Editor,
In a previous letter, Ms. Vincent claims, without giving reference to sources, essentially, “red states bad, blue states not as bad.” As someone familiar with the science of process improvement, I prefer “good” and “better.” But let’s look at a couple of metrics she ignores.
COVID: The most dangerous place to be in the U.S. during COVID was in an assisted-living center … in a blue state with a Democrat governor. By about March of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control was reporting half of all US COVID mortalities were occurring in “assisted living” centers, and over half of those were in three Democrat-controlled states.
Further, it was the edicts of the Democrat governors of those states that were, arguably, the direct cause of those deaths. That is perhaps why governors and legislators moved to grant immunity to the LTC’s, to shield themselves from civil litigation if not criminal prosecution. (ABA: “States Move to Shield LTC Facilities from Civil Liability,” July 22, 2020.)
Education: We don’t need to go outside the borders of our own state. But, nationally, about 64% of the U.S. population, 16-64, is math illiterate; in Washington, “only” about 54% is math illiterate. Ironically, in Washington, students who did not complete high school did better by about 13% than those who only graduated high school. (NCES — PIAAC 2016-17.)
Focusing on Washington K-12, on our best year, we had a 60% failure rate in getting students to a minimum level of proficiency. Post-COVID, that failure rate is holding at 70%. For Tenino, where Ms. Vincent resides, those numbers are 70% pre- and 83% post-COVID failure. (OSPI “Report Card”) Why?
Washington’s public K-12 is a “closed system” controlled by a union, which is regulated by members of other unions that vote, overwhelmingly, Democrat. In fact, virtually every facet of public K-12 and state government is union controlled.
First hand from a union organizer: “(U.S.) Unions are there to support their members. They are not there to support the quality of the service provided or the product produced.” This is evidenced by how the Democrats and unions responded to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate.
In 2014, under Democrat/union control, Washington state lost NCLB funding because it refused to pass legislation requiring that even *part* of a teacher’s evaluation be based on student performance. Instead, Washington union/Democrats mandated teacher’s salary be based on the certifications the teacher obtained, their tenure and regional factors making Washington teachers “on average, among the highest-paid teachers in the country.” Student performance was not and remains absolutely not a factor. (educationvoters.org). See also OSPI’s 2023-25 Budget Decision Package … just don’t eat before you read it. (https://ospi.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/2023-08/p13-retaining-highly-effective-staff-through-equitable-and-competitive-educator-compensation-model.pdf).
It may all just be coincidence the state Attorney General’s office organized under Bob Ferguson’s tenure, or that Bob did not bring action against the illegal strikes conducted by the teacher’s unions, or that Bob is endorsed by virtually every union in Washington state, but it also might not.
For quality, integrity and accountability, don’t vote Democrat!
M. Douglas Martin
Thurston County
