A bill in Olympia, HB 1609, would end the practice of automatically firing the newest and youngest teachers first when Washington school districts implement layoffs. Under the bill, school administrators would be required to consider teacher performance, not just seniority, before letting a teacher go. The introductory language of the bill lays out its intent: “There is an urgent need to conduct layoffs in a way that retains the most effective teachers.”

Education research consistently shows that placing an effective teacher in the classroom is more important than any other single factor, including smaller class size, in helping children learn. A good teacher, as opposed to a weak one, can make as much as a full year’s difference in the learning growth of students. Students taught by a high-quality teacher three years in a row score 50 percentile points higher on standardized tests than students of ineffective teachers. read more »

The weeks of angry protest and heated controversy in Wisconsin have sparked a national debate over the role of public sector unions and whether mandatory collective bargaining contributes to massive increases in spending, rising taxes and chronic budget deficits. With our state facing its own $4.5 billion deficit, the question naturally arises, could Wisconsin-style collective bargaining protests happen here? It’s entirely possible — because Washington already has the same kind of collective bargaining system in place. read more »

There’s a quiet revolution happening in American public education. The 19th century monopoly model of how to run a public school is slowly breaking up. This process has been going on for years, but may be coming to a head with the release of a surprising new film, “Waiting for Superman,” the latest documentary from filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. Guggenheim is no wild-eyed anti-government crusader. He’s best known for his work with Al Gore in producing “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The inspiration for this latest film stems from Guggenheim’s experience each morning of driving past three public schools as he transported his kids from his comfortable Los Angeles home in Venice beach to their private school. To any caring person the thought naturally occurs, “Why can’t all kids have the same chance for a great education.” read more »

What part of “no” do some Olympia lawmakers not understand? Three times, in 1993, 1998 and 2007, the people of Washington passed a requirement saying, “Do not raise our taxes without a two-thirds vote in the legislature.” Each time lawmakers, chaffing under voter-imposed restraints, repealed or suspended the limitation. Conveniently — for them — lawmakers only need a majority vote to repeal the two-thirds vote requirement, and they did it again earlier this year. read more »

How would you like to do nothing and receive $2.8 trillion? That is what Congress is on course to do on December 31. On that date the tax cuts enacted under President Bush expire, and federal tax rates will immediately revert to the level they were at ten years ago, taking us back to an era of higher taxes and lower take-home pay.

Washingtonians will be hit hard. According to the Tax Foundation, the average middle income-family will see its take-home income fall by $1,574 next year alone. read more »

This fall Washington voters will likely again be asked to pass a state income tax. Tax proponents want to impose a tax of 5 percent on people with yearly incomes over $200,000 and on couples with incomes over $400,000. The rate would rise to 9 percent at the $500,000 and $1 million levels.

Supporters have until July 2 to collect 241,153 signatures. Given well-heeled backers like labor unions and Bill Gates Sr., they will almost certainly make the deadline.

The initiative would reduce the state property tax by 20 percent and increase the business tax credit to $4,800 a year. read more »

With Democrats very much in control in Olympia and Republicans on the sidelines, one would expect the billion budget gap with_Legislature to close this year’s looming $2.8 orderly dispatch. Instead Washingtonians were treated to a dizzying round of closed-door meetings, surprise hearings, do-overs, missed deadlines and bills with no text.

In the end the Legislature created or raised 17 taxes, boosting revenues by $800 million. To get that done lawmakers first repealed Initiative 960’s voter-enacted tax limits. read more »

(Editor’s Note: This op-ed first appeared in Spokane’s daily newspaper, the Spokesman Review, on Sunday, March 28. WPC now has a regular column in the Spokesman Review that will appear in the last weekend of each month.)

ObamaCare sweeps away a host of state regulations and permanently alters our state’s insurance market. From now on, the federal government will manage the health care of all Washingtonians. The 2,700-page law contains a complex web of mandates, directives, price controls, tax increases and subsidies. read more »

On election day Washington voters will consider two ballot measures, Initiative 330 and Initiative 336, each of which takes a very different approach to reforming the state’s medical liability laws.

Initiative 330 is sponsored by the State Medical Association. The doctors group says their proposal is needed because costly lawsuits are fueling higher insurance premiums and causing doctors to reduce or close their practices. The result, they say, is shortages in important specialties like obstetrics, neurosurgery and trauma care. read more »