A handful of parents, some of them hunched in their winter coats, sat on folding chairs in Broadway Elementary School's gym. They'd come to learn about something new in education - essential learnings.
It's a phrase that parents across Washington will hear more and more.
Four years ago, the state Legislature passed the Education Reform Act. Since then teachers, officials and volunteers have created a set of standards - what students should learn. They are called essential academic learnings.
