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:
- POLL: Did the Clark County Council make the right decision by rejecting the auditor authority proposal?
The 3-2 council vote rejected giving the auditor’s office power to write financial impact statements for ballot measures. - Opinion: Hospital price transparency is good, but its impact will be limited
Washington still shields hospitals from competition through certificate-of-need laws other states have repealed. - Opinion: Washington tax collections are running below forecast as the economy softens
Washington’s tax collections are $135.4 million behind forecast since February as employment and revenue both slip. - Opinion: Washington’s Attorney General offers strong defense of signature gatherers’ rights
AG Nick Brown urges 39 county prosecutors to protect signature gatherers from harassment and theft. - Letter: The IBR’s concrete obscenity
Bob Ortblad argues $17.7 billion buys one extra lane for five miles — and 30 years of debt for future generations.
