WASL math doesn't add up, House speaker says
Saturday, January 27, 2007 11:45 PM PST
By Don Jenkins, columnist
Printable version
E-mail this articleOLYMPIA --- Parents, students and teachers who get steamed up about the Washington Assessment of Student Learning may be interested to know that House Speaker Frank Chopp gets steamed up, too.
By virtue of his position and savvy, the Seattle Democrat holds more sway over the general course of policy than any other legislator. In meetings with reporters, he sometimes holds his cards close and sometimes he lets lose.
When the WASL came up this past week, he mostly let lose.
"The math curriculum in many districts is total nonsense," said Chopp, whose views have been influenced by his brother, who teaches math, and his daughter, who takes math.
Chopp said he tried helping his daughter with her homework, but he couldn't recall from his school days how to do the problem. So he looked at the index and then the preceding chapters. The textbook seemed to have no logical sequence, he said.
"I'm thinking, ‘This is nuts. We’ve got to change this.’ So the curriculum is what I’m really ticked off about," he said.
"We've got to change the math curriculum. We’ve got to reform how we teach math and then we have to have the test match the curriculum."
What this means for the class of 2008 is that the half that failed the math part of the WASL last spring may be off the hook.
At the urging of Gov. Chris Gregoire, who like Chopp blames "the education system" for the mass failures, lawmakers probably will suspend for at least three years the requirement that students pass the math test to graduate.
That may not be the end of "WASL reform." Although scores were better on the reading and writing tests, some lawmakers favor suspending those graduation requirements, as well.
Chopp held his cards a little closer on the question of how far he thinks lawmakers will go this session in making the phrase "the high-stakes WASL" an oxymoron.
"We're going to delay the math portion for sure, and we’re open to talking to people in our caucus about maybe the other areas," he said.
IMMIGRATION ISSUE: The Democratic goal to provide every poor kid with health insurance by 2010 gets intertwined with illegal immigration.
Most Republicans on the House Health Care Committee this past week voted against legislation that would --- if funded --- provide taxpayer-paid coverage to an estimated 78,000 children who are uninsured now.
Republicans complained the Democratic-controlled committee approved House Bill 1071 before the Office of Financial Management had calculated the cost. GOP lawmakers also criticized Democrats for rejecting a Republican amendment that would declare the state’s intent was to cover legal residents first.
Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, said the state should care for low-income resident adults before offering health coverage to the children of illegal immigrants.
"If we have tax-paying citizens that have been in this country and paid their whole life, they need to be first in line to receive the benefits that this country is providing," he said. "We will see a large influx of people (coming) to this state to get free health care at a cost our economy cannot support."
Committee chairwoman Eileen Cody, D-Seattle, said the state has a responsibility to keep all kids healthy.
"The immigration issue is a national debate that does need to be dealt with and hopefully the feds will move forward on the issue," she said. "But I do not believe we can blame the kids that are here. Whether they came here legally or illegally, they are here."
Capitol Dispatch appears Sundays and Thursdays. Don Jenkins can be reached in Olympia at 360-705-9438 or don.jenkins@tdn.com.
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