Washington state has once again tumbled in national education rankings, sliding from 27th to 31st in the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count report. A little over a decade ago, the state ranked 20th. But under decades of unchallenged Democratic control and Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s leadership, mediocrity is now the norm.

Seventy percent of Washington eighth graders are not proficient in math, and 68% of fourth graders can’t read at grade level. These embarrassing numbers persist even as the state continues dumping record amounts of taxpayer dollars into the system.

Of course, the usual suspects at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction are quick with excuses: it’s the pandemic’s fault, the rankings aren’t fair, and what we really need is… more money. They’re already eyeing Democrats’ new “Millionaires Tax” to pour even more cash into early learning — starting in 2029, of course, assuming it survives voter backlash.

This is the same broken pattern we see across Democrat-run states: shower the teachers’ unions and education bureaucracy with billions, demand zero real accountability or reform, then act shocked when proficiency rates stay in the toilet. No consequences for failure. No school choice. No focus on actual results. Just endless excuses and bigger budgets.

Washington families deserve better than this expensive, union-protected failure factory. Until Democrats are willing to tie funding to outcomes and break the monopoly, the state’s kids will keep falling further behind. Read more at the Washington State Standard.

Democrats in Pierce County are pulling out all the stops to strip voters of their right to elect their own sheriff.

The left-leaning Charter Review Commission — stacked with 12 members endorsed by the activist group Indivisible — is pushing hard to turn the elected sheriff position into one appointed by the Democrat county executive. This power grab comes alongside a new Democrat-passed decertification law clearly aimed at ousting current Sheriff Keith Swank.

When residents showed up Wednesday ready to defend their voting rights, the commission conveniently canceled the meeting over a missed posting deadline. They then rescheduled it for 9 a.m. on a Saturday — a deliberate attempt to discourage public turnout.

Former Washington Republican Party Chairman and commission member Caleb Heimlich called out the gamesmanship, noting this fits a broader pattern of proposals designed to concentrate more power in Democrat hands — from making it easier to raise taxes to killing ranked choice voting and other schemes.

This isn’t about “good governance.” It’s about Democrats hating accountability and trying to insulate themselves from voters who might elect someone like Sheriff Swank who doesn’t toe the progressive line.

Fortunately, the proposal is only two votes away from being killed in committee. If it makes it to the ballot, Pierce County voters will have the final say in November. But the fact that Democrats are working so hard to take away this basic democratic right speaks volumes about their contempt for actual democracy. Read more at Seattle Red.

Washington public employees are routinely kept in the dark about their rights under the landmark 2018 Janus v. AFSCMESupreme Court decision, which made union membership and dues completely voluntary. Many workers still don’t realize they can’t be forced to pay hundreds or even over $1,000 a year in dues as a condition of employment.

Why the secrecy? Because government employers — overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats — don’t bother informing workers, and unions have zero interest in telling them they have a choice. Instead, dues are automatically deducted through payroll, with unions providing the paperwork and one-sided sales pitches.

The Washington Policy Center had to step in and create a simple, neutral one-page resource because the state refuses to do it. No balanced information from the Department of Labor & Industries. No reminders during onboarding. Just the usual union pressure and government silence.

This is classic big-government, big-labor collusion under decades of Democratic rule in Washington: keep the mandatory money flowing to your political allies while pretending it’s all voluntary. Workers deserve transparency and real freedom of association, not to be treated as automatic cash cows for the progressive agenda.

Public employees should know their rights — and more of them clearly should exercise the right to opt out. See more at the Washington Policy Center.

As Shift WA readers know, on June 5, Governor Bob Ferguson’s Office of Financial Management warned state agencies to brace for “the most challenging budget any of us has yet faced.” Ferguson himself shared the letter, framing the shortfall as the result of inflation, federal cuts, population growth, and other things that supposedly “happened to” the state.

The Washington Policy Center’s Ryan Frost rightly calls out the spin in a new op-ed. The real problem is decades of reckless Democratic spending under one-party rule. While population and inflation would have justified only about a 60% budget increase since 2013, actual spending has exploded 139% to $80.2 billion — an extra $26 billion this biennium alone beyond what responsible growth would allow.

New taxes, including the upcoming “Millionaires Tax,” won’t save them. The income tax revenue doesn’t even start until 2029, much of it is already spent, and it faces legal and voter challenges. Yet Olympia’s solution remains the same: spend first, tax later, and repeat.

This is the predictable result of progressive governance in Washington — massive new programs, no spending restraint, and endless excuses. Until Democrats confront their addiction to ever-growing government, these manufactured crises will only get worse. Read more at the Nisqually Valley News.