I retired from teaching in the state of Washington in the 1992-1993 school year, and it was several years earlier that a law was passed in the state that basic education must be funded in all basic classes. Each teacher of a class was required to list the basic concepts of her/his class and send it to the superintendent’s office. We all did this and worked hard and took it seriously. If that law had consequences tied to it to make the law enforceable, I do not know.
This was and is a good law. In Oregon, a law like this was never adopted. Oregon can just shut down school if the Legislature decides to do so, but not in our state. The law says we must fund basic education. So “go pound sand” may not be the smart-aleck answer put forth by Sen. Michael Baumgartner.
Ann U. Harris
VANCOUVER
