The Seattle Times on Career and Technical Education

The recent state budget commits nearly $100 million to expand and refresh CTE programs around the state, which I think is the way things should be--people in the trades can earn just as much money as those who have gone the college --> professional route, and I don't think that we honor those career choices nearly enough.

The Seattle Times has a good overview of what the new CTE programs look like and how they could change with this new influx of cash. It's a good investment by the state.

The League of Education Voters Compares the Budgets

They've put together a handy website here that shows the differences between the House and Senate budget proposals. With Sine Die coming up soon, it'll be interesting to see what makes it through the process and what doesn't.

A tip of the hat to The Comp Book for pointing the way.

Highlights of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget

That’s a mouthful, innit?

I had written a two-page overview of the House budget, with links, but the problem is that I find budgets to be maddeningly boring, which is why I don't live by one (sorry, Visa!). Thankfully, the good folks at the Washington Association of School Administrators have been on the case with readable budget analysis. Good on them!

(Their This Week in Olympia newsletter is aces. Great reading for anyone with an interest in politics or schools!)

It's a big week in the legislature. Bills that don't get out of the House Appropriations or Senate Ways and Means Committees by tomorrow are pretty much done; the big one for the WEA will be to see if HB2458 on class size has any legs to it. There were a couple of really good Republican bills that didn't get a hearing that I'll be talking about later this week, while restoring the COLA sounds like it actually might have some life to it. Time permitting, I'll post what I can here!

support your local librarian: part II

Permanent funding for librarians not coming from levy dollars? Sounds crazy enough to work.

[Rainier's Steve] Coker is set to testify today in support of Senate Bill 6380, which would provide state funding — $12 per student — for materials, and require a certain number of certified-teacher librarians based on the size of the district.

Hope that went well for you, Mr. Coker. In today's techno-climate, we need teacher-librarians--and a stable funding structure--more than ever.

The Agenda Lives!

After the Governor’s budget came out it wasn’t looking like the two prongs of the WEA agenda (compensation and class size) were going to get much traction in this session. I shared that I don’t think that Governor Gregoire has to do much for us teachers this session, because her eyes are on the gubernatorial election this coming November and the “She spends too much!” charge from Rossi sticks.

One of the early bills filed, though, is a good one: House Bill 2458 would be the first step towards getting a 17:1 ratio in grades K-3. It has 27 co-sponsors, including lead education Republican Skip Priest, who is joined from his caucus by Mike Armstrong and Larry Haler. Another co-sponsor is Fred Jarrett, who recently made news by leaving the Republicans to become a part of the majority. The interesting piece will be when the numbers come out, so we can see just how much it will cost, but this is a nice start worth keeping an eye on.