Saying public education is broken is a vast overstatement, Teacher of the Year says

Claims that the Washington state public education system is broken are demonstrably false, the state’s 2018 Teacher of the Year told Seattle’s Morning News.

Mandy Manning, a Spokane teacher, says the phrase “failing public schools” came into play around the time she was graduating high school — in the mid-’90s.

“Everyone jumped on the bandwagon [after that],” she said.

In recent years, that rhetoric has become worse. Teachers and supporters have argued they are working with fewer and fewer resources as they work more hours for the same pay. Others say teachers are paid enough and, in some cases, overpaid.

In 2007, a lawsuit was filed that argued the state wasn’t doing enough to support education. It led to a 2012 ruling that the state wasn’t providing equitable or adequate funding for public education. Lawmakers since struggled to meet the requirements set by state Supreme Court justices.

After three special sessions during the 2017 legislative session, state lawmakers announced they believed they had finally come up with an education budget that satisfies a Supreme Court order. State attorneys argued this should bring the 2012 order that says the state is failing to fully fund basic education to a close.

A hearing is expected in late October.

Around the same time, court justices were arguing that lawmakers weren’t doing enough for public education, voters narrowly approved a charter-school initiative that gave students an alternative to public school. Parents who supported charter schools argued for a system that was more flexible.

Though Manning says things could be better within the public education system with more support, teachers are “not broken.”

Listen to the entire interview here.