living liberty september 2004

September 2004 • Volume 14, Issue 9Living LibertyLiving LibertyLiving LibertyLiving LibertyLiving Liberty

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NO.

NO.

NO.

ponsors of Initiative 884 (the billion-dollar education taxincrease proposal) falsely claim the measure is targeted,accountable and efficient. They claim it will solve the cri-

sis of low student achievement in our state. They are wrong. Theinitiative will actually harm students because it targets the newbillion dollars toward failed programs instead of proven solu-tions. We owe it to students and taxpayers to solve the problems,not make them worse.

Is education spending down? No.

• Washington is spending more than ever on education. Per-pupil funding has increased more than 30% in the last decade(almost 17% in inflation-adjusted dollars) to its current $9,454.Much of this money never makes it to the school or class-room level where students are learning. Instead of acceptingthe tired mantra that “more money” is the only solution, weshould fix our broken education delivery system and makesure current dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively.

Targeted, accountable and efficient? No.

• I-884 is not a trust fund. The measure’s so-called “firewall” toprotect funds from unauthorized uses is made of straw, andlegislators legally hold matches in both hands. Legislators canmodify the initiative with a super-majority vote the day itpasses, or a simple-majority after two years. History tells usthey will, regardless of political pressure from their constitu-ents. History also tells us the education bureaucracy itself willlobby for changes in how the dollars are spent.

• Taxpayers, like any consumers, have a right to know whattheir dollars are buying. I-884 does not define any outcomes,

nor does it provide consequences in the case of programfailure or financial mismanagement.

• The twelve-member “Citizen Oversight Board” created by I-884 is little more than another arm of the bureaucracy. Elevenof the Board’s members would be appointed by the governoror state agencies. The twelfth and only independently electedmember of the Board would be the state auditor, but he wouldbe the only member not permitted to vote.

• In addition to being the only non-voting member on the Citi-zen Oversight Board, the state auditor would not be permit-ted to conduct performance audits or help determine theirscope when and if the Board deems them necessary. This isironic, since he would be the only member of the Board whohas meaningful audit experience.

Improved student achievement? No.

• Education science tells us what works. Students need highlyqualified teachers and clear and rigorous academic standards.We know students and teachers thrive in smaller schools witha deregulated and flexible environment. And we know weneed strong school leaders to ensure each institution is orga-nized to meet its goals. I-884 does not address any of thesecrucial issues.

• Our education delivery system itself is broken, but I-884 as-sumes the answer to the problem is to patch it together with“more money.” Tried and failed programs aren’t going to startworking just because we spend more money on them.

• Our state currently spends $9,454 per student per year for

July 2004

Facts continued on page 10

Sby Marsha Richards September 2004

Living LibertyLiving LibertyLiving LibertyLiving LibertyLiving LibertyA publication of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation

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Letter from Lynnby Lynn Harsh

You Make the Call continued on page 8

A merican literacy is decreasing at atime when it must increase if ourcountry is to regain political and

economic health. The changing Ameri-can economy mandates literate workers—not necessarily all college-educated, butliterate and numerate. Furthermore, in acountry like ours, it is impossible to havehealthy political and civic discourse with-out a basic level of literacy. Undereducatedcitizens become America’s new, angryunderclass, a breeding ground for dan-gerous and unwanted social stratification.

In a broad sense, we have known aboutthis problem for decades. Unfortunately,middle-class parents have closed one eyeand ear thinking it couldn’t be so bad intheir suburban schools. Well-to-do par-ents frequently have chosen privateschools, while children of those who areeconomically powerless have been stuck,too often suffering badly in urban districts.

The malnourished chickens have comehome to roost. True literacy and numeracyis declining in almost every demographicgroup, and the majority of our politicalleaders seem frozen with fear—fear ofmandating changes that might anger somein the powerful, self-interested educationaloligarchy.

We’ve infused large numbers of new dol-lars into education. We’ve created manytargeted programs for children with spe-cial needs. We’ve developed specializedcurriculum and instruction. We’ve craftedhuge new programs for schools and teach-ers. But it hasn’t worked well, and we’restill arguing over inputs instead of out-comes.

Take, for example, our national disagree-ment over the best way to educate chil-

Some of the text in this letter is excerpted from an introduction I wrote for our School Directors’ Handbook severalyears ago. The principles haven’t changed and are appropriate for review as we begin another school year.

dren. Two schools of thought have alwaysexisted: the progressive and the classical.Broadly speaking, the progressivist con-tends that, since children are naturallyenthusiastic about learning, with the rightguidance, but with some content and se-quence randomness, most will eventuallychoose to learn what is necessary. Pro-gressivists believe that the body of neces-sary knowledge changes frequently,making the process of learning of equal orgreater value than learning facts andknowledge. They regard higher- andlower-order thinking as something a childroutinely moves in and out of, makingcontent sequencing less important, regard-less of age.

Since progressivists argue that knowledgeand the methods by which it is dissemi-nated change frequently, they believe it’simperative to maintain a centralized edu-cation system that can re-tool from timeto time, to coordinate content, methods,assessment and delivery systems. This isthe way, progressivists believe, uniformresults for all children can be ensured,especially disadvantaged children.

The second philosophy presumes that anidentifiable and unchanging base ofknowledge and skills exists for all peoplein all times, and that higher-order think-ing depends on a foundation of rudimen-tary facts and knowledge. This is theclassicist position. They maintain that allyoung people, regardless of age, socioeco-nomic background or interest level, ben-efit from a specific and progressive courseof study. Younger children naturallymemorize well, so a classicist believes thisis the best period of time to teach chil-dren rudimentary facts, leaving debate,logic and application to the higher grades.

A classicist presumes that the principalobligation of primary and secondary edu-cation is to transmit essential knowledgeand skills through teachers and teachingtools, and that the process of learning sub-ordinates itself as a tool of knowledge.

Though classicists generally agree on aca-demic content and the end goals of edu-cation, they differ broadly on the bestinstructional and delivery systems. Someadamantly maintain that a rigidly struc-tured system is essential; others are quiteelastic and eclectic.

To know which method is correct, scien-tific analysis must be available, and someis. The data too often fails to distinguishbetween what is causal and what is cor-relative, but one can at least observe trendsfor the past thirty or forty years.

And here’s what we can say for sure: Whileremarkable discoveries have been maderegarding how students learn and the bestinstructional strategies to use for teach-ing various types of students, actual re-sults in student academic achievement areunsettling. Education reform efforts havetoo often been based on extrapolation andspeculation instead of scientific discov-ery and documented experience. Interestgroups with the greatest political capitalcall the shots, whether they have a scien-tifically documented leg to stand on ornot. As a result, our public educationsystem has become, at best, an inefficientpatchwork of arrangements and tradi-tions; at worst, a treacherous maze.

Why not let the proof be in the pudding?The answer to which method is best, andthe answer to most other questions ineducation, could be addressed if we in-

Letter continued on page 4


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Contents

Evergreen Freedom FoundationPO Box 552

Olympia, WA 98507(360) 956-3482

Fax (360) [email protected] • www.effwa.org

Living Liberty is a publication of theEvergreen Freedom Foundation.

Editors:Lynn Harsh

Marsha Richards

Publisher:Joel Sorrell

EFF’s mission is to advance individualliberty, personal responsibility, and

limited and accountable government.

Nothing in this publication should beconstrued as an attempt to aid or hinder

the passage of any legislation.

Quoteof the month

5 Union misconductIn December of last year, the Seattle Times ran a series of articles detailing howWEA officials had worked with school districts to organize “file parties” duringwhich teachers were allowed to review their personnel files and remove documentsrelated to charges of sexual misconduct.

6 America’s brain drainThirteen years ago, our state’s education bureaucracy set the goal of being first inthe world in math and science by 2000. Now it’s 2004, and we are far frombeing first in the world. In fact, Washington and the other 49 states are closer tobeing last among industrialized nations.

8 The search for affordable health careEvergreen Freedom Foundation launches a series of town halls.

4 Referendum 55Last month the New York Times breathlessly announced that students in thenation’s charter schools are “lagging behind” their peers in traditional public schoolsin a comparison of national test scores. In reality, the news is not so grim.

“If a nation expects to be ignorant—and free—in a state of civilization,it expects what never was and neverwill be.

– Thomas Jefferson, 1816

9 Junior Varsity SquadIn last month’s newsletter you read about the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’sseven college interns. But EFF also had the privilege of inducting two high schoolseniors into the “JV Squad.”

10Candidates promise moreIn full campaign mode, most candidates running for office, including incumbents,are pledging to spend more money. This, at a time when the governor’s budgetstaff is forecasting that lawmakers will be met with a $700 million to $1 billiondeficit in the upcoming budget-writing session!

ducation leaders are celebrating “increases” in studentachievement as measured by the Washington Assessment

of Student Learning (WASL). Yet, this year’s results show that56% of all fourth graders do not meet the standards in thecombined subjects of reading, writing and math. The per-centage of 7th graders who do not meet the combined stan-dards is 64%. For 10th graders it is 61%. If the new graduationrequirements were in place now, 61 percent of our studentswould not make it.

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ast month the New York Times breathlessly announcedthat students in the nation’s charter schools are “laggingbehind” their peers in traditional public schools in acomparison of national test scores.

The front page story almost gushed as it described how theinformation was “buried in mountains of data” collected quietlyby the Department of Education, was “unearthed by researchers”from the nation’s second largest teachers’ union, and “dealt ablow” to charter school supporters.

In reality, the news is not so grim. On the same afternoon thestory ran, refutations were being published around the nationby experts who watch the issue closely.

The biggest criticism of the study is based on the simple factthat charter schools usually specialize in educating students whoare falling through the cracks in traditional schools. These areoften students who have dropped out of school, have seriouslearning challenges or behavioral problems, or have spent timein the juvenile justice system.

A snapshot of test scores comparing these charter students at agiven point in time with their peers in traditional schools is notan accurate measure of their success. It fails to capture the factthat, while charter school students often begin with lower testscores than their traditional school counterparts, they usually

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Referendum 55: Charter schools battle continues

sisted on highly deregulated schools where parents and teacherscall the shots, and where the money flows directly to the schoolwhere the children are being served.

Instead, protecting its own existence has become one of themajor tasks of America’s modern-day education institution.

Change is on the way. After all, the age of technology has justbegun. What children learn, the amount they will absorb andhow they will learn knowledge and skills will change signifi-cantly. We should guide this change, but not be afraid of it.

In the not-too-distant future, education will be provided whereand when students and their parents can best access it. Thevenues and calendar will change. Remember when the grocerystore just sold groceries? Now a person can also buy fishingworms, get a flu shot and take home a ready-made dinner.

When it’s all said and done, education reforms that work arenot large, wholesale endeavors. Success is achieved in decen-tralized environments where innovation and experimentationare encouraged, academic essentials are paramount, consumersare king and success by students and educators is rewarded.

Letter from Lynn continued from page 2 . . .

Referendum 55 continued on next page

Leaders of the education oligarchy are determined to managechange and force it to fit into pre-defined molds. In other words,they will protect an institution before they will protect the stu-dents. But that’s not the way freedom and innovation work.Decentralization puts power over education decisions where itbelongs, into the hands of parents and educators. Control isdiffused among many, not a selected few.

We will know our education system is working, not when wehave a new and improved battery of tests, but when the major-ity of young people receive the level of knowledge and skills thatenable them to participate in America’s economic and politicalstructure to the degree they desire.

Accomplishing this requires that we attract some of America’sbest into the teaching field. Believe me, few of America’s bestwant any part of the current uniform mediocrity.

Some political and ideological blood will be spilled on the floorto get to this place. A lot of people vested in the current systemhave no intention of giving the control to educate children di-rectly to parents and teachers. But once the barn doors are un-locked, and people experience increased student literacy, theywill never want to go back. I hope those of you reading thisnewsletter are doing your part to break the lock.

see greater gains in achievement each year. This means the valuethese students receive from charter schools is greater than whatthey would have received in traditional public schools. (Afterall, many of them wouldn’t have been in school at all.)

Furthermore, if students who have been tested only severalmonths after entering a charter school are “failing,” this saysmore about the poor quality of the school the student camefrom than the new charter school.

Of course, these aren’t facts you’ll hear from the teachers’ unions,since they have a vested interest in keeping teachers and studentsout of schools that usually are free from mandatory unionization.Just days after legislators passed a law this year makingWashington the 41st state in the nation to allow charter schools,Washington Education Association President Charles Hassepersonally filed a referendum (R-55) to block and revoke thelegislation.

This attack on charter schools is frustrating and harmful giventhe clear evidence and countless personal stories testifying tothe success of the model.

Today, nearly 3,000 charter schools serve more than 650,000students around the nation. More than half of these schools

by Mike Throgmorton and Marsha Richards


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he National Education Association made headlinesaround the country this summer for its lackluster re-sponse to a U.S. Department of Education study con-

cluded that nearly ten percent of all public school students (4.5million kids) have been the victims of sexual misconduct at thehands of a school employee.

The study appears to define sexual misconduct too broadly. Still,behavior that any healthy person would identify as sexual mis-conduct is occurring far too often in our public education sys-tem. Most teachers are repulsed by this, and for their protection,as well as for students, this problem needs to be confrontedhead-on.

But the NEA’s response was immediately critical and defensive:“Lumping harassment together with serious sexual misconductdoes more harm than good by creating unjustified alarm andundermining confidence in public schools,” said union spokes-

man Michael Pons. “Statistically, public schools remain one ofthe safest places for children to be.”

That may be, but the union’s behavior in this arena does notinspire confidence.

Last February, for example, a music teacher from the MortonSchool District quit his job “against the advice” of his union-appointed lawyer. The teacher, Michael Dougherty, had admit-ted to an ongoing sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.The lawyer, chosen and paid by the Washington Education As-sociation (WEA), had been negotiating to get the school districtto pony-up more money and write a “non-teaching” letter ofrecommendation for Dougherty.

Had Michael Dougherty not “gotten rid of ” his union lawyer, itlikely would have been a several-month process to oust and re-place him.

In December of last year, the Seattle Times ran a series of ar-ticles detailing how WEA officials had worked with school dis-tricts to organize “file parties” during which teachers were allowedto review their personnel files and remove documents related tocharges of sexual misconduct. A public records request seekingrelease of such documents is tied up in court after the unionsued to block it.

The Times series also described how union policies make it verydifficult for districts to fire abusive teachers and, once fired, towarn other districts of an abusive teacher’s record.

The net result: more child victims, and more innocent teacherstarred with ugly accusations.

How long will Americans look the other way?

by Marsha Richards

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serve the nation’s neediest children, and many studies showthey’re doing the best job yet of providing the specializededucation these children require.

Data from the Goldwater Institute shows how the state of Arizonasaw remarkable improvement in student achievement and lowerdropout rates from the efforts of charters.

The state of Pennsylvania has also seen impressive increases instudent achievement and significant decreases in student dropoutrates as a result of charter schools. A Greater Philadelphia UrbanAffairs Coalition report shows that the improvements, fosteredby a sizable contingent of charter high schools, are mostpronounced for “historically disadvantaged minority students”whose graduation rates “are much lower than their white peers.”

In spite of the proven track record of charter schools aroundthe nation, the WEA continues to propound its dogmatic claimthat charters are “expensive experiments” that will “drain morethan $100 million a year in funding from existing public schools.”

This claim, like so many others made by the union, isdisingenuous. Since charter schools are public institutions, theyare funded with money already allocated to students who transferfrom one public district to another. Additionally, charters cannotreceive any bond or levy funds without local school boardsponsorship and voter approval. In truth, overall educationspending will increase since the federal government provides$450,000 in planning grants and start-up funding for most charterschools.

The WEA’s real objection is that it doesn’t get a piece of thatpie. And union officials won’t control those schools. But themillions of dollars taken from teacher paychecks that the WEAwill use to try to scare voters about charter schools will leave outthose facts.

While charter schools are not the only solution to the problemsin our current education system, they are an important step inthe right direction. It’s time for us to stop slamming the door tosuccess in the faces of Washington’s poorest children and givethem a chance.

Referendum 55 continued from page 4 . . .

WEA officials had worked with school districts to

organize “file parties” during which teachers

were allowed to review their personnel

files and remove documents

related to charges of

sexual misconduct.


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“. . . American 12th

graders scored19th

out of 21 countriesin math, and 16th

out of 16 countriesin science.”

executive Bob Herbold, looked closely intothis issue. The Council’s June 2004 report shares

these shocking statistics:

• On the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress(NAEP), only two percent of U.S. 12th graders ranked “ad-vanced” in science. Fourteen percent ranked “proficient,”while 34 percent were “partially proficient” and 47 percentwere “below proficient.”

• U.S. 12th grade NAEP scores for math were equally low,with 2 percent ranking “advanced,” 16 percent “proficient,”48 percent “partially proficient,” and 35 percent “below pro-ficient.”

• A 1999 international assessment put American 12th graders19th out of 21 countries in math scores, and 16th out of 16countries in science.

• Many students who might otherwise pursue advanced de-grees in math and science get discouraged along the way. In9th grade, 14 percent of men and 11 percent of women en-roll in the science track. By the time they’re college fresh-men, 7 percent and 2 percent respectively are still pursuingscience. Only 2 percent and 1 percent respectively actuallyobtain bachelor degrees in science.

hirteen years ago, our state’seducation bureaucracy set the goalof being first in the world in math and

science by 2000. Now it’s 2004, and we are far from being firstin the world. In fact, Washington and the other 49 states arecloser to being last among industrialized nations.

In the past, a highly educated and well-trained workforce al-lowed Washington state to be a leader in industries like aero-space, timber, hi-tech, agriculture, and biotechnology. Americaas a whole has been a leader in automobiles, steel, pharmaceu-ticals, computer technology, and the internet.

It may be hard for most of us to imagine throwing away thesedistinctions through our own apathy and mediocrity, but thatis exactly what we’re doing.

When Professor Richard E. Smalley of Rice University sawrecent national data trends comparing the numberof natural science and engineering Ph.D.s earnedby U.S. students and their foreign counterparts overthe last fifteen years, he made an alarming predic-tion: “By 2010, more than 90 percent of all physi-cal scientists and engineers in the world will be Asiansworking in Asia.”

If we do not address our crisis of low studentachievement in math and science now (as well asother core subjects), we will lose the ability to com-pete in a technology-based global economy. We willnot be able to create and attract high-wage jobs.Even worse, generations of Americans will be fet-tered by the bonds of a mediocre education.

While the U.S. has increased its Ph.D. graduatesmoderately (8,238 in 1987; 10,206 in 2001), Asianuniversities have seen a steady and dramatic increase from 6,828in 1987 to roughly 20,000 in 2001.

And that isn’t the only indicator that the United States is rap-idly losing its edge when it comes to equipping citizens to becreative leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineer-ing and math. A subcommittee for the President’s Council ofAdvisors on Science and Technology, chaired by former Microsoft

by Marsha Richards

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• The number of years required to earn a Ph.D. is in-creasing and causing many students to question thevalue of the investment. In 1970, the time from abachelor degree in biomedical life science to a Ph.D.averaged six years. In 1996, it averaged 7.8 years.

• While interest in engineering careers among U.S. students isdecreasing, the number of engineering degrees earned in for-eign nations has increased significantly. In 2001, five per-cent (59,500) of the bachelor degrees earned in the U.S.were in engineering. In China, it was 39 percent (219,500);in South Korea, 27 percent (56,500); in Taiwan, 23 percent(26,600); and in Japan, 19 percent (104,600).

The Council’s report concludes: “We are, as a nation, failing toprepare the minds we depend upon to lead our innovation eco-system into the future.”

While our education crisis is almost universally recognized andacknowledged, two competing philosophies vie to provide thesolution. The first claims the answer is to spend more moneydoing more of the same—maintaining and expanding whathas become a vast public education monopoly. The secondsays education consumers (parents and students) and pro-viders (teachers and school leaders) should have more flex-ibility in a marketplace uniquely qualified to meet diverseeducational needs.

The first approach has been tried—and it has failed. It’stime to adopt the solutions that work.

Recommendations for legislators1. Require teachers to demonstrate competence in their

subject area. The Superintendent of Public Instructiondoes not know how many of the math and science teach-ers in our students’ classrooms are actually qualified toteach those subjects. Nationally, 56 percent of high schoolscience courses and 27 percent of math courses are taughtby “out-of-field” teachers.

2. Streamline the alternative certification system. A more stream-lined alternative certification system would address teachershortages in math and science by allowing qualified indi-viduals (those who have adequate knowledge of their sub-ject and the ability to communicate that knowledge to stu-dents) to teach without having to complete numerous yearsof additional schooling.

3. Create incentives for excellent and high-demand teachers. Theshortage of qualified math and science teachers could alsobe addressed by a flexible salary model that allows demon-strably excellent teachers and those who choose to teachhigh-demand subjects to earn differential pay.

4. Adopt more rigorous math and science curriculum. The Ameri-can Association for the Advancement of Science consid-ers less than ten percent of all middle school math textbooks acceptable, and found no acceptable science books.

5. Reduce the amount of time it takes to earn advanced degrees.Public colleges benefit from the low cost of graduate stu-dent teaching (since many professors spend very little timein the classroom), providing a perverse incentive to retainstudents. The additional time spent teaching takes awayfrom a student’s ability to concentrate on completing acourse of study. Legislators should consider adopting ahigher education voucher program similar to Colorado’s,where the state’s tuition subsidy is given to students in theform of vouchers which can be capped at a set number ofcredit hours to encourage students to graduate on time.It encourages higher education institutions to re-toolaccordingly.

Increase in years required to earn a Ph.D.


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The Search for Affordable Health Care:

EEvergreen Freedom Foundation Launches Series of Health Care Town Halls

FF recently hosted a health care town hall in Bellevue tohelp educate employers and individuals about“Consumer Directed Health Plans.” Hewitt Associates,

an Illinois benefits consulting company, predicts: “More than60% of the big U.S. employers are expected to offer workershealth savings accounts (one type of consumer directed healthplan) by 2005.” So it is important for consumers to know whatis available or new in health care benefits.

Former State Representative Cheryl Hymes, project managerfor EFF’s Choose Your Medicine project, reviewed the new federallaw that opened the door for more consumer control over healthcoverage costs and choices through plans like Health SavingsAccounts. She said the days of treating the end-consumer as apassive recipient of medical services are over. Health care plansthat put the consumer in the driver’s seat are sweeping the

H ealth insurance vendors like Aetna, Humana and Assurant Health are reporting thatConsumer-Directed Health Plans are lowering health care financing costs across thecountry! A new federal law has opened doors to new ways to finance health care that

benefit the consumer. More than one million Americans are enrolled in some form of ConsumerDirected Health Plan. Make sure you know what is happening with these new opportunities.

• What are Consumer Directed Health Plans?• How do they work?• What are the advantages of a Consumer

Directed Health Plan over traditional coverage?• Are they right for me and my employees?• Are they available in Washington state?

September 15 – Vancouver, WashingtonWhen: From 8:00 – 9:30 a.mWhere: Water Resource Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way, Vancouver.

September 30 – North Seattle/ShorelineWhen: 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.Where: Shoreline Community Center, 18560 1st Ave. NE, Shoreline.

Email Cheryl Hymes for more information [email protected]. or call 360.956.3482

Interested in free market solutions that aresucceeding at lowering health care costs?

Please join us!

Come to an EFF Health CareTown Hall for Consumers!

country with encouraging results. Hymes noted “Consumers inWashington state need to know what’s happening nationwideand whether our state is competitive.”

Carolyn Logue, state Director for the National Federation ofIndependent Businesses talked about state and federal efforts tohelp small businesses find affordable, quality health coverage.Logue noted that the number of small employers who cannotafford health benefits is increasing annually, highlighting theurgent necessity for innovative and affordable new options suchas the purchase of health coverage through associations andconsumer-directed health plans.

Dr. David MacDonald, President of Liberty Health Group inEdmonds, Washington spoke on free-market consumerism,focusing on what consumer directed health plans look like and

how they work. His message wasclear: consumer directed healthplans are lowering the cost of healthbenefits for many employers andworkers in America. Dr.MacDonald noted premiuminflation has risen about three timesfaster than overall health careincreases since 2001. “Consumersdo not have to live with 12%, 15%or 20% annual premium hikes,”MacDonald said. “Consumerdirected health plans are here tostay.”

Ron Kirkpatrick, CEO of LibertyHealth Group presented two casestudies and some practicalconsiderations when transitioningfrom traditional low-deductibleinsurance policies to higher-deductible policies with HealthSavings Accounts or HealthReimbursement Accounts.Kirkpatrick stressed the importanceof implementation planning andemployee education.

The town hall ended with anopportunity for questions from theaudience. EFF plans a series ofstatewide health care town halls thisfall. Note the ad in this newsletterfor September meetings inVancouver and North Seattle.


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By Sarah Carrico

n last month’s newsletter you readabout the Evergreen FreedomFoundation’s seven college interns.

But EFF also had the privilege of inductingtwo high school seniors into the “JVSquad.”

STEPHANIE ALLISONStephanie Allison is a bubbly senior fromNorthwest Christian High School who helpedOffice Manager Marie Giger with EFF’sadministrative duties this summer. ThisOlympia native greeted EFF visitors and allher work tasks with a big smile. She added hercheerful spark to any conversation. Stephaniesaid what she liked best about EFF is the familiarintern sentiment that “everyone’s nice.” Thesame can be said about her.

In ten years Stephanie would like to bemarried and teaching kindergarten,and like her fellow intern Dvorah,she’s interested in writing a booksomeday. She cites CharlesDickens as her favorite author,and particularly enjoyed Dickens’David Copperfield.

Stephanie has the unique experienceof sharing her household with 14-year-old triplet sisters. To relax, Stephanie

enjoys swimming, looking at flowers,taking walks, writing poetry and drinkinghot chocolate.

DVORAH HARTSONTwo days a week, intern Dvorah Hartson worksin our Communications Departmentcompiling and scanning press clips. Shedescribes herself as “independent.” This home-schooled high school senior from Port Orchard

EFF’s High School interns Stephanie Allison (left) and Dvorah Hartson

IThe Junior Varsity Squad PROFILES OF EFF’S HIGH SCHOOL INTERNS

has a pleasant and quiet demeanor and, nodoubt, an ambitious future ahead of her.

Dvorah is an avid reader who, in additionto being a wife and mother one day, wouldlike to be a published novelist. Currentlyshe enjoys writing short stories. She citesEnglish as her favorite subject in school,and anticipates studying English when sheattends college next fall.

English isn’t the only language Dvorahstudies. She’s been dabblinginformally in Hebrew for the betterpart of her life, and has studiedthe language seriously for the pastcouple of years.

Dvorah likes EFF because “peoplehere are kind and encouraging.”

She calls President George W. Bushher political idol and counts the pro-life movement as the issue she’s most

concerned about. She’d also like tovisit Israel someday and see the

historical sights (the Hebrewwill probably help there),and says she relaxes byreading or watchingclassic films (she’s a bigBing Crosby fan).

s it just me or does anyone else findthis absolutely amazing: The U.S. gov-ernment can track a cow born in

Canada almost three years ago, right tothe stall in Washington state where shesleeps, and can determine exactly whatthat cow ate. They can track her calvesright to their stalls and tell you whatthey ate.

But they are unable to locate 11 millionillegal aliens wandering around in thecountry, including people who are tryingto blow up important structures in theU.S.!

My solution: Give every illegal alien a cowas soon as they enter the country.

Sent by a long-time EFF member.

SolvingSolvingSolvingSolvingSolving the illegal alien problemthe illegal alien problemthe illegal alien problemthe illegal alien problemthe illegal alien problem

I


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NO.

• I-884 claims it will increase higher education enrollments byputting $400 million more dollars into our state’s publiccolleges and universities. Much of that money, however, wouldbe used to compensate for current over-enrollments, notprovide for new slots. Before spending more money, the stateshould improve productivity by improving four-yeargraduation rates, increasing the number of hours teachingfaculty spending in the classroom, and reducing the numberof college students who must take remedial courses in reading,writing and math.

• I-884 would pour millions more dollars into the state’s learn-ing assistance program, but evaluation shows students whoparticipate actually progress more slowly than their non-par-ticipating, demographically similar peers.

A good investment for taxpayers? No.

• While it is cleverly marketed as a “one penny” tax increase,I-884 would raise the state sales tax 15.4%, making ours thehighest in the nation. Residents of some cities and countieswould pay taxes of nearly ten cents on the dollar. This hurtsour border communities.

• The I-884 sales tax would hit our state’s poorest families thehardest.

• I-884 would result in the loss of up to 10,000 jobs, primarilyin the retail sector, as citizens in border communities taketheir business across state lines.

Note: The preceding facts about Initiative 884 are excellent talkingpoints for letters to the editors of your local newspapers, calls toradio talk shows, discussions with neighbors, contacts to your legis-lators, etc. Please consider investing a little of your time spreadingthe word!

For more information, contact Marsha Richards at (360) 956-3482 or [email protected].

education (an average of $114,000 over the lifetime of astudent who currently attends K-12). We need to make surethese dollars are being spent effectively and efficiently on theprograms that work before we consider raising taxes again.

• I-884 would provide generous bonuses (up to $15,000) toteachers who obtain certification from the National Boardfor Professional Teaching Standards. Studies show this certi-fication is a costly investment for taxpayers that holds almostno value for increasing student literacy.

• I-884 operates on the assumption that teachers should bepaid based on how long they’ve had their job, not on howwell they do it. This model punishes excellent teachers (whooften leave the classroom as a result) and rewards poor teachers(who shouldn’t be in the classroom at all). Demonstrablyexcellent teachers should earn competitive wages.

• I-884 does not address the shortages of teachers in high-demand subject areas like math and science. The state shouldadopt a flexible pay model that allows incentive pay forteachers who choose to earn credentials in high-demandsubjects.

• I-884 would pour $100 million into preschool programs, yetmost studies show the state’s early-learning programs offerno long-term academic value to the students who participate.

• I-884 would spend millions of dollars on class size reductionefforts that have proven ineffective. Class size should beconsidered in context with other key factors such as teacherquality and experience, curriculum, grade levels, etc.

• I-884 would expand our state’s current bilingual educationprogram, which has a 90% failure rate, instead of adoptingmore successful bilingual education programs used in otherstates.

Facts continued on page 1 . . .

Despite budget “deficits,” candidates promise more

Continued on next page

n full campaign mode, most candidates running for office, including in-cumbents, are pledging to spend more money. This, at a time when thegovernor’s budget staff is forecasting that lawmakers will be met with a

$700 million to $1 billion deficit in the upcoming budget-writing session!(By the way, this “deficit” is the difference between the forecasted revenuefor 2005-07 and the cost of continuing current state programs.)

We predict the “deficit” will be much higher due to demands from publicemployees and teachers for higher salaries and more health care benefits.Furthermore, last biennium, our state counted on a one-time $200 millionbailout from the federal government to help balance the budget. That money won’t beavailable this year.

I


11

similar tool. Otherwise, they will continue appropriating tax-payer dollars in a highly inefficient and ineffective manner.

2. Maybe some legislators don’t like the governor’s POGs. Wedon’t like some of them either. They should revise them usingpublic meetings to get voter input.

3. The policy committees in both the House and Senate, par-ticularly K-12; higher education; transportation; health care andhuman services, should hold public hearings on the POGs un-der each committee’s area of responsibility. Each agency re-porting to a specific committee should ensure that its mission,budget, and priorities directly relate to delivering one or moreof the POGs. Each agency should rank its various activities inpriority of importance to accomplishing the agency’s mission.

Lawmakers should do this work between the election and the2005 session.

This will be a hot topic in the coming months, and we will keepyou up-to-date.

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From whose pockets will these candidates and elected officialstake this additional money they’re promising to spend?

Good newsIn the meantime, the governor’s budget team is hard at worktrying to move the priorities of government (POG) effort for-ward. The staff teams reviewed the POGs and developed indi-cators for each of them. Then the teams identified what arecalled “purchase strategies.” This means they are looking forthe best ways/places to purchase the various services they haveidentified as priorities, and it’s not always government-designedand delivered.

If money can be saved and a financial “deficit” averted, usingPOG as a budget tool is the way.

Bad newsThe legislature has pretty much ignored POG as a budgetingtool for the 2005-07 budget.

Recommendations1. Candidates for the legislature (incumbents and challengers)should understand the POG model and agree to use it or a

Address service requested

A few upcoming events . . .

Tuesday, September 14Washington State Primary Election Day. Besure to get out and vote... because freedommatters.

Thursday, September 15The Evergreen Freedom Foundation andOregon’s Cascade Policy Institute will co-hosta Town Hall in Vancouver, WA on new pro-posals for health care reform. The Town Hallwill be on September 15, 2004 from 8:00 –9:30 a.m., at the Water Resource Center, 4600S.E. Columbia Way, Vancouver. Please callMarie Giger at 1-800-769-6617 or emailher at [email protected] to R.S.V.P..

Thursday, September 23“Lunch with Lynn.” Lynn will talk abouteducation, health care, and business deregu-lations. For more information or to R.S.V.P.,contact Irene Endicott at [email protected].

Thursday, September 23Marsha Richards will speak to 47th DistrictRepublicans about 1-884.

Wednesday, September 29Washington Policy Center’s 2004 AnnualDinner at the Westin Hotel, Seattle. Thespeaker will be Colorado Gov. Bill Owens,2004 Columbia Award recipient and Na-tional Review’s “Best Governor in America.”Special address by P.J. O’Rourke, the WallStreet Journal’s “funniest writer in America.”Please call Marie Giger at 360-956-3482 oremail her at [email protected] to R.S.V.P..

Thursday, September 30EFF Health Care Town Hall meeting inNorth Seattle. The Town Hall will be on Sep-tember 30, 2004 from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m., atthe Shoreline Community Center, 185601st Ave. NE, Shoreline. Please call Marie Gigerat 1-800-769-6617 or email her [email protected] to R.S.V.P..

living liberty september 2004

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