WASL wait over

And the results, as you probably know by now, aren't pretty.

Well over half of the 71,136 students tested passed the reading test - 60,873; 10,263 failed to meet the standard.

In writing, 59,196 of the 70,812 students met the standard; 11,616 did not.

In math, 37,866 of the 70,255 scored met the standard; 32,359 did not

Running a back of the envelope calculation...

1. Assuming that 50% of roughly 70,000 students ultimately have failed all three sections--a reasonable estimate, in my reasonable estimation...

2. Assuming the state's per-student dollar figure at the upper bound holds for 50% of the 50% (in other words, assuming that half who failed, failed miserably)...

3. Assuming that the 28.5 million figure isn't sheer puffery...

Then the state is ready to spend roughly $7.85 million on remediation. (If every single sophomore failed miserably, the state would spend $23 million.)

So... why the gap? Where does the rest of the money go?

Time to investigate.

Added: Here's the breakdown [pdf], thanks to OSPI's handy-dandy website. Something you might not know:

(6) School districts may carry over from one year to the next up to
20 percent of funds allocated under this program; however, carryover funds shall be expended for promoting academic success programs, and may be used to provide extended learning programs for students beyond their eleventh grade year who want continued remedial assistance to pass the WASL.