Schools fare better when left up to local direction

Are our schools better off in the hands of local residents, or a non-profit group directed by the state?

Senate Bill 5329, currently under consideration, is among the education-related proposals in the Legislature. State senators of both parties from the west side are sponsoring the bill, which passed through committees with a 12-3 vote.

The bill creates a state superintendent district as an established office within the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Low-performing schools from the bottom 10 percent of the state would be transferred to the district in an attempt to...