD Student Headcount Question I see a number of 13,000+ students claimed in the district. However, when I look at your last report of October 2025 and even the one you will present on Jan 26th I don't see anything that is over 13,000. https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/bgps/Board.nsf/files/DQLMQ95C3BBD/$file/Enrollment%20Board%202025-26%20as%20of%20DEC%202025.pptx%20(1).pdf Is it number that combines several charts data? When I approach this as a normal person in the community I look at FTE and Headcount. I also use the last completed year since those are known. I also note that the highest numbers are in Dept/Oct with June as the lowest this years data is … [Read more...]
Student headcount increase vs staffing growth
A picture can be worth a 1,000 words. Please note that while there has been a slight growth in the number of students over the last 40 years the staffing growth (with the attendant costs) have FAR exceeded the number of students. We're told schools need more money to solve the problem,. This chart suggests money is not the issue. Continuing to feed the beast does nothing to stop the need for feeding. Why are testing results so bad with so much money thrown at it? … [Read more...]
Letter: ‘VPS has no operational reserves and no credible plans to raise them’
Date: Monday, October 20, 2025. Published at ClarkCountyToday.com Please take a moment to read this article. It points out the precarious situation in the Vancouver School District and its path to financial stress...all because the School Board Directors won't take the necessary actions. Area resident Larry Roe says the Vancouver School District’s financial woes are due to ‘continuously spending more than our elected state representatives allocate for public education’ 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 Our Vancouver Public School Board meeting (10/14/25, … [Read more...]
$190 billion in Fed Ed funds did what?
During the Covid debacle some $190 billion in relief funds rained down on public schools. See that the results are....then go get your favorite adult beverage and take a shot. This article can be found at: Edunomics Take a moment and look at Washiongton State...spending up 2x and test scores in freefall. More money is NOT the answer. A timely update from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown’s McCourt School. Today’s NAEP scores provide a reckoning of sorts. In contrast to each state’s annual assessments, the NAEP enables a comparison of student learning across states and over time. These last two years in public education have been unlike … [Read more...]
Voting against the Evergreen Levys is a good decision – Updated Jan 27th
Update Jan 27th: This link will take you to the brochure that is being distributed by the NO team: Please Vote No On Proposition 7 and 8 (1)-1 - Adobe cloud storage Why would anyone vote against something that helps children? Why would anyone vote against extracurricular educational experiences that children get fulfillment from? Well, the answer is not simple. The educational system in the United States has been in decline for decades. But the fact is that most people turn their head and just do not want to admit it. The results of standardized test scores that help educators assess how students are performing have been surfacing in the news and in parent forums. Parents … [Read more...]
Revamping education? We can only hope
Today's article comes from Patrice Lewis via World Net Dailey It's time to completely re-think k-12 education in the United States. The only way that will happen is if parents demand it. When he was a child, my husband's nickname was "Sputnik." That's because he was born the day after the famous Russian satellite was successfully launched in 1957. That historical moment spurred more than just a childish moniker for a young boy. It also spurred the so-called Space Race, a "symbol of the broad ideological and political contest between two rival world powers," in the words of the National Air and Space Museum. It also spurred a change in our public education system. Concerned … [Read more...]
Did the Washington Education Association (WEA) attempt to buy the 2020 elections in Washington State?
The original of this article can be found at: ShiftWA.org The Washington Education Association (WEA) is seriously misnamed, as the state’s largest teachers union is neither primarily focused on education or free association. It would be more accurate to describe the WEA as a Washington taxpayer funded SuperPAC for electing Democrats. If you think that’s an exaggeration, consider that with annual dues revenue of over $40 million dollars alone, not including sweetheart deals in other government contracts, the WEA is a money-making machine for Democrat candidates. That’s how the WEA was able to spend millions of dollars, taken from each union member’s taxpayer-funded paycheck, to … [Read more...]
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