Funding WA's K-12 Schools - What to Know, School Finances Explained

Funding Washington Schools

Our Schools, Our Students — Our Choices for Funding Their Futures

The Education Reform Bill of 2009, #2261, is now law…on to implement it, & look to 2010 Session

May 19th: Governor Gregoire signed ESHB 2261 into law on . Education advocates, coalition partners and legislators witnessed the Governor sign HB 2261. The bill marks the first major change to the definition of basic education in over 30 years, with much of the work still to be done by the Work Groups created by the bill…especially in the areas of finding an adequate funding source for implementation and the evolution of teacher compensation / career professionalization.

Just prior to signing, it was announced that the Governor exercised her right to veto two bill sections:

Veto 1) The creation of a safety net for gifted education: reason given was that the plan needs more work before it can be put into statute (this section was appended near the end of the bill process, so not too surprising)

Veto 2) The Early Learning component of the bill: Gov wants a proposal brought back next session which would include the option of early learning for all children, not just those in poverty. This veto was an unexpected shock to many who had strongly supported this piece — expect there to be a strong coalition to continue on reinstating this component in the 2010 Session.

· Bill ESHB 2261 as passed by Legislature; and Governor Gregoire’s Veto Message.

· Outline of 2261 & Work Group Chart as passed by Leg. & signed by Gov. - by LEV / George Scarola

May 20th: What’s Next for 2261 by Barbara McLain, Analyst, Office of Prog. Research, WA Hse. Of Reps.

April 20th: ESHB 2261 passed out of the House 67 to 31 - the legislature moved on ed reform.

Thank you to the many who contributed to this enduring endeavor of democracy….

thank you to everyone working ed reform the past decade! — onward we go!

Items related to the passage of ESHB 2261

Thu May 07: Times article the cost of ed reform — a 21st century education takes a 21st cent. $3.4B.

Wed May 06: US Chamber report on state-by-state effectiveness of public education

EOI PowerPoint of proposal on WA tax reforms to fund education reform

McKinsey & Co. report on closing the achievement gap of school populations

Levy equalization data from LEV regarding HB 1776 — bill 1776 may resurface in Feb ‘10

Thu Apr 24: The new 2009-11 Operating Budget documents are available online.

· Letter from Sen. Tom - 48th LD - “...clarify some misconceptions about the legislation.”

· Letter to Ed Community from Sen. McAuliffe - “I envisioned the day we would all do this together…”

· Letter from Sen. Jarret - 41st LD on the passage of 2261 and its policies.

· Email from WA State PTA’s Kim Howard summarizing the passage of 2261.

· LEV daily blog, Rep. Ross Hunter’s blog ed and BEF Legislator’s Blog.

Still, OSPI anticipates huge cuts in local school district budgets

Wondering how the 09-11 biennial budget impacts districts? Here are two PDFs of OSPI FY2009-10 budget projections for all 295 districts. One is sorted by district name, the other by enrollment (so you can see how budgets compare across similarly sized districts). I calculated the % difference, as well as the per-pupil loss per district, so any errors in that math are mine. The state summary is at the beginning of the list, and the average and median of the 295 districts are at the end. If you want to compare a certain district to the rest, compare to the median. By Heather Cope, Policy Analyst, League of Education Voters.

Find your OSPI district cuts #s here

An alternative viewpoint to legislative reforms in progress

· Request to Gov. Gregoire to veto 2261 reforms — WEA Pres. Lindquist, May 1st

· The Wrong Bills at the Wrong Time - WEA

· WEA Legislative Priorities and Our Voice - WEA

Why This Website? Schools in Crisis: A State Problem Playing Out Locally

· The FWS 2009 Manifesto - Barb Billinghurst & Byron Shutz

Rising costs and declining funds have strained our local schools to the breaking point - common questions.

There is a Crisis — causes and consequences shared across Washington State school funding.

The Evidence is Rational — school funding facts relevant and critical to every WA community.

There is Opportunity for a Solution — recommendations in progress from the Basic Ed Finance Task Force.

Advocacy Works — inform and support policymakers as they debate ed funding issues.