By Emily Roley Merrill, Interim Director, Washington State
Greetings from the land of lush forests, strong coffee, and a burgeoning education reform movement! DFER-Washington is proud to join the expanding network of DFER state branches.
Despite being a Mecca of innovation in many fields, Washington’s school reform efforts have long lagged far behind efforts in many other states. Washington was 32nd out of 36 applicants for President Obama’s Race to the Top program. Overall, only 68% of our state’s students graduate high school— a rate below the national average. The numbers are even more troubling for students of color – graduation rates are only 50% for African American students, 55% for Hispanic students and 40% for Native American students and a review of NAEP data shows that Washington’s achievement gap is widening. (For a more information, review this recent report from the University of Washington’s Center on Reinventing Public Education.)
Historically, inadequate state funding, fierce union opposition, and a lack of urgency have limited the changes necessary to fundamentally transform and reinvent public education in our state. But things are looking up in 2011…