Why I Support I-1351

Why I Support I-1351
Ken Mortland – Kirkland

I support I-1351 for three reasons. First of all, I subscribe to the concept of “critical mass” in the classroom setting. If you’ve ever seen a demonstration of a chain reaction, using ping pong balls and mouse traps, you know what critical mass is. It’s the point at which a chain reaction of splitting atoms becomes unavoidable. If you think of each student as a molecule of fissionable material, you must acknowledge that there’s a threshold beyond which you should not go in packing kids into classrooms. The higher the student to teacher ratio, the greater is the “critical mass” of the classroom and the more energy the instructor must expend on simple classroom management (crowd control) protocols, as opposed to pedagogical (teaching) protocols, in order to avoid critical mass.

Also, over the last forty years the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled twice that the state is not “adequately funding basic education”, which is the legislature’s “paramount duty.” Passage of I-1351 would go a long way toward remedying that problem.

Finally, in its testimony during the original McCleary trial, the state promised the court it would execute the provisions of ESHB2261 and that its failure to complete that act should not be labeled “unconstitutional”. The Superior (trial) Court did not buy that argument and neither did the Supreme Court. I-1351 contains recommendations that came from the Quality Education Council (QEC), which was created by ESHB2261. So, I-1351 would put into statute the promises made by the legislature in court and the recommendations of the committee the Legislature created for that purpose.

The price tag for I-1351 is, indeed, quite large. We have allowed this problem to grow for more than two decades, so we should not be surprised that the price tag has become large. But, the court has said that “insufficient funds” is not an excuse and ordered the funding to begin. I-1351 is step two of that process.

Support I-1351.

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By way of full disclosure, Mortland is a retired classroom teacher, having taught for the Northshore School District for 37 years. He’s held local and state education association offices and is a charter member of the NEA Republican Leaders Conference. Mortland is also a life long Republican and a 25 year veteran of the Mainstream Republicans of Washington Board.