Frank Chopp, Speaker of the Washington House, recently suggested that the continued financial “crisis” that we are facing will require the State to re-examine what the State can, and cannot, do for the citizens and called this a “Reset.” The “Seattle Times” has also used this term when discussing the recent election.

We have just voted on several tax measures and the results are pretty clear that the voters have indicated that they are not presently interested in raising their taxes. Why is this the case? I would like to suggest that we may have discovered that the government isn’t always the most effective way to address problems in the State.

I would like to suggest that there are at least two reasons for this government ineffectiveness. We soon allow “mission creep” to enter into the best of intentions, and we find that there are “compassionate reasons” to redefine the objectives that we wish to accomplish.

There is no better example of this than this State’s public education system! What started out, probably with the inception of the state in 1899, as a program to be sure that all youth could “Read, write, and count” has burgeoned into a massive transportation, food services, and daycare system all at the taxpayers’ expense!

While this burgeoning has taken place the effectiveness of this has come into question. The state is 35th in the nation in high school completion according to a national survey by “Education Week.” This study doesn’t even take into account the fact that there isn’t any definite skill set in either Mathematics or Science required to “graduate” from a Washington high school! This same survey suggests that our school district is only graduating about 50% of its 9th graders and yet spends over $ 9,000 a year on each child. A nearby candidate for the Legislature, who has a close relative teaching, wonders why the quarter million dollars spent in each classroom isn’t more effective. In addition to these dismal figures the nation is 25th among developed nations in math competency!

I would like to suggest that it goes back to the value we place on “Free” things. All too often we place very little value on what is given to us without any effort on our part.

We have a program that will pick up your child 5 days a week, feed him breakfast and lunch, exercise him and bring him home and it is free! Sure looks like a license to pass a portion of the parents’ responsibility off to the taxpayer doesn’t it? On a personal basis I have discussed educational options with many parents, and many rule out any option that would require their efforts even to better the options for their children! They are “just too busy” to make that kind of sacrifice. I surmise that many of these parents are comfortable in front of their flat screens while the kids are playing video games.

Is it time for a “reset?” Maybe even a “reformat” in computer language? I think so! This nation is beginning to discover that it doesn’t have unlimited resources. In the State of Washington over 40% of every state tax dollar is being spent on this program that has some rather dubious outcomes.

What if we were to “reset” this program? What if the state were to offer only the basic education that is required to either enter a trade or meet the entrance requirements for colleges? What if instead of the 24 credits that the Legislature now wants to fund, up from 19.5 credits, the State only offered to fund the basics of Mathematics, English, History, Science, Foreign Language and Vocational options? The costs would drop dramatically. Some of these options could be completed in 10 years, instead of 12, and this would be a dramatic savings to the taxpayers. Currently the State does not require that transportation be provided for secondary school students. What if the school districts didn’t provide it? Would this engage some disengaged parents in their children’s education? I think so. Would this make our secondary schools more like those of the 24 nations that have surpassed us in education? I think so.

What if we removed “Entertainment” courses from the offerings in our secondary schools? These are costly options that do not enhance the adult options for children. Isn’t “Entertainment” the responsibility of parents instead of taxpayers? I know many would suggest that this would make schools even more “Boring” than what they are accused of being now. What if students who found this to be boring were sent on their way, with the option of returning when they found out that lack of education can lead to some pretty “boring” situations?

It is pretty easy to see a reduction of 25% in the cost of educating children with these changes! This would be a 10% reduction in the state’s budget! It is also pretty easy to see that academic achievement might rise exponentially! President Obama stated in Seattle in 2007 that “No amount of money can buy achievement.” If achievement then is an individual decision why do we continue to subsidize those who have decided that “Achievement is an option?”