Media Center

Looking for quick information? Choose a Policy Focus above, then follow the links to Fact Sheets for one-page summaries of the issues.

EOI's staff and Board of Directors represent a wide range of disciplines, expertise, and viewpoints. We are ready to respond to your requests for information and commentary. Contact Aaron Keating, Communications Director, to obtain background information, referrals to EOI staff or board members, and/or a press packet.

Recent Commentary | More

In Our View: More Learning

04.16.2008 | Vancouver Columbian | Justifiable demands for improved quality of public education will continue to reverberate fruitlessly until a stark confession is made: Students in Washington state and across America are not spending enough hours and enough days in classrooms. | Read

State's Department of Early Learning paying dividends

04.11.2008 | Longview Daily News  | Washington lawmakers made early childhood education a high priority beginning in 2006, with the creation of state Department of Early Learning. More than a dozen programs dealing with early childhood development were assigned to the new department. The Legislature was betting that bringing programs under a single, cabinet-level umbrella would improve the effectiveness of the state's efforts to help Washington's youngest citizens succeed. | Read

Recent Columns | More

On key labor anniversary, many old conflicts remain

04.30.2008 | Everett Herald | We've made a lot of progress since 1886, but history has a funny way of cycling back on us. That first Labor Day occurred at a time of economic and political turmoil. Markets were increasingly globalized. Mass immigration seemed to threaten American identity. Workplace standards -- or lack thereof -- left many working families struggling. Terrorists threw bombs and the government cracked down on civil liberties in the name of greater security. In other words, it was a time in many ways like our own. | Read

Government can, should temper pain of recession

04.16.2008 | Everett Herald | It seems like the economic news keeps getting worse. Fuel prices still climbing, food prices soaring, foreclosures and layoffs. The only silver lining is that we're doing better in Washington than the rest of the country. Now a report has come out confirming what many of us suspected -- the rich are getting richer, while most of us are just getting by. | Read

Recent News | More

Plan to open up CalPERS reflects worry about inadequate saving for retirement

04.25.2008 | Sacramento Bee | Investing for retirement is the financial equivalent of eating your vegetables: It's good for you, but sometimes downright distasteful. Now a proposal making its way through the California Legislature has people talking about whether the state can make putting aside retirement money more palatable. | Read

National paid family leave legislation introduced

04.22.2008 | Representatives Pete Stark (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today introduced landmark legislation to provide workers with 12 weeks of paid leave in order to care for a new child, a sick family member, recover from an illness, or because of an exigency arising from the deployment of a member of the armed services. The “Family Leave Insurance Act of 2008” will provide families with the support and flexibility they need and businesses with improved productivity and employee morale. | Read