We Can’t Trust our Children’s Education to Dino Rossi
Dino Rossi Left No Education Cut Behind when he Left the State Senate in 2003
Dino Rossi cut K-12 education and special education, even while he found tax breaks for big business and extra cash for charter schools. Dino Rossi raised tuition and forced students and families to pay more for higher education. Republican Dino Rossi is out-of-touch with Washington’s educational priorities.
Dino Rossi Cut K-12 Education
Rossi Ignored Voter-Approved Initiatives to Increase Teacher Pay and Reduce Class Size. In 2003, the Associated Press reported that Rossi cut $700 million in money that was to pay for smaller class sizes under I-728 and cost-of-living increases for teachers under I-731. Despite voters’ clear instructions, Rossi argued that failure to fund these initiatives was not a cut. [“Overriding initiatives,” Associated Press, 6/21/03]
- Rossi “said he doesn’t like to hear groups complain that funding for their programs or benefits are being ‘cut’ if the state spends the same amount of money in the next budget as it’s spending in the current budget.” Rossi’s cuts equaled $230 per child. [“Where budget shortfall comes from,” The News Tribune, 1/12/03; Proposed Senate 2003-05 Operating Budget Highlights, 4/2/03, p.8, 14]
Rossi Voted Against Increased Lottery Revenues for Schools. In 2002, Rossi voted against a bill that authorized the Washington Lottery to join a multistate game with other state lotteries. The entry into a multistate game was expected to bring in $25 million per year, most of it from out-of-state, for school construction and renovation. The bill would have increased revenues for schools without raising taxes. [E2SSB 6560, 3/7/02; “Legislature: Clark County Priorities Still Alive in Olympia,” The Columbian, 2/9/02]
Rossi Consistently Opposed Funding for Schools, Teachers and Kids. In 1999, Rossi opposed Governor Locke’s operating budget (SB 5180) that dedicated nearly $1 billion in new funding for education. In 2000 (HB 2487), he opposed a supplemental budget that increased funding for school construction by $2 billion over five years. In 2001, he voted against over $800 million in new funding for class size reduction, teacher pay raises, violence prevention and other educational programs.
Dino Rossi Cut Special Education Funding
Rossi Cut $14.4 Million from Special Education. In 2003, as he continued to balance his budget on the backs of our most vulnerable children, Rossi cut $14.4 million from special education programs. [Proposed Senate 2003-05 Operating Budget Highlights, 4/2/03, p.14]
Dino Rossi is Out-of-Touch with Washington’s Education Priorities
Public Schools Aren’t Good Enough for Rossi’s Kids. “Rossi, noting that his kids have been in public and Catholic schools, and home-schooled, said he favors charters.” [Rossi, Gregoire clash over stem cell proposal, governor debate,” Seattle Times, 10/14/04]
While Cutting Funds From Public Schools, Rossi Supported Charter Schools. In 2003, when Rossi cut nearly $1 billion from the state’s constitutionally paramount duty of providing a basic education, he added $1.7 million to fund charter schools. In 1999 he sponsored a charter schools bill (SB 5663), and in 2003 he voted in favor of the charter schools bill (ESSB 5012) that was later overwhelmingly rejected by voters as referendum 55.
- Rossi “can only talk about one issue: charter schools.” [“Education and the Washington race for governor,” Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho) 7/6/04]
Rossi Flip-Flops on Testing and Performance Standards. In 1999, Rossi voted against, and then for, SB 5418, the education reform package that included programs to improve accountability. He also voted against, and then for, and then against SB 5593 on professional standards for teachers. In 2000, he voted against HB 2760 to require basic skills tests for new teachers. In 2001, he voted against, and then for, SB 5625 to adopt school district accountability standards.
- Rossi “said he would be open to tweaking the Washington Assessment of Student Learning tests but not to lowering testing standards.” He then “stressed achievement and accountability before money for schools.” [“Rossi’s agenda focuses on state economy,” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/17/04; “Rossi, Gregoire clash in only Eastern Washington debate,” Associated Press, 10/13/04]
Rossi Wants Struggling Schools to Keep Struggling. Rossi said that the state is largely handcuffed when it comes to distributing school dollars, with money handed out on the basis of complex staffing ratios. "’It has nothing to do with whether they (students) are actually learning,’ he said. He said Washington must change so that state money rewards academic performance and results.” [“Governor,” Spokesman Review, 10/26/04]
Rossi Thinks Flags Are More Important Than Funding. Instead of focusing on the state’s primary constitutional duty of providing a basic education, Rossi sponsored a bill to require school bus drivers to display an American flag on the bus antenna. [SB 6389 (2002)]
Rossi Supports Teaching Creationism in Public Schools. “In 1992, Republican Dino Rossi told the Bellevue Journal American that he supported the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public schools. When asked if the quote accurately reflected Rossi’s views at the time, spokesperson Lane says, ‘if it’s in there, it’s in there. Let it stand.’ Pressed to explain Rossi’s current view on creationism, Lane says, ‘it’s nothing I’ve ever heard him talk about in recent years.” Later, seeking to distance himself from his out-of-touch creationist platform, Rossi claimed to have no recollection of taking such a position. [“Far-Righteous Rossi,” Seattle Weekly, 10/13/04; “Message Shifts to the Middle,” Seattle Times, 10/24/04]
Dino Rossi Wants Students to Pay More for Higher Education
Rossi Consistently Opposed Funding for Students, Colleges and Universities. In 1999, Rossi opposed the operating budget which included a $282 million increase in higher education funding, including $29 million in need-based and merit-based scholarships. In 2001, Rossi opposed a $31 million increase in funding for higher education, scholarships and work-study grants.
Rossi Forces Students to Pay More for School. In 2003, Rossi cut nearly $167 million from colleges and universities, and advised them to let fewer students in. Rossi did allow colleges and universities to offset the cuts by increasing the tuition burden on students and families, authorizing a tuition increase by as much as seven percent. [Proposed Senate 2003-05 operating budget highlights, 4/2/03, p.20; “$23 billion budget approved by Senate,” Seattle Times, 6/5/03]
Rossi Ignored Voter-Approved Initiatives to Increase Teacher Pay. In 2003, Rossi cut nearly $17 million in voter-approved salary increases for community college teachers. [Proposed Senate 2003-05 Operating Budget Highlights, 4/2/03, p.18]
Rossi Wants More State Control Over Colleges and Universities. “’What we hear from the higher ed people is that hey want more money and more autonomy – more money and don’t tell us how to spend that,’ said Senate budget writer Dino Rossi, R-Sammamish. ‘It should concern most taxpayers. There should be some oversight – unless they’re planning to be private colleges.’” [“$23 billion budget approved by Senate,” Seattle Times, 6/5/03]