The PRICETAG of EDUCATION

Who wouldn't want our students to get the best education money can buy?

But those representing the failing state-run education system would have us believe that what's wrong with the poor showing of Washington's high school students in math, science, and reading is lack of funding.

According to research by the Washington Policy Center, our schools are unquestionably well funded.

Taxpayers are spending $13 billion - that's with a "B" - to educate one million students.

We are spending more money on education than ever in state history.

We are spending more money per student than ever in state history.

We are educating fewer students than 30 years ago!

Our government is doing a poor job of preparing our students for the global market. Just ask an employer.

When you look at the problems with Social Security, Medicare and the Medicaid programs, perhaps it is time to admit: the government has proven themselves to be a poor steward of our children's futures.

According to an Associated Press Article (U.S. Students Trail Peers in Science, Math - 12/5/07), "A test, the Program for International Student Assessment, was given to 15-year-olds in 30 industrialized countries...including the U.S. (by the) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (last year). The average scores for U.S. students were lower than the average scores for the group as a whole. U.S. students also had an average science score that was lower than the average score in 16 other OECD countries. In math, U.S. students did even worse -- posting an average score that was lower than the average in 23 of the other leading industrialized countries."

Parents are well aware of the failure of our government-run schools as evidenced by growing numbers of home schooled children as reported by Education Statistics Quarterly.

The National Center on Education and the Economy states, "The core problem is that our education and training systems were built for another era...." "Most important...we do not need new programs, and we need less money than one might think." For further facts, go the report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce to read their Executive Summary on Tough Choices or Tough Times. Or read "A History of False Hopes, Extravagant Spending & Broken Promises" which specifically speaks to Washington state; published by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation who will soon be releasing a documentary on the subject, "Flunked."

With the recent passage of the School Levy Amendment changing the requirements from a super to a simple majority, not only is it now easier to raise our property taxes, it allows our Legislature to continue to shift their constitutionally mandated edict to fully fund education onto property owners.

The Network for Excellence in Washington Schools has brought a lawsuit against the state to force them to define what exactly is education, what exactly is the cost of that education, and why they are shirking their constitutional responsibility.

These questions must be answered if we are to insure an exemplary education for our children.

The "State" is all of us, and all of us should be funding education. It is unfair to continually foist the burden of funding education onto stressed property owners.

The WASL testing debacle has fueled the backlash against the current education system. In May, Governor Gregoire lowered the state's graduation requirements by postponing the need to pass the math WASL until 2013! Another example of lowering the bar and not requiring the striving for excellence. We urge you to visit the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Education website. There you will find WASL test examples and practice tests and you can see for yourself why experts are saying there is something wrong with Washington's education system.

Columnist Adele Ferguson got it right when she wrote, "Lack of money isn't the problem. It's the gearing of education to the acceptance of mediocrity as the norm, and the expectation of old-fashion value and results by a society that doesn't necessarily practice at home what it expects from the schools."

Ms. Ferguson goes on to say "...school districts cheat, maybe with good reason, but they still cheat. When handed an unfunded mandate to do something, they "borrow" the money out of the basic education funds they get from the state and then go to the voters pleading for special levies to replace it while saying the state isn't fully funding basic education."

The Legislature recently passed legislation which now requires all-day kindergarten beginning in 2008. Schools are just now beginning to organize their funding campaigns which will likely include levies funded by property owners. (Schools will also be proposing "Technology Levies" in upcoming elections.) In addition to NOT providing funds for these programs, the state also does NOT fund: books, local transportation and special education.

According to the Washington Policy Center's analysis Early Learning in Washington State "the latest scientific research on formal institution-based learning for young children indicates that, contrary to the claims of many policymakers and special interest groups, formal institution-based learning is not necessary best for the mental, emotional, and social development of young children."

Voting for education has become a knee-jerk reaction propelled by Slactivisim, the defining characteristic of which is its central theme of doing good with little or no effort on the part of the person inspired to participate. As a result, votes are cast for ever-increasing funding for education by an electorate which relies on special interest groups to make their decisions for them while abandoning their responsibility to do their homework and insuring educators are giving our children a quality education.

Fifty percent of our checks written to the Tax Assessor go to education alone.

It is important to ask this question: With 13 Billion Dollars of taxpayer funds, why hasn't this formidable cache garnered results?