The Tangled Web of Ed Finance

“Educators have good ideas about what works to improve student performance…But they keep bumping into barriers. Sure they'd like more money. But they also think they could do better with the money they now have were there not so many strings on it.”

When I read those words, I knew I was in for something good. Last weekend, while struggling to get outside between gloomy showers and gorgeous sun-breaks, I almost missed a fantastic Seattle P-I article about the tangled web of education finance and the political binds which ensnare teachers.

Written by Paul Hill and Shelley De Wys—both from the UW (Husky Pride!) Center for Reinventing Public Education—the article was based on a study of school financing in the state. According to Hill and De Wys, an outmoded funding system, rigid union contracts and aggressive local politics all keep Washington teachers’ hands tied and administrators afraid of change.

Through interviews with 66 educators over three years, the study found that most teachers know they need to raise student performance, but while some teachers think they know how, others aren’t sure. And nothing in Washington’s school finance system encourages or helps educators think outside the box.

It’s a complicated situation, to be sure, but Hill and De Wys made several suggestions that hit right at the heart of the issue:

• Tenure-based salary schedules need to go and high-quality teachers—no matter what their age or experience—need to be rewarded for producing results.
• Teacher union contracts need to allow for educators to flexibly innovate and drive student performance.
• And principals and administrators need to be able to truly exercise their power and remove ineffective teachers.

Most powerfully, the article specifically targeted the Washington Basic Education Finance Joint Task Force as an important agent for positive change. The Joint Task Force, which was charged with creating a transparent and stable education funding system, will make their recommendations to the legislature in December—and I, along with Hill and De Wys, hope they’ll listen.

"To meet our commitments to children," the article finally stated, "Washington policymakers and educators need to figure out how to ensure fair treatment for teachers without sacrificing the needs of students."

I couldn't have said it any better myself.