School funding - Budget Blog

Budget Blog

5/7/2009

Word came out today that the legislature is done for the year. There will be no special session. There was one bill that was under consideration that was an important one for our district and many others. It concerned protecting the levy base. That bill is now dead for this year.

The amount we can collect from the local property tax levy is based on a percentage of the money the district gets from the state for basic education. Since this year's state budget has reduced that amount, we will be getting the same sized slice but it will be of a smaller pie. So not only will we get less money from the state, they will prevent us from collecting as much money in the local levy as a result.

Fortunately, the lid on levy collections has a built in lag time. The amount we can collect this year is based on what we got last year from the state. So next year will be based on this year. That means we have a reprieve: our levy collections next year will be what we budgeted.

It's 2011 that becomes the concern. If the legislature doesn't do anything next spring, we could be facing one more round of budget cuts, for the 2010-2011 school year. At this point, the idea of any more cuts is something I just don't even want to think about.

That's one more reason for parents, staff and community members to keep an eye on what happens in Olympia.

Posted at 5:07 PM by Reith, Kathryn | Category: School funding | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (1)

4/21/2009

The new basic

Last night was a milestone in public education in the state of Washington. We've been talking a lot at the public input sessions about "basic education." That's what the Washington constitution protects. It's what the state's "paramount duty" is to provide. But that definition, created in the 1970s, has been woefully out of date. And the items not included in that all too small definition are the ones the legislature has been able to consider cutting in these down times.

Over the last few years, there has been growing momentum towards changing that basic definition. There have been lawsuits, special committees and task forces. Those of you who are education policy wonks can cite chapter and verse of what has been going on in Olympia and around the state. The bottom line for all of us is that the state legislature has taken the first step to redefine basic education.

There were some things taken out of the final bill - the controversial plan to move to merit pay for teachers, for example. But once the governor signs the bill as is now expected, the state says that basic education includes six periods a day for high school, all-day kindergarten, preschool for at-risk kids and more that has never been covered by the state.

There is still a lot of work to be done. How the state will pay for this is the big question. We don't know exactly how it will be phased in, except that the goal is for full implementation by 2018. That's a long time to wait, especially for the kids in our system right now.

That means the people in our district who have worked on these issues, like PTSA Council President Wendy DeLong and her partners in advocacy Byron Shutz, Barb Billinghurst, Susan Baird-Joshi, Michele Stanish-Walls and so many others, still have work to do. But I hope they will take a moment to celebrate this success.

I know the Washington Education Association has opposed this bill. One reason was the proposed change in the system of teacher pay and that was cut from the final version. The other reason was the lack of funding attached to the bill. I personally don't think it was realistic to get full funding for basic education right now, in this recession.

You've read what I think. What about you? Do you think this was a huge milestone? A medium sized one? Not a milestone but a step back? Your turn.

Posted at 11:38 AM by Reith, Kathryn | Category: School funding | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (1)

4/20/2009

A confusing system

Those of you who have attended one of the budget input sessions have discovered that a significant amount of time is spent on explaining this state's convoluted school funding system. I expect you learned more about school funding than you ever wanted to know. However, it does affect how we put together our budget and what we can and cannot buy using money from different accounts. And the results sometimes confuse the heck out of people.

For example, we can buy computers, interactive whiteboards and other technology using technology levy funds. Because those funds are approved by voters for that specific purpose, we can't move the money into the general fund to use it for something else.

At the same time, the state has capped the amount we can raise through the education and operations levy that goes into our general fund. So we can't raise more money for general operating costs. The result? We have money to buy new computers but we're looking at the possiblity of having to lay off the teachers who teach our kids how to use that technology.

For a quick rundown on school funding basics, there's a page with that name in the "for the community" section on this web site.

Posted at 4:07 PM by Reith, Kathryn | Category: School funding | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)