http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008351683_weblocal04.html

To anyone observing the "WASL Wars" of the past decade however, the poll results are not that surprising. Terry Bergeson has been the standard-bearer of education reform and the WASL exam as a graduation requirement (despite the fact that the WASL was not originally intended to prevent kids from graduating). Many parental and other education advocacy groups, including the powerful and well-funded WEA teacher's union, are in opposition to the WASL and to Terry Bergeson. This is also all the more striking, since Bergeson is a former WEA president!

In addition to opposing Bergeson on WASL issues, Dorn also advocates for greater resources and respect for Career and Technical Education (CTE), which many folks from an earlier era may know as Vocation Education. Many of Bergeson's foes dislike the fact that CTE funding and other resources have faded under her administation in favor of more "college-oriented" academic programs, which the WASL mose definitely favors.

This campaign may be Bergeson's swan song, and all those against the WASL and in favor of more powerful CTE programs are crossing their fingers and voting against Bergeson. Dorn picked the right year to run for OSPI. I wonder what Semler is thinking now…

A question which comes to mind though, (not having read the new law yet), is what about the middle school students who take high school algebra and geometry classes prior to entering high school? Will they have to wait until they hit 9th grade to take the test, or can they take the high school exam in 7th or 8th grade?

Fairness has been raised as an issue with the reading and writing tests (mostly in terms of students for whom English is not their primary language), and fairness is again an issue with this latest WASL change. If math can be assessed through an end-of-course exam, why can’t the same be done with the reading and writing exams? Will the state eventually do away with WASL altogether, or will some immigrant families have to sue the state to correct the basic unfairness of the language WASLs?

Only time will tell…

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2004309300_wasl27m.html

This is how many teachers feel about the directives from on high related to WASL.

This bill would delay that requirement until 2012.  The Math requirement was pushed back to 2013 by earlier legislation.  This could be a crass attempt on the part of some legislators to cash in on popular dislike of the WASL in an election year, but the fact that the hearing on this bill is scheduled for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day may be intended to highlight the fact that many of those students who have not yet passed the Reading and Writing WASLs are from limited English-speaking families and lower-income families.  Some WASL opponents see the WASL graduation requirements as a possible civil rights issue.–Washingtonstatepolitics.com

Read the Seattle Times article below

Senators’ bill would delay WASL further–Jan. 19, 2008, The (Vancouver) Columbian

The WASL is getting flogged again.

On Monday, Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, plans to introduce a bill that would delay when students would be required to pass the reading and writing portions of the state’s standardized exam to graduate.

Currently, this year’s high-school seniors have to pass both sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) to earn a diploma. This bill would postpone that requirement to 2012.

The math section of the exam was delayed to 2013 during last year’s legislative session.

Some have speculated that holding the hearing on the holiday commemorating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a nod to the civil-rights movement.

Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell and chairwoman of the K-12 Education Committee, co-sponsored the bill with senators Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver; Dan Swecker, R-Rochester; James Hargrove, D-Hoquiam; and Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.

"Anything I can do to lessen the WASL’s impact on kids, I will do," said Pridemore, who graduated from Fort Vancouver High in 1979. "The problems of kids are the greatest problems of adults to fix. Punishing children for those problems is immoral."

Despite the bill’s prominent sponsors, McAuliffe isn’t convinced it has broader appeal.

"Will the delay bill go through?" McAuliffe said. "I don’t even know if I could get it out of committee."

During last year’s session, Gov. Christine Gregoire said she would veto any further WASL delay.

Introducing the bill early in the session allows backers to build momentum against stated opposition by the governor.

Associate Superintendent Linda McGeachy of Vancouver Public Schools hasn’t been a WASL proponent but hesitated to support the bill.

"The WASL has made us stand up and take notice, hold our feet to the fire, and that’s all right," McGeachy said.

Thomas Shapley, assistant superintendent at the state schools office in Olympia, noted that 85 percent of the high-school seniors had passed the reading and writing requirements.

"Ten years ago, if you’d told people that 85 percent of the kids would have passed the testing requirement, they would have thought you were nuts," Shapley said. "We’ve come so far and had such great success. It would be a pity to turn back."

Meantime, local districts keep pushing seniors toward the finish line. In Vancouver, McGeachy was pleased to find out that the graduation rate doesn’t appear to be dropping off, despite the reading and writing requirements this year.

"When I got the data last night, I thought, ‘Is this right?’ " McGeachy said. "I was thinking of the worse-case scenarios — 30 points less this year. So I was pleased. It has a lot to do with how our staff are doing business."

These numbers are based on data reported by the candidates to the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Semler’s website is at richsemler.com. The site is still under construction, as several important campaign sections of the site say "Coming Soon!" including links for his blog, his endorsements (I was very curious to see if he has any yet), and his "Top Ten Reasons to Support Rich." You would think that some basic information pages like this last one would have at least SOME content!

The pages asking for money and campaign volunteers seem to work, though I did not try to donate money or sign up to work.

The "Contact" page works, and lists ways to contact the campaign via snail mail or email. This information is:

Campaign to Elect Rich Semler

PO Box 1208

Richland, WA 99352

Contact the Campaign Managers

Raúl de la Rosa 360-951-0914

Juanita Doyon 253-973-1593

Overall, the site looks professional, but it really should have been made fully functional before launch. We will evaluate Bergeson’s site next.

Most districts try very hard to not cut personnel, and one of the
cardinal rules is (or should be) to do nothing that will negatively
impact student learning. Student learning generally refers to the
curriculum and instruction in the classroom. What is often overlooked
by the public is the role of school librarians in positively
impacting student instruction. The linked article seen below shows
some examples of school districts that take the right way, and the
wrong way in setting value on the need for school librarians. The
Auburn School District provides a great example of how to use school
librarians, while other districts eliminated librarian positions and
merged them with other duties.

The central cause of this problem of course, is the failure of
Washington State to adequately fund education. The funding issue
should be a major theme in the upcoming OSPI election in 2008.

In
Parents’ book, librarian cuts go too far: Families in Spokane launch
what has grown into a statewide effort to protect schools’ guardians
of the shelves.–Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2007

"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.

This will be an interesting race to watch!

CANDIDATE

BERGESON TERRY TERESA M (N) (360) 956-9622 PO BOX 11910 OLYMPIA, WA 98508 TERRYBERGESON@AOL.COM

BILLINGS JUDITH A (N) (253) 395-2978 PO BOX 5065 KENT, WA 89064

HANSLER DONALD D (N) (253) 846-3354 22711 66TH AVE CT E SPANAWAY, WA 98387

SEMLER RICHARD W (N) (509) 628-0616 218 BROADMOOR ST RICHLAND, WA 99352 RSEMLER@CHARTER.NET

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