
Lars Larson says it’s your kids who pay the price for higher teacher wages and fading test scores
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
The numbers tell the tale. Oregon and Washington rank as some of the best states in America to be a teacher and the worst if you’re a student.

Fat paychecks and pensions, bottom rank for reading and math.
Both states have doubled spending on schools in the last decade while test scores dropped.
You know who’s getting it right?
Mississippi. I know, reputationally a backwards state and outspent by blue states like Oregon and Washington.
But in the last decade it has gone from the bottom of the American education pile to the top.
And the solution ain’t rocket science.
Students get tested in the third grade and if they’re not ready, they get held back. Students get tutoring.
Eighteen thousand bucks in Oregon per student per year for K-12.
Nineteen thousand in Washington. Tuition for Ducks and Huskies costs far less.
But you have to understand how failure benefits teachers and Democrats.
Failing teachers unions demand bigger paychecks. Union dues fund political contributions, exclusively to Democrats.
And your kids pay the price.
Also read:
- Opinion: Despite historic tax hikes – Washington state faces $4.3 billion deficitRyan Frost argues that Washington’s projected multibillion-dollar deficits stem from rapid spending growth, not a lack of revenue, after years of historic tax hikes.
- Letter: A misleading headline about a misleading initiativeBattle Ground resident Gary Obermeyer argues that Initiative 26-126 would restrict voting access rather than improve election integrity.
- POLL: Do you support Vancouver’s decision to restore open public comment at every council meeting starting in 2026?Vancouver will restore open public comment at every council meeting in 2026 after years of limiting remarks to agenda items.
- Opinion: Washington is bleeding taxpayers and now a State Representative wants to make it worseMark Harmsworth argues that a proposed statewide payroll tax would worsen Washington’s ongoing loss of jobs, businesses, and economic competitiveness.
- Opinion: Simultaneous left turnsDoug Dahl explains how Washington law directs drivers to make simultaneous left turns by passing to the left of each other in an intersection.







