Fact checking the Washington Policy Center's claims about education funding

The right wing Washington Policy Center has the following to say about the state education budget: “Washington’s school children had little to celebrate as lawmakers added $1.5 billion in new spending to an inefficient, unreformed K-12 public education system” (Key education reforms die leaving Washington’s school children little to celebrate). Is the $1.5 billion figure for…

Boeing wants tax breaks, as well as educated workers and transportation infrastructure

Jerry Cornfield, political reporter for the Everett Daily Herald, reports that Boeing wants the legislature to invest in training workers and educating greater numbers of engineers; improve the state’s transportation network including in and around its Everett factory; continue reforming [i.e., weakening] workers’ compensation; and don’t change a state standard on fish consumption in a…

Life Skills 102

Schools sometimes offer “home economics” courses. And there’s the book Life Skills 101: A Practical Guide to Leaving Home and Living on Your Own, which concentrates mostly on financial matters. I suggest a course, for high school seniors, called Life Skills 102. It would cover topics such as: How to deal with stress. How to…

King County Dems resolve to withhold endorsement from candidates who advocate cuts to Social Security

At its Tuesday night meeting, the King County Democrats approved a resolution opposing the Chained CPI cuts to Social Security. The resolution concludes with the following strong words: “going forward, we will refuse to endorse or support any federal candidate that either votes for or advocates for cuts to Social Security, and that all candidates…

Sen. Doug Ericksen promotes climate change denial, weakens toxic control act, and accepts the most free meals from oil industry lobbyists

Last week Republican state Senator Doug Ericksen won a victory for Big Oil when the legislature passed, and the governor signed, SB 5296, which weakened the Model Toxics Control Act. The legislation was the result of a deal between the state House and Senate in which the Senate agreed to pass a fix to the…