John W. Aiken's Platform

My Economic Recovery Plan for Washington State

Affordable Home Program

Rest Stop Development

My Public Education Reform Program for Washington State

MY ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN FOR WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State’s business economy is collapsing under the weight of taxes, labor and industries insurance increases, rising minimal wage rates, health insurance costs, and government regulations. Washington State has the highest minimum wage rate in the nation but we still have working poor. Our minimum wage does not lift a wage earner out of poverty. We must act quickly to stop any further economic hardships on our working poor and fixed income senior citizens. The working poor struggle with high rent, high insurance, daycare expenses and high utilities. Typically the husband and wife work in order to pay for the basic necessities for life. The working poor often are within one personal financial crisis away from becoming homeless. The middle class struggles to provide for their children’s college education, health care, and automobile insurance. Some middle income families are affluent enough not to qualify for state aid and have to take care of their elderly parents by private means. Often times that care costs more than what the elderly parent receives in social security and pension. This creates a burden on those children.

Population statistics for Washington state shows our population could increase 17% to 25% from the six million of 2001 to either seven or eight million by year 2030. This represents 285,000 to 572,000 families with 3.5 people per family. An economic boom lasting many decades would accelerate the population growth as more local jobs are filled by those moving into the state. An Economic Recovery Program would have to include provisions addressing accelerated population growth. A management plan must be in effect to control growth, and where necessary, positively impacting area infrastructures, schools, and the various microeconomies. Land management should be developed into commercial real estate property in those regions that cannot otherwise support crop, timber, or grassland. This would reserve fertile land to provide for wildlife and human needs.

In areas of Washington State, industries that have supported local government for over 50-75 years are shutting down and some are even dismantling their factories for sale on public auction. These historic revenue generating industries were in mining, logging, fishing, and farming. Historically, they were a dependable source of local government revenue as well as a public fund source for the needs of a functioning society. They built and maintain Washington’s public schools, transportation system, infrastructures, and social services programs.

The loss of these historic industries has impacted at least 30,000 families by taking away a family wage earner. What angers me the most is that special interest organizations have place their self-centered interests over a sustaining and functioning society.

I believe that we can help all of our residents if I did something about the high cost of the family budget. The cost of living is too high and needs to come down to where all residents of Washington State can survive as well as save for the future. By bringing down food costs, power costs, fuel costs, health and automobile insurance costs and providing affordable shelter along with tax cuts, it will give more purchasing power to the individual taxpayer as well as provide money to state and local government so we can pay off deficit debts. I have real plans for this. It's too late for many communities and some of those communities may never recover. A tax cut doesn’t help the wage earner who has just been layoff from a shutdown of a major industry.

I have plans that will rebuild and refit the timber and lumber industry, eliminate the affordable housing shortage, build equity and wealth, increase local revenue, and stimulate local economies.

I have been studying the economic problem in my region of Washington state and have concluded that much of this could had been avoided. Faulty reasoning was used to concock the mess that will take years to fix.

I have been studying the economic woes of eastern Washington state for some time. Many citizens of northeastern Washington state blame NAFTA for the economic loss of major industies that supported so much in the area. I believe in the concept of the NAFTA agreement and have to place blame on poor management practice and government regulations. Americans can compete with other nations, if allowed to in a fair playing field.

I would like to suggest that we revive the timber industry that has suffered greatly in the past two decades. Several hundred mills have shutdown with the loss of 30,000 high paying jobs. Timber sales profits are given to public schools as a source of funding, and this major revenue source has dramatically decreased. This loss of funding has caused schools to seek other methods for aid. In order to justify a government funded program to revive the timber industry, we need a good reason for all of this lumber that would be produced. I would like to start another government funded program to provide low cost housing for those people that want to get out of paying rent and become a property owner. I would like to be able to build 400,000 units and carry the mortgage to fit the needs of the property owner. This would enable 400,000 families to put their rent money to use by builting equity for a future upgrade. These 400,000 units now pay property and utility taxes that support local government.

AFFORDABLE HOME PROGRAM

UPDATED COMMENT FOR NOTICE

Affordable Housing Update July 29, 2008

I am very disappointed with the Washington State building and housing industry for not having built more affordable housing for low wage earners, and those on a fixed incomes. These people need affordable shelter and in a building boom period during which something could have been done, the builder’s greed spoiled everything. I have been a strong advocate for affordable housing for many years and I am very angry at what has transpired from my hard work and political pandering. Prior to the housing boom, we had interest rates approach levels not seen in 60 years. Our economy was stagnant after the dot.com bust, the technology bust, and terrorist attack. A way to turn the economy around was to create a building construction boom. At that time lumber, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, cement, asphalt, and diesel were priced at, or near, lifetime lows. This was the best opportunity to build affordable housing that there ever will be and what did the home and building industry construct? According to the US Census data, million dollar condos and mansion going for hundreds of thousands of dollars that no average citizen in our state could ever afford on a $45,000 income. I am a public works lead inspector for the City of Spokane and I personally have witnessed the construction of at least ten thousand homes in the past five years with a starting price of $250,000 or more. This is hardly what I had in mind in my Affordable Housing Program that I ran in 2004 and again am incorporating in 2008 as a platform for office.

I believe that we can turn the housing bubble bust around by doing what started it in the first place, but this time we do the smart thing and build affordable homes suited for lower wage earners. What I previously wrote has not changed and I believe that we still can find areas to build affordable homes. Currently we have an oversupply of mansions and luxury homes. It will be a long time before anyone will be able to buy them. If builders would have built affordable homes in the beginning, early buyers could had built enough equity to sell their homes to upgrade into a more luxurious home. But no, this did not happen and we have what we’ve got today, many vacated lots and homes. Where are these people going to live? The cost of living is rising and the dollar is inflated. More people are having a difficult time maintaining shelter in a time of high energy cost. There is more need to build affordable housing than every before. Under my program, we would be able to turn our economy around for at least the next decade. It would not be boom like, but an economy with dependable growth. In the meantime we help new homeowners build equity and become taxpayers. In time they would be able to upgrade into the luxury homes that were built that few now can afford.

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The below, as prepared by Mr. John W. Aiken, Jr. 12/15/02

The Affordable Home Program, upon completion, would help make 600,000 renters become home owners in fifteen years with collected personal equity worth around $60 billion. This program creates 50,000 new property owners each year for the next twelve year period. When each of the 50,000 new homes are occupied with a buyer, this collective lot will start paying $90 million per year to local governments in property tax and utility services. At the end of the eighth year of the construction phase of this program, this program would have been responsible for creating $25 billion in real estate wealth of which $8 billion of this would be in home owner equity and not wasted on rent to a landlord. This program would create 400,000 property owners at the end of the eighth year of construction who now pay almost $1 billion per year to local governments. During the first ten year period of growth into this program, the local governments would collect $5 billion in total revenue through this program’s property owners. The end of this program is designed to expire on or around a 15 year term period for repayment of loan to the Federal Government. At around the end of the 15 years of this program the debt is retired and terminated, I estimate that the property wealth should be valued around $60 billion and local governments would had received almost $10 billion in total revenue from the program, and will collect over $1.5-2 billion annually from a dependable revenue source.

The program would help preserve Washington’s timber industry and provide employment in the logging, lumber, construction material, and construction labor industry for twelve to fourteen years by putting to work 30,000 wage earners with a $2 billion per year union payroll and benefit package to spend in the local area. An investment that stimulates the economy, provides a need, and benefits from that need is trully the way to go. Risk is very limited since ownership of property is under the terms of the loan with government and property buyer.

Program Phases $55-60 Billion investment in 15 years

Return on Investment:

1) Investment Loan with interest to be paided at end of 15 years minimum or 20 years maximum.

2) Creates over $60 billion in wealth through real estate development and personal equity.

3) Would create a future base of home owners that would be able to upgrade to higher price real estate shelters at affordable rate of payment.

4) Upon completion of the program, it would provide a dependable revenue source to local government of over $1.3 billion a year in the form of property taxes and utility services. Local government would receive about $10 billion in total revenue during the 15 year construction phase.

5) Would save timber and building industry for next 20 years and put about $2 billion/yr payroll back into local economy.

6) Would prepare for future population increases at all ages by natural and migratory growth cycle and have affordable living facilities available.

7) Would be able to do selective development to areas congested with high social demands to less congested areas that need people in their community (and have available space in their public schools.)

8) Start-ups get timber and building supply-manufacturing contracts, purchase and develop new properties, qualifying applicants, engineering, architecting and planning.

• Phase 1 300,000 units ($50K-75K price/unit) at 50,000 units/year 6 year contract

• Phase 2 200,000 units ($75K-100K price/unit) at 50,000 unit/ year 4 year contract

• Phase 3 100,000 units ($50K-75K price/unit) at 50,000 units/year 2 year contract

• Phase 4 15,000 senior citizen communities at 7,500 units/year 2 year contract, 6,000 community center malls, 1,500 shelters and food bank, 500 orphanges.

REST STOP DEVELOPMENT

By building enhancements to the highway rest stop I feel we can very positively impact our state. These enhancements can do and offer the following:

1. Provides shelter and safety to the travelling public.

2. Provides emergency response for fire, flood, snow, avalanche, earthquake, ice storm, accidents, and so on.

3. Provide employment in law enforcement, fire, emergency, tow trucks, snow plows, flood control, fast food, lodging, automotive service, theme park, tourism, etc.

4. Will need to provide housing, water, sewer treatment, solid waste treatment, and power, as well schools for children and transportation to other schools in districts.

5. Casinos would be the logical attractions to rest stops. Casinos can offer a great many forms of entertainment besides gambling. Casinos often offer food, drinks and lodging. Tourism would be whatever the natural surrounding would support. This could be horseback riding, trail bikes, bicycles trails, hiking, camping, youth camps, fishing, shooting, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, sailing, gliding, parasailing, hang gliding, four wheeling, drag racing, concerts, flea markets and so on. I would like to see a rest stop approximately every 60 miles of interstate road in Washington. Each one of these would be a significant micro community, most of whose employable residents could work in the area.

MY PUBLIC EDUCATION REFORM PROGRAM FOR WASHINGTON STATE
by John W. Aiken, Jr. (September, 2003)

Dear Washington State Citizen,

It is my desire to become the Governor of Washington State and to lead our state through the developing 21st Century. Nothing is more important to me than Public Education Reform and I hereby submit to you a Public Education Reform Program that is sound and efficient; so much so that I believe many other states in our nation will want to adopt this program for their own standard of teaching, learning, testing and educational certification.

We must reform our Public Education System. It’s time for the citizens of Washington to demand reforms to our Public Education System, and not just with words but with actions. Public school officials, teacher’s unions and parents of those students with low test scores blame each other for this failing in public education. What it comes down to though is not how much money is being spent on public education, but what the money is being spent for. Many problems exist with public education and spending more tax money to solve these problems simply have not worked. The time has come to take the bull by the horns and make the serious changes, or continue with costly and mediocre results.

Too many publically educated students lack knowledge and skills to be successful in modern society. Government census reports provide clear evidence that the majority of Washington’s public educated students are not adequately prepared for modern society. Many lack knowledge such as basic health care, every day living discipline and being adequately trained for higher skilled employment in better paying technical jobs. The fact is that the teaching system used today in Washington State is ineffective and very costly to maintain. As Governor I plan to remedy this waste of public resources.

We must have a uniform standard in education. I will bring fair and equable education for every public school student in Washington, no matter where they reside. The evaluation tests of public school students prove that our state’s present system of teaching and learning cannot perform to national standards. To greatly aid in the learning process, I firmly believe it is necessary to have a uniform standard in education. To this end I propose that all students receive basically the same educational programs from kindergarten though the twelfth grade.

There is much that complicates learning, for instance we are a very transitory society and we move from place to place every three to five years on average. Naturally this interrupts the 'moved' student’s education. Typically the curriculum and flow of study at the student’s new school can vary considerably from the education he or she was used to, quite often resulting in their diminished learning performance. Since public schools usually don’t teach the same course in the same manner, and with the same instructional materials, the costs to Washington’s taxpayers are enormous. When going from one school to the other, we will find different text books and curriculum schedules in use to teach the same grade level class. We must end this tremendously wasteful practice by providing exactly the same text books for the same grades at all public schools in Washington State. We will use only the text book (or books) in a particular subject that have proven themselves to be the most productive to learning. A tremendous cost reduction in public revenue can result as:

(1) We would cut costs by eliminating the implementation of prospectively dozens of different and/or competing educational programs that by law are supposed to be equal for every publicly educated student.

(2) We would be able to reduce cost by volume buying. Our education system will get a much better volume discount from publishers and others in regard to the books and related educational programs as we will be buying in much higher quantities.

There are textbooks on subjects that are so well written that they stand the test of time. The best books are written by geniuses who can simplify complex concepts into what the student can readily comprehend. These types of books will become incorporated with other similar text books and references into what I call the Washington State Standard Public Education Text Books. These textbooks will be selected by the State’s Legislature. Such designated books will become the state’s standard for that subject and grade level class until such time that the State’s Legislature replaces it with another book. I believe that within a surprisingly short period of time, Washington’s public school cost for textbooks and related educational programs, would be reduced dramatically. This saving could provide much needed revenue for other educational functions in the form of more student activity programs, immunization programs, and after school programs.

I will use 21st Century technologies as self teaching tools. As a 21st Century Governor I will vigorously work to develop more 21st Century technologies into self teaching tools. Upon purchasing a standard textbook and with the proper licensing agreements, we can convert the book into what is called an electronic book, or in trade jargon an ebook. An electronic book is easily read and can be viewed through many digital reading mechanisms; such as a personal computer, a portable handheld reader and television. The text and images can be enhanced to become interactive. By becoming interactive, it would be possible to monitor and test a student’s level of retained knowledge on a chapter of study in the ebook. These ebooks can be adapted in many ways to the individually varying needs of each student. Among other things, supplemental graphic teaching aids, dictionary, and references can be added to individual students ebooks to aid in understanding for very complex topics.

We must enable students to learn at the pace that’s best for them instead of forcing them to learn at a scheduled pace that’s best for others. There are many subjects that can be self-taught without a parent or teacher to supervise. A very good example of a self-taught method is the television show, Sesame Street. As we all know this very popular show teaches preschoolers how to count, does simple mathematics, build a vocabulary, pronounce words, spell, and so on. Modern day children are comfortable with electronic devices; such as, television and computers. These forms of audiovisual communications can provide a self-tutor method to learning. Students can learn at their own natural pace and not by a rigid class schedule that benefits the small minority that is quicker learners. The fact is learning is not constant and is subject to the individual pupil’s own ability to be taught new concepts and material.

I will provide better use of an educator’s time and resources. Educators will no longer have to waste time and resources to teach those students that have the ability to teach themselves. Class sizes can be smaller and more specialized. Educators can spend more time with those students that are having difficulty learning. Faster learning students become easily bored and that inactivity can lead to disciplinary problems in the classroom. Let faster learning students be tested on the class material and allowed them to advance to a higher level of learning that they are not bored with. With my Public Education Reform Program, the teacher’s burden of preparing class lessons and conforming to different non standardized text books will be lessened. The standardizing of textbooks can make all lesson planning standard as well. A substitute teacher will know what the lesson plan is no matter what school they are assigned to. The teacher’s role in education will be to motivate and to monitor learning. Teachers can spend more time on a more individual basis to those students having difficulty, and be able to better identify why these students are having difficulty.

As has been documented, there are other factors that can contribute to poor learning performance. Some factors are the lack of adequate nutrition for poverty-stricken children, the lack of supervision in single parent homes, and the lack of local funding for schools in economically depressed regions of our state. To help counter these problems I support the following:

(1) I would like the school year to be extended for the full year. Washington is no longer a state dependent on minors for a source of cheap farming labor. No longer is it necessary for a summer break so public school students can aid in their family farms. There are many good reasons to support a longer school year. Working parents that depend on a daycare service during the summer for their child's supervision, would save money from not having to pay for summer daycare and related services. Property damage, vandalism, petty crime, and shoplifting incidents would mostlikely decrease, thus reducing the workload of our police force. Extending the school year to include the summer months can mean students can enjoy school sponsored outdoor recreational activities that other months of the school year cannot offer. Our young people don’t need a summer vacation to enjoy the summer time activities. I believe what parents spend on day care would be better spent on public education.

(2) I would like the school hours to be extended. Working parents have different schedules that do not always fit with scheduled school hours. I would like to make it possible for students to do homework or have after school activities at school. This would protect our children from getting in trouble while waiting for their parent(s) to pick them up.

(3) I would like to have a nutrient program that poverty level school children can benefit from year round. Problems with nutrient, abuse, health, and physical disabilities could all hinder a child’s desire and/or ability to study and perform adequately. Providing nutrient for the development of healthy bodies and minds is an inexpensive means to save in future costs from physical and mental problems. This would be provided at school in the form of a free breakfast and lunch year-round.

(4) I would like to have an immunization program for the prevention of diseases. I believe that the prevention of diseases should begin at the early stages of life, and our state would see savings from future medical costs of health care maintenance. It would be better to spend a little now for prevention of diseases than to spend a lot later. We need to do more to eliminate diseases before they spread and become a greater problem.

There is a need to increase the pay in some geographic areas of our state for our public school teachers to have parity with the cost of living in those areas. The voters of Washington State passed an initiative to provide a cost of living raise for our public school teachers in a previous General Election. Unfortunately, the State Government did not provide for this cost of living raise and has caused our state’s voters to question the law especially, since the state’s elected leaders gave themselves a substantial raise in pay under the same economic conditions that others were denied. Many public school teachers have to deal with inadequate pay, large class sizes, students with discipline problems and long work hours. This has causedw many educators to retire early or seek other careers. Our universities and colleges cannot graduate enough teachers to keep pace with our growing student population due to poor wages and working conditions. Through this Public Education Reform Program, I believe we can realize savings through the reduction of education cost. I also feel we would be able to provide a wage increase for our public school teachers. We can spend a hundred million dollars to create the WASL test and a billion dollars in the last ten years on education research, but we can’t find any dollars for teacher pay and student needs. This is very wrong and I plan to do something about this if I am elected Washington State’s Governor.

There will have to be a new wage and benefit package offered to current contracted teachers and new teachers. Under the Public Education Reform Program, I intend to extend the public school year and scheduled hours. Teachers who are under the current labor contract will not be affected by these changes of working days and hours and will continue to work under the contract as it is. Current contract teachers will be unaffected until their labor contract expires. New teachers will be under a new labor contract that will be negotiated by their unions and will be for the extended school year and hours. Labor will be based on a forty-hour work week and benefits will be similar to other unions that are not involved with teaching or educating. A teacher’s seniority will become the method to determine their working preferences for teaching in any public school and will be regulated by their union at a state level. A readjustment of pay and benefits will have to be negotiated to include those extended days in order to entice those teachers to work in an extended school year while under contract in the current system. It may be possible for all teachers to still work in a traditional nine-month school year, if they choose to do so. Teachers could choose which three-month quarterly break they would take. Those with the most seniority would have first choice, but there would be no readjustment in compensation for their wage and benefits. These labor issues will be determined through a negotiation procedure with the teacher’s union and the State.

There will be changes in Higher Education to promote technical level education for students. The first two years of college is similar in curriculum of study no matter what college a student attends in the State of Washington. Because of this similarity of basic courses toward a degree, I believe this too can be standardized and taught under a self-teaching method. Often in college, a teacher’s assistant teaches the introductory and basic level course in any particular major field of study and those prerequisite courses for a degree. To encourage a higher level of learning and to increase Washington’s level of college graduates for business, it is my desire to offer these basic courses under the same conditions as described under the Washington State Standard Public Education Text Books in Public High Schools. This will relieve Washington’s overcrowded colleges and make them become more technical as well as specializing them toward advanced studies, where higher degree professors should be teaching for our state’s business needs. By offering these courses in high school, this would also cut cost in higher education by reducing time spend in college on basic course studies. This would also save parents and students some of the cost for a higher education. It will also help poverty level students to be able to obtain a college degree and give all students a chance for a college education that the benefits our business community needs.

In closing of this short paper of introduction on my Public Education Reform Program, I would like to state that if I am elected Governor of Washington, I believe that this is a sound way to reduce cost of education. It will provide incentives toward higher levels of learning and it will provide an equitable education for every student in Washington State, no matter where they reside. It will help educators to better spend their time and resources on those that are having difficulty in learning. It will bring educators to a higher level of professionalism by teaching by the concept of specialized needs.

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A Recent Article on Public Education from the The Spokesman-Review on Monday, September 8, 2003 Edition, Spokane, Washington

WASL EXAMINATIONS FLUNK ON MANY LEVELS
By Donald C. Orlich - Special to The Spokesman-Review

School reform in Washington and 49 other states has been reduced to a single high-stakes test. Nearly $1 billion has been spent on reform by the Washington Legislature since 1993. The WASL -- for Washington Assessment of Student Learning -- costs over $100 million and the current contract with Riverside Publishing Company accounts for a paltry $61.67 million. The state superintendent of public instruction has a $200 million reform slush fund to advocate the WASL, with none of that funding supporting teachers' classrooms, student services, school programs, instructional materials, new books or teacher education.

The WASL is given each spring to fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders in the areas of reading, writing, listening and mathematics. Science WASL results will be announced for grades 5, 8 and 10 this fall. It must be noted that the science pilot test scores have been kept secret for the past three years. One must ask, "why?"

But what did we learn from the spring 2003 WASL administration?

The vast majority of children from low-income families, as measured by eligibility for free or reduced lunch, did not meet the standard. That is, they failed.

Up to 96 percent of children classified as being in "special education" did not meet the standard. They failed.

Hispanic children tend not to meet standard.

Migrant children at all levels tended to fail all WASL areas being tested.

Examining all data sets for the 222,000-plus fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders taking the WASL, only one in three met the standard in all four subjects being assessed.

Breaking it down by ethnic groups, Asian children led in math, while white children lead all other ethnic groups -- American Indian, black and Hispanic.

Seventh-graders tended to score rather poorly compared with fourth-graders, while grade 10 results were mixed, showing increases and decreases from previous years.

The WASL test items are allegedly keyed to the state standards called "Essential Academic Learning Requirements," or EALRs. When the WASL is compared with the EALRs, some interesting artifacts appear. At least 12 of the mathematics standards for grades 4, 7, and 10 are identical. Even the Stanford Research Institute study of 2002 concluded that the seventh-grade WASL math test is more difficult than the 10th-grade WASL math test.

Are fourth-graders being prepared with those touted 21st century skills to work for the U.S. Bureau of the Census? Writers of the 2003 fourth-grade WASL think so. Questions on the test required fourth-graders to design surveys to solve problems being posed. (Being the author of the book "Designing Sensible Surveys I," can assure you that fourth- graders are not really up to it.)

Probability problems are scattered throughout the test. Do you have a clue what a "function machine" is? I don't. Fourth-graders are expected to write a rule to use one.

Do you remember "measures of central tendency" -- mean, median and mode? Fourth-graders are expected to apply those concepts that are taught in statistics.

Do we have "world class standards" or do we have asinine ones? Take your pick.

Several studies have analyzed the WASL, but I shall summarize mainly from the Washington Education Association January 2003 report the following six major deficiencies of the WASL.

There are no predictive validity studies relating to the WASL.

There is a high correlation between the WASL math tests and the WASL reading tests. This could account for almost one-half of the math score.

Subjective scoring leads to arbitrary decisions. There can be a 28.9 percent chance that a child has had his or her test incorrectly scored.

The arbitrary standard will be raised each year, eventually reaching 100 percent.

Correct answers are determined after students' answers are read.

On some questions, students can earn full points, even if they get the wrong answer.

The WASL has appearances of a technical disaster.

Do you know that all student tests are shredded? In Nevada, Minnesota and New York City, scorer errors were common. Your child could be kept from graduating because of incorrect scoring and you have no recourse. You lose your Fifth Amendment rights of due process in school reform.

With passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 95 percent of all children in all categories -- special education, non-English speakers and the like -- must pass 95 percent of all WASL tests or either the federal government or private contractors will confiscate local communities' public schools.

There is a ray of hope. The NAACP in Florida filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, charging that the Florida test (similar to the WASL) is discriminatory. Our attorney general should do this for the children in the Evergreen State. Only the future of your child is at stake.

Former Gov. Booth Gardner cautioned against using the WASL for competition and rankings and advised that, "If you want an academic contest between schools, then hold a tournament."

• Donald C. Orlich of Pullman is a professor emeritus at Washington State University