Key Facts

Right now, in Washington state:

• Less than 50% of children enter kindergarten ready to learn.
• Only 74% of ninth graders graduate from high school with their peers.
• Only 60% of black and Hispanic students graduate from high school with their peers.
• One-third of the adult population in Washington has only a high school diploma or less.
• High school graduation requirements are lower than minimum college application requirements.
• Seventy percent of voters believe high school graduation requirements and college application requirements should be aligned 1:1.
• More than 50% of recent high school graduates entering community and technical colleges must take remedial coursework that they should have learned in high school.  Sixty-three percent of African American students and 67% of Latino students need remediation.
• Washington State spends $17.2 million per year on remediation of recent high school graduates in community and technical colleges.
• Washington is 36th out of the 50 states in per capita production of bachelor’s degrees, yet ranks in the top 10 states in the number of scientists and computer specialists employed per capita.
• The younger working age population is less educated than their older counterparts.
• Nearly one-quarter of employers report difficulty finding qualified job applicants with occupation-specific skills.
• Seventy-seven percent of new job openings that pay enough for an individual to support a small family are held by workers who have had education or training beyond high school. Of these, more than half are held by workers with four-year college degrees.
• We have been importing educated people from other states and nations to fill many of our best jobs, while our own young adults fill the less stable and lower paying jobs.