Billings Out of OSPI Race–Likes Semler

In a previous post, it was reported that Judith Billings was in the 2008 OSPI race; based on Public Disclosure Commission reports showing that she had an active campaign.  A recent article in the Olympian’s Education Blog set the record straight:

"Former state Superintendent Judith Billings just officially closed her campaign committee. According to a letter from her treasurer dated Wednesday, she decided not to run in 2006. Billings had formed a 2008 campaign committee shortly after losing the 2004 race against Bergeson.

Billings, reached by phone Friday, said the campaign treasurer sent the letter to the PDC because people kept asking if she was running in 2008. Billings said that she decided not to run because it was "been there, done that, sort of thing." Billings also said that she ran in 2004 as an advocate for meaningful alternatives to the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, which she feels is a message that has been heard. This year, the Legislature has provided some options for students who have not passed the math portions of the WASL, though the math requirement does return in a few years.

She said, right now, Semler is the candidate that looks most interesting to her, because of his direct experience as a districts superintendent dealing with the fallout from WASL and other state requirements.

She said: "It’s one thing to sit in Olympia. It’s another to be in a school district when you’re facing every day the question of students of color who have gaps in achievement, and English Language Learners who have to pass the WASL — which is a big issue in Eastern Washington — and state funding," which she believes has not been adequate for schools."

Analysis:  It sounds as if Billings is still anti-WASL, and that she is leaning toward supporting Richard Semler, the soon-to-be retired Superintendent of the Richland School District.  Given the fact that she is a former SPI herself, and she can speak in practical terms about the potential dichotomy between being the head honcho in Olympia versus working in the trenches in a local school district where the everyday consequences of dealing with State-directed, (as well as Federally-directed) mandates are seen and felt.  She could be a powerful pro-Semler (as opposed to an anti-Bergeson) voice.

Tags: bergeson, billings, Education, election, judith billings, olympia, OSPI, richard semler, semler, superintendent of public instruction, terry bergeson