Education funding decisions can have long-term consequences

Big headlines announce one in 12 Spokane teachers may lose their jobs.

Those who follow my column may remember last fall when the Legislature poured money into K-12 education statewide, I said it would do little, if anything, to improve classroom education. As predicted, the first in line to grab the money was the teachers’ union.

I blamed the State Supreme Court for mucking around in areas beyond their expertise. I blamed the Legislature, recently unconstrained by a conservative majority in either house, for pouring money with neither plan nor accountability. Foremost, I blamed the teachers’...