I-884 Hype and Sleaze (IV)

From the Seattle Channel's moderated debate about I-884 (Program of 10/22/2004)

[3:28] Moderator C.R. Douglas: Every year, we as Washingtonians have spent more on education than the previous year. And the feeling is, we're still not getting the job done. One example -- graduation rates. They're worse than they were ten years ago, even after all this money's been spent. You're asking now for even more money, a billion dollars [more per year -- Ed]. Why is that the solution as opposed to some other reforms.

I-884 campaign manager Natalie Reber: Well these are targeted investments in programs that we know are going to work.

Reber is not correct. Read the intiative text. The K-12 expenditures, for example, are "targeted" only in the sense that they follow each student to his or her respective school district [Section 102] . The school districts have so much latitude on how they to spend the money that they could spend it on almost anything at all, including for ill-defined and results-free purposes such as

Additional paid time for curriculum and lesson redesign and alignment

[Section 101(1)(c)(i)]

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 26, 2004 04:56 PM | Email This