Lynne Varner, in her Seattle Times opinion blog, writes that the $82,500 fine the U.S. Department of Education gave Washington State University for violating a campus crime-reporting law in 2007 — including not reporting two sexual assaults — is too much. Virginia Tech was fined $55,000 for failing to quickly alert the campus during the…

In her Seattle Times column, Lynne K. Varner questions what will replace the oft-disparaged No Child Left Behind Act. PHILADELPHIA — The Obama administration is accomplishing in education something it failed to do in other contentious policy debates, including the debt-ceiling fracas: anticipate a key political roadblock and smoothly remove it before it creates a…

Lynne Varner, in her Seattle Times column, argues that the race to fill a vacancy on Seattle’s School Board highlights a stark need to pay members. Everyone should occasionally rethink closely held convictions. In this summer of watching Seattle School Board candidates on the political hustings, here’s mine: It is time to pay board members.…