Enacting education reform will be tough job

This editorial appears in the Yakima Herald-Republic on May 20, 2009.

Advocates for education reform are still patting themselves on the back after recently pushing through the Legislature a sweeping measure that redefines basic education for our public schools.

That will to be the easy part. What comes next is far more problematic -- selling the new requirements with its billion-dollar-plus price tag to skeptical state taxpayers.

If last week's reception at a convention for the state's largest teacher's union is any indication, it's going to be a very tough sell indeed.

Gov. Chris Gregoire received far less than a standing ovation when she spoke to members of the Washington Education Association about the painful cuts in education that had to be taken in order to balance the state's two-year spending budget for 2009-11. The union expects more than 2,500 teaching jobs to be lost either through layoffs or attrition.

When the governor ended her speech, several angry teachers held up signs urging her to veto the education reform package.

One of the big sticking points for the teacher's union is the fact the package had no funding to implement the reforms. Also, the basic education measures would link some teacher pay to student performances. That smacks of merit pay, a move the union has long opposed.

Other elements of the basic education reform include smaller class sizes, full-day kindergarten, a longer high school day so students could be able to meet higher credit requirements and a new formula that would distribute state funds more equitably to school districts.

Though lawmakers and educators have until 2018 to enact the reforms, they will need to make some profound changes to the way money flows to schools if the state is going to pay for the extra costs, estimated at $3.4 billion a year. That means either trying to sell the electorate on an income tax -- very unlikely -- or on significant changes in the way public education is managed.

And some of those changes go to the issue of consolidation. The reforms in how basic education will be delivered cry out for a transformation in how our schools are administered. Operating 295 school districts in a state with 39 counties is expensive and inherently inefficient. At what price do we as a state continue to cling to the notion of hyper-local control? If to pay for producing smarter students and better prepared, and better paid, teachers we end up with in fewer school districts, then maybe voters will embrace the idea of consolidating administrative staffs.

In order to sell ideas like consolidating districts or trading local levy dollars for state funding and finding new ways to raise revenue that will pay for education reform, state leaders might want to consider an informational blitz that goes far beyond flashy phrases and catchy jingles.

Voters will be looking for substance, not sizzle, if this reform package is ever going to see the light of day.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.