Vote For Change, DO NOT RETAIN!
Vote for change in the upcoming School Board Election
WSD Public Schools Are Failing Academically!
The Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) publishes a report card on all State school districts using a standard format. (See below the OSPI report card for Wenatchee, Cashmere, and Issaquah as examples for comparison.)
Wenatchee public school students are failing miserably in all three academic ratings as you can see from the examples!!
-More than 70% of all students are failing to meet the standard in Math.
See how Wenatchee Public Schools compare to other Districts around the State
-More than 50% of all students are failing to meet the standard in English/Language Arts.
-More than 60% of all students are failing to meet the standard in Science.
As you can see from the examples, other school districts are performing much better on the standardized statewide exams than Wenatchee Public School students. And yet, the Wenatchee school district is graduating more than 85% of all students. That can only mean that Wenatchee School District is awarding a high school diploma to students who are failing academically. Those graduates are not prepared for future academic endeavors, or for life in general, because many of them cannot read adequately or do minimally acceptable math.
Legislative Update from Representative, Mike Steele
As your representative, I am keenly aware of the importance of education in shaping the trajectory of young learners. Our children deserve the best possible education, one that equips them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in an increasingly complex world. That's why I'd like to provide you with a quick look at K-12 education in our state, and the challenges we face ahead.
According to the Washington State Constitution, it is the paramount duty of the state to amply provide for K-12 education. Funding for more than one million students, 295 school districts, and 16 charter schools is paid (in part) by state revenue. In fact, our K-12 educational system is one of the largest employers in the state, with more than 74,000 certified instructors (including teachers), 5,000 administrators, and 44,000 classified employees.
Over the past few years, state spending on K-12 education has grown significantly. Overall funding in 2021-23—from state, local, and federal sources—was $37.46 billion. Average per-student spending totals $17,428, putting Washington near the top of other states in terms of spending. In fact, Washington state is currently ranked as the #1 best state for teachers, in large part because of its high salary and compensation.
Student attainment: Although K-12 funding has increased, too many students are being left behind. As you can see in the chart below, national test scores have been trending downward for more than a decade. And now, after the COVID-induced school closures, state test scores are at their lowest point since these assessments began. More than 62% of K-12 students do not meet minimum grade-level standards in math, and about 50% do not meet minimum grade-level standards in English.
To put this in some perspective: Ten years ago, Washington students outperformed Idaho students in four separate test categories: reading, math, science, and writing. Now, Idaho students outperform Washington in all categories, except fourth-grade reading. Click here to read more about Washington state's K-12 educational performance facts.
The chart below outlines our state's national rankings:
Over the past several months, I have had the privilege of engaging with students, parents, educators, and community leaders in conversations about how we can further enhance our educational system. Those insights have been invaluable in shaping my perspective on the challenges and aspirations for K-12 education in our district and state.
Here is a brief outline of some issues we discussed:
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Performance: Washington's students suffered significantly under the nearly two-year COVID-19 school closures. Disruptions caused by the pandemic have resulted in learning gaps for many students. We need to re-double efforts to support learning recovery with targeted interventions, additional tutoring, and summer programs. Our goal should be to ensure that every student can catch up and thrive academically.
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Mental health and well-being: The mental health and well-being of our students must be prioritized. We need to continue bolstering our mental health support services, ensuring that students have access to counseling and resources to help them cope with the challenges they face.
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Support for parents: Parents should have easy access to information on their children's educational progress, homework, and other activities through digital platforms and regular communication. We need to eliminate barriers that hinder parental involvement, especially in underserved communities. Programs that encourage parental involvement in their children's education need to be supported.
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Transparency: Transparency is essential to maintaining open lines of communication with parents and students, providing them with clear and readily accessible information about curriculum, grading policies, teacher qualifications, and school performance. Transparency not only empowers parents to make informed decisions about their children's education, it holds schools accountable for their performance.
Looking forward
The new school year brings hope, optimism, and the promise of a brighter future. As the former ranking member of the House Education Committee and, now, the current deputy leader of the House Republican Caucus, I am committed to working tirelessly to find practical legislative solutions that strengthen our K-12 educational system. However, those solutions cannot be provided by one entity alone. It requires collaboration between parents, educators, lawmakers, and community members.
In the coming months, I invite you to join me in this effort. Attend your local school board meetings, stay informed about educational policies, and share your thoughts, concerns, and ideas for improvement. Let's work hand in hand to advocate for change and ensure our children receive the quality education they deserve!
Declining Public School Enrollment is very Costly.
During the period 2015 to 2022, the Wenatchee School District enrollment has declined by over 800 students as reported by the school district. (See chart below presented at Wenatchee school district board meeting .)
During that same time, the Wenatchee School District population has grown by over 10,000 registered voters according to the Chelan County Auditor’s records.
The enrollment decline of 800 students reduces the amount of state school funds by approximately $16,000 per student per year. That amounts to more than $12 million lost to the Wenatchee School District budget.
At a recent local public meeting school board member, Mr. Martin Barron stated the decline in enrollment was due to the birth rate decline in the Wenatchee School District population.
If that were true, the decline would first show up in the lower elementary grades first. On the contrary, most of the decline has been from the middle school and high school student population. (See enrollment chart from the school board meeting.)
In fact, many families are disenrolling their children from Wenatchee School District public schools and enrolling them in private/parochial schools, local charter schools, nearby
public school districts (like Cashmere), or they are choosing to homeschool their children.
This difficult choice has cost local parents substantial sums of money since the state funds do not follow the students.
Nearly every private school has a waiting list for additional students who want to leave the public schools. One private school has already announced plans (and received a building permit?) to build a new high school in Wenatchee. This will add more high school capacity for parents’ choice, in addition to the recently opened Pinnacles Charter School here in Wenatchee.
The downward trend has been recognized by the Wenatchee School District recently and the WSD’s Chief Financial Officer’s budget projects continued dis-enrollment losses in the middle schools and high school in coming years.
This trend will continue to reduce funding for the Wenatchee Public School system!
Is this Responsive School Board Leadership?
In school year 2020- 2021 the Wenatchee School District Board had closed the school system “in person” school attendance due to COVID fears and began implementing school “on-line”.
In the Spring of 2021 when medical evidence indicated that student age children were not at risk to COVID and public opinion began to show that students were having significant learning loss and depression issues due to the “online” schooling, the Wenatchee School District sent out a survey to ask parents if they wanted their children to go back to “in person” school at the school buildings.
Of the parents/families that returned the survey, 86% indicated that they wanted the public schools to be reopened for “in person” learning at the school buildings.
Contrary to the response received from parents, the Wenatchee School District Board under the leadership of Martin Barron and Maria Iniquez voted to keep the Wenatchee schools closed to “in person” school learning.
The Washington State Teachers Union (WEA) and the local Wenatchee Education Association (WEA) also opposed re-opening the schools.
Is this Corruption or a Conflict of Interest?
A $500 campaign donation from Danielle Marchant to Maria Iniguez in the 2021 school board election campaign was reported to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC).
Ms. Marchant is a member of the local law firm: Davis, Arneil, and Associates.
During the next two-plus years that law firm has been paid over $155,000 by the Wenatchee School District (with the approval of the WSD Board) as the legal counsel firm representing the Wenatchee School District. Ms. Marchant has been the leading attorney from the firm for the billings.
This has been while Mr. Martin Barron and Ms. Maria Iniquez have been the presidents of the school board in succeeding years during that two-year period.
Is this right?
Is this Best for Wenatchee Schools?
During the past two years, the Wenatchee School District Board has received legal advice prepared by Ms. Danielle Marchand that advocated dividing the Wenatchee School District into electoral sub-districts.
That advice was given to the Wenatchee School District Board suggesting that the Wenatchee School District was at risk of a potential lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and/or the Hispanic legal advocacy organization known as LULAC, for a potential Voting Rights Act of Washington violation.
That advice alleged that the WSD five-member School Board, with all positions being “At Large” electoral structure, discriminated against the “protected” Hispanic minority in the Wenatchee School District.
Two options were prepared under the coordination and leadership of Ms. Marchant and presented to the Board by Ms. Marchant.
Both options were required to create at least one sub-district that had a majority Hispanic population. The option subsequently selected by the Board created four sub-districts.
The result for Wenatchee voters is that we only get to vote for two of the WSD Board Directors rather than all five as in the past!
Critical Race Theory in Wenatchee School District ...
Over the past few years, university-level curriculum incorporating Critical Race Theory (CRT), (Oppressed vs. Oppressor ideology based on skin color) has been introduced into the Washington State public schools.
Many state school districts and parents have resisted the teachings of this CRT curriculum and protested the incorporation of it in a variety of ways. The inclusion of these topics into the Wenatchee School District schools has also been questioned at WSD board meetings and in other public forums. In fact, in several school board meetings, parents have publicly addressed this issue and indicated that they did not want critical race theory taught in our public schools. (CRT has been protested and/or banned in many U. S. states.)
However, despite that input from parents, the district staff, with significant participation by teachers and students, spent nearly two years developing a 5-year WSD Strategic Plan that provides long-term planning guidance to the Wenatchee schools.
That Strategic Plan, while not mentioning CRT specifically, is full of the three principal building blocks of CRT which are: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity elements/goals of the plan.
Is the WSD Board purposely hiding CRT from the Public?