Founded as a nation of immigrants, the United States has remained so throughout its expansion and development, and today, immigration continues to shape and reshape the country and its states. The U.S.’s history as an immigrant nation has created the…
Good public schools won’t solve all the problems we face — but public education is a crucial cornerstone for creating hope and opportunity for students, and for building stronger communities and a more prosperous, equitable economy. Ensuring every child has…
This week is the real start of the new year. Parents take their five-year-olds to their first day of kindergarten, kids return to new grades and new expectations, high schools gear up for football and cross country and soccer, the…
It didn’t take long before the Legislature stopped its crowing about how it funded K-12 education and admitted that it was far from the mandates of the State Supreme Court for basic education. How is that? It starts with Stephanie…
Last November, Washington voters passed Initiative 1351. I-1351 directed the Legislature to allocate funding for smaller K-12 class sizes, with extra class-size reductions in high-poverty schools. Increased funding for these changes was to have been phased in over four years.…
Last week, Washington legislators and the Governor managed to pass a state budget and avert a government shutdown. The new budget boosts K-12 funding just enough to maybe hit this year’s target set by the state Supreme Court in the…
Our state’s public structures and services are the oil of our economic engine. From roads to bridges, preschool to college, veterans’ benefits to senior services and protections for our air and drinking water, we’re all better off when we invest…
Adopting a budget will be the main task of Washington’s legislature in 2015. The state’s elected leaders face a big challenge. Income inequality is constricting family budgets and the whole economy, here in Washington and nationwide. Washington also has an…
From high-profile CEOs and movie stars to healthcare and retail workers, men consistently make more than women. Social scientists and economists have found clear evidence that gender-based discrimination persists – and is so deeply ingrained in culture and practice that…
When is a law not a law? That seems to be the question taken up by The Herald’s editorial board, education “reform” groups like Stand for Children, the Seattle Times, state legislators and now the governor. It is an odd…
