The essays, analyses and opinions presented as Community Voices express the perspectives of their authors on topics of interest and importance to the community, and are not intended to reflect perspectives on behalf of the Salish Current.
Commentary: It’s time to refocus on what matters most: providing a quality, fully funded education for our children.
Local school board meetings have become impromptu battlegrounds for the politics of adults in this country. This happens when school board members subtly weave in topics that echo those being debated on the national stage.
Today school boards have become like the proxy wars of the 20th-century Cold War era. At the time, the United States and the Soviet Union, as the two dominant global powers, would back opposing factions in smaller local conflicts to expand their politics locally. This type of war ultimately subsumed and subverted the interests of the locals themselves and in countries like Vietnam, Afghanistan and Nicaragua caused decades of suffering and instability.
At school board meetings in Whatcom County, local politicians have become embroiled in a proxy battle fueled by the polarized dynamics of our national political system. They have co-opted the democratic process in order to wield power and influence by manipulating smaller demographic groups, like parents and caregivers and sensationalizing highly political concepts like gender identity and participation in school sports.
A politicized school board creates confusion, disruption and conflict in the communities it serves. As a result, parents can no longer focus on ensuring that their children have access to fully funded quality education.
Standardized tests, for lack of a better alternative, are considered the most influential tools that policymakers, including elected officials, can use to shape what happens in local schools and classrooms. These tests are mechanisms for assessing educational outcomes, and for guiding decisions on curriculum, resource allocation and accountability. Although they are far from the best way to understand the capacity of a child, standardized scores are what we use to measure progress of not only the child, but the school districts entrusted with the sacred task of providing education to our youth.
The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction School Report Card provides detailed data on school performance on items such as student demographics, academic achievement, graduation rates, and student growth over time.
In 2017, the state set an ambitious goal: at least 90% of Washington public school students would meet grade-level expectations for the subjects of math, science and English language (EL). However, as of academic 2023–2024, Washington state has failed to meet this goal; only 50% of students met the EL standards, only 42% met science standards and an abysmal 39% met standards for math.
This poor performance is not limited to the state’s urban areas: neither the Bellingham nor Lynden school districts fare much better than the state average, and both fail to meet expectations in all three subject areas. In Lynden, 51% met EL standards, 35% met in math and 46% of students met in science. In Bellingham, 51% met EL standards, 41% met in math and 48% of students met in science. We owe our children better.
It’s time to refocus on what matters most: providing a quality, fully-funded education for our children. Recent school board conflicts only distract from supporting children in reaching their full academic potential. In 2023–2024, less than half of Washington students met their grade-level expectations in key subjects. We must demand accountability and ensure that school board resources are directed toward improving education, not political jockeying.
Our children’s future depends on it — let’s prioritize them.
— By Leah Wainman
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