Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 21, 2002
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Locke’s statement on education reforms

"I completely understand the frustration teachers are feeling about potential cuts to the state’s education budget at a time when we are asking our schools to dramatically improve the education of our students.

“That’s why I made every effort to protect public school funding and class-size reduction in my budget proposal.

“I do not support suspending education reform and the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) simply because of the worsening budget problem. The WASL is the measuring stick we use to gauge our progress toward improved learning for all our kids. We are getting better test results because we have set high goals and we measure against them. High achievement for every student is our steadfast goal and we shouldn't back off the goal even when the budget is tight.

“It is important that our children have the skills and knowledge they need to live happy and productive lives.”

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