Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, and representatives Derek Stanford and Luis Moscoso recently held a legislative town-hall meeting in Bothell.  They were very candid in stating the dire fiscal situation that was impacting our state, and many people were rightly concerned about how it would impact important programs relating to such areas as education, economic prospects and health care.

Therefore, it was reassuring to hear about the positive steps and plans the legislators have taken to counteract the problems being faced by Washingtonians.  For example, Rep. Stanford sponsored a bill to help close loopholes and clarify laws unscrupulous creditors abuse to incarcerate individuals who are insolvent.  With regards to education, Sen. McAuliffe is focusing on programs that have proven success rates.  Among her priorities is maintaining the current funding for several programs impacting K–third grades — the critical point in development where students need to achieve grade-level proficiency in academic subjects, or else greatly risk lagging behind their peers for the rest of their lives.  Unfortunately, current funding to sustain this program is being cut, even though the long-term fiscal and educational consequences of this will far outweigh the short-term savings.  As a solution, Sen. McAuliffe proposes that the $46 million the state annually uses to implement its high-stakes testing be applied toward the $31 million to maintain this program.

This proposal clearly merits positive consideration.  The legislature and public have recognized for many years that high-stakes testing ultimately serves as a putative response to students who may not have received sufficient instruction or remediation on the assessed subjects.  This effect will be even more pronounced if the K-3 intervention program is eliminated — at-risk students that are lagging behind by the third grade will not have a dedicated program to receive remediation to help them overcome their challenges.  Washington state has also been extremely unsuccessful in developing summative exams in mathematics that have strong validity and reliability.

While our state clearly has many upcoming challenges, it’s reassuring to know that we have legislators who are continuing to provide good solutions to our problems, and not allowing our fiscal woes to justify inaction and a continued decline to the quality of life for us all.

Lying (Lyng) Wong

Bothell