Southwest Washington Education (K-12)

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Top issues facing K-12 Education?

What are the top issues facing K-12 education? Researching the question yields different answers. There is an article we found at Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities that seemed to be a good compilation of what various people and groups suggest. The full article is in the link. For this story we carved out the topics and add our own thoughts on each:

  1. Government funding for education – In the past 7 years in Washington State the amount of money spent per child has nearly doubled. Full day kindergarten became a requirement. There is a strong push for publicly funded pre-school. Food, clothing and medical care are becoming more common. One democrat presidential candidate recently called for the school day to be expanded by 3 hours to allow schools to match parental working hours. Test scores are unchanged for at least the past 5 years. Do we need even more money and where does it come from? Over 50% of the Washington State budget now goes to education. We’ve run 48 stories about funding: https://swweducation.org?cat=940

  2.  School safety –  Shooting in recent years have led to more demands for gun control. However, most school districts have done little to improve physical security. Some have added controlled access to school buildings. Some have added fencing and security guards. In Washington State the legislature has been providing ~$120/student/year for safety…however…the money can go into the general fund to pay for anything. Little of the money is actually used for safety. Do schools need to be better secured? Yes. Do they need to be turned into prisons with barbed wire? We hope not. Safety needs to be taken seriously. We’ve run 8 stories about safety: https://swweducation.org?cat=1165

  3.  Disciplinary policies – In Washington State OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) has worked to change the rules about suspensions and expulsions. It is very difficult for either action to be taken now. The concern about student rights is part of the issue. However, if the student isn’t on campus there is no money. So it’s important to keep the student now. There is also the belief that a student not at school is free to do anything they want and thus there is no punishment. There is also a concern (OSPI) that discipline is disproportionately tied to race given the tendency for the rates to be higher in minority populations…no matter whether those students are the issue or not…so don’t punish them. Here are 5 articles we’ve run: https://swweducation.org?cat=1491

  4.  Technology in education – The apparent goal is to achieve a 1:1 ratio of computer:student. The belief is that more computers = better education. We’ve written about this extensively and believe the over-use of technology harms rather than helps. So, depending on your point of view this subject is either positive or negative. Billions of dollars are being spent. Is the quality of education improving? No. Are test scores improving? No. We’ve written about this: https://swweducation.org?p=6034   We have 31 articles on technology you can read: https://swweducation.org?cat=947

  5.  Charter schools and voucher programs – This is a hot topic. People who believe in choice say yes to having both. People who believe that public schools are the only “fair” choice want the options gone. Last we looked there were 16 states with voucher programs (and growing) with many states supporting charter schools. We covered Charter Schools in this article: https://swweducation.org?p=6183   and Vouchers in this story: https://swweducation.org?p=6004

  6.  Common Core – Some parents have given up their fighting CC. Others continue the fight. Billions of dollars have been spent buying new textbooks and testing materials designed to support the ideology. We’re run 219 stories about Common Core to date. One of the biggest funders, Bill Gates, who has donated hundreds of millions to reshape education to support his view of the world, as admitted it’s an abject failure. https://swweducation.org?cat=61  The fight isn’t over.

  7.  Standardized testing – SBAc and PARCC are the two testing programs supporting Common Core. The tests were created by the companies who sell the textbooks so they profit from both ends. The testing has never been validated and it can’t be used as a comparison to any other testing. Test scores have been terrible and flat to falling. But testing isn’t just these two. iReady has come along. Indeed, there are more and more tests. So many tests that the students are overloaded. In this link you will find 122 articles we’ve shared: https://swweducation.org?cat=62   Take the time to read about all the testing and then consider contacting your school board and school district leadership to find out what your children are being subjected to.

  8.  Teacher salaries – Washington State has seen teacher incomes increase significantly over time…except that teachers unions don’t recognize step increases or COLA’s (Cost of Living Allowances) or retirement or healthcare increases to be increases. Teachers with 16+ years of experience can see salary/benefit packages of $100,000 per year. Teachers unions are a major influence on curriculum and legislation. Here’s a link to the money and impact side of things: https://swweducation.org?cat=65

  9.  The teaching of evolution – This was on the list from the reference article but we’re not sure it is. If evolution is taught then should creationism also be taught? Is a religious issue or scientific?

  10.  Teacher tenure – Once tenured and part of the union it’s incredibly difficult to get rid of a bad teacher. Burnout is a real issue. It’s easy for many people in many professions to get bored with their work and fall into ruts. Teaching is one of those but cleaning house is tough. Should teachers be protected from poor performance?

  11. Bullying – There is a perception that bullying is common and should never happen. Significant resources are spent trying to stamp it out. Even sex education is being co-opted to fight bullying. Is bullying worse now or better (lower)? Studies make it clear that 20-25% of all students (nationally) are victims of bullying at some point. That means that 75-80% are not bullied. 73% said bullying was verbal; 54% said social; 28% physical and 23% cyber. The #1 reason for being bullied was appearance (no % given). #2 was race/color (17%). #3 was gender identity (15%) and #4 was parents income (12%). We agree bullying should be fought but it will always be and it is a learning opportunity that can’t be avoided and must be mastered.

  12.  Poverty – The public perception, pushed by educators and legislators, is the less money means more education challenges. Here’s an article we previously shared that may be of interest: https://swweducation.org?cat=959  Ask yourself if poverty is the issue or expectations or lack of parental involvement are the culprits?

  13.  Class size – Study after study says that a student: teacher ratio of 15:1 is near optimum. We hear that school classrooms are overcrowded with 25-30 more more students. Look at your state data and district data. In Southwest Washington the state data suggests that the ratio is about 20:1 or less. Depending on the mix of students, their attentions spans, special needs and home life the class size could vary without issues.

Are there other issues you think should be on the list? If so please share the topic and your thoughts and we’ll consider adding it/them to this article.

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