Washington’s schools are doing a better job educating their students than the public believes, a high school teacher who is running for the Legislature said Thursday.

“We are being accountable,” Jerry Hopkins, head of the Spokane Education Association, said in announcing his candidacy for the state House of Representatives. “The implication is that public education has gone downhill, and I just don’t think that’s the case.”

Hopkins, 58, is a Democrat who will challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Duane Sommers in Spokane’s 6th District.

He said schools are making improvements and are moving toward requirements that no student could complete the 10th grade without mastering such basic skills as reading, writing, computing and following instructions.

Although public schools face many federal mandates to educate all students - even those with mental or physical handicaps - Hopkins discounted suggestions by many Republican candidates that schools are not under local control.

“Parents do have sufficient control. It’s whether they want to take the initiative and effort to get involved,” said the teacher of 34 years.

Hopkins criticized Republicans for their Contract with Washington and Contract with America, saying those campaign documents locked them into positions and led to gridlock.

“No single political stance can solve the complex problems we face,” he said.

Hopkins would oppose time limits on receiving welfare benefits, saying that each case needs to be evaluated individually. The state should enhance job training and get more welfare beneficiaries involved in them, he said.

It should also try to boost business by improving its colleges and universities, which will train the future work force, he said.

He would not favor further tax rollbacks to help businesses, but would consider eliminating the state business and occupation tax if a fairer tax could be devised.

The state also should consider eliminating the spending limits imposed by Initiative 601, but only by another vote of the people, he said.

, DataTimes