From education reporter Kris Sherman

Memories are still coming in from Tacomans who witnessed Barack Obama's inauguration Tuesday.

Turns out not all of those Mason Middle School kids in D.C. For the event lasted until the bitter-cold end. But they're still wrapping themselves in the warm memories.

I got this missive and photo in my inbox today from one of the parent-chaperons.

The photo below shows (l to r) Kassidi Reaugh, Allison Hakanson, Grace Groneck, Megan Gezelius at the Nurses Memorial with one of the stars and decorated evergreen trees they left behind to memorialize their visit.

But don't think they were littering. All the trinkets they left at various memorials get picked up and archived, social studies teacher and tour leader Marilyn O'Malley-Hicks said.

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New state schools chief Randy Dorn said he was trying to avoid creating names for the new tests that could become a pronounceable acronym.

That's partly because the WASL – short for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning – has became a bad word for many. Dorn said the only less-flattering term in state history was WPPSS for the Washington Public Power Supply System. That's the public agency that defaulted on bonds sold to build nuclear power plants in the 1980s.

But he also dislikes education acronyms because he thinks they make it hard for parents to understand what is going in in schools.

"I'd rather we use the words," he said Wednesday.

Dorn may underestimate the ability and the desire of Americans to make words out of acronyms, however.

So have at it. The new grade school and middle school test will be called the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP or MOSP).

The new high school test will be the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).

And the overall program will be called the Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP or perhaps WaCAP).

There were lots of newsies crowded into a conference room next to Randy Dorn's office today. In fact there was better attendance than often shows up for governor's press conferences.

So it must be a big announcement, right?

Well, depending on what you were expecting. As the room filled up, it seemed many of those who made the drive from Seattle thought Dorn was going to kill the WASL, as in ending the requirement that students pass the test to graduate from high school.

The infamous "single, high-stakes test" would be gone.

Except that it won't be. Dorn, just two weeks in office, announced that he was replacing the old single, high-stakes test with a different single, high-stakes test. It can't even be called a new test because many of the same questions that appear on the WASL will appear on the test that comes next.

It will be different though. And Dorn thinks it will be better – shorter, cheaper, easier to administer and grade, less time-consuming.

But he stressed it would still be one of several graduation requirements in Washington state.

WASL opponents might be disappointed. And newsies looking for a much-bigger announcement may feel the same way. But supporters of school reform were relieved.

We just heard this annnounced on CNBC, and it was confirmed by a receptionist at the Washington State Investment Board. (Peter Callaghan and I have the TV on in the background.)

Joe Dear is the top guy for Washington's pension plans, overseeing about $70 billion in investments. CalPERS is California's huge pension plan.

Dear will be chief investment officer for CalPERS, overseeing an investment portfolio worth $178 billion. He takes his new job in March.

I've got a call into Joe Dear.

He was hired away from what is now Russell Investments in Tacoma in late 2002. His salary with our state investment board was $152,800 back then. I suspect it might be just a tad higher today.

Before then, he was chief of staff for former Gov. Gary Locke. He also was assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, and director of the Washington Department of Labor and Industries.

I found a story about Joseph Dear at Reuters site.

Last time I talked to Dear was to find out how much money Washington has lost due to the demise of Lehman Brothers brokerage house. (I'd tell you, but I don't have access to my library files at the moment.)

From Les Blumenthal in D.C.

WASHINGTON – So let’s review – Tuesday’s inauguration was incredible, breathtaking, unimaginable, historic, electric, unbelievable, electric, historic, unprecedented, unique and one of a kind. Does anyone have an unused adjective, adverb or whatever? Yes.

“All the people I saw out there who helped to make this change inspired me,” said Sarah Bulley of Puyallup, who just returned from a Peace Corps assignment in Mozambique where she actually voted for Obama from overseas.

Bulley was one of the several hundred or so state residents who attended the congressional delegation’s constituent coffee this morning.

Army Spc. Jay Navas, who served at Fort Lewis in the 1-23 Infantry, Bravo Company, has fought in Iraq and is about to deploy to Afghanistan, said it was a “phenomenal day for all Americans. It felt good to be part of that.”

Retired teachers Scott and Pamela Woodward of Richland joked they were among the few Democrats who lived east of the Cascades but in the spirit of bipartisanship got tickets for the inauguration from Republican Rep. Doc Hastings. Scott Woodward said he helped man an Obama phone bank in the Tri-Cites and some of the people he called were down right nasty.

Even so, Woodward said “we needed to be here to feel the moment. It was almost spiritual.”

Last month, the rate was 6.4 percent. This doesn't bode well for the state's current $6 billion budget shortfall. People out of work don't pay much in taxes.

There were nearly 55,000 fewer people working in December 2008 compared to December 2007.

Washington’s unemployment rate jumped in December

OLYMPIA – Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 7.1 percent in December 2008, up from November’s rate of 6.4 percent, according to the state Employment Security Department.

The state lost an estimated 22,200 non-agricultural jobs, seasonally adjusted. Industries with the most job growth included information, with 300 new jobs, aerospace, which added 400, and education and health services, up 300. The largest declines were in manufacturing, which cut 3,500 jobs, professional and business services, down 7,900, administrative and support services, down 5,600, construction, down 4,200, and transportation, trade and utilities, which lost 3,300 jobs.

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Jim Merritt sent an e-mail letter to a small group of supporters yesterday informing them that he will run for Tacoma mayor.

Merritt, who has been involved in numerous downtown redevelopment projects, told the TNT's Pat O'Callahan last month that he was seriously considering the move, but needed to figure out what he would do with his architecture practice and a couple other commitments.

Morgan Alexander, apparently one of the folks Merritt met with to explore the idea, was among those who received the e-mail. Alexander posted it to his blog, Morgan's Brain, yesterday afternoon.

Merritt began working as an architect in Tacoma in 1975. He was named a Tacoma Home Town Hero in 2003 for his work on hundreds of community and development projects, including the University of Washington Tacoma campus, the Foss Waterway master plan, the Tacoma Convention and Trade Center and Union Station.

To view his 18-page resume, click here.

Click ahead to read the e-mail Merritt sent to supporters:

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As expected, new state schools superintendent Randy Dorn unveiled a plan to get rid of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning in favor of a computerized test.

UPDATE
Here's an early version of the AP story:

Washington’s new superintendent of public instruction wants to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning with two separate tests, and use a computerized testing system.

Superintendent Randy Dorn said Wednesday that he wants to start using the new tests next year. One test would cover grades 3-8, and the second would cover high school.

Dorn says a computerized testing system will result in faster test results and lower costs.

Dorn was elected in November after campaigning against the WASL. His plans still have to be approved by the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire.

More details below in the press release:

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Here's the ACLU agenda:

Here are the ACLU of Washington's legislative priorities as the 2009 session begins. Attached is the more extensive agenda posted on our website - which will be regularly updated as bills progress and new measures emerge.

Our lobbyist in Olympia this year is Shankar Narayan. As a basic media ress contact, you can always reach me at the ACLU office at 206-624-2184. I can reach Shankar as needed.

Doug Honig
Communications Director

VOTING RIGHTS
Voting Rights Restoration
Support
Over 160,000 Washingtonians cannot vote because of prior convictions. Support has been growing for ACLU-backed legislation to automatically restore the right to vote to individuals who have come out of the criminal justice system. For these citizens, voting is an important way to reconnect with the community. One study shows that former offenders who vote are 50% less likely to reoffend than those who don’t vote.

=> Read more!