PLANK NINE:
SPEND MONEY AS THOUGH IT WERE YOUR OWN

"The worst, the hardest, the most disagreeable thing that you may have to do may be the only thing that counts most, because it is the hard discipline, and it alone, that makes possible the highest efficiency."

ELIHU ROOT
AMERICAN LAWYER AND STATESMAN
NOBEL PRIZE FOR PEACE IN 1912

In more than a few ways, this is where the rubber meets the road. Before we invest a few billion dollars more each year to try to improve our public schools, I believe we first need to start by assiduously looking at every dollar we currently spend and decide if it is absolutely necessary. Then, for those line items that we feel cannot be cut or eliminated, we need to determine if there is a more effective and/or efficient way to achieve those respective goals and objectives.

We must disentangle existing public education

funding so more resources go to carrying out each school's core mission: educating children. Directing more of the public education budget to the core mission means that class sizes can be decreased, teaching and counseling resources can be devoted to students, and more administrative flexibility can improve learning outcomes. Freeing up existing education funding means taking a cold, hard look at each line item in the education budget. How careful are school administrators when spending existing taxpayer dollars? Have they eliminated activities that do not advance their core mission? Have they taken advantage of contracting out to secure for schools the best products and services at the best price? Contracting out non-essential services allows schools to get the best from firms whose very existence requires they be the most efficient providers of their respective product or service.

Of the $9 billion spent on K-12 education in Washington state, only a small fraction finds its way to the classroom. Along the way from the state capitol in Olympia to the