Education

"...There are ideas out there other than cutting.”

College students will descend on Olympia today as the legislature kicks off a special session to tackle the state’s budget shortfall. Nearly a dozen schools have banded together to send busloads of students to the capitol. 

The ability to smoke a cigarette on college campuses is becoming a subject for the history books.

Several colleges in the Pacific Northwest have banned smoking – not only in and around buildings as required by law – but everywhere on school grounds.

It’s been more than a quarter century since high school graduation requirements changed in our state. Now, the board of education has voted to increase credits in certain subjects. 

Some school administrators say the move is a step backward for other learning opportunities.  

Thousands of students across the state are taking the SAT this weekend.

The college entrance exam plays a big role in admissions, but a lot of students are poorly prepared for it. Some educators say an easy way to change that – and get students to gear up for college earlier – is to pay for sophomores or juniors to take a preliminary version of the test. 

Student achievement in Oregon and Washington isn't improving or declining, according to results released Tuesday by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The bi-annual "Nation's Report Card" shows Oregon 4th graders scoring just below the national average on both Reading and Math. Oregon 8th graders are statistically tied with the nation as a whole. Christine Miles with the Oregon Department of Education says the results are basically flat.

The Regents of Washington State University are considering a Martin Stadium upgrade project that would cost an estimated $80 million.

When Oregon State University defeated Washington State University in college football last Saturday, it did so with five team members who had been heavily recruited by WSU.

“They loved Washington State, loved everything about it, their parents were crazy about it. They ended up going to Oregon State—now this is not Oregon, Oregon State, primarily because of their facilities,” says Bill Moos, WSU's director of intercollegiate athletics.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg has brought felony theft charges against former Seattle Public Schools manager Silas Potter Jr. and two associates, David A. Johnson and Lorrie Sorensen.

Potter was at the center of a financial scandal that led to the firing last March of former Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johsnon and Seattle Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Don Kennedy.

The unemployment rate for teens and young adults in Washington is one of the highest in the nation – and it’s especially tough on high school dropouts. That’s why state education leaders are trying to ramp up an effort to help students get diplomas and jobs or college placements at the same time.

It's been eight months since the Seattle Public Schools financial scandal was first uncovered, and after a full criminal investigation, King County prosecutors plan to bring charges of felony theft against Silas Potter, Jr., the man at the center of the scandal.