Alongside all of you, we have been watching the budgets shrink and the resources dwindle, much past the point of being painful.  Looking back on my last year’s worth of Education Connection articles, they have all revolved around the progressively worsening state of funding for education.  What is surprising and hopeful in this dark time, is the large number of awards and honors that our schools are receiving in these tough times.  When the state of school budgets and core funding is at its worst, the staff and students in our schools are making us proud.

Take, for example, the 2011 Washington School of Distinction award winners.  The School of Distinction Award is representative of five years of steady improvement in reading and math... Read this article