Gregoire visits SCC science labs

Gov. Chris Gregoire continued her push for education reform known as “Washington Learns” by touring health sciences labs at Spokane Community College on Friday and fielding questions from students and faculty.

The proposals announced earlier this week for expanded learning deliberately did not address one of the more controversial aspects of the state’s school system, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning tests, Gregoire said. But they may indirectly address some of the problems that contribute to low scores on the math portion of the WASL, by pushing for improvements in math and science and standardizing the math curricula, she added.

“We need to revisit the WASL in math,” Gregoire said.

In a later interview, she said she doesn’t support doing away with the test but will suggest some changes in the coming weeks. The current version may place too much emphasis on students having to explain how they arrive at the answer to a math problem, beyond getting the correct answer.

Although nearly half of 10th-graders failed the math portion of the WASL last spring, Gregoire said the blame should be placed on the school system, not the students. Making the test easier to pass won’t fix the system, which also produces a high rate of students who need remedial math when they get to community colleges or universities.

“We cannot let them go out in the world without the math skills they need,” she said.

Gregoire said she is just beginning to seek legislative support for improvements to education but reiterated a promise that she would not seek a tax increase to fund new school programs.

“I’m not going to (the public) for money on a system that isn’t working. The public is saying ‘Show me the results,’ ” she said. “Until we can show them results, we can’t ask for a new investment.”