November revenue forecast down $760 million

Governor says all options to balance budget on table

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —Nov. 19, 2009

OLYMPIA – The November revenue forecast for Washington state government shows projected General Fund revenue down $760 million for the remainder of this biennium, which ends June 30, 2011. The figure was released today by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.

Read the full news release here.

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Call it "Arne Duncan Unplugged," an unscripted Monday afternoon exchange at QuEST between the U.S. education secretary and AFT members on the issues that matter most to education's frontline. The July 13 session began with a drum roll: AFT members' handwritten questions for the education secretary were collected in advance and placed inside an onstage sweepstakes drum. After a few turns, AFT president Randi Weingarten reached in and selected a handful at random, and Duncan took the stage to provide some answers.

Highlights from the recently concluded 2009 AFT QuEST conference in Washington, D.C., included AFT president Randi Weingarten's keynote address, a town hall meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, a panel on community schools and remarks from U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Daily updates from the conference, as well as video highlights, can be found on the AFT's QuEST 2009 Web site.

An analysis of the most recent 10 years of national data presents a troubling picture of disinvestment in the higher education teaching profession-notably, a reduction in the proportion of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, and an increased reliance on employing "contingent" faculty and instructors such as part-time faculty, full-time nontenure track faculty and graduate employees.

Inside Higher Ed's Quick Takes
Margaret West has taught part-time for 21 years at Edmonds Community College, in Washington State, gaining good reviews and annual contract renewals. The FACE blog -- part of the Faculty and College Excellence Campaign to get more tenure-track faculty slots and improve the treatment of adjuncts - reported that West was told recently that her services would no longer be needed and that a dean, asked why, told her "because I can." (read more)

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by Christine Frey, P-I Reporter
March 15, 2007

Dolores Mirabella has taught at Seattle Community Colleges for more than two decades. She enjoys working with her students -- many of them adults some of them recent immigrants -- and is heartened by those who overcome personal challenges and turn their lives around. [read the full article]

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