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Randy Dorn defeats Bergeson for Washington schools post

Since the winner campaigned
on the platform of getting rid of the WASL, we
can hope that this is good news.

Randy Dorn, who said only 2 percent of voters
recognized his name six months ago, defeated
three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson in a race
to be Washington's's top school official.


By Linda Shaw

Randy Dorn plans to ditch the WASL.
Randy Dorn, who said only 2 percent of voters
recognized his name six months ago, defeated
three-term incumbent Terry Bergeson in a race
to be the state's top school official.

Bergeson, who held the job for a dozen years,
wanted one last term as Superintendent of
Public Instruction to make sure the reforms
she's championed will last, including a test
called the Washington Assessment of Student
Learning.

But the voters decided to go with someone new —
someone who said he'd work to ditch the WASL, a
test he says is too long and too expensive.

"A lot of people did not give me a chance
because I was running against a three-term
incumbent," Dorn said. "I just believe people
were looking for a change."

His first order of business: a comprehensive
review of the WASL.

Two other state races were decided Thursday.
Democrat Peter Goldmark declared victory in the
state lands-commissioner race over two-term
Republican incumbent Doug Sutherland, and
Democrat Jim McIntire defeated Republican Allan
Martin for state treasurer, which was an open
seat.

Bergeson initially thought the results in her
race wouldn't be clear until Friday, but she
conceded Thursday afternoon when Dorn's lead
widened. She pledged to help Dorn as he moves
into the job, then figure out her next step,
which she said will involve schools.

"I'll never be done with education," she said.

Both Dorn and Bergeson started their careers as
small-town teachers. Dorn also has worked as a
high-school principal, a state legislator and,
most recently, as executive director of Public
School Employees of Washington, which
represents teacher's aides, bus drivers and
other school employees. In the Legislature, he
helped write a sweeping education bill, passed
in 1993, that called for new learning standards
and a test to measure whether students reach
them.

Some say Dorn won't be a big change from
Bergeson, since they both believe that the
state should have an exam to judge what
students are learning and that students should
have to pass a high-school version of that test
to graduate.

Some questioned whether Dorn won because so
much money was spent on his behalf during the
campaign — especially $400,000 from the Service
Employees International Union. SEIU is the
parent union for Public School Employees of
Washington.

"The money clearly made a difference," said
Stephen Mullin, president of the Washington
Roundtable, a business group.


Others, however, interpret the vote as a
mandate for change.

The results reflect dissatisfaction with
Bergeson's performance, said Mary Lindquist,
president of the Washington Education
Association, the teachers union Bergeson once
led.

"Under Dr. Bergeson's leadership, there's been
way too much emphasis on high-stakes testing
and far too little leadership to address the
real problem of the underfunding of our
schools," Lindquist said.

Mullin, of the Roundtable, supported Bergeson
but said Thursday that he has known Dorn a long
time and doesn't expect any problems working
with him.

The Roundtable, he said, looks forward to learn
more about Dorn's plans for the WASL.

But Mullin also noted that the state
superintendent does not have the power to
switch tests, or make many big decisions
without approval from the state Legislature and
the governor.

"He'll be in there lobbying with everybody
else," he said.

Bergeson supporters thanked her for what she's
done in the past 12 years.

"Nobody has worked harder for kids or schools,"
said Lisa Macfarlane of the League of Education
Voters. The League didn't endorse either
candidate, but Macfarlane personally supported
Bergeson.

Bergeson knew it would be a tough road to get
to a fourth term, Macfarlane said, "but she
doesn't walk away from a good fight, and she
had one."


— Linda Shaw
Seattle Times
2008-11-07


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