Washington state leads the nation in adjusted teacher pay, but critics say academic performance is not keeping pace. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, kindergarten teachers in Washington earned a median salary of $87,530 in 2024, while elementary, middle, and high school teachers earned just under $100,000 annually. The national median for pre-K–12 teachers is $63,000.
A Mexican national living illegally in the U.S. has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison for the vehicular homicide of Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher Gadd. Raul Benitez-Santana, 33, was convicted in a Snohomish County courtroom earlier this month and received a sentence of 125 months in prison and 18 months of community custody.
A copper wire theft early Saturday halted Sound Transit’s 2 Line in Bellevue, raising urgent concerns over infrastructure security as copper-related crimes surge across Western Washington. Thieves struck around 2 a.m., cutting through a fence and stealing critical wiring, disrupting transit service for hours and exposing vulnerabilities in regional transportation systems.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit challenging Washington’s new law, Senate Bill 5375, which requires clergy to report child abuse even when disclosed during confession. The law directly confronts the long-standing confessional privilege that has shielded such disclosures.
Darby Kaikkonen, a former senior official in the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), has filed a federal lawsuit alleging she was terminated for voting to preserve fairness in girls’ sports. Kaikkonen served as Director of Student Information at OSPI and is currently an elected member of the Tumwater School Board.
The Washington State Republican Party (WAGOP) has put forward an initiative attempting to support election integrity and require proof of citizenship to vote.
After years of delays, contract disputes, and multiple ethics complaints, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has officially launched the Washington State Data Exchange for Public Safety (WADEPS). The database, mandated by 2021’s Senate Bill 5259, aims to provide public access to police use of force incident data—but its rollout has been anything but smooth.
Washington state has taken a major step to address its childcare crisis with the signing of House Bill 1648 into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson. The legislation, championed by Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, aims to reduce burdensome regulations that have driven qualified workers out of the childcare sector.
Trooper Christopher M. Gadd, 27, was killed in a high-speed crash on Interstate 5 near Marysville, Washington, in March 2024. Raul Benitez-Santana, a 33-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, now faces charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. According to authorities, Benitez-Santana was driving over 100 mph while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana when he struck Trooper Gadd’s parked cruiser on the shoulder of the freeway at approximately 3 a.m.
