OLYMPIA – State Rep. Marcie Maxwell (D-Renton) will serve on the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Education Accountability, a new body tasked with examining ways to boost school accountability across Washington in order to improve student success.
“We’re interested in real, substantive changes that will deliver results for students,” Maxwell said. “Some schools consistently underperform, and this committee will examine the best ways to improve our system so those struggling schools can turn around. I’m excited to be part of this effort.”
The committee is the result of Senate Bill 6696, passed during the 2010 Legislative Session. Designed to increase Washington’s competitiveness in the federal Race to the Top education grant program, the bill represents a significant step forward in improving school accountability. It ushers in a new four-level evaluation system for teachers and principals, expands opportunities to recruit and prepare talented new teachers, and outlines new strategies for turning around schools that persistently underperform.
The committee will be comprised of eight members: two from each of the two largest caucuses in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. It will begin work in mid-2012, and a final report with recommendations is due by Sept. 1, 2013.
A leading figure on education policy in the House, Maxwell is the Vice Chair of the Education Committee and also serves on the Education Appropriations Committee, which advises on education funding matters for K-12, early learning, and higher education. She is also appointed to the Quality Education Council (QEC) to oversee implementation of basic education reform and funding legislation.
Before her election to the House of Representatives in 2008, Maxwell was elected to two terms as a Renton School Board Director and also served as the King County School Boards’ Legislative Representative to the Washington State School Directors Association.
Maxwell represents the 41st Legislative District, which includes Bellevue, Beaux Arts, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Newcastle and Renton. In addition to her education committee assignments, she is the Vice Chair of the Community and Economic Development and Trade Committee and also serves on the Capital Budget Committee.