Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 13, 1999
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke appoints Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission

OLYMPIA — Gov. Gary Locke today announced the membership of the Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission, an independent oversight body that will monitor progress in Washington's public schools and provide assurance to the public that continuous improvement is being made.

Retired Seattle businessman Patrick F. Patrick will chair the nine-member group. Seattle attorney Jose E. Gaitan will serve as vice chairman.

"The Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission will be crucial to our efforts to make our state's schools the best in the nation," Locke said. "It will set achievement levels that our schools must meet; it will propose rewards for schools that reach those levels, and identify those that need assistance. It will also recommend intervention for schools that repeatedly fail. The commission's work will be vital to keeping education reform on track and getting test scores up."

The legislature established the commission in 1999 at Locke's request.

Commission chairman Patrick retired in 1998 as executive vice president of Washington Federal Savings. He is a graduate of Franklin High School, class of 1959. He has been committed to improving Seattle public schools for many years, including working on levy campaigns. In the 1980s, he helped start the "Principal for a Day" program with Seattle Rotary No. 4. The program gives Rotarians the opportunity to run a school for a day to see first-hand the challenges of being a principal. Both of Patrick's daughters graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle. One daughter graduated this year from Washington State University, and the other daughter is a senior at the University of Washington.

"I have been committed to public schools and to improving our education system all my life," Patrick said. "I am very honored to be asked to chair the state's Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission. This represents a huge opportunity to monitor the progress of our schools, and I am eager to get to work."

Jose E. Gaitan of Seattle is president of the Gaitan Group, a Seattle law firm. He is a former deputy county prosecutor and a former adjunct faculty member with the University of Washington Law School. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle, Linfield College in Oregon and the University of Washington. Gaitan serves as treasurer for the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund. He has a son at Ballard High School, a daughter at Adams Elementary School in Ballard and a daughter who graduated from Seattle's Ingraham High School.

"As a product of public schools and as someone who has children in public schools, I view this commission as one of the most important in our state," said Gaitan.

In addition to Patrick and Gaitan, the commission members are:

* David Shaw of Richland, superintendent of Pasco School District. Shaw is a member of the Higher Education Coordinating Board and former president of the Board of Trustees of Columbia Basin College. Before taking his current job, he was manager of Westinghouse Hanford's human resources program. He is a graduate of Howard University and has a master's degree in public administration from American University.

* Leonora Schmidt of Tacoma, principal of Downing Elementary School in Tacoma. Schmidt has worked in public education since 1986. She is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound, received her vocational certificate from Central Washington University and received her master's degree in educational administration from the University of Puget Sound. She received the national Milken Award for excellence in educational leadership and for her abilities to reach out to involve parents and communities. Under her leadership at the helm of Lister Elementary in Tacoma, reading scores for fourth graders rose dramatically (38 to 52 percent).

* Jim Spady of Snoqualmie Pass, vice president and chief financial officer of Dick's Drive-in Restaurants Inc. of Seattle. An attorney, Spady is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Washington Business and is on its education task force. He is a graduate of the Arizona State University School of Business and the University of Washington Law School.

* Margaret Bates of Vancouver, a school teacher who has taught in middle school and high school. She has been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and serves on the board's selection committee. She is currently on special assignment as secondary curriculum coordinator for the Vancouver School District. She is a graduate of Central Washington University, has a master's degree from the University of Illinois and got her teaching certification from the University of Washington.

* Patricia M. Lines of Seattle, a research associate at the National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum and Assessment, at the U.S. Department of Education. She conducts research on the role of families in learning, educational choice and related issues. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and its School of Law, and is a candidate for a doctorate from Catholic University.

* Eileen Odum of Woodinville, regional president of GTE Northwest. Odum served on the Accountability Task Force that preceded the work of the Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission. She also served until recently on the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and is incoming chairperson of the Association of Washington Business. She is a graduate of the University of Washington. She has served on numerous boards, including the University of Washington School of Business Advisory Board, the Partnership for Learning and the Nature Conservancy of Washington.

Also serving on the commission will be Terry Bergeson, state Superintendent for Public Instruction.

Terry Bergeson was elected state superintendent in 1996. She began her career as an educator in 1964, serving as a teacher and school counselor in Massachusetts, Alaska, and Washington. In 1985 she was elected president of the Washington Education Association, and in 1989 she became the executive director of the Central Kitsap School District, where she supervised nine schools and assorted special programs.

In 1993 she was appointed executive director of the Washington Commission on Student Learning, where she oversaw the development of statewide standards for academic achievement. The Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission will build directly upon that work.

"I'm looking forward to working with the group," said Bergeson. "The accountability system is a vital part of creating a better education system for kids in our state."

The terms of Patrick, Gaitan, Schmidt and Shaw end June 30, 2003. The terms of Bates and Odum end June 30, 2002. The terms of Spady and Lines end June 30, 2001. The Washington State Senate must confirm all members of the commission.

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