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Pray for Justice
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to pay for education first, before any other
state program or financial obligation.
About 43 percent of the state’s general
fund — about $15 billion in each two-year
budget cycle — is spent on K-12 education.
In 2009, the Legislature passed a blue-
print for reforming the way the state pays
for education, but has yet to put any signif-
icant dollars toward adopting that plan.
Although no one knows for sure, some edu-
cation finance experts have put as much as
a $4 billion price tag on the two-year cost of
that reform plan.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, has a pro-
posal that wouldn’t
save any money but
it might answer
some of the concerns
of the Supreme
Court over the state’s
overreliance on local
levy dollars to pay
for education.
The chair of the
House Ways and
Means Committee, who has been involved
in every recent education reform effort in
the Legislature, wants the state to replace
some local levy dollars with more statewide
property tax collections.
Instead of the school districts with the
highest property values being able to collect
the most school levy dollars, taxpayers
across the state would be contributing more
to the overall state education system.
Hunter says the system would be more fair,
but likely not more popular statewide.
Taxpayers in high value districts may not
like seeing their dollars shifted to other
places, for example. And in places where
taxpayers are paying relatively low school
levies — like Seattle where a large popula-
tion shares the tax burden — they would
likely see their taxes go up.
``Everyone agrees that the system is not
very fair,’’ Hunter said. He added that
Seattle taxpayers would also pay a larger
percentage of the governor’s proposed sales
tax increase, while many taxpayers in other
parts of state, who were paying more of the
cost of local education, would see their
taxes go down.
``This is fairer, and it grows faster,’’ he
said.
Hunter’s proposal would replace levy
equalization with a new system and he says
it would move about $1 billion around and
eventually help fix some of the inequity in
the way school dollars are distributed
around the state.
It could also become a more stable source
of school funding and answer another criti-
cism of the Supreme Court.
The proposal is extremely complex, so
much so that he would rather attempt a two-
thirds vote in the Legislature than try to
explain it to everyday people before it
appears on the state ballot.
McAuliffe said she found Hunter’s idea
intriguing, but she wouldn’t want to rush an
important reform during a short legislative
session. Hunter said the idea is getting a
pretty good reception from lawmakers and
others.
``I haven’t found anyone who has said
absolutely not,’’ he said.
investigators he wasn’t sure.
“Despite what you entered in the logbook,
The third fired officer submitted an inci-
dent report saying he inspected and secured
within feet of the chapel’s front doors at
9:19 p.m., Frakes said, adding that Biendl’s
body was not discovered until 10:26 p.m.,
after others in the prison realized she had
not left work after her shift ended that
evening.
After being confronted with video surveil-
lance during a June interview with investi-
gators, the officer acknowledged he did not
inspect the chapel, the documents state.
“I wrote down what was expected of me,
not what I did,” he said.
Four other corrections officers also faced
discipline that included demotion or repri-
mands.
About 43 percent of the state’s
general fund — about $15 billion in
each two-year budget cycle — is
spent on K-12 education
who score lowest on performance evalua-
tions first in line to lose their jobs during an
economic downturn.
His proposal was a near miss in 2011 and
has already been resubmitted for the current
session. Although teacher contracts are
written at the local level, they all currently
make seniority the main consideration dur-
ing teacher layoffs. Tom said the bill would
keep high-performing young teachers in
disadvantaged schools that need them.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled
Thursday that the state isn’t meeting its con-
stitutional obligation to amply pay for basic
public education, and that the judiciary
would keep an eye on lawmakers to ensure
they fully implement education reforms by
2018. An attorney for the school districts,
parents and others who sued the state says
the ruling means the Legislature will have
photo BY SuSan Fried
change the way teachers and principals are
evaluated. And she’s pretty excited about
innovative schools and how Washington
can partner with businesses to support spe-
cial programs like Aviation High School.
She’s not sure the governor’s proposal to
shorten the school year, but not cut the
hours kids spend in school, will save much
money, but she’s willing to discuss the idea
Also on the education policy agenda for
this legislative session is Sen. Rodney
Tom’s proposal to change the way
Washington performs teacher layoffs. The
Medina Democrat wants to put teachers
sparked by the recent Justice Department report on the seattle Police
department's use of excessive force, the united Black Christian Clergy held
a prayer service for jobs, justice, and police accountability Jan. 4 at
greater mount Baker Baptist Church.
guard
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grave risk to corrections officers, particular-
ly women.
Officers also are being outfitted with per-
sonal alarms designed to better alert col-
leagues to problems. The overall inmate
population at the reformatory was reduced
to 630, from around 750.
Another officer who was fired is accused
of failing to verify with Biendl that the
chapel was clear of all inmates. He was
fired for allegedly making a false entry in a
log book indicating the chapel had been
checked by Biendl and was empty. After the
killing, the officer presented an initial inci-
dent report, indicating he saw Biendl close
the gate outside the chapel. He later told
He was fired for allegedly making a false entry
in a log book indicating the chapel had been
checked by Biendl and was empty
Officer Biendl did not close the gate, did not
make notification that the chapel was clear,”
Frakes wrote in the documents.
the chapel after Scherf turned up missing in
an inmate count.
The officer found Scherf sitting in a chair
killer, kidney disease (No. 8), chronic liver
disease and cirrhosis (No. 12), Parkinson’s
disease (No. 14) and pneumonitis.
The report is drawn from a review of at
least 98 percent of the death certificates
filed in the U.S. in 2010.
The government has been keeping a list of
the top causes of death since 1949.
Homicide has historically ranked fairly low.
It was as high as 10th in 1989 and in 1991
through 1993, when the nation saw a surge
in youth homicides related to the crack epi-
demic.
In the past decade, homicide’s highest
ranking was 13th. That was in 2001 and was
due in part to the 9/11 attacks.
Murders have been declining nationally
since 2006, according to FBI statistics.
Falling homicide rates have been celebrated
in several major cities, including New York
City, Detroit and Washington.
Criminologists have debated the reasons
but believe several factors may be at work.
Among them: Abusive relationships don’t
end in murder as often as they once did,
thanks to increased incarcerations and bet-
ter, earlier support for victims.
“We’ve taken the home out of homicide,”
said James Alan Fox, a Northeastern
University criminologist who studies mur-
Death
continued from page 1
2010 was about 78 years and 8 months, up
about a little more than one month from life
expectancy for 2009.
-Heart disease and cancer remain the top
killers, accounting for nearly half the
nation’s more than 2.4 million deaths in
2010. But the death rates from them contin-
ued to decline.
- Death rates for five other leading causes
of death also dropped in 2010, including
stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases,
accidents, flu/pneumonia and blood infec-
tions.
But death rates increased for Alzheimer’s
disease, which is the nation’s sixth-leading
der data.
Some also credit better police work and
public health programs aimed at reducing
violence.
Demographics are an important factor,
too, as the largest segment of the population
is now 50 and older. Younger people - who
are most likely to commit or fall victim to
murder - are making up a smaller share of
the population.
That ties in to the changes in the CDC’s
list of causes of death.
“The risk of homicide declines with age,
and the risk of death by disease increases,”
Fox said.
January 11, 2012 The Seattle Skanner page 3