Local Control: Funding WA Schools - What To Know, Boards & Admins

Understand the consequences of underfunded K-12 students

Local Control — School Boards and Districts

The State and The People — Local Control Issues

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There are multiple levels of control in the funding system — who does what, and who gets to do what?

Many of the questions around local control challenge us to think about our ideals of democracy and pragmatism of fiscal efficiency and accountability. Who really should decide how the theoretical money meets the very real student faces on the ground? Who should decide what benefits a community best, and how those decisions are processed?

Should the State dictate a prescriptive method for spending money, or do local school boards request a flexible funding mechanism to apply dollars as they best see fit? And how do you know if either the allocatiion or the spending are being successful in getting the desired results?

Incorporating local control does change the equations. Providing a local control infrastructure impacts nearly every aspect of the funding equations—generally, it increases the overall costs. To list just a few of some factors:

· Autonomy of decisions

· Choice of curriculum

· Policy development and outcomes

· Inefficiencies of varying volume per district

· Choosing and hiring of staffs

· Demographics

· Capital costs

How are public schools in Washington organized?

Source: 2008 Citizen’s Guide to K-12 Finance

Washington is largely considered a “local control” state. This means that local school districts are generally responsible for delivering the actual instructional programs for the state’s elementary and secondary school-age population. Each district is governed by a locally-elected school board whose members serve staggered four-year terms. Each school board hires a Superintendent who oversees the day-to-day operation of the school district. Currently, there are a total of 295 school districts. The public school system in the state of Washington involves various entities at both the state and local levels, including the Legislature, the Governor, the State Board of Education, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the federal Department of Education, the State Auditor’s Office, the Professional Educators Standards Board, Educational Service Districts, and local school districts. Each of these entities play a role in establishing educational policies, implementing these policies, or providing administrative and financial oversight of the public school system.

Source: 2008 Citizen’s Guide to K-12 Finance prepared by staff of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee with staff of the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program (LEAP) Committee.