Senate Education Chairman Focuses on the Wrong Thing for Our Kids

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The Supreme Court is holding the Legislature in contempt over school funding. Voters have passed laws requiring smaller K-12 class sizes and higher educator pay. The economy is improving.

Clearly, now is the time for the state Legislature to step up and fully fund our public schools.

So what is Sen. Steve Litzow, chairman of the Senate education committee, doing to ensure the Legislature finally funds the quality public schools our kids deserve?

He’s sponsoring bills that mandate the use of state tests in teacher evaluations – even though there’s no research or evidence that doing so helps kids or their teachers. That’s the wrong focus, say WEA members.

“The paramount duty of the Legislature is to come up with the funding public education requires,” said Mark Morrow, president of the Bellevue Education Association. “We don’t need to change the evaluation system again. It’s a tactic to distract us.”

Morrow testified against Litzow’s evaluation bills this week. Other WEA members are speaking out as well.

“I went to Olympia this week with 15 other teachers and lobbied against legislation that mandates the use of student test scores in our evaluations,” said Tani Lindquist, president of the Mercer Island Education Association. “Testing, labeling and punishing teachers and schools is not the way to raise student achievement.”

Add your voice: Email Sen. Litzow now.

Let him know you oppose using student test scores in teacher evaluations. Urge him to focus on the state’s paramount duty – fully funding our K-12 public schools so that we have the resources we need to educate all our children.

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