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03/21/2006: "Dave Quall Meets With SJC Educators"

Representative Dave Quall returned to SJ County last week for a meeting with invited administrators, staff, board members, PTA -and just about anyone else involved in education in San Juan County- for an informal discussion and update on legislature actions, past and present, that may have an impact on education.

Quail, a former teacher with decades of experience in public education, sat down to an informal light lunch with the educators, gave an update on legislative matters, and then engaged in a question and answer session with the participants.

In his legislative report, he discussed the progress and gave a review of the WASA testing program that has become controversial in some districts, and said that there has been some movement toward looking at alternatives that, if held to the same standards, could be alternatives to the WASA test.

He also went over the make-up and purpose of a new task force that he said is referred to as the "Booth Gardner Act", that will look at existing testing programs to determine if they are fair and effective. He said the original purpose of WASA was to be an assessment tool, and not a testing tool. In response to the current federal "No Child Left Behind" program, Quall said "the standards cannot be met, so why put them out there"?

There was also discussion about the evaluation of "all-day kindergarten", and informed the group of educators that there has been some evidence put forward that makes the claim that all day programs can make a significant difference in the future effectiveness of the education of those who have participated in such programs.

The program was put together by Michael D. Soltman, Superintendent of Schools for San Juan Island, who praised Quall for his continuing willingness to come to San Juan County, and said that it is "great to have our state government be so accessable to us".