Tagged: education

Despite a state Supreme Court ruling that Washington is underfunding public education to the tune of $1 billion, state legislators so far seem to be talking more about policy changes than new dollars. Highline School District Superintendent Susan Enfield sat on the state's Joint Task Force on Education Funding. Their report is in. What now? Susan Enfield joins us with her thoughts about how the state should move forward.

Washington state is under a state Supreme Court mandate to adequately fund K-12 education. But Democrats and Republican disagree over increasing funding versus guaranteeing the money is used well. Ross Reynolds talks with Republican State Senator Steve Litzow who chairs the Early Learning and K-12 Education committee about what is being done to fund K-12 education.

By law, children in Washington state don’t have to attend school until they’re 8 years old. In every other state, besides Pennsylvania, children have to attend school when they’re younger — usually 6 or 7, sometimes even 5. Now a group of lawmakers wants to lower Washington’s compulsory age of education from 8 years old to 6 years old. The bill’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow morning and today Ross talks to the main sponsor of the bill, Renton Democrat and state Representative Marcie Maxwell.

For the past 17 years, Seattle voters have approved every school levy that has come before them. Seattle Public Schools officials hope voters will now approve two more levies worth $1.25 billion.