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Understand the consequences of underfunded K-12 students |
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The Issues of Underfunding |
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Funding Washington Schools |
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Today’s News Headlines Link to WASSDA’s daily Washington paper’s headlines on education topics. |
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Washington State is a world-wide economy requiring a world-class education system delivering students a world-leading education. |
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Underfunding Explained In 1 Min A brief ‘elevator speech’ illustrates the points to get across - Expert studies show that it would cost anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 more per student to bring all students up to WA State standards and to better prepare them for the 21st century. Meanwhile, in an era of declining funds and increasing costs, our school districts have had to make tough budget decisions. Districts have · put off buying textbooks to ensure they have the funds to heat their schools. · offered small remedial classes at the cost of overcrowding regular core classes. · eliminated librarian and counselor positions to ensure they have a sufficient number of classroom teachers. At the same time, and what’s most disheartening, is that only 19 out of 100 kids who enter 9th grade in our public schools actually go on to get some kind of degree at universities or community colleges. Yet businesses in the trades and professions of every kind in our state are crying for more and better trained workers. Now is the time to make an investment in our children’s future. Now is the time to support the full funding of basic education. Barb Billinghurst |
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Familiar Questions and some answers What’s New highlights the latest updates Role of Lawsuits in forming ed policy The Big Picture chart History of Funding K-12 shows how WA evolved Revenue is the other side of the equation Local Bond & Levy Role in the funding equations High School Rankings in applying to colleges How to Advocate offers suggestions & resources Candidates in ’08 on the ballet for election WA State Legislature is making our decisions Projects-in-Progress get involved around the state Media Contacts of local newspapers, TV, etc User Guestbook lets you share and participate Slideshow Presentations explain funding problems Glossary of terms and acronyms BEF & WA Learns are the committees to watch School Districts share their news and budgets List of Web Resources on funding and schools Templates of ready to use articles, letters, etc. Calendar Events to note or participate in Why This Website for Washington State Our Blog comments on current events Submit Your Content to this site |
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Causes for Underfunding Of Schools Are Easily Identified Washington State can’t fund school districts at the level required to meet modern WA State standards and laws. This results in the State not providing the world-class education we expect and need for building the skills most businesses and industries say are required of high school graduates. Declining funding and increasing costs have led school districts to a tipping point. WA State does not deliver enough funding to pay for the minimum education mandated by state law (legally termed “Basic Education”). To deliver the Basic Education, school districts are spending large amounts of funds from their other fixed sources that should be paying for other vital parts of the education experience. School districts are not adequately educating all students as required by law. Modern demographics—who is in the schools—exceed the capability of WA State’s outdated funding systems to adequately educate them all. When the state’s funding doesn’t meet the actual costs, some districts make up the difference with levy funds and donations from foundation or school fundraisers. Not all districts can raise the same amount of funds to cover the gap — not all students in WA State are receiving the same Basic Education. School districts are often funded through inconsistent, illogical and inflexible laws and policies. The financial practices don’t always adequately fulfill the law nor meet the real needs. The fiscal support is needed to get the job done as legally required. The funding must be changed, or the laws governing the system. The core issues to understand around funding schools are listed below (and in the left column of each site page): This website highlights for every Washingtonian that their livelihoods, as well as the students’, are affected by the outcomes from the underfunding of their public education. School District Leadership is Cornered School districts perform staggering efforts to isolate students from the direct effects of underfunding in the class room. School communities may be unaware of the pervasive results from budget constraints — much of the public simply don’t recognize the lost opportunities. Funding processes now lag far behind schools’ actual capability to deliver a world-class education. In spite of all the well documented funding problems, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked WA 3rd in the nation in 2007 for the return it gets on its investment in education. The Three Legislative Goals for 2009 Session The Basic Education Finance Task Force, a bipartisan group appointed by the Governor, is charged with redefining basic education and developing appropriate funding structures for education — big stuff. Their final report is out by Dec. ‘08. The BEF Task Force will have examined the underlying issues in an effort to introduce legislation that will directly: 1. Update WA State's legal definition and funding formulas of Basic Education (a legal description of specific programs) to reflect current education practices and requirements. 2. Determine the redefinition and funding formula to legally fulfill the State’s obligation to fully fund education as its paramount constitutional duty, by providing ample opportunities for all students to achieve higher learning levels consistent with standards-based education reform. 3. Ensure the funding system is fully accountable by generating consistent and transparent accounting processes. Contact the committee members — BEF Member Contact Info (PDF) |
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The Big Question — has WA State met its to amply fund Washington K-12 public education? |