On October 7 2015, Bill Gates gave a speech at a US Education Learning Forum in Bellevue Washington. Considering that Bill is the richest man in the world, his numerous mis-statement of the facts during this speech was truly frightening. In this article, we will examine only a few of the most glaring distortions of…
As you may have heard, the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy announced yesterday that they intend to file a ballot measure next year. (The single best article on the topic is Jim Brunner’s “Second group plans state initiative on climate change” in the Seattle Times.) Although this conflict has been simmering since our joint…
Tim Eyman is half correct: let’s lower the sales tax by 1%. The sales tax is regressive and is too too high. But in addition, let’s establish a progressive income tax, capital gains tax, and/or Wall Street transaction tax, to restore fairness to our regressive tax system. After all, the Republicans raised taxes on the…
Good public schools won’t solve all the problems we face — but public education is a crucial cornerstone for creating hope and opportunity for students, and for building stronger communities and a more prosperous, equitable economy. Ensuring every child has equal access to this ladder of opportunity, from pre-school through higher education, is the most…
On September 24 2015, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a motion with the Washington State Supreme Court asking them to reconsider their decision that the billionaire funded charter school initiative 1240 violated the Washington State Constitution. Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn, issued a statement agreeing with Bob Ferguson. In this…
Some Seattle School District administrators and school board members have claimed that they do not have money to pay Seattle teachers fairly. In this article, we will look first at the decline in school funding in Washington state compared to the national average during the past 20 years. Second, we will review the related decline…