![Liv Finne of the Washington Policy Center hopes the new legislature can catch up and provide a real ‘System of Support’ that families can use to access high-quality education services.](https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Large_Clark-County-Today-Hockinson-High-School-First-Day-07.jpg)
Liv Finne of the Washington Policy Center hopes the new legislature can catch up and provide a real ‘System of Support’ that families can use to access high-quality education services
Liv Finne
Washington Policy Center
Last week I participated in a live online debate with Tim Garchow, executive director of the Washington State School Directors Association. We were asked to debate the question: “What does it mean to have local control over educational decisions in Washington state?”
![Liv Finne](https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Clark-County-Today-Liv-Finne.jpg)
Local control describes the current system of electing school board directors to govern the schools in each one of the 295 school districts in Washington state. Our discussion was ably moderated by Elizabeth Van Clark of the Columbia Basin Badger Club in Pasco, Washington, and is available here.
In my remarks I pointed out parents have little to no control under this monopoly system of local control. Mr. Garchow took the opposite position, describing ways parents can ask for help from the schools, citing Multiple Systems of Support (MSS). Sure, parents can ask for help, but they have little recourse if district officials ignore their concerns.
In addition, our discussion ranged from the damaging effects of closing school for nearly two years during COVID, The Seattle Times editorial asking why school officials have spent only 9% of federal COVID relief funds on individual tutoring, plummeting test scores and other negative effects of closing schools for so long.
I concluded that to increase parental control in Washington state, lawmakers should follow the example of 32 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and allow more learning choices. Arizona has just passed a law making $7,000 available to every family who wants it, for the purpose of hiring tutors, buying textbooks, homeschooling, or paying private school tuition. These learning-choice programs place control of education squarely at the kitchen table, with Mom and Dad making these crucial decisions, not with some distant unnamed government office.
Public education is filled with happy-sounding buzz words like “local control,” “community empowerment,” “parental involvement” and “Multiple Systems of Support.” Sure, government people love them, but these terms mean nothing to families faced with the hard problems involved in educating and raising children.
Earlier this year Washington was poised to join other states when HB 1633, a bill to provide $10,000 or so to families who request it, was introduced. Hardliners in the legislature killed it.
A new legislature is going to meet in January. Maybe with some fresh faces and fresh thinking our state can catch up and provide a real “System of Support” (i.e. cash) that families can use to access high-quality education services.
Liv Finne is the director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center.
Also read:
- Opinion: Free government handouts of other taxpayer’s money won’t mean you will have more money in your pocketOpinion: Mark Harmsworth of the Washington Policy Center argues that Universal Basic Income won’t put more money in your pocket and that eventually the money will run out.
- Opinion: Initiatives will remain on ballotsOpinion: Washington state initiatives will remain on the November ballot following a Supreme Court ruling, as highlighted by Nancy Churchill in her Dangerous Rhetoric column.
- Opinion: ‘No on I-2117’ claim that taxes don’t increase prices again contradicted by Inslee Administration’s own statementsOpinion: Todd Myers argues against the CO2 tax, stating that it increases energy prices, contradicting claims from the No on I-2117 campaign.
- Opinion: Ballot language might confuse the issue of making WA Cares optionalElizabeth New from Washington Policy Center discusses how ballot language might confuse voters on making WA Cares optional.
- Letter: Perseid meteor shower peaks Sunday night, Aug. 11Doug Tweet shares tips on viewing the Perseid meteor shower and northern lights this weekend.