Why did state reject aid?
By Don C. Brunell
In the wake of an earlier column about our state rejecting a $13.2 million education grant, people are asking, "What is going wrong in Washington?"
Why was Washington the only state of seven to reject funding to improve math and science learning for public school students in advanced placement programs?
Our state's teachers union, the Washington Education Association, killed the grant because it included merit pay for teachers. But other heavily unionized states accepted the grant.
The students who would have benefited from this money are those who will fill the engineering, technology and advanced science jobs in the United States to help us compete with the rest of the world.
But our state missed a golden opportunity by rejecting the money. Our elected officials want to grow the aerospace, software, biotech and technology industries in Washington, but companies like Boeing, Microsoft, Amgen and Schweitzer Engineering Labs can't find skilled people to fill positions.
Heavily unionized states like Massachusetts and Connecticut embraced the six-year grants. But Washington's teachers union wouldn't budge. How did Connecticut get the teachers union to go along with the National Math and Science Initiative grant?
First, a strong coalition of business, teachers, government and education leaders pulled together to secure and implement the grant under a program called Project Opening Doors.
Second, they hired a long-time school superintendent, to ramrod the project. He took the issue of merit pay off the table. He pointed out that only 22 percent of the money would go to teachers in pay for performance while the other 78 percent went to teacher training and tutoring.
Why all the fuss over a $13.2 million grant? Consider a couple of key facts:
"About a third of high school math students and two-thirds of those enrolled in physical science have teachers who did not major in the subject in college or are not certified to teach it.
"Only 29 percent of American fourth grade students, a third of eighth grade students, and barely 18 percent of 12th grade students perform at or above the proficient level in science.
"In China, virtually all high school students study calculus; in the United States, 13 percent study calculus.
By Don C. Brunell is president of the Association of Washington Business.
