Education

In 2010, Washington ranked 14^th in the country in the percent of the population 25 and older who have completed high school (89.8 percent), 11^th in the percent who have a bachelor's degree (31.1 percent), and 13^th in the percent who have an advanced degree (11.1 percent). Washington ranked 20^th in 2009 in the number of science and engineering doctorates awarded (544), but it ranked 7^th in the percent of the workforce with doctorates in 2008 (0.54 percent).

Washington was 19^th among the states in terms of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2011. Washington was 30^th in public school spending per pupil in 2009-10 ($10,975).

State Auditor: K-12 Education Spending (2012)

Senate Ways and Means Committee: A Citizen's Guide to Washington State K-12 Finance (2012)

Partnership for Learning initiative: Student-Based Budgeting (2011)

Recent WRC policy briefs:

Comparative Analysis of School Funding (2013)

Initiative 1240: Improving Education Options with Charter Schools (2012)

Repealing I-728, Grading Teachers, and Other 2012 Education Reforms (2012)

Class Sizes Up, Compensation Down for Public Schools (2011)

Higher Education: State Funding Down, Tuition Up (2011)

Recent WRC blog posts:

STEM education increases opportunity, drives economy (3/22/13)

New poll shows teachers and voters agree on need for performance data and better education outcomes (2/26/13)