By Valerie Bauman
(From Puget Sound Business Journal, April 6th, 2012)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee released his education strategy this week that includes grants for innovation and more technology in the classroom, and drew positive reactions from opposite ends of the education policy spectrum.
“He respects and listens to the voice of educators,” said Washington Education Association (WEA) President Mary Lindquist in a statement. “Jay understands sustained job growth and a vibrant economy for our state is dependent on a robust public education system.”
That support came in spite of Inslee’s endorsement of recently passed legislation that will allow for hiring, firing and discipline of teachers based on evaluations, which the WEA opposed.
Inslee also gave his most definitive answer to date about where he stands on adding charter schools in Washington: They’re not part of his plan for education reform.
Even so, Lisa Macfarlane, head of the new Washington chapter of Democrats for Educational Reform (WA-DFER) was also impressed with Inslee’s strategy — even though Inslee’s plan excludes charter schools, which Macfarlane’s group supports. The group has been critical of Democratic candidates who they view as playing to the teacher unions.
“It was a real plan, it didn’t look like it had been written by the teachers’ union,” she said. “I think the teachers’ union was probably not very happy with some of it.”
The business community has been closely watching the debate on education reform, with some groups believing that tying teacher accountability to pay and other measures are keys educating the state’s future work force. Washington failed to win money in a federal “Race to the Top” education competition two years ago largely based on states’ willingness to implement accountability programs and other innovations. Washington finished 32nd out of 36 states that sought the grants, largely because it doesn’t have charter schools and lacked school intervention options and teacher evaluations that could be used in hiring and firing decisions.
Inslee’s plan is less expensive than a plan proposed by his opponent, Republican candidate Rob McKenna. More details about McKenna’s approach are available here.
Inslee’s restrained fiscal approach is more realistic, Macfarlane said.
Inslee’s plan calls for the creation of more “Innovation Schools” through a competitive grant system that would incorporate partnerships with the private sector, communities and research institutions. He also supports an all-day kindergarten program and incorporating more technology tools in the classroom to expose students to opportunities for learning skills that are applicable in the real world.
While Macfarlane and Lindquist were in the unusual position of agreement when it came to Inslee’s plan, Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington, saw room for improvement.