Realpolitiks Bellevue

Taxing food is one of those third-rail issues that politicians rarely want to touch.

But in a time when lawmakers have tread through the hazardous realm of health-care reform, government bailouts, and raising taxes to fill massive deficits, why not go there?

That’s what the state legislature did this year.

During their last session, lawmakers implemented a business and occupation tax on certain food processors, such as those who make canned meat, frozen vegetables, dehydrated fruit, and pancake mix.

They also implemented a new excise tax on soda, and lifted the sales-tax exemptions on candy and bottled water.

Most of the early discussion about these “new revenue sources” centered on the “candy and soda taxes.” Proponents described them as “sin taxes,” because they dealt with luxury items that can cause obesity and other health risks.

Meanwhile, few people mentioned the phrase “food and beverages.” At least not until a powerful D.C. lobbying group got involved.

The American Beverage Association this year bankrolled an effort to put Initiative 1107 on Washington ballots for the November election. That measure would eliminate all the new taxes on food manufacturing, candy, soda, and bottled water.

The campaign calls itself “Yes on I-1107 – Stop the Food & Beverage Tax Hikes.” Notice how the word “food” crept into the debate.

That leads to the question of what we’re really dealing with here. Does Washington tax foods or not?

The argument can go either way, depending on who frames the issue.

Technically, the business and occupation taxes apply to food manufacturing, not food itself.

Complicating matters even more is the way legislators and lawyers have poured over lists of ingredients and preparation methods to determine what qualifies as food.

There is a simpler method. Food is something you put in your mouth and swallow to your stomach, whether the goal is to satisfy hunger, stop a sugar craving, or fulfill some kind of emotional need.

Those who want to argue nutrition should ask Uruguay’s 1972 rugby team about surviving on chocolate bars and toothpaste – among other things – while stranded in the Andes after a plane crash.

It’s easy to get lost in semantics, but what’s really important is the fact that lawmakers had to close a $3 billion budget deficit last session.

There were three options: cut programs, tax more, or try a little of both.

Legislators ultimately chose the latter, and voters will decide in November whether they found the right balance.

Rep. Ross Hunter, a Democrat from Medina, stands by his vote for the taxes. He says it was a choice between trimming the social safety net and asking for more money – although he initially opposed the beverage tax.

“We made what I think was a rational decision during the session,” he said. “We would have lost over $60 million in the budget for college aid and for single parents trying to go to work.”

Yes on I-1107 claims the taxes will raise $300 million over the next three years, but there’s no telling what programs that money will support. The funds are not restricted, so they could pay for the Seattle viaduct just a soon as college aid.

Republican Diane Tebelius, who is challenging Hunter in the general election, says the legislature should have focused more on cost cutting rather than new revenue sources.

“Raising taxes when they cannot reform the budget is the wrong way to go for Washington,” she said. “We’re going to look like California pretty soon.”

Something says Tebelius isn’t talking about sunshine and warmer weather.

Sen. Rodney Tom, who helped create the budget and then voted against it, says he supports the new taxes. The Medina Democrat even goes so far as to call them fiscally conservative.

“If you believe in fiscal restraint, then we need to get a handle on health care costs,” he said. “We’ve got to tackle issues like smoking and obesity, and this is a way to do that.”

The Yes on I-1107 campaign sees things differently.

“It’s a regressive tax, because the products involved are food products that are more likely to be purchased by lower income citizens,” said Kathryn Stenger, a spokeswoman for the group.

Stenger also says the tax on food manufacturing puts Washington processors at a competitive disadvantage, because their products can be made cheaper in another state.

For the record, both Hunter and Tom claim that legislators did not create a food tax, but merely fixed an old exemption that was meant to help a few struggling food processors during the Mad Cow scare. They say a court decision muddled things and ended up making too many manufacturers exempt.

“I think what legislators did was restore the law to the interpretation it had for decades,” Hunter said. “If people want to use that to pretend it’s a food tax, go ahead.”

The beverage lobby is doing its best to portray things that way. They know how unpopular food taxes can be.

And why exactly is that? Maybe because taxpayers want the necessities to be off-limits.

Then again, most states are willing to tax wages, and we need those earnings to survive.

Washington is a holdout – one of nine states without an income tax. At least that’s the case for now. Initiative 1098 would allow an income tax on “high-income earners.”

I only wish that one applied to me.

Results from Tuesday’s top-two primary showed little in the way of an anti-establishment mood among Eastsiders, as all but one incumbent from the region was in first place at the Reporter deadline Wednesday.

However, the election did come with slight signs for concern, particularly in the federal races.

Neither of the incumbents in those contests took 50 percent of the vote, and that is generally an indication of voter discontent.

Republican Congressman Dave Reichert managed only 47 percent of the vote in his 8th Congressional District race, while Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, pulled in just 46 percent.

Reichert can take some comfort in the fact that he led Democratic challenger Suzan DelBene, the second-place winner, by a 20-percent margin.

Murray, on the other hand, led Republican Dino Rossi by 12 percent.

Both of those races were crowded with challengers from the non-incumbent party.

Rossi took second place in the U.S. Senate primary with 34 percent of the vote, besting Sarah Palin-backed Republican Clint Didier, who had just 12 percent.

Only one incumbent in the state legislative races, Democratic state senator Randy Gordon of Bellevue and the 41st Legislative District, failed to take the lead by Wednesday.

Gordon trailed Republican challenger Steve Litzow 50.38 percent to 49.62 percent – a difference of 188 votes – at the Reporter deadline.

Rep. Ross Hunter, a Medina Democrat from the 48th Legislative District, led Republican challenger Diane Tebelius 55 percent to 45 percent.

Sen. Rodney Tom, a one-time Republican turned Democrat from Medina and the 48th Legislative District, led GOP challenger Gregg Bennett 52 percent to 48 percent.

Democrat Deb Eddy, a representative from Kirkland and the 48th Legislative District, led Republican Philip Wilson 54 percent to 46 percent.

Holding the most comfortable lead on Wednesday was Rep. Judy Clibborn, who held a 17-percent advantage over Republican Stephen Strader.

Campaign signs are cropping up all over Bellevue – and disappearing in many cases – as election time nears.

The signs may seem ubiquitous, but there are actually rules restricting where they can be, and for how long, on public or private property.

Campaign signs are allowed on city rights-of-way with certain restrictions, but they are prohibited on state-highway property.

The Washington Department of Transportation has a few clues to help distinguish the boundaries for state rights-of-way, since they’re not always marked.

For instance, utility poles can make for good delineators, since they generally exist just outside of state property. A safe bet is to consider the area between highways and utility polls off limits, according to WSDOT.

Fence lines also serve as a separator between right-of-way and private property.

Temporary political signs are allowed on private property that is visible from state highways, but the following rules apply: the signs must comply with Washington Administrative Code, they can’t be larger than 32 square feet in area, and they must come down within 10 days of an election.

Bellevue code requires signs to be removed sooner, within one week of an election. The city sends out three reminder letters to campaign organizations leading up to election day.

Political signs are not allowed on utility poles, nor on public buildings or structures in Bellevue.

Signs are allowed on city rights-of-way, so long as they do not obstruct traffic or create a hazard. Their size must be limited to 4 square feet and 5 feet in height.

Responsibility for removing signs rests with campaign officers.

Political signs on private property cannot be larger than 32 square feet, and the total of all signs on a given piece of private land cannot exceed 64 square feet.

The penalty for violating sign rules in Bellevue is $100 per sign. The city handed out 34 citations in 2008, but there have been only four so far this year.

The most common complaints about campaign signs are related to clutter and lines of sight in the rights of way, according Bellevue assistant development director Joe Guinasso.

Knowing the guidelines for sign placement is only half the concern for most campaigns. Sign theft is widespread during the thick of an election cycle, and it causes more distress for some than others.

State senator Rodney Tom of Medina said he’s accustomed to losing around 75 percent of his signs during a campaign.

“They disappear,” he said. “It’s kind of like socks in the dryer.”

Tom’s opponent, political newcomer Gregg Bennett, is not so familiar with the game. He said he felt frustrated and helpless after losing around 100 signs in one night, followed by an incident in which he caught a man in the act of systematically stealing more.

Campaign signs generally cost around $4 apiece.

A police report shows that Bellevue resident Doug Stock took Bennett’s signs and later returned them to police following an investigation.

Bennett called Tom and left a message suggesting that the incumbent senator had encouraged the thefts. He also threatened to have a team of his teenage supporters retaliate with some sign removals of their own.

Tom denies that he had anything to do with the thefts.

“This is my fourth election,” he said. “I have always told every campaign worker that you never touch an opponent’s signs.”

Bennett explained his phone message to The Reporter, saying: “It was an emotional thing. I’d just been notified that a bunch of my signs were stolen, and then I caught some people red-handed. I was upset, and I called (Tom) not knowing what to do.”

Tom said Bennett’s threats indicate a “lack of judgement that shows he does not have the values to be a state senator.”

As for any lingering resentment about the disappearance of his signs, Bennett said he’s ready to move on.

“I want to talk about the issues, not get distracted by this stuff,” he said.

Bennett also issued a statement to his campaign saying: “I need to make sure that I am clear that stealing yard signs is not something we do; it is against the law and it just isn’t ethical.”

State Senate hopeful Gregg Bennett plans to release an outline for fixing the state’s educational system Monday.

The Bellevue Republican, an odds-on favorite to challenge Democratic incumbent Rodney Tom in the 48th District, said he’ll unveil two more plans at later dates – one for spending and the other for jobs and the economy.

Bennett’s eight-page plan, called “Bennett’s Blueprint for Education: A Commitment to Washington’s Students,” calls for full funding of basic education, teacher and student evaluations, a performance-based pay scale for teachers, and increased support for parents who want to send their kids to charter schools.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this release, aside from the plan itself, is Bennett’s willingness to go first and foremost after one of Tom’s strengths.

Tom is a Democrat who sat on the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Commmitte, as well as the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee during his last term. That type of resume brings ready support from groups like the League of Education Voters.

Bennett is an entrepreneur, an investor, and an accountant whose rhetoric typically revolves around overspending. He isn’t steeped in the nuances of education reform.

With that in mind, Bennett may have an easier time attacking Tom’s fiscal record – especially after the senator voted against a budget that he himself helped create as vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

But Bennett is content to wait on that, perhaps for a time when the elections heat up. He says the root of all problems start with education anyway.

Tom stands behind his budget decisions, saying he used his influence to keep spending in check, but didn’t get his way in the end – at least not enough to vote for the final bill.

Bennett’s thoughts on education are, in many respects, standard fare for a conservative. He supports vouchers to promote competition between schools and calls on the state to restructure teacher pay in ways that unions tend to oppose.

“The current system discourages good teachers from staying and encourages marginal teachers to stay,” he said.

Bennett also wants to give local school districts more control over how they run their programs. He says the answer to improving performance comes from the roots up, the way small companies generate new ideas in the business sector.

“We have a large-company culture overseeing our educational system,” he said. “There’s a large bureaucracy in education, and it’s stifling innovation.”

Bennett said he also wants to eliminate the need for local school levies, which wealthier districts often use to make up for inadequate state funding.

That means shifting levy money to the state – although Bennett wants to give districts the freedom to continue collecting levy dollars. Bennett said this should be done incrementally for poor districts that don’t do much collecting.

Finally, Bennett wants to expand the higher-education system and increase the number of K-12 school days from 180 to 200. How the state would find the money for that is anyone’s guess, but it’s likely a budget hawk Republican would come up with something that includes cuts in other areas.

Bennett’s plan will be available on his website Monday, or here right now.

A group of Eastside business and political leaders briefed Sen. Patty Murray on Tuesday about plans to urbanize the Bel-Red corridor, hoping the three-term lawmaker can bring federal dollars to the cause.

The chances are promising with Murray being a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chair of the group’s subcommittee on transportation, housing, and urban development – all of which are major components of the Bel-Red redevelopment plan.

Another D.C. insider who is likely to pull hard for the Bel-Red plan is former King County executive Ron Sims, now serving as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Murray said the Obama administration needs a shovel-ready project to become the national poster child for transit-oriented development and sustainable growth. The Bel-Red plan fits that bill, she said.

“All the ideas people are talking about and thinking about, you’re actually doing it,” Murray told a panel of planners, business leaders, and local-government officials on Tuesday.

Murray is good at finding money for local projects – almost to a fault.

The Seattle Times reported in 2007 that she created $17.65 million in earmarks that forced the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard to buy boats they didn’t ask for and expressly didn’t want. The beneficiary was Edmonds shipbuilder Guardian Marine International.

Murray also doled out $6 million to a Redmond company for battle gear that the Army had already rejected as flawed, the Times report said.

But not all the senator’s earmarks are of the “bridge to nowhere” variety. She pulled in $44 million this year to fix the Howard Hanson Dam, for instance.

If Murray is indeed the “Queen of Pork,” as the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense once named her, it only bodes well for her chances of landing money for the Bel-Red redevelopment.

The city of Bellevue has rezoned the industrial corridor for mixed-use development, and Sound Transit is making plans to run light rail through the area. Planners envision the corridor filling up with mid-rise buildings that include shops, condos, apartments, and offices.

This type of “smart growth” planning aims to fight sprawl by concentrating housing, jobs, and transit development in designated neighborhoods.

The city has already identified $582 million in local investment from public and private sources to support the plan, and it is ready to begin work on new road connections that will bring traffic to and from the area.

First comes the Wilburton Connections projects, which extend NE Fourth and NE Sixth streets from downtown to the emerging Wilburton neighborhood – another part of town that the city has targeted for an urban makeover.

The city also plans to build a new corridor that would stretch NE 16th Street westward to Overlake Hospital, creating extra traffic capacity in the Bel-Red area. The new road would become NE 15th and NE 16th streets.

Plans are already in place for the first mixed-use project along the Bel-Red corridor. Wright Runstad’s Spring District will transform the Safeway distribution plant on 124th Ave. NE – along with surrounding property – into 16 city blocks of mid-rise buildings and parks, with light rail running through the middle.

Wright Runstad president Greg Johnson called Bel-Red Road a “corridor of national significance,” and said a bit of federal investment could go a long way in making the neighborhood transformation successful.

Work on the Spring District could begin as early as 2013 if economic conditions improve, Johnson said.

At around 900 acres, the Bel-Red corridor is one of the largest areas in the nation targeted for transit-oriented development.

“This is a scale where it becomes very meaningful,” said Bellevue transportation director Goran Sparrman.

Bellevue City Council member Grant Degginger had a simple message for the federal government at Tuesday’s briefing: some people are ready to plan, but we’re ready to build.

“As we develop grants for the future, we need to do it in ways that say ‘Let’s not just plan, let’s do some things,’” Degginger told The Reporter.

Murray’s briefing took place at the new Seattle Children’s Hospital on 116th Ave. NE in Bellevue. The facility, which opens July 20, is the first new development to take place along the Bel-Red corridor since the city made plans to transform the area.

Congressman Dave Reichert this month landed appointments with two influential groups – the President’s Export Council and the National Security Solutions Group.

Reichert, who represents Bellevue and Washington’s 8th Congressional District, is one of two Republicans on the export council, which serves as the nation’s principle advisory committee on international trade.

Reichert is a long-time advocate of free trade, and has urged Congress to pass free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.

The National Security Solutions Group is a committee that aims to develop solutions to U.S. national-security challenges. Reichert, a former King County Sheriff who helped nab “Green River Killer” Gary Ridgway, accepted an appointment as vice chairman of the group.

Gregg Bennett, left, listens to supporters at his campaign-launch party

State Senator Rodney Tom talks with construction workers during the signing of the 520 tolling bill in Bellevue

By Joshua Adam Hicks

Gregg Bennett is a political newcomer, and one of many fiscal conservatives gunning for a legislative seat in one of Washington’s swing districts this year.

The Bellevue Republican is off to a fast start in the 48th, ringing hundreds of doorbells, rounding up key GOP endorsements, and raising nearly $160,000 before the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Rodney Tom, could make a real move.

Legislators are prohibited from raising campaign funds until after the legislative session has ended.

Tom, who holds a powerful position as vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, says he won’t make a decision about whether to run until next week at the earliest.

He’ll have a lot to think about in that time. The last session couldn’t have ended better for Bennett, whose success hinges on whether voters want to punish the majority party for the state’s financial woes.

Democratic lawmakers gave the Bennett campaign plenty of ammunition this week, with the Senate narrowly approving a series of tax increases and budget cuts aimed at reducing the state’s $2.8 billion deficit.

Tom voted against both measures, but only after supporting a suspension of I-960 – the rule requiring a two-thirds legislative majority to approve tax increases – and playing a lead role in shaping the budget.

Those mixed messages could haunt him during a potential run in 2010.

“When you’re an instrumental part of the budget process and you don’t vote for your own product, I don’t know what that shows,” Bennett said.

Tom isn’t hiding from his actions in the Senate this year.

“I influenced the budget massively,” he said. “I think I was very successful in tamping down a plan that was too aggressive for raising new revenue.”

Tom said he’s especially proud of convincing Senate lawmakers to drop a proposed sales-tax increase, something he had stood firm against.

The legislature’s final tax measure calls for $757 million in new revenue, whereas the previous talk was about $1 billion.

Democrats, referring to the tax hikes almost exclusively as “new revenue,” say the approved increases were necessary to avoid deeper cuts to state programs.

Republicans contend that the new budget favors state government over private employers and working families.

Conservatives are also wondering what happened to the budget surplus Democrats promised two years ago, when Gov. Christine Gregoire touted certain cuts and said the state would have $800 million in the bank by July 2009.

“We’re on our way to making sure we can handle whatever bad-case or good-case scenario may come along,” Gregoire said during an October 2008 interview with The Reporter.

Things didn’t turn out that way, and Bennett isn’t buying the notion that the recession alone is at fault. He claims Democrats blew the surplus.

“When times were good, we increased spending at a rate that couldn’t be sustained,” he said. “Now we’re here and people are talking about all the cuts. There are no cuts. We’re spending more than the year before.”

Democrats point out that they trimmed $750 million from the budget this year.

Bennett claims all those reductions were cuts in “wanted spending” rather than an actual scaling down of state government.

Even Tom is critical of Democrats for not doing more to cut spending.

“That’s one of the reasons I voted no on the budget,” he said. “We weren’t going far enough with the reform element.”

Both Tom and Bennett claim to be moderates and budget hawks, which is generally the tune Eastsiders like to hear.

“I’m fiscally conservative and socially moderate,” said Tom, a former Republican. “That’s the 48th.”

Bennett – who has endorsements from Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, the 48th District Republicans, and Senate Republican Caucus leader Mike Hewitt – says people are tired of deficits, overspending, and fringe politics.

“Voters believe Republicans in general have a better sense of taxes, jobs and spending,” he said. “They believe Republicans, particularly moderates, get it.”

Tom doesn’t think so, which is why he changed his party allegiance in 2006.

Voters, along with Tom himself to an extent, will decide whether the district pulls a switch of its own this fall.

The Sound Transit Capital Committee on Thursday voted to recommend an alternative light-rail route for South Bellevue that would run East Link along Bellevue Way and 112th Ave. SE.

The alignment, known as B2M, is expected to save $50 million to $100 million on the East Link project, making the cost more reasonable for a city worried about the overruns it would have to cover to realize a downtown tunnel.

Seattle Transit Blog reports that B2M would reduce the gap to $185 million. Previous routing combinations that included downtown tunnels were expected to cost up to $500 million beyond the voter-approved ST2 budget.

Details of the B2M route are not yet published.

Bellevue City Council member Claudia Balducci – also a Sound Transit board member – said B2M differs from Sound Transit’s initial preferred alternative, B3M, in that it would move directly up 112th Ave SE rather than swerving behind the Bellevue Club at the north end of Segment B.

The cost savings would come, in part, from saving the Red Lion hotel, Balducci said.

The Bellevue City Council voted 4-3 in favor of the B7 route for South Bellevue, which would run East Link along the abandoned BNSF rail corridor just west of I-405.

The Capital Committee on Thursday also recommended the following two routes for downtown:
• C9T – the same 110th Ave. NE tunnel route that Bellevue’s city council chose as its preferred alternative.
• C11A – a cheaper at-grade alternative along 108th Ave. NE

Balducci said C11A is considered a sort of backup plan in case a tunnel is not affordable.

The city last month sent a letter to Sound Transit saying it is willing to contribute $104 million to $150 million toward East Link in the form of free access to rights-of-way, waived development fees, and one-time tax revenues that result from the project.

Balducci said the committee’s decision to recommend C9T is promising because it could entail design and engineering money for that option, assuming that the Sound Transit board chooses that same route as its preferred alternative.

The committee’s recommendations will go to the Sound Transit board, which is expected to name its own preferred alternatives for East Link later this year.

Gov. Christine Gregoire isn’t getting much support in Bellevue these days for the tax on soda and bottled water she proposed to help close the state budget deficit.

That’s because the district is home to a “hulking big bottling plant,” to borrow a phrase used by Rep. Ross Hunter, of Medina.

Hunter said he won’t back the tax, in part, because of the potential impacts it would have on the Coca Cola bottling plant in Bellevue.

“There’s a lot of good family-wage jobs that will be lost,” he said. “That obviously factors in. I also just think it’s stupid.”

Hunter said he’s can understand how the governor would want “sin taxes” on items like cigarettes, which cause cancer. But he doesn’t like the idea of punishing consumers for products that can lead to obesity, like candy and soda.

There’s another reason Hunter won’t get behind Gregoire’s proposal:

“The pop guys will pour $10 million into a campaign in November to repeal it and win,” he said. “I don’t need to make those kinds of enemies.”

Coca Cola recently stepped up efforts to fight the governor’s proposal, holding a press conference at its Bellevue bottling facility on Friday to talk about how the plan would impact the regional economy.

Bob Slack, vice president of Coca Cola Bottling Company of Washington, said the tax unfairly targets one industry, and would create a wide-ranging ripple effect that impacts everyone from suppliers and bottlers to convenience store owners and consumers.

Gregoire’s proposal includes an excise tax of 5 cents for every 12 ounces of carbonated beverage with the goal of raising $93.6 million during the current biennium.

The governor’s plan would also require bottlers to pay 1 cent per ounce on bottled water, generating $34.7 million during the biennium.

Slack said the tax will increase the price of soft drinks by up to 30 percent, while raising the cost of a case of bottled water by more than 100 percent.

“This is about jobs in our state and consumers who simply cannot afford higher prices,” Slack said. “We already have a 9.5-percent unemployment rate in Washington. Let’s find ways to keep jobs in our home state.”

The beverage industry in Washington directly employs over 3,000 workers, as well as another 17,000 in affiliated businesses, according to Slack.

The industry also has a total economic impact for the state of $8.6 billion, Slack said.

The Coke bottling plant in Bellevue reduced its workforce by 10 percent in 2008, and saw a decline in volume of 4 percent last year.

In addition, Slack claims 2010 has not been as promising as his company had hoped.

“We are faced with some tough choices if the economy doesn’t turn around quickly,” he said. “If we were to have this tax imposed, we would most likely need to reduce our workforce by 25 to 30 percent.”

Coca Cola Bottling Company of Washington employs over 1,000 workers.

Joining Coca Cola in the fight against Gregoire’s proposal on Friday were Tom Cheddar, general manager for the Western Container packaging company; and Michael Chey, a member of the Korean Grocers Association and owner of two convenience stores in the Puget Sound region.

Both said they oppose the governor’s proposal.

“For many, this excise tax could just place bottled water and soda out of reach, Cheddar said. “The impact doesn’t just stop here at the bottlers, it’s going to have far-reaching effects.”

Reporters note: I’ll provide some input from the governor and other Eastside legislators on Monday, when I get a chance to talk with them – hopefully.

Reporter’s Note: This is the start of an article I’m still working on, so it’s one-sided for now. I am scheduled to speak with the CEO of Key Curriculum Press, which publishes the Discovering series. She should help add balance to this piece.

Blog entry:

The Bellevue School District is wrestling with how to teach math as it prepares to adopt new textbooks for that subject later this year.

At question is whether to use a more traditional math-computations system or the emerging inquiry-based approach that uses investigation and story problems to help students learn math.

The district wants new textbooks for the start of the next school year, and it’s testing two types: the Holt Algebra-Geometry series and the Discovering Mathematics curriculum.

Many parents and college professors have expressed strong opposition to the Discovering system, which uses inquiry-based methods. They say this approach leaves students unprepared for college math and is troublesome for those who don’t have a strong command of reading and writing.

The state Superintendent of Public Instruction has recommended the Holt series, as has the State Board of Education.

The district assigned a math advisory committee to review the texts and come up with a recommendation on which one to adopt.

That committee is expected to make an endorsement to the district’s instructional materials committee, which in turn reports to the Bellevue School Board.

The district claims the committee’s meetings are non-public.

No information is posted publicly about times, dates or locations for the meetings. However, the district does have a website explaining the textbook-adoption process.

The district says the adoption committee is not subject to the rules of the Open Public Meetings Act, which requires all meetings to be open except in limited circumstances.

“It’s not a public agency, it’s an advisory committee,” said Bellevue schools general counsel Ricardo Cruz. “We have committees all over the district, and not all of them are open to the public.”

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office told The Reporter it cannot give a binding legal opinion of the matter, but it did cite a precedent from 2006 in which the Puyallup School District fought the Tacoma News Tribune over whether it’s instructional materials committee meetings should be open to the public.

The state’s open public meetings ombudsman concluded that the Puyallup committee was a policy-making body of the district, and was therefore subject to the Open Public Meetings Act.

“I think the IMC is precisely the kind of important policy-making body the legislature had in mind when it broadly defined ‘public agency’ and ‘governing body,’” former ombudsman Greg Overstreet said in a letter to a Puyallup School District attorney.

Still, Cruz contends that the Bellevue School District’s adoption committee meetings “are not required to be open under the Open Public Meetings Act, although we’re not excluding people from those meetings.”

The district granted permission for The Reporter to attend a meeting of the advisory committee scheduled for Feb. 25 at a location that is yet to be announced.

The 26-member committee consists of teachers, parents, an administrator and members of the district’s curriculum-adoption staff.

That group is scheduled to review results from the district’s pilot studies during its Feb. 25 meeting.

Bellevue schools curriculum-development director Kathee Terry said the district is still wading through data – taken from around 2,000 students – and does not have a clear answer yet on which curriculum works best.

“We have contradicting results,” she said. “It’s pretty even.”

Not so according to the many parents who oppose the Discovering curriculum.

Bellevue resident Jock Mackinlay is a mentor for the FIRST robotics team at Chinook MS who also holds a bachelor’s degree in math and a PhD in computer science.

Mackinlay says Discovery fails to help students learn the basics of computation. He also says the Discovering series favors teachers with weak backgrounds in math.

“They’ve been trying the inquiry-based method for a decade now,” he said. “The fact that all the parents hate it should tell them that it’s time to try something less extreme.”

District parent Sharon Peaslee agrees with Mackinlay’s assessment of the inquiry-based approach.

“It was a failed experiment,” Peaslee said. “It’s time to move on.”

As for the Discovering series, few people aside from teachers have expressed support for the texts.

Terry said she can’t explain why more parents haven’t come forward to show support for the curriculum.

“Probably because if a parent is satisfied with their child’s education, they don’t feel a need to march for it,” she said.

The Seattle School District has grappled this year with similar issues related to a choice between the Holt and Discovering texts.

Discovering won in that case, but a King County Superior Court judge ordered the school board to reconsider its decision, saying it was arbitrary and capricious, after a group of concerned parents sued the district.