The Op-Ed pieces that appeared in the Feb. 9 Opinion page, “Education Reform: Pro/Con,” featured distinguished, knowledgeable writers who, sadly, ignored the biggest flaw in all of the proposals for reworking education funding that are being discussed in Olympia.
The crux of the problem is that if the state is to “fully fund” education then the state has a duty to eliminate the waste and duplication of function of having some 250 school districts.
We’re paying for 250 fiefdoms that have to have a district superintendent, deputy superintendent, personnel officer, compliance officials, ESL coordinator, testing manager, transportation supervisor, assistants to this, aides to that, and enough clerical and IT support to fill the building they either own or lease to house them all.
If the state has to pay, then let the state set the curriculum, do the hiring, the purchasing, and everything else that is duplicated 250 times across the state. It is the only way they can truly meet the demands of McCleary that every student be treated equally and the state pay the freight.
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Bruce A. Haigh, Kirkland