But it’s tough to dispute the numbers she presents. Research from Roza’s Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University shows this state has spent more on education in recent years than many others, while watching student scores fall precipitously.
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Watch school finance expert Marguerite Roza’s presentation on the state of Washington state’s financing and student outcomes here.
To be fair, test results are not the only indicators of learning; any kid can have a bad day. But when an entire state is trending downward on tests — and there is a vast gap between students’ scores and their grades — it’s also fair to raise questions. Something is definitely not lining up.
Consider the gulf between eighth graders’ rising GPAs and their plummeting results on national math exams. While middle schoolers’ classroom grades improved to an average of 2.7 between 2013 and 2022 — the equivalent of a C+ — passing rates on the National Assessment of Educational Progress took a dive, dropping Washington from 12th in the country to 25th last year.
